Robotics Across the Curriculum
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Robotics Across the Curriculum Elizabeth Sklar1,2, Simon Parsons1,2 and M Q Azhar2 1Dept of Computer and Information Science Brooklyn College, City University of New York 2900 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY, USA 11210 2Dept of Computer Science Graduate Center, City University of New York 365 5th Avenue, New York, NY, USA 10016 sklar,[email protected] [email protected] Abstract 1994; Fagin 2003; Mayer, Weinberg, & Yu 2004; Jacob- We describe a comprehensive program using educational sen & Jadud 2005; Sklar, Parsons, & Stone 2004). Some robotics as a hands-on, constructionist learning environment, of the issues highlighted are lack of a simulator that stu- integrated into teaching across the undergraduate computer dents can use for debugging when they are not in the lab, science curriculum. Five courses are described in detail. For longer preparation time for instructors (not only designing the three courses which have been offered multiple times, new curricula and projects, but also organizing and main- evaluations were conducted to assess students’ attitudes to- taining robotics equipment), increased time spent away from wards the robotics-based curriculum. These results are pre- the curriculum for students—particularly time spent learn- sented here. Lessons learned are shared, and new directions ing how to program the robots in non-programming classes for the future are highlighted. (like AI) or time spent fixing hardware problems in non- hardware classes. Introduction Several approaches have been taken to address these is- For the past six years, we have been bringing LEGO robots sues by providing programming interfaces that are designed into university classrooms to enhance courses on introduc- for easy debugging and offer simulation capabilities. One tory programming and computer science (both for computer is Pyro (Blank, Meeden, & Kumar 2003), based on Python, science majors and non-majors), object-oriented program- which provides solutions for several of these problems, mov- ming, artificial intelligence, embodied agents and multia- ing beyond LEGO and defining a universal programming in- gent systems. We have also experimented with the use of terface for several robotics platforms, e.g., the AIBO, Khep- Sony AIBO robots and are currently investigating other plat- era and Pioneer robots, and includes a simulation environ- forms for teaching. ment. Another is Tekkotsu (Touretzky & Tira-Thompson There is a rich history of instructors bringing robotics into 2005), based in C++, which uses an object-oriented, event- undergraduate classrooms over the last 10 years as a means passing architecture and was designed to work with the Sony to teach a range of topics. Early work explored the use AIBO, though it can also be compiled for other platforms. of robotics for teaching introductory programming (Stein This paper is organized as follows. The first section de- 1996; Meeden 1996; Lawhead et al. 2002; Gossett & Flow- scribes the courses that we have developed for teaching with ers 2003). Other efforts examined the use of robotics for robotics across the curriculum. The second section presents interdisciplinary subjects and for advanced undergraduate results of evaluations we have conducted in the three courses computer science topics such as artificial intelligence. Beer, that have been taught more than once. Finally, we conclude Chiel, & Drushel (1999) used autonomous robots to teach with a summary of lessons learned and future directions. an interdisciplinary science and engineering, attracting stu- It should be noted that all the courses described have been dents from a wide range of majors (from biology and neu- taught at Brooklyn College, one of 19 campuses that com- roscience to physics). Klassner (2002) outlines early expe- prise the City University of New York, an urban university riences using LEGO robotics in artificial intelligence classes, with 400,000 students. Approximately 12,000 students are pointing out the lack of a LISP-based programming environ- enrolled in undergraduate programs at Brooklyn College, ment, which the author later addressed in (Klassner & An- a public liberal arts school that primarily attracts working- derson 2003). Kumar (2004) describes the integration and class students; many are the first in their families to attend evaluation of robotics into artificial intelligence curriculum college and most hold part-time jobs while they go to school. for undergraduates, weighing the increase in student excite- The student body is 60% female; and nearly half the stu- ment against the increased preparation time for instructors. dents are ethnic minorities (30.7% African American and Others have detailed specific experiences, hardware and 11% Hispanic). software