Playful STEAM Learning Using Robots

Shunmugham R. Pandian
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, Kancheepuram
Chennai, India
[email protected]

Abstract—In developing countries like India, the school and An additional complication in Indian engineering education
college education systems are mired in the passive, teacher- arises from the fact that in large states, as many as a few
centric pedagogy based on rote learning. Active, student-centric hundred engineering colleges are affiliated to a central
STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) learning technological university for the purpose of awarding of degrees
can be achieved through extremely affordable open source through semester-end examinations, with only about 20-25
hardware and free open source software to foster innovation and percent weight in grading available for the instructor of a
creativity among teachers and students in colleges and course. This arrangement precludes project-based learning,
universities as well as schools. In particular, build your own and which is increasingly favored by leading undergraduate and
do-it-yourself (BYO/DIY) robots and tabletop subtractive and
graduate/research institutions everywhere (e.g., [3]–[5]).
additive manufacturing machines can be designed, fabricated and
disseminated for hands-on education in design, electronics, However, the establishment of college Maker Spaces for
programming, robotics and manufacturing. This paper discusses extra-curricular learning and supervised and unsupervised
an ongoing collaborative project between a higher educational projects can provide faculty and students with opportunities for
institution, a non-profit foundation and a corporate sponsor to pursuing multidisciplinary innovations to solve industrial and
establish and operate project-based STEAM learning labs in societal problems, and their potential commercialization
resource-poor government high schools in nine Indian cities. The through startups [6]. For example, robots and mechatronic
work reported is the schools outreach part of a Teaching systems which involve the integration of actuators, sensors,
Learning Centre for design, development and dissemination of
controllers and software find applications in many disciplines
low-cost manufacturing education technologies for engineering
colleges and universities. The methodology can be replicated with
spanning science and technology: precision agriculture and
locale-specific adaptations in schools elsewhere. fisheries, avionics, bionics/healthcare/assistive technologies,
sports technologies, civionics and smart/green buildings and
Keywords—STEAM education, project-based learning, robotics, structures, electric and autonomous vehicles (automotive
CNC machining, 3D printing systems), renewable energy, and Industry 4.0, to name a few.
As end users for many of these innovations developed at the
I.
INTRODUCTION engineering college/university level are in external institutions,
Scientific and technological innovation has become the e.g., hospitals and medical colleges, farm and fisheries
engine of modern economies. Much of this innovation is based extension centres, as well as industries and research
on the endeavors of researchers (both faculty and students), laboratories, it is hoped that over time a culture of
scientists and engineers, in the higher education sector. In the multidisciplinary and multi-institutional collaboration will also
USA which has been preeminent in terms of the main measures emerge.
of innovation, e.g., number of Nobel Prizes, patents, innovative The emergence of extremely affordable open source
companies and startups, etc., the Research Universities play a hardware – especially, the Arduino microcontroller and
significant role in generating innovation [1]. Raspberry Pi single board computer – and free open source
In many developing countries like India, unfortunately, the hardware has led to a remarkable democratization of
scientific, technological and industrial innovation has been technological innovation. While Arduino was designed and
lagging well behind the advanced countries, due to several developed by artists to be usable by the non-technical
reasons. One important reason is that higher education in India community, Raspberry Pi was developed to facilitate teaching
is still based on the college system, which is a legacy from the and learning of programming, electronics, and robotics in
colonial era, and focuses on teaching toward job placement of schools. As a result, Maker Spaces which were first started in
the graduates (mainly, undergraduates and also some universities and colleges, are nowadays being established also
postgraduates). This has also largely been because higher in schools as Tinkering Labs to promote innovations among
educational institutions in India are siloed along narrow and school children and to provide them the benefits of
field-specific lines, e.g., separate institutes for engineering, technological immersion [7]. Private organizations are also
science, medicine, management, and so on. By contrast, stepping in to fill the vacuum in countries like China with its
multidisciplinary research and development typically occurring traditional “stuff the duck” school educational system [8]. The
in a modern university is increasingly central to creativity and Indian government has recently set up an Atal Tinkering Labs
innovation [2]. initiative with a goal of setting up Maker Spaces in 30,000

