Wo kshop
Recommended ci a ion: Klomp, M., Claij, C., & Saunde s-Smi s, G. N. (2025).
Mee MIRTE - Using A o dable Open Science Robo s in Enginee ing Educa ion.
In Kangaslampi, R., Langie, G., Jä inen, H.-M., & Nagy, B. (Eds.), SEFI 53 d
Annual Con e ence. Eu opean Socie y o Enginee ing Educa ion (SEFI),
Tampe e, Finland. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17631419.
This Con e ence Pape is b ough o you o open access by he 53 d Annual Con e ence
o he Eu opean Socie y o Enginee ing Educa ion (SEFI) a Tampe e Uni e si y in
Tampe e, Finland. This wo k is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons
A ibu ion-NonComme cial-Sha e Alike 4.0 In e na ional License.
MEET MIRTE - USING AFFORDABLE OPEN SCIENCE ROBOTS IN
ENGINEERING EDUCATION
G.N. Saunde s-Smi s a,
1
, C.C. Claij b,
M. Klomp, c
a Del Uni e si y o Technology, Del , The Ne he lands, 0000-0002-2905-864X
b Del Uni e si y o Technology, Del , The Ne he lands
c Del Uni e si y o Technology, Del , The Ne he lands, 0009-0000-3126-762X
Con e ence Key A eas: Digi al ools and AI in enginee ing educa ion, Open and
online educa ion o enginee s
Keywo ds: Robo ics, Open Educa ional Resou ces, Ac i e Lea ning, Make
Educa ion, Educa ional Robo s
ABSTRACT
Wi h he ad ances in obo ics applica ions in socie y, i has become impe a i e o
equip enginee ing s uden s wi h p ac ical obo ics skills ele an o hei ield.
Howe e , inco po a ing obo s in o highe educa ion poses challenges, pa icula ly
ega ding cos , obsolescence, and main enance. This wo kshop in oduces
enginee ing educa o s o he MIRTE Pionee , an a o dable, open-science, modula ,
mobile educa ional obo designed o use in uppe seconda y and uni e si y
educa ion se ings. The Pionee is pa o a amily o MIRTE educa ional obo s o
use in p ima y school o uni e si y de eloped a Del Uni e si y o Technology in he
Ne he lands. By being a uly mul i-pu pose, open science obo , wi h all i s ma e ial
a ailable as open sou ce, open ha dwa e and open educa ional esou ces, MIRTE is
a communi y whe e educa o s a e no ied down o a speci ic goal o pu pose and
can endlessly adap and expand MIRTE o hei own needs and sha e hei
esou ces. This allows educa o s o p o ide s uden s wi h hands-on expe ience in
designing, p og amming, and elec onics as hey see i .
The wo kshop aims o in oduce pa icipan s o MIRTE and explo e i s use in hei
own educa ion and, by doing so, con ibu e o an in e na ional communi y o open
obo ics educa ion. I consis s o a combina ion o hands-on expe imen a ion wi h he
MIRTE obo and he pa icipan ’s own lap op, combined wi h g oup discussions, in
which pa icipan s will explo e he po en ial o in eg a ing he MIRTE Pionee in o
hei educa ional en i onmen s.
1
Co esponding Au ho : G.N. Saunde s-Smi s, G.N.Saunde s@ udel .nl
1 BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
Using obo s in educa ion is no new, howe e , due o he apid g ow h in obo ics
applica ions bo h in indus ial and medical applica ions and in e e yday socie y, we
mus p epa e and educa e all ou enginee ing s uden s in obo ics ele an o hei
ield. Ye many (highe ) educa ion ins i u es s uggle when using obo s in
enginee ing educa ion, especially when s uden numbe s a e high. Comme cially
a ailable educa ional obo s a e expensi e o buy, can become obsole e quickly and
a e ime-consuming o main ain (A in e al., 2019). As a esul , many open-sou ce
educa ional obo ini ia i es ha e sp ung up o e he las 10 yea s, such as he AWS
Robo ics cu iculum and SUMO obo s. Howe e , many a e limi ed in use as hey
a e ied o a speci ic educa ional le el o pu pose o hei open-sou ce so wa e
eposi o ies a e o en quickly abandoned lea ing use s s anded (E ipidou e al.,
2020; Klomp e al., 2024).
