Low-Cost Open-Source Robotic Platform for Education

This article describes an open-source robotic manipulator platform aimed at different levels of STEM education and popularization. It presents the hardware that was used to make a suitable low-cost low-weight manipulator and an evaluation of its capabilities, as well as the software components that were developed to make the platform accessible at different levels of education and in various usage scenarios. Finally, the results of a comprehensive user evaluation study spanning over several years are presented. The system was tested in several different educational scenarios, ranging from a summer school for primary-school students to a university-level course. The results of the study show that the introduction of the system into the educational process improves the motivation as well as the acquired knowledge of the participants.