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schools nationwide to promote innovation and entrepreneurship youth with workplace skills and provide them dignifying jobs,
among school children. the dividend could well turn out to be a population bomb [13].
An additional challenge in this context is posed by automation
Since robotic systems involve design, fabrication, and robotics, which threaten to eliminate jobs in large scale
electronics, control, programming, teamwork and soft skills, across many fields. Similar serious issues are faced by several
robotics and the related field of mechatronics have become African and Latin American countries, and are augmented by
popular platforms for engineering education in various domains anthropomorphic Global Warming.
at the college and university level (e.g., [9]). The use of robots
with interactive or physical computing adds a playful The Indian government has in recent years rightly come up
dimension to the learning endeavors as early as the freshman with major initiatives such as Skills India, Digital India,
year, improving student motivation and retention [10]. Startup India, and Make in India. The goal is that numerous
Increasingly, the approach is adopted in school education as well-paying jobs could be generated by promoting indigenous
well. Inventor Dean Kamen founded the FIRST (For economic development and entrepreneurship, through skill
Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) development among the youth and enabling growth through
Robotics Competition in 1992 to encourage American high promotion of information technologies. The results so far,
school students to take up careers in STEM fields. The however, are not encouraging due to many factors. A major
competition was later extended to leagues for middle and reason for this is the absence of a culture of innovation which
primary schools, and to schools around the world. The in turn is largely tied to India’s school and college/university
overwhelming goal of the competitions was best summarized education systems based on the passive and teacher-centric
by Kamen recently as “We are not using kids to build robots. pedagogy. Therefore, transformation of this educational system
We are using robots to build kids” [11]. The extreme to a student-centric, active and innovative model of teaching-
affordability of the electromechanical components such as learning is essential for future social and economic
motors or actuators, sensors, networking, and controllers for the development.
learning population at the bottom of the pyramid has made
As India and other developing countries need numerous
robotics a game changer in African countries [12].
well-paying jobs and economic growth to ensure social welfare,
The Teaching Learning Center at Indian Institute of the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship to these
Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing- countries is obvious. The overwhelming issue for their
Kancheepuram where the present project is carried out was educators then is how to reform the educational system to
established as an educational technology development center encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, instead of training
for design and manufacturing education. The focus is on the youth for jobs in the government and private sectors, both of
design, development and dissemination of extremely affordable which are on the decline.
laboratory education equipment like multi-axis robot
There is an interesting dichotomy in the evolution of the
manipulators and mobile robots, additive manufacturing
technologies like 3D printer and 3D scanner, and subtractive economies of India and China over the past quarter century,
manufacturing technologies like desktop computer numerical that point to differences in economic development,
control (CNC) machines such as mill, lathe, router, printed technological adoption and innovation in the long run. Over the
last two decades – starting with the Y2K scare and related
circuit board (PCB) machine, laser engraver/cutter, and plasma
cutter. The intended beneficiaries are faculty and students of surge in demand for information technology (IT) jobs – Indian
higher education has emphasized training toward jobs in the IT
engineering universities, colleges, polytechnics and industrial
sector, and this has largely been to the benefit of an urban,
training institutes.
college-educated and English-speaking segment of the youth
From the beginning, the TLC has been active in schools population. By contrast, China has placed emphasis on the
outreach. It has established partnership with a corporate manufacturing industry and eventually became the Factory of
sponsor (Capgemini, as part of its corporate social the World, as evidenced by the comparison of Indian and
responsibility program) and a non-profit foundation (SRF Chinese manufacturing sectors in Table 1. This has meant that
Foundation), to help set up and operate tinkering labs or maker the Chinese could generate mass employment opportunities on
spaces in 13 resource-poor government high schools in the the factory floor, for even rural, non-English-speaking, college
south Indian cities of Chennai and Bengaluru. The scheme has and high school graduates and dropouts. Initially, the jobs were
also been extended to 17 high schools in seven other cities in in low-skill assembly and labor-intensive manufacturing, but
India. This paper provides an overview of the STEAM Labs gradually Chinese industry is moving toward design and value-
established in the schools, the tools deployed, proposed lesson added higher-end manufacturing, including robotics [14].
plans and teaching learning activities, and how they can be
adopted in other environments. As China’s population ages rapidly and its factory wages
keep rising, an estimated 80 million manufacturing jobs are
expected to be outsourced from China to other countries,
II.
INNOVATION FOR JOB AND INCOME CREATION including India [15]. China is trying to stem the outflow of jobs
India’s population growth trends project a large youthful and factories by investing in artificial intelligence and robotics
segment which could lead to a “demographic dividend,” since [14]. However, developing countries would be wise to invest in
most developed countries and large developing countries like education for design, robotics and manufacturing, so as to
China face an ageing population trend. However, there are employ the resulting low-cost high-skilled labor and also reap
warnings that in the absence of effective initiatives to equip the the benefits of emerging technologies like low-cost precision

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 TABLE I.
MANUFACTURING AND EMPLOYMENT IN CHINA AND INDIA basic and advanced Arduino. Photographs of the mobile robot
with and without the top cover are shown in Fig. 1.

