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Thymio: a Holistic Approach to Designing Accessible Educational Robots

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Thymio: a Holistic Approach to Designing Accessible Educational Robots Thymio: a holistic approach to designing accessible educational robots THÈSE NO 6557 (2015) PRÉSENTÉE LE 17 AVRIL 2015 À LA FACULTÉ DES SCIENCES ET TECHNIQUES DE L'INGÉNIEUR LABORATOIRE DE SYSTÈMES ROBOTIQUES PROGRAMME DOCTORAL EN SYSTÈMES DE PRODUCTION ET ROBOTIQUE ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FÉDÉRALE DE LAUSANNE POUR L'OBTENTION DU GRADE DE DOCTEUR ÈS SCIENCES PAR Fanny RIEDO acceptée sur proposition du jury: Prof. J. Paik, présidente du jury Prof. F. Mondada, Prof. P. Dillenbourg, directeurs de thèse Dr G. Caprari, rapporteur Prof. A. Ijspeert, rapporteur Dr P. Salvini, rapporteur Suisse 2015 A mon papa François et mon oncle Jean-Pierre Abstract Technology is now an important part of our lives. We often see robots cited as the future of education, and reports of their imminent entrance in schools. New projects create buzz in the media and online, but when we look at the actual situation, very few robots are currently used in education, and most of the time, the platform used is the Lego Mindstorms. Why so little diversity? What do robot actually bring to the learning experience? How can we design good educational robots? Hopes are that they bring additional motivation to pupils. Since the use of robots is fun, the learning is supposed to become easier. Robot projects and activities are also expected to foster thinking skills, collaboration, and creative spirit. Finally, there is a need to educate people on technology for two reasons. The first is to break the “black box” image they have of technology, and the second is to encourage them into technical careers. Thanks to the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research Robotics (NCCR Robotics), we could develop some innovative concepts in educational robotics, and implement one such pedagogical tool. We designed a small wheeled robot with many sensors, and LEDs making its internal state apparent to the user. A simple, white look makes it a neutral base for creating one’s own application, for all age and gender groups. Different user interfaces allow to make it accessible to everybody: • Pre-programmed behaviours that demonstrate its different possibilities • A Visual Programming Language (VPL), without text and based on event-action pairs • The Aseba script language (text-based), with a comprehensive development environ- ment to accompany and inform the user The resulting platform, Thymio II, is completely open-source and open-hardware. It was mass-produced and commercialised at a low cost. This gave the opportunity to evaluate the public’s response to it. We could assess that the robot design is well received and appreciated by different age and gender groups. It seems particularly popular with girls. We analysed the expectations of the different age categories and proposed activities that fitted their specific needs. We could also validate that users of Thymio II learn notions of programming, understand essential concepts such as what sensors are, what is the relationship between the robot, the computer, and the programming environment. With the VPL, they could quickly grasp the meaning of events and event-action pairs. v Abstract We realised that in spite of the interest it generated, the robot was not used much at home or in schools. We think that there is a need for more guidance and that parallels should be drawn with e-learning for the use at home. In schools, we observed that teachers who use robots are pioneers, who invest time and sometimes money into new technologies out of personal interest. The others do not feel strongly against robotics but are probably discouraged by the lack of institutional injunction, appropriate training, budget, and ready-to-use pedagogical materials. At the end of this work, we conclude by giving a set of guidelines, based on our experience, for the design of educational robots. This project demonstrated very promising results and we believe that it can be a first step toward renewing teaching habits. Keywords: educational robotics, robot acceptability, programming for children, teacher attitudes towards technology, affordable robotics, mobile robotics vi Résumé La technologie fait désormais partie intégrante de nos vies. Les robots sont souvent présentés comme le futur de l’éducation, et des promesses sont faites de leur apparition imminente dans les écoles. De nouveaux projets font grand bruit dans la presse et sur la toile, mais lors- qu’on examine la situation actuelle, très peu de robots sont effectivement utilisés dans les écoles, et en majorité ce sont des Lego Mindstorms. Pourquoi si peu de diversité ? Qu’ap- portent réellement les robots à l’apprentissage ? Comment concevoir des robots efficaces pour l’éducation ? Les attentes sont généralement les suivantes : les robots apporteraient un surcroît de moti- vation aux élèves, et du fait qu’ils sont divertissants, l’apprentissage devrait se faire plus aisé. Les projets et activités utilisant des robots sont de plus supposés améliorer et