Telepresence robot, nano-computers and advanced cameras as educational tools

Abstract

This paper describes a project course and a classroom course, performed in collaboration with the firm Axyn Robotics, where students aim at improving the autonomy of a telepresence robot. In this research, firstly, the students had to get familiar with the robot and control it remotely with WiFi and bluetooth communication protocols. Secondly, the students had to explore the abilities of new advanced cameras constructed by Intel. They had to show to the industrial partner that the chosen cameras were adequate to enable the robot to perform autonomous navigation. A classroom lesson is proposed where three parts of the robot are studied through smaller setups. We strongly believe that the measured positive academic impact of such a project and course is due to the university-industry collaboration, and the use of information and communication technologies as educational tools.