India China
Population (% of global) 17.5% 

Manufacturing GDP & rank $240 $2.9
billion trillion
&10th &1st
Global Manufacturing Competitiveness 2nd 1st
Index
Manufacturing as % of GDP 12.9% 31.8%
Manufacturing Employment & as % of 11 million 100
Total & 5.8% million &
34%
% of Global Manufacturing Exports 1.6% 17.5%
% of Global Engineering Exports 1.2% 12.3%
Hourly Wages $1 $3

Foreign investment profitability index 1 (6 ) 65 (60)

(2015 & 2014)
Global Innovation Index (out of 143 76 29
countries, 2014)
Fig. 1.
Low-cost miniature mobile robot.

agriculture [16]. Robotics education provides further benefits in The mobile robot is about 35 cm tall, and has a base width
the pursuit of several disruptive technologies of the future, such of 10.5 cm. It is actuated by two DC toy motors powered with
as semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, onboard lead-acid battery, and is controlled by a mobile phone
Internet of Things, cyber-physical systems, and renewable app through a Bluetooth module. For additional action, an RC
energy [17]. Many of these technologies involve sensors, servo is used to rotate the head of the robot with blinking LED
actuators, feedback control, networking, and computer lights for eyes.
software, increasingly with data analytics and machine
learning. The twelve disruptive technologies have a $20 trillion School teachers and students are introduced to basic and
innovation opportunity, and are also closely related to emerging advanced Arduino concepts in a 3- or 4-day hands-on
technologies like artificial intelligence, drones, Industry 4.0, workshop. The topics covered are as follows:
and augmented and virtual reality. •
Basic Arduino concepts: Introduction to
Given the above arguments, therefore, the importance of microcontrollers, Arduino IDE and coding, Basics of
innovative education in robotics, design, and additive and electronic circuits including breadboard use, LED blink
subtractive manufacturing, for developing countries including with digital output, RGB (red, green and blue) LED and
India is quite obvious, from the viewpoint of creative multiple LEDs, Push button sensing with digital input,
education, entrepreneurship, income and job creation. Potentiometer reading with analog input, Photoresistor
and temperature sensor, RC servo control with pulse
width modulation (PWM), and Piezo element/buzzer.
III.
AFFORDABLE ROBOTS FOR EDUCATION
A major obstacle to teaching and learning for innovation in •
Advanced Arduino concepts: LCD display, 7-segment
developing countries is the high cost of educational LED, Alphanumeric keypad, DC motor speed and
technologies, which are needed for hands-on instruction. Often, direction control, stepper motor control, GSM/GPRS
these technologies are imported, and involve expensive module, Ultrasonic sensor, Infrared sensor, RFID
maintenance and upgrade costs. This is one reason why even module, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules.
education in practical fields like science and engineering in Due to high cost of shields, modules only are used in these
developing countries turns out to be largely text book-based. experiments. As can be induced, the main purpose of the
Luckily, the advent and popularity of open source hardware workshops is not exhaustive coverage of the various concepts,
and software over the past decade or so, has led to a Maker or but largely to give orientation to and motivation for the subject.
DIY movement facilitating the in-house design and After conducting several short-term workshops in different
development of very low-cost laboratory equipment for both schools and colleges for teachers and students, it has been
teaching and research [18]. found that participants are pretty much comfortable with the
pace and level of topics covered. The teaching materials
The Arduino microcontroller is used widely in courses and include quiz-type exercises to test the understanding, as well as
projects on robotics, mechatronics, embedded systems, Internet innovative post-lab exercises with online references.
of Things, and so on. A very low-cost DIY mobile robot
costing about INR (Indian rupees) 2,380 (approximately, On the last afternoon of the workshop, participants are
US$35) has been designed and developed in TLC for teaching assigned a team project, e.g., LED cube display with music,
school children about robotics, as a follow up to instruction in wearable LED, and so on (Fig. 2).

