Junior university - Robô Jr

Educational model

Robô Júnior @ Home is a 6 day course for students ranging from the 8th to the 12th grade. There is an age restriction because the students need to have some critical and logical thinking to model and implement a robotic system.

The main objectives this course include:

• The difference between software and hardware;

• What is programming and how to program in C++;

• The basic principle of state-machines;

• etc.

In the end of the course there is a small competition, using a line follower robot. Ultimately the students will have knowledge and the desire to participate on FNR's Robot@Factory Lite Jr.

The main difference towards Universidade Júnior: À Descoberta da Robótica is that the proposed course allows for classes to be both online and in person, without changing the teaching approach.

This means that all the hardware, software, slides, videos, etc. can be both used on a classroom or at the student's home.

This versatility is very important not only because of the situation that the wold is going through but also because it allows students from every region in Portugal to attend and experience this course.

Aditional Tools

For this project there where some aditional tools developed:

• The WebTerminal: used for wireless debug and interaction with the robot.

• The Bluetooth Terminal: used to configure the ssid and the password of the network that the ESP32 has to connect to.

• The Estoril track on SimTwo: to allow the students to simulate the operation of the real robot.

There were developed three source applications for the Robot:

• Test Program: to test all the components and connections of the robot.

• Remote Control Program: to remotely control the robot.

• RAFL adaptation: adaptation of the RAFL source code to run the new architecture.

All applications use WLAN connection, the WebTerminal and the serial communication protocol developed in this project.