2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Designing a versatile robot framework for undergraduate robotics education

Presented at Multidisciplinary Engineering Division (MULTI) Technical Session 6

The growing popularity of robotics education in undergraduate engineering programs gives rise to a demand for robotic technologies to facilitate learning in the classroom. Robotics undergraduate curricula require platforms and tools that grow with the students, remaining accessible to early undergraduate levels while supporting the implementation of advanced algorithms. In this paper, we describe a software framework for educational mobile robotic platforms designed with undergraduate robotics education in mind. The MBot custom robot platform is capable of executing a vast range of robotic and machine learning algorithms using a variety of sensors. Our suite of open-source tools is designed to be accessible to students across the spectrum of undergraduate education and lends versatility to robotic platforms in the classroom. The robot can be programmed through multiple modalities designed for different levels of programming proficiency. A synchronous Application Programming Interface (API) enables the development of single-threaded applications, appropriate for CS1 level programming. The framework is supported by web-based tools which enable students to interact with the platform without extensive technical prerequisites. We describe the design criteria which enable the platform to adapt to the needs of the students throughout their journey through the engineering curriculum. We present two case studies that demonstrate how the robots are used in project-based undergraduate robotics courses at the University of Michigan: a first-year programming course and a graduate robotics laboratory. We also describe a block-based visual programming interface based on the same framework and its use in a grade school context. Finally, we present lessons learned in teaching undergraduate courses with real robots at different levels, and highlight future opportunities for development in this area.

Authors

Jana Pavlasek Polytechnique Montreal [biography]

Jana Pavlasek is an Assistant Professor at Polytechnique Montréal. She earned her PhD in Robotics at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include robotic perception and planning under uncertainty and robot learning.
Mr. Broderick Charles Riopelle University of Michigan [biography]

Brody Riopelle is a robotics engineering technician at the University of Michigan, working on developing robots and software systems for undergraduate education. He graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Abhishek Narula University of Michigan [biography]

Abhishek Narula is an engineer, artist and educator at the Department of Robotics and the University of Michigan.
Shaw Sun University of Michigan [biography]

Shaw Sun is a Research and Development Engineer in the Robotics Department at the University of Michigan. She earned a Master’s degree in Robotics from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Rutgers University. She focuses on developing MBot systems and enjoys exploring innovative techniques in robotics.
Peter Gaskell University of Michigan Robotics Department [biography]

Peter Gaskell is a faculty member in the University of Michigan’s Robotics Department, where he has spent the past decade designing and delivering hands-on curricula in robotics, embedded systems, controls, and SLAM. He led creation of the open-source MBot educational robotics platform and numerous other platforms to make advanced robotics accessible and scalable. Peter’s scholarship focuses on low-cost sensor fusion and lightweight SLAM for resource-constrained platforms. Recognized with the College of Engineering’s Teaching Innovation Award, he continues to build inquiry-driven learning environments that lower barriers to advanced robotics in graduate and undergraduate education.

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