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Fig. 2.
School teachers with LED wearables as team project outcomes.

To increase access to the robots and raise the technological

Fig. 4.
A BYO 3-link electrically actuated robot manipulator.
literacty of the students and the public, an Internet-based
mobile robot racing system has been developed and tested.
Students from schools about 600 km from the lab as well as IV.
AFFORDABLE ADDITIVE AND SUBTRACTIVE
university students from Japan have successfully raced the MANUFACTURING EDUCATION
robots over the Web, with nominal delays. To provide
technological immersion experience to the participants, virtual Robot design involves the use of mechanical body, linear or
reality goggles were provided to the students with smart phone rotary actuators, sensors, controller, and computer hardware
and software. Robotic systems are essentially multi-axis motion
app for control (Fig. 3).
control systems and have much in common with manufacturing
control systems like 3D printers/scanners and CNC machines.
Therefore, playful learning of robotic systems can be used in a
straightforward manner to introduce school teachers and
students to the study of design and manufacturing systems.
While 3D printers are increasingly being used in schools
abroad, in Indian government schools the problems of hot and
humid weather as well as dust pollution pose significant
difficulties in the reliable operation of 3D printers over the long
term. Therefore, recently a low-cost DIY 3D printer (Fig. 5)
based on open source designs and costing about $350 has been
fabricated for use in central locations. For schools with Internet
access, web-based teleoperation can be used for the teachers
Fig. 3.
Internet-based mobile robot racing
and students to work with central 3D printers through a Virtual
Laboratory system. Further, experience with DIY printers will
A 3-link electrically acuated robot manipulator or arm
ensure that the machines can be repaired in-house. Work is
developed for use in university/college laboratory courses on
presently underway on fabrication of dual extruder 3D printers
industrial robotics is shown in Fig. 4. Unlike expensive
and portable, miniature 3D printers for hands-on
commercial grade robot arms which can mainly be used in
demonstrations at schools, particularly in rural areas.
teach-and-playback mode only due to legacy and interfacing
issues, our robot is open sourced and so can be used for hands-
on experiments on forward and inverse kinematics, trajectory
planning, position and trajectory control, sensing and computer
vision, as well as robot operating system programming.
The manipulator uses geared DC servomotors with optical
encoders and so is somewhat expensive but provides reliable
and precise performance for use in university/college robotics,
mechatronics and control laboratory courses. However, it is
overdesigned and quite expensive for use in school tinkering
labs, which can use robot arms as smart toys. Presently, work is
underway on the design and development of simpler and
inexpensive robot arms powered by RC servos for adoption by
school teachers. In future, the design will be extended to larger
and more powerful manipulators actuated by stepper motors Fig. 5.
Low-cost DIY 3D printer.
with open loop control.
Computer numerical control (CNC) machines, also called
subtractive manufacturing systems, constitute a significant part

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of manufacturing in USA and UK. CNC machinists are in high
demand, and so many high schools and even middle schools in
US have introduced courses in CAD/CAM (computer aided
manufacturing)/CNC for their students (e.g., [19]). CNC
machines are mostly used only in demo mode in Indian higher
educational institutions, due to their high cost. Therefore, the
Teaching Learning Centre has developed several extremely
affordable desktop DIY/BYO CNC machines: milling machine,
lathe, router, PCB machine, vinyl cutter, plasma cutter, and
laser engraver/cutter.
The CNC router, PCB machine, and vinyl/plasma/laser
cutter are all variations of the basic CNC milling machine. Fig. 8.
Desktop 3-axis CNC router (aluminum frame) with sample parts.
Therefore, a suite of CNC machines can be used in
college/university manufacturing technology laboratory
courses, with valuable practical skills acquired by students at
low cost. While these machines do not have the precision or
power of commercial grade or more expensive laboratory
machines, they are more than adequate for teaching learning
purposes. Inexpensive raw materials such as plywood and wax
can be used to learn CAD, CAM and CNC machining. Some of
the TLC equipment are shown in Figs. 6 to 10. Detailed
manuals with parts diagrams, component and assembly photos,
step-by-step instructions, and bill of materials are posted on the
website.
As mentioned before, the router and cutter machines are
Fig. 9.
Desktop PCB machine with sample circuit boards.
variations of the CNC mill, obtained by replacing the mill
cutting tool with corresponding with router bit, PCB engraving
and drill bits, etc. Recently, a CNC plasma cutter and a CNC
laser cutter have also been fabricated using this approach.

