The Development of the PaperBots Robotics Kit for Inexpensive Robotics Education Activities for Elementary Students.
O'Connell, Brian.
2013
-
Abstract: In this thesis, I describe an electronics kit that enables robotic
education activities that make use of readily available classroom materials. The developed
product, PaperBots Robotics Kit, opens up accessibility to robotics education for users who
formerly could not afford many of the available options. The design considers cost for the
intended stakeholders, teachers, and usabilit... read morey for the end users, students, as well as test
group feedback and production. This tool kit enables students to build their robot
utilizing paper, cardstock, craft sticks, tape, straw and other craft materials common to a
classroom. The controller is an Arduino based development board that is programmable by
either the Arduino environment or with LabVIEW. Test groups of kindergarten to six grade
students successfully constructed robots using paper, craft materials, and the PaperBots
Robotics Kit. They were able to intuitively construct with the materials and the kit and
program their robots using a provided LabVIEW interface. The participants also enjoyed
their experiences with the product while gaining some experience in engineering principles.
The first two design iterations of the PaperBots Robotics Kit and their subsequent testing
are described in this report along with suggestions for further development of the
product.
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2013.
Submitted to the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.
Advisor: Brian O'Connell.
Committee: Chris Rogers, Daniel Hannon, and Ethan Danahy.
Keywords: Educational technology, Robotics, and Mechanical engineering.read less - ID:
- wm118102h
- Component ID:
- tufts:21972
- To Cite:
- DCA Citation Guide EndNote
