[G3] - WonkyBots

Inspiration

All the members of our team are passionate about mechanics and robotics, and we have all been influenced by our participation as students and teachers at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam. We took inspiration from real world robot kits used in education, some of which we ourselves have used as educators or students, like the Vex robotics kit.

What it does

The application allows realtime interaction between teachers and students while learning important STEM concepts around mechanics, physics, electronics and programming. Students get hands on practice building robots while teachers can use a variety of templates or design their own to build challenges around the desired course materials. Students can easily work on their projects at school or at home, and be together in a shared virtual challenge arena where they can observe their robots compete and do variations of them after watching their performance.

How we built it

We studied some of the challenges faced in schools with using robot kits, as well as the different components that would be important to include in our application. We looked to the advantages of using mixed reality and used the Meta Presence SDK to create the passthrough experience. We used Blender for creating the models, Unity physics for the simulation and a combination of plugins, Meta, and Unity tools to create the snapping and UI experience. We used chat-GPT to help us formulate the structure of the educational flow.

Challenges we ran into

We found some issues with UI compatibility between the Meta Presence and Unity tools. Keeping scope down was also quite challenging as there are so many possibilities to expand upon. Figuring out where to start and then bringing all the elements together was also a very interesting challenge.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We found a good balance of modules and design elements that works as a proof of concept on which to further build upon. The team had clear roles and we all used our strengths in a focused manner. There was good communication which helped us to keep moving forward with the best use of our time. We have a clear basic design and working mechanics, as well as a plan to expand from there.

What we learned

Designing for education requires a more structured approach and knowledge of the field and existing conventions. It was an advantage that one of our members had some experience with using these robotic kits in education. We

What's next for [3] WonkyBots

We want to add more tools for the teachers to make it easier fro them to prepare the various challenges as well as add a dashboard to see the progress of the students. We also want to add more modules like sensors, structural design, motor types and programming blocks, as well as the capacity to simulate different environments like underwater, outerspace, deserts, jungles or city areas.