problems and solutions for integrating LEGO Mind- storms into a range of undergraduate classrooms (Martin Teaching Copyright c 2006, American Association for Artificial Intelli- Our university teaching experiences with robotics began in gence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved. Spring 2001 and have grown from one introductory robotics course for non-engineering computer science students to en- core technical topic(s) case study compass a spectrum of seven courses, ranging from explor- Introduction to tele-operated robots ing robotics for non-majors to introductory programming for Computers and Networks majors and advanced artificial intelligence for graduate stu- Algorithms and dancing robots dents. Five of these courses have been taught at the time of Computer Languages writing: Exploring Robotics (for non-majors), Computing: Machine Architecture, self-reproducing Nature, Power and Limits (for non-majors), Object-Oriented Data Representation machines Programming (for intermediate majors), Artificial Intelli- and Storage gence (for advanced majors), and Introduction to Robotics Event-driven home-helper robots (for advanced majors). The middle three of these have been Programming taught several times. The remaining two courses are sched- Solvability and urban search and uled to be taught in Spring and Fall 2007; these are: In- Feasibility rescue robots troduction to Computing Using C++ (for first-semester ma- Programmer-defined evolutionary robotics jors) and Advanced Programming Techniques (for second- functions semester majors). This section describes each of the five Security, Privacy, security robots courses which have already been offered. Encryption and Plagiarism Exploring Robotics Table 1: Topics covered in Computing: Nature, Power and This course provides an introduction to robotics for ad- Limits. vanced students who are not computer science majors, through the use of case studies and project-based activities. Students work together in small groups on a series of two- is Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) robotics (Kleiner week creative projects, using robots to address meaningful 2006), and the labs use the RoboCupJunior Rescue chal- and socially important issues, such as urban search and res- lenge (Sklar 2004) in which robots attempt to locate cue or elder care. Along the way, students are introduced to dummy victims in a mock collapsed building. the fundamentals of robotics (including aspects of mechan- ical design) and elementary programming within a graph- 7. State-of-the-art Robotics: this unit presents exciting new ical environment called RoboLab1 (Erwin, Cyr, & Rogers topics in the field of robotics; the case study currently be- 2000). A series of seven scaffolded units build in complex- ing used is in the area of evolutionary robotics (Zykov et ity in terms of the robot solution, the task environment and al. 2005). the task(s) to be accomplished. Each unit is accompanied This course has become quite popular, and currently (Fall by a case study, with which to situate the technical material 2006) we are offering five sections of the course with a total being introduced. Following is a brief outline of each unit: enrollment of 88 students. 1. Introduction to Robotics: this unit outlines basic robot construction and uses the “BigDog” project (Hambling Computing: Nature, Power and Limits 2006) as a case study. This course offers an introduction to computer science and programming through the use of project-based educational 2. Simple Go-bot: this unit introduces students to basic con- robotics activities for beginning college students who have trol ideas; the case study is the DARPA Grand Challenge not yet declared a major. The course is part of the core cur- (Thrun et al. forthcoming; Gutierrez et al. 2005). riculum required of all undergraduates at Brooklyn College, 3. Dancing Go-bot: this unit brings in touch sensors and the and our department is experimentally offering several “fla- programming concept of iteration, using robotic dance as vors” of the course to provide a variety of interdisciplinary, a case study. applied, context-based entries into the world of computing, 4. Home-helper Go-bot: this unit explains the programming as part of a larger project that is attempting to broaden the concept of branching and the notion of event-driven pro- demographics of students pursuing careers in computer sci- grams; the case study presents the Roomba2. ence, particularly aiming to attract female and minority stu- dents3. The course is organized as above, into seven cur- 5. Robot Teams: this unit discusses multiple robots op- ricular units, where each unit explores a technical topic and erating in a complex, dynamic environment and uses is framed with a case study and application area for hands- RoboCup Soccer as the case study; the technical