encourager la capacité de raisonnement, la collaboration et l’esprit créatif. Enfin, il y a une demande pour plus d’éducation de la population à la technologie pour deux raisons. La première est la volonté de briser l’image de “boîte noire” que les gens en ont, et la deuxième est le désir d’encourager les jeunes dans les carrières techniques. Grâce au Pôle de recherche National en Robotique (NCCR Robotics), nous avons pu dévelop- per de nouveaux concepts en robotique éducative et les implémenter dans une plateforme robotique. Nous avons conçu un petit robot à roues, doté de nombreux capteurs et diodes lu- mineuses qui rendent apparent son fonctionnement interne. Son apparence simple et blanche en fait une base neutre pour que chacun puisse faire sa propre création, adapté a tous les groupe d’âge et aux filles comme aux garçons. Les différentes interfaces utilisateur le rendent accessible à tous : • Des comportements pré-programmés qui illustrent ses différentes possibilités • Un langage de programmation graphique (VPL), sans texte et basé sur des paires d’action-événement • Le langage texte d’Aseba, avec un environnement de développement complet pour accompagner et informer l’utilisateur La plateforme ainsi créée, Thymio II, est totalement libre, tant pour ses sources logicielles que sur les aspects matériels. Il a été produit en série et commercialisé à bas prix. Ceci nous a permis de récolter et évaluer les opinions d’un grand nombre d’ utilisateurs. Nous avons pu vérifier que le robot est bien perçu et apprécié par les différents groupes d’âge et de sexe. Il semble particulièrement populaire auprès des filles. Nous avons pu analyser vii Résumé les attentes de ces différents groupes, et avons proposé des activités correspondant à leur demandes spécifiques. Nous avons également pu vérifier que les utilisateurs de Thymio II acquéraient effectivement des notions de programmation, comprenaient des concepts essentiels comme ce que sont les capteurs, et quel est le lien entre le robot, l’ordinateur et l’environnement de programmation. Avec VPL, les utilisateurs ont pu rapidement saisir le sens des événements et des paires d’action-événement. Nous avons réalisé que malgré l’intérêt généré, le robot n’était pas très utilisé à la maison ni dans les écoles. Nous pensons qu’il y a un besoin pour plus d’encadrement, et que des parallèles peuvent être tirés avec les technologies d’e-learning pour l’utilisation domestique. Dans les écoles, nous avons observé que les enseignants qui utilisent des robots sont des pionniers, qui investissent leur temps, et parfois leur argent, dans ces nouvelles technologies, par intérêt personnel. Les autres ne s’opposent pas à la robotique, mais sont probablement rebutés par le manque d’injonction institutionnelle, de formations adéquates, de budget et de séquences pédagogiques prêtes à l’emploi. A la fin de ce travail, nous concluons en donnant une liste de recommandations, basées sur notre expérience, pour la conception des robots éducatifs. Ce projet a montré des résultats très prometteurs, et nous pensons qu’il peut servir de premier pas vers un renouveau de certaines habitudes dans l’enseignement. Mots-clés : robotique éducative, acceptabilité des robots, programmation pour enfants, attitudes des enseignants envers la technologie, robotique abordable, robotique mobile viii Acknowledgements Doing a PhD is certainly not an easy task, and without doubt not one I would have accom- plished without the support of many others. I would like to thank all the people who helped me, taught me, entertained me during these four years. First of all, of course my supervisor, Prof. Francesco Mondada, without whom there would have been no thesis at all. Thank you for welcoming me to your team, and for your openness of mind. I am especially grateful that you gave me the opportunity to develop a robot that reached so many people. Thymio II would not have existed without your effort to create real collaborations. I’m very grateful also to my co-supervisor Prof. Pierre Dillenbourg and his team for their inputs and different points of view on our venture with Thymio II. I deeply appreciate that you used our group’s robots, prototypes or finalised products, in your experiments. I thank also all my thesis committee members for their interest and careful reading: Dr. Pericle Salvini, Dr. Gilles Caprari, Prof. Auke Ijspeert, Prof. Jamie Paik. All my gratitude to the Thymio development team: Michaël, Philippe, Luc, Laurent. We created a great robot. A special mention to Philippe who taught me so many things and listened patiently to my stupidest conversations. A big thanks to the Aseba team and especially Stéphane for their great work. So many other people contributed to the success of Thymio II, it’s hard not to forget any. Mor- gane Chevalier, Gordana Gerber, Nathalie Nyffeler, Andrea Suriano, Jean-Maurice Mayencourt, Antoine Régamey, Laurent Michel, Grégoire Aellig, Monica Prieto, Olivier Renault, Pauline Ruffiot, Marion Albertini, Nathalie Bonani, Manon Briod, Maria María Beltran, Moti Ben-Ari, and many others with whom I have not had direct interactions: thank you all for your inputs, and your trust in our project.
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