2nd World conference on Integrated STEaM Education through Robotics (WISER)

Friday, June 2, 2017

In conjunction with World Robofest 2017

St. Pete Beach Community Center - Raymond Room, Florida, USA

Author(s) Title Abstract Paper / Slides Link(s) Presentation Time (tentative)
Welcome: Dr.Sibrina N. Collins, PhD, Executive Director, The Marburger STEM Center, Lawrence Technological University
Plenary Talk "Past, Present, Future of Robotics Education" by Dr. CJ Chung, Founder & Director of Robofest; Associate Computer Science Chair, LTU
9:00am
DaeWon Lee Physical computing with physical activity The purpose of the study: Physical computing helps learners to improve their computational thinking skills by using robots. We will explore how to understand the principles and applications of motors and sensors using the body of learners as well as these physical computing. Theoretical background: Physical computing learning can be used in conjunction with physical activity to enhance learners' understanding. Learning using physical activity is called embodied cognition. Therefore, we try to find out what the cognition is embodied and use it to develop learning contents of physical computing. Research Methods: In physical computing using robots, we will use physical activities developed to enhance learners 'understanding of robots' motors and sensors. We divide the group of physical computing without the physical activity developed by dividing the learner group and the group of the learner who participated in the physical activity developed by using the embodied cognition. Expected Research Results: We expect that physical computing using embodied cognition will enhance learners' understanding of program logic, sensors, and motors. PDF slides 9:20am
David A Carbery PE Comparing skills between Robofest and a career in Robotics I will compare the skills used to compete in Robofest with those needed for employment in an industrial robotics career. Several specific skills will be explored and several of the Robofest competition platforms will also be referenced.

PDF slides

9:45am

Eric Liu

Robot Arm: Remote Control Vs Master/Slave System Through my many years of robotic activities through Robofest, I have acquired many skills including hardware building, software programming, and even basic electrical circuit knowledge. These skills made me well prepared for the challenging task in Science Olympiad 2017, known as robot arm. In the robot arm challenge, competitors were tasked with the objective of earning as many points as possible in three min by moving pennies to the center of an archery target. Our goal for this project was to design the most effective way of controlling a robot arm, by combining speed with precision. I'll talk about the two ways we tested, which were the standard remote control method, and the more advanced method, master/slave control system. PDF slides 1:25pm
Sandeep Hiremath Programming LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 using MATLAB and Simulink Low-cost hardware like LEGO MINDSTORMS kits appeal to STEAM educators and hobbyists because it is an effective and fun way to tinker and learn engineering concepts both in a student competition like RoboFest and inside a classroom. MATLAB and Simulink can be used to program the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT and EV3 kits, and other popular platforms like Arduino and Raspberry PI to name a few. You can program your EV3 robot and design algorithms in Simulink for control systems, robotics, and signal processing applications and see them run on the hardware, all while you remotely monitor and perform live tuning of your algorithm parameters. You can also use MATLAB to communicate with the IO (input/output) on the hardware devices. MathWorks is providing complimentary MATLAB and Simulink licenses to all teams interested in using the software to program their robots in the RoboFest competition. PDF Article/slides: coming soon 10:35am
Dr. Dean Bushey Self Driving Car Demo at "Underneath" Autonomous Vehicles and Self Driving Cars at Florida Polytechnic. 20 mins for the presentation, followed by three demos: (1) lidar wall following and lane centering, (2) visual servoing for object detection, and (3) lidar mapping and localization. PDF notes Presentation at 11:00am; Demo at 11:30am
Lunch Break

