Virtual Robotics in Hybrid Teaching and Learning

*Sharon Mistretta*

## **Abstract**

Traditional robotics instruction in face-to-face classrooms, after-school clubs, and independent competition environments align with expensive, physical robot kits shared by students. Students or parent groups often elect themselves because of previous experience, expertise, or perceived technical ability to dominate the physical robotic platforms' planning, engineering, building, and subsequent programming. This self-elected grabbing of control leaves students who are not regarded as wellpositioned to contribute sidelined to observe the self-appointed experts of the group. Virtual robotics platforms provide educators and coaches with the unique opportunity to give every student access to a robot. Each student learns programming, math, and scientific forces that impact robots through simulated physics algorithms. With their customizable virtual environments, virtual robotics platforms such as Vex VR and Robot Virtual Worlds level the playing field. All students can learn, practice, and subsequently contribute to robotics-centered group projects or competitive teams in meaningful ways. This book chapter delineates the strategies to implement virtual robotics in hybrid classroom environments supported by the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. Additionally, this chapter reviews how computer-aided design and augmented reality platforms provide students with the opportunity to incorporate 3D objects into virtual worlds.

**Keywords:** virtual robotics, hybrid teaching environments, TPACK framework, computer-aided design, augmented reality

## **1. Introduction**

Robotics courses, after-school programs, and teams are highly sought-after by school districts and parents who wish to provide their students with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) instruction to cultivate a foothold for children in future STEM majors and careers [1–3]. Acquiring physical robotic kits, tools, building and testing space, storage units, computer equipment, and software can be an expensive and time-consuming proposition. Funding for this scope of sustained classroom robotics ranges from well-organized parent-teacher committees [4], business sponsors in return for advertisements on t-shirts [5], and grants from non-profit robot competition entities such as Vex Robotics Education Competition Foundation [6].

The ratio of student-to-robot varies as children enroll in a class, program, or team. A small classroom bundle of robots, such as the Vex IQ, provides five kits, a 12-tile

playfield, 18 generic game objects, storage bins, five "pin tools," and costs approximately \$2250 [7]. In a classroom, club, or team of 20 students, this kit provides a 4:1 ratio of students to a robot. Classrooms and clubs can implement a generic "build" such as the Vex IQ Clawbot robot to practice fundamental robotics. Competitions, which change every year, require a custom build to enact the unique game established as a challenge by non-profit organizations such as Vex or FIRST Robotics. A team wishing to practice-to-win with their uniquely engineered robot could invest in a competition-size playfield and purchase the new game pieces each year.

With the physical requirements of robotics established, this still leaves teachers and parents with the imperative to provide all students with the opportunity to plan, engineer, build, program, and test a robot. Every physical robotic platform is a synthesis of hardware, software, and firmware. The definition of each of these terms is as follows:


Teachers, parents, and coaches are frequently at a loss of where to begin. This chapter delineates the implementation of virtual robotics as an on-ramp to familiarize educators and their stakeholders with the fundamentals of programming a robot to navigate a virtual world through a simulated physics algorithm. Virtual reality (VR) is a technology that immerses the user into a coded environment that employs visual output to depict different surroundings other than the real world. VR is typically associated with a headset such as Google Cardboard [8] or Merge VR headsets [9] that the user wears to block out the real world and experience new visual input. Vex VR and Robot Virtual Worlds are examples of virtual worlds that depict robots in a computer-generated environment without the use of goggles or headsets. The user observes the robot in an environment on their computer screen.

Virtual robotics provides educators, parents, and coaches with a 1:1 learner to robot ratio. Adults supporting robots in the classrooms, clubs, and competitions should understand the world of robots before making a substantial financial and time investment in physical kits, dedicated building & testing space, and the logistics to field a competition-ready team.

The following sections employ the technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework [10] that delineates the necessary knowledgebase to understand the *intersections* of teaching methods and content knowledge (**Figure 1**) to instruct with technology effectively. Robotics brings science and math instruction to the forefront as students must understand scientific *content* such as force and friction and mathematical concepts such as circle geometry. *Pedagogy* embodies the methods and teaching practices of the component disciplines of science, technology, and math. The ultimate intersection of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) provides a solid on-ramp to robotics.

*Virtual Robotics in Hybrid Teaching and Learning DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102038*

### **Figure 1.**

*Diagram of the intersections of the TPACK framework.*

Using TPACK as a framework, the remaining sections of this chapter discuss the following virtual robotics platforms and supporting applications:


This chapter concludes with a summary of virtual robotics and suggested transitions using a hybrid approach to virtual and physical robotics.

