A Challenge for the New Millennium: Incorporating Hands-on Robotics into a Computer Science Curriculum

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Computer Science (31)Advances in microtechnology have increased the possibility for providing roboticsinstruction emphasizing computing requirements rather than hardware requirements.Curricula for a first course in robotics have been published to take advantage of thistechnology. The purpose of this project is to take advantage of the existing work, adaptingit as necessary to produce an effective, hands-on course in robotics within the computerscience curriculum at the University of North Florida. To realize this objective, anappropriate robotics laboratory is needed and a set of robotics laboratory projects must bedeveloped.No general standards have as yet been developed for robotics technology. A majorinhibitor for introducing robotics courses within computer science has been the uniquenessof the fabrication requirements, which has largely confined the subject to engineering-related programs with resources for robotics construction needs. Corresponding softwarehas been in short supply, and generally has relied on base-level programming in C or inmachine language. Existing robotics curricula for computer science that have beendeveloped have been constrained by the need to develop a lab and produce a viable labmaintenance plan, all complicated by the fabrication issues. On the other hand, significantprogress has been made in reducing the complexity of electro-mechanical requirements,allowing software issues for producing effective autonomous robots to receive increasedattention.Robotics kits developed by the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics (KIPR) andincorporated into this proposal at least partly redress the logistical issues and form thebasis for a robotics lab suitable for supporting a first course in robotics. To conduct thecourse of instruction, an incremental series of hands-on exercises using the laboratoryfacility must be developed and tested. The KISS Institute will be called upon to bothevaluate overall project outcomes and to promulgate materials developed for the project(the Institute is a non-profit national corporation that among its objectives seeks toadvance the state of robotics education).