From Science Projects to the Engineering Bench: The CISSRS Surgical LEGO Robot Competition Gives High-School Students Hands-On Experience

摘要

The multidisciplinary nature of robotics makes it a popular tool for science and engineering education on many levels. The development of a successful robot requires the integration of knowledge from a variety of disciplines, such as physics, math, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science. This also requires a variety of skills and equipment: raw building materials and shop tools, wires and a soldering iron, a variety of computers, and, often, complicated programming interfaces. Although obtaining these skills is important for a complete engineering education, the time and experience needed to be successful with them has prohibited the use of robotics for education and recruitment at younger levels. With the recent advent of LEGO's Mind-storms Robotics Invention System (RIS), students with little experience or education can sit down and immediately begin to develop an understanding of and practice with the core issues and challenges of robotic development, without being busy with machining and precision control required for real-world robots. The recent surge in precollege robotics programs shows the impact this has had on exposing future engineers to the excitement of the field.