Cellulo Versatile Handheld Robots for Education

• Published in: 2017 12th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI pp. 119 - 127
• Main Authors: Özgür, Ayberk, Lemaignan, Séverin, Johal, Wafa, Beltran, Maria, Briod, Manon, Pereyre, Léa, Mondada, Francesco, Dillenbourg, Pierre
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY, USA ACM 06.03.2017
• Series: ACM Conferences
• Subjects: Applied computing > Education > Interactive learning environments; Computer systems organization > Embedded and cyber-physical systems > Robotics; Education; Haptic interfaces; Hardware; Human-centered computing > Human computer interaction (HCI) > Interaction devices > Haptic devices; Human-Robot Interaction; Robot kinematics; Robot sensing systems; Robots for Learning; Tangible Robots; human-robot interaction; robots for learning; haptic interfaces; tangible robots
• ISBN: 9781450343367; 1450343368
• ISSN: 2167-2148
• DOI: 10.1145/2909824.3020247

In this article, we present Cellulo, a novel robotic platform that investigates the intersection of three ideas for robotics in education: designing the robots to be versatile and generic tools; blending robots into the classroom by designing them to be pervasive objects and by creating tight interactions with (already pervasive) paper; and finally considering the practical constraints of real classrooms at every stage of the design. Our platform results from these considerations and builds on a unique combination of technologies: groups of handheld haptic-enabled robots, tablets and activity sheets printed on regular paper. The robots feature holonomic motion, haptic feedback capability and high accuracy localization through a microdot pattern overlaid on top of the activity sheets, while remaining affordable (robots cost about EUR 125 at the prototype stage) and classroom-friendly. We present the platform and report on our first interaction studies, involving about 230 children.