### **2. Vex VR**

Vex VR is a browser-based virtual robot platform provided by the Vex Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation. This platform is an ideal place to introduce students, teachers, parents, and coaches to the world of robotics. Educators can consider the VR Vex platform as a tool to use with students in face-to-face and synchronous or asynchronous online environments. The goal is to provide *all* students with the *same* learning opportunities. It is essential to consider how educators can use platforms such as Google Classroom [15] and Google Drive [16] to deliver supporting content, such as worksheets, to students. Online materials become accessible to all hybrid learners in the same room, joining via Google Meet [17], or who must enact the lessons when they have access to a shared home computer. Creating multiple entry points for students in a hybrid approach is the ultimate in student-centered learning.

With the hybrid "classroom" organization established, let us define programming. By this author's definition, programming is writing instructions to cause an object made of plastic, glass, rare metals, and electricity to solve logical and mathematical statements repetitively.

There are several ground rules for every programmer to consider as they journey into this fantastic field of coding and robotics. First and foremost, the program is doing what it is doing because that is what you told it to do. Programmers must think of how the computer interprets our instructions, not how we believe the code should work. Next, concise code is best. Programming is not a competition to write the most lines of code. Concise lines of instructions take up less of the computer's memory and will run faster. Persistent programmers write great programs. Finish a job. Be proud of your product. Finally, share what you know. Robotics communities have robust collaborative forums and videos on social media. Share techniques to help up-andcoming teams.

### **2.1 Vex VR technological knowledge (TK)**

This section addresses the technical knowledge in the TPACK framework (**Figure 1**) necessary to implement the fundamentals of Vex VR. Since Vex VR is browser-based, there is no need to download software to each student's computer. A *browser* is software on your computer that communicates with a website's *server*, an extensive array of disk drives, that responds to your interactions when connected to the internet. Browsers such as Google Chrome [18] create a local, temporary file on each computer called *cache*. However, this temporary file resides on an individual computer and does not necessarily store a student's Vex VR ".vrblocks" file when the computer shuts down. The Vex VR software does allow students to export their developing program to the hard drive of their computer. At this juncture, educators should consider using Google Classroom [15] or the Google Drive [16] of their Gmail account to create folders for each student to upload their exported ".vrblocks" work-in-progress to their Google folder *each time* they finish a programming session. Using Google Drive to store files is particularly helpful if two students used the same device on different days or if a student is returning to school after working from home. Creating this workflow organization and reminding students to save, export, and upload their work to their Google folder saves time and frustration. Teach the students to rename each upload of their ".vrblocks" file with their name and date. For instance, Mistretta110921.vrblocks. Naming the file avoids confusion with prior iterations of the program and improves students' organizational skills. Google Drive [16] is capable of housing the ".vrblocks"

file. One must download the file to your computer and import it to Vex VR to continue to program.

## **2.2 Vex VR content knowledge: science and math (CK)**

This section addresses the science and math content knowledge in the TPACK framework (**Figure 1**) that underpin the natural forces and numeracy at work. Robotics is the glue that holds STEM together. The science topic of ultrasonic soundwaves correlates to the distance sensors on robots. The Vex VR software simulates the use of ultrasonic sound waves through a physics algorithm to measure the distance from an object in the robot's virtual environment. Educators can connect to the echolocation of bats and dolphins as an activity to explore the properties of ultrasound *before* teaching the blocks that detect the distance from an object to the robot's sensor. It is important to make these connections to students' *schema*, or prior knowledge, to other natural systems that use echolocation.

Kindly refer to **Video 1**, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CuYGgckdw5xhYdXFu1j zvtdbHiyeJ8zg/view?usp=sharing and **Figure 2** as you read the following descriptions of the Vex VR platform. The Vex VR Playground [11], selected in the upper right-hand corner of the blue ribbon on the screen, provides challenges to practice moving the robot around obstacles. This author recommends the Wall Maze (not the Dynamic Wall maze that changes with each run of the program) as a good beginner activity to discover the capabilities of the virtual robot. The programmer has the option to reveal

### **Figure 2.**

*VR vex platform. VR vex is a product of the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) foundation.*

a monitor by clicking the button located just above the camera icons in the lower right-hand corner of the Playground pop up window to display the values of the following virtual sensors: front eye, down eye, XY axis location, location angle, bumper value, and distance in millimeters from an object. Based on the readout of the sensors, the programmer can code the robot to stop when the distance threshold is less than a number that they observe on the monitor. Writing code based on the sensor monitor is a tangible application of math to employ comparison operators to calculate when the robot must stop and turn.
