Cloud-based Robot E-learning Environment for Inclusive Home Education

This project will create a new e-learning environment for robotics, coding, and artificial intelligence (AI), using cloud computing, that is accessible to any student with a web browser. The environment will be low-cost and easy-to-use from home, school, college or university, and will promote STEM/digital education goals helping to prepare children, students, and people who have left full-time education, for current and future jobs in UK industry. Our project addresses the pressing need for new technologies for online/at home education created by the Covid-19 pandemic and will help address the skills deficit in digital technologies that threatens the future success of UK industry. The UK already faces significant skills shortages in these domains, and these are likely to be amplified by long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on international worker mobility.

The key project objectives are: (1) to create an online learning environment for robotics accessible via cloud computing, and using accurate (full-physics) simulation, with interfaces suitable for both beginners and more advanced programmers; (2) to develop teaching materials that are tuned to UK education curricula, for home "kitchen-table" learning settings, and that are accessible and engaging for a diverse range of student groups; (3) to work with education partners to pilot, evaluate and improve the simulator and teaching materials; and (4) to explore remote control of physical robots, via the internet, to provide new ways of learning about coding, AI and robotics.

The project extension will provide funding for updates to the created online educational interface MiRoCLOUD based on feedback from the rollout and testing in the original project. It will also provide the means for the international development of the product including the sourcing and cultivating more international users and recruiting partners through larger-scale Beta testing of new features and enhanced marketing. There will be targeted materials to help support international markets by supporting their national curricula. This will be accompanied by increased marketing effort utilising social media and focused content, and further community/market outreach with national and international competitions.