Teaching Robotics by Building Autonomous Mobile Robots Using the Arduino

In recent years I have been teaching a project-based Robotics course within our quarterbased Mechanical Engineering program using the Stamp microcontroller. Students work in teams to complete a number of weekly lab exercises designed to sufficiently build their robotics expertise to the level that they can complete a project to design, build, and test an autonomous mobile robot to successfully complete an assigned task of their choosing. The course was structured in such a way that course materials laid out everything explicitly for the students since time was short on a ten-week quarter schedule. They simply followed the directions given. This fall, we changed to a semester schedule, changed our microcontroller from the Stamp to the popular Arduino, and restructured the entire course. Since extensive information is available on-line and in the literature for the Arduino, the course philosophy and structure has changed. Instead of providing students with all the information they need, students are now presented with a task, and they are told to go discover how to do it. As a result, the course is more challenging and interesting for them. This is aided by the additional time available in the semester schedule and by the wealth of information available for the Arduino. The paper discusses the current structure of the course, how independent team effort is evaluated, and the problems encountered in switching from a Stamp-based ten week quarter course to an Arduino-based " self-discovery" semester course.