Fig. 10.
Desktop CNC laser engraver with sample parts.

V.
DISCUSSION
The educational technologies developed in this paper
Fig. 6.
Desktop 3-axis CNC mill (PVC frame) with sample parts.
provide significant flexibility for adoption in both higher
education (engineering college/university) and high school
environments at very low cost. As designers, visual artists, and
architects also increasingly use rapid prototyping (3D printer)
and digital fabrication (laser cutter and CNC machines) tools in
their work, the technologies can also be adopted for teaching
and learning of digital art, prototyping and fabrication. As
mentioned in the Introduction, this can also foster collaboration
in teaching, learning, research and development across
disciplines. As the adoption of latest technologies like 3D
printing and CNC machines in small and medium industries is
still not widespread in countries like India, the DIY/BYO
Fig. 7.
Desktop 2-axis CNC lathe with sample parts.
technologies can also be used to train industry technicians and
engineers, thereby leading to opportunities for industrial
consultancy by faculty and entrepreneurship. With experience

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and confidence gained in the DIY fabrication, maintenance and development can be better harnessed by exposing them to
repairs by the teachers and students themselves, users can make innovation at an early stage [20]. The benefits of exposing
future upgrades and improvements on their own, e.g., size, school children to innovative and cost-effective STEAM Labs
power and capabilities of the machines, materials handled, along the lines discussed here can bring significant benefits to
curriculum and lesson plans developed, and innovative projects developing countries in the medium and long run. The
facilitated by the access to these machines. mentoring experience also proves valuable to the faculty and
students of the higher educational institutions [21]. We already
The dissemination of the educational technologies is are working to expand the STEAM Labs program to more
facilitated at the university and college level by short-term government high schools in several other cities in India, and the
hands-on workshops for both teachers and students, and corporate sponsor is keen on further expansion in future based
internships. Many universities, colleges and polytechnics (the on the success of, and lessons learnt from, the present project. It
equivalent of community colleges in USA) have fabricated is planned to collaborate with the Indian government’s Atal
their own equipment through such internships. The Teaching Innovation Mission so that the best practices in curriculum
Learning Centre website (tlc.iiitdm.ac.in) attracts visitors from design and teaching learning materials can be shared. There is
around the world. As the best way to disseminate DIY also scope for international crowd sourcing as evidenced from
educational technologies is through open source and crowd the global visitors to the center’s website.
sourcing, complete fabrication documentation in the form of
assembly and operation manuals, photographs and videos are
being posted on the website for the various equipment VI.
CONCLUSION
developed. It is also hoped to publicize these technologies This paper has presented a comprehensive overview of the
through professional societies such as IEEE, via the Special ongoing STEAM Labs project implemented in several
Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT), and so resource-poor government high schools in nine Indian cities, as
on. schools outreach initiative of a manufacturing education
The high school STEAM Labs are presently accessible to technology development centre for colleges and universities.
100 students of four classes and their teachers, in each of the The labs provide hands-on skills in electronics, robotics,
high schools. Participating students belong to grades 5 to 9. In machining, and programming, using DIY/BYO robot
India, high school students tend to focus on college entrance manipulators and mobile robots, CNC machines, and 3D
examinations once they enter grade 10 (grades 11 and 12 are printers at very low cost. Extreme affordability is assured by
separately sectioned, called higher secondary school), and the use of open source hardware and software, and hence the
therefore involvement in the higher grades is made optional. project can be adopted widely.

Children in Grade 6 are offered hands-on learning in ACKNOWLEDGMENT

science and math concepts by additional partners in the project.
Woodworking and practice with hand tools and power tools are The financial support for the work reported was provided
also taught in Grade 6. Basic electronics, Arduino, Raspberry by the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development under
Pi, and robotics are introduced in Grades 7-9 in a graded the Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on
manner. Hands-on CNC milling is introduced using Tinkercad, Teachers and Teaching. SRF Foundation’s InnoSTE(A)M Labs
SketchUp, and Fusion 360 for 2D and 3D modeling and initiative is supported by Capgemini Corporation’s School
CAD/CAM, and Inkscape for CAM with the milling machine Adoption Project. The technical contributions of the Teaching
used as a painting robot. In grades 8 and 9, students will be Learning Centre staff, and the trainers of SRF Foundation are
introduced to webpage/website design, mobile app acknowledged.
development using MIT App Inventor, and video game
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