Bing Wei

How to develop Students’ Engineering Thinking in  Robotic Education Robotic Education and Training of Students' Engineering Thinking in Senior High School PDF notes 1:00pm
Latha MURTHY Robotics in Indian Schools Latha Murthy is an educationist and a trainer by profession. Heads VishVin Educational services, Bangalore, as a Founder-Director. Recipient of International award for education in excellence for her services towards education for 33 years. She has also received the best teacher award in 2015 from Andhra Pradesh, and Rastriya Gaurav Vidya puruskar, from National Solidarity Council New Delhi, presenting a paper on Robotics in Indian Schools, present and the future prospects. PDF slides 1:25pm
Laura Spence
K-12 STEM Programs in Pinellas County Schools Pinellas County Schools has taken an aggressive approach to providing students with STEM experiences through the development of 250 after school STEM Academies impacting 5,000 students. The creation of STEM Academies provides a solution to addressing STEM content through the use of an extended school day. Students engaged in the PCS STEM Academies are given weekly tasks essential for any potential STEM workforce candidate competing in a global marketplace. Students are asked to work in teams to complete engineering inquiry projects that require critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration skills. Each phase allows teams of students to use their background knowledge to explore STEM concepts, build upon those experiences, assess their current conceptual understanding, and evaluate their progress in solving real world problems. PDF slides 1:50pm

Pieter Pretorius

Robot Sport : Commitment Someone once said: “Find something that you really love and then pursue it with all your heart.” To make a success of anything, I believe that this is the starting point. To find that something in your life that is really meaningful, that is dear to you and then to do everything in your power to grow your knowledge and understanding of that something. The premises of robotics at school level is that it is really intriguing for learners, something oddly strange and wonderful, to grab their attention and their will to learn more. The reality is not far from this, the problem is not that robotics does not intrigue learners, not by a long shot, the problem is that being intrigued by something is not enough. Motivation to learn more is the key. A culture is not changed by intrigue, it is changed through commitment, the love of something. This is basically the primary problem that we have in South Africa, while learners may be intrigued by robotics, while it is fascinating, it is also something that demands attention and hard work. For we are selling robotics, and robotics competitions in much the same way as sport promoters are selling sports like rugby and cricket to the children and parents. Can we place robotics and robotics competitions in the same category as popular sport? Can there really be a marriage between hard science and popular sport? Is there really something like: Robot Sport? PDF slides 2:15pm

Emma Alaba

Accessing Robofest competitions in Florida and the STEM impact on the Tampa Bay Area Accessing Robofest competitions in Florida and the STEM impact on the Tampa Bay Area PDF slides 2:40pm

Certificate will be presented after each presentation. Group Picture of all presenters will be taken at 3:10pm

2017 Program Committee

  • Dr. CJ Chung, General Chair
  • Dr. Sibrina Collins, Co-Chair
  • Dr. Christopher Cartwright
  • Dr. Xie Zeng

 

1st World conference on Integrated STEaM Education through Robotics (WISER)

May 16, 2014

Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan
Room M218, Buell Management Building

 

A conference to share experiences/knowledge and exchange ideas in Robotics education for the effective STEaM learning environment. In addition we discussed/researched how to advance robotics education and educational robotics ultimately for humanity through the STEaM learning paradigm.

Accepted Presentations and Papers

Author(s) Title Abstract Paper / Presentation Link(s) Presentation Time
Welcome by Dr. Hsiao-Ping Moore, Dean of Arts and Sciences, LTU
Plenary Talk: Mr. Michael Dobbyn, Hamtramck schools 
1:00pm
DaeWon Lee Comparison of Four Robot Competitions The author has participated in four different robot competitions, FLL, IRO, WRO, and Robofest multiple times as a team coach. This article compares the four robotic competitions. PDF Article 1:10pm
SangHun OH, SungKu CHO, BaekWoon YU, JiHyun PARK Intuitive Vision Robot Kit For Efficient Education Lux Educational Robot is designed for teaching image processing, sensor and motor control, and firmware and software programming. The robot has cameras for image processing, 3 large DC motors, and can control up to 255 different components including sensors, submotors, and small DC motors.

PDF Article

PDF Slides

1:20pm
JunHo Lee, Youkyung Oh, Minho Lee, Kyubong, Lee   Motor PID controller This presentation is about how we can control the velocity of PID and get related simulation result from proper application of the way we control PID.  PDF Slides 1:40pm
Emma Alaba Site Host and Team Coach Do's and Don'ts
Many valuable lessons are learned from being a robotics competition site host and team coach. The mistakes are many but the successes are more. The best way to maximize the robotics experience is by sharing what you have learned. The do’s and don’ts will help with the management of the competition, volunteers, and teams. As a site host you will wear many hats such as manager, organizer, volunteer and coach; whatever it takes to ensure the event runs smoothly, orderly and on time. By sharing the pitfalls, challenges and the many successes of the students the STEM adventure will continue and reach more students. 
PDF Slides 2:00pm
José Antonio Romero Pliego How STEM and Science Divulgation Contribute to build a "Cool School" This paper shows results of a qualitative evaluation of how Science Divulgation and applying STEM principles to education, touched some Mexican youngsters' academic lives. PDF slides 2:20pm
10 Minute Break

Parvathi Ram, Shivadharshne Ashokkumar, Ishaa Mane, and Nila Sekar

Robot Control using Animation and Bluetooth Wireless control of robots is becoming popular and so are mobile handsets. In this paper we describe the control of a robot using an Android mobile. We use Bluetooth as the wireless interface between the mobile and the robot. An android application serves as the graphical user interface for the application. Different user inputs are possible in the mobile application. We explain the use of animation to represent the actions of the robot. The commands given by the user in the animation file are analysed by a command-analyser and granular tasks are then transmitted to the robot by a communication module. This communication module is hosted in an android mobile. The robot includes an interpreter which will convert the commands from the mobile into motor controls. This is in addition to a manual mode where we enter commands. We use animation to input the actions to be performed by the robot. We demonstrate our ideas using a prototype, which is built using open source animation software, an android mobile and a Robot Control Board with ATMega16. Problems faced by us are described and future work is outlined.

PDF Paper

PDF Slides

2:50pm

Pieter Pretorius(*)

(Trophy Robotics)

Educational Robotics in South Africa

Robotics education in South Africa has been limited mainly to LEGO Robotics during the past 12-14 years. While we are only now really starting to make a difference, the involvement or lack thereof from the side of higher educational institutions and different governmental departments is still a huge constraint in our drive to really getting robotics off the ground. Furthermore, parent and teachers alike are very ignorant concerning robotics and most of them do not have any basic knowledge of the subject. It is therefore left up to small businesses like Trophy Robotics to setting up clubs and competitions like FIRST LEGO League and to educate parents and teachers and even some government officials the Robotics Olympiad and now also Robofest to create awareness in this regard. With the support of our primary FLL sponsor (SAP), the growth of robotics has improved dramatically over the past 3-4 years. Their sponsorship has placed much needed equipment in the hands of teachers and students in a great many government schools. While private schools can afford to buy this equipment, public schools are not in the same position and are therefore relying on donations and sponsorships from big companies, and interested Science Centres and universities to help them. However, robotics in South Africa is growing at a steady pace and we expect this tendency to continue and may even pick up the pace over the next few years. PDF Slides 3:10pm
CJ Chung Fostering Creativity through Global Robotics Art Festival (GRAF) A robotics art festival integrating robotics and arts was launched in 2013 to especially foster creativity. Pre-college students entered 13 interactive robotics projects in visual arts and performing arts categories. Student survey results show that integrating arts with robotics was an effective hands-on paradigm that even brings beauty, joy, fun, and creativity while learning STEM subjects and computing. PDF Slides 3:30pm
Charles Liu Experiments with Ultrasonic Sensors In many Robofest categories, it is necessary to use ultrasonic sensors to complete the mission (game, RoboSumo, exhibition). However, the ultrasonic sensors' behavior is sometimes erratic, unpredictable, and hard to understand. To help other robot teams deal with some of these issues, I am going to conduct experiments with three different ultrasonic sensors (original NXT sensor, EV3 sensor, and mindsensors.com DX sensor) in various situations and environments. I will record the test data and draw conclusions about the behavior of the sensors. 

PDF Paper

PDF Slides

3:50pm
(*) presented by Leander Jacobs 

Program Committee

CJ Chung, General Chair
Mike Dobbyn, Program Chair
Kathleen Hadley
Marilyn Wiseman

 

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