Fig. 1 MIRTE Pionee (homebuil : €100 – ki : €150)
The p izes shown based on sou cing componen s and sel -assembly
1.1 MIRTE
The lack o applicable, a o dable and eliable Open Science obo s led one o he
wo kshop leade s, inspi ed by he “One Lap op pe child p og amme” (Ames, 2019),
o c ea e MIRTE, which s ands o : Mi e, an Inspi ing Robo o Technology
Educa ion. MIRTE is designed as a semi o ully au onomous a o dable mobile obo
pla o m o be used in educa ional se ings (Klomp e al., 2024). The pla o m is
de eloped using a amily concep , allowing i o be used om p ima y school o
uni e si y and i he co esponding needs. Whils MIRTE Basic and Ligh a e aimed
a p ima y and lowe seconda y educa ion, he MIRTE Pionee is aimed a uppe
seconda y and uni e si y educa ion. Con a y o mos educa ional obo s, i is
equipped wi h an O ange Pi compu e and a dedica ed PCB, on which a
mic ocon olle si s, and which o e s oom o an a ay o senso s o allow MIRTE o
un he Robo Ope a ing Sys em (ROS - www. os.o g). This allows o MIRTE o be
adap ed by mo e expe ienced obo ics educa o s and de elope s o i hei speci ic
needs, o ins ance, i ing g ippe s and se os. F om he Pionee , an e en bigge
spino obo has been de eloped he MIRTE Mas e , which is success ully used in
MSc educa ion and o esea ch (Klomp e al., 2024; Van de Nie e al., 2023).
The MIRTE amily has been de eloped using he amewo k o Bies a (Bies a, 2009,
2021) based on he p inciples o quali ica ion ( he ounda ional STEM knowledge a
he app op ia e le el), socialisa ion (being able o hink c i ically ac oss cul u al and
socie al con ex s by wo king oge he in di e se class ooms) and subjec i ica ion
( eaching s uden s o ake esponsibili y o hei choices). The MIRTE Pionee is
cu en ly ex ensi ely used in BSc p og ammes in ou ins i u ion and beyond, wi h
o e 300 MIRTE Pionee s being buil and used by ou BSc s uden s each yea .
a) Ac i e Lea ning: Making you
own T ash So ing obo ,
2nd yea BSc
b) Challenge Based lea ning: Making a Cow
he ding obo o indus y, MSc (Anon2, 2023)
Fig. 2 MIRTE obo s in use in educa ion
1.2 MIRTE PIONEER
MIRTE’s ha dwa e basis consis s o a (wooden) chassis, wheels, mo o s, ba e y
pack and ligh senso which allows use s o add addi ional o - he-shel ha dwa e
depending on hei needs (modula i y) and is powe ed by a s anda d 5V powe bank.
The base i sel is no an o - he-shel p oduc ins ead we p o ide he DXF, STL, and
F eeCAD iles o people o make hei own, al e na i ely hey can use an exis ing
base. Fo he MIRTE Pionee , use s can use he Open Ha dwa e solu ion o a
b eadboa d combined wi h an MB102 Mic o USB In e ace B eadboa d Powe
Supply Module and a spli e cable o a dedica ed PCB, ei he using ou design o by
c ea ing you own. See he MIRTE Docs o mo e in o ma ion
(h ps://docs.mi e.o g). In addi ion, a a ie y o di e en senso s can be added o he
obo , depending on needs and budge . A e sion o he MIRTE chassis ha is
pa ially compa ible wi h LEGO Technics is a ailable on Gi Hub o allow o mo e
modula i y.
MIRTE can be con olled using di e en so wa e in e aces: a web in e ace in which
Blockly o Py hon p og amming can be done o , o onboa d p og amming in C++ o
Py hon using ROS. MIRTE wo ks on ROS1 and ROS2. All sou ce code can be ound
in ou Gi Hub eposi o y (h ps://gi hub.com/mi e- obo ).
1.3 Open Science
Whils many educa ional obo s o e he use o he so wa e, he CAD iles, o he
educa ion ma e ial o ee, hey a e o en no uly open in ha hey only o e
esou ces o use bu p o ec pa o hei obo sys em and end o no welcome
de elope s o de elop and g ow hei obo s u he . The MIRTE amily is ue o all
Open Science p inciples in ha i sees i sel as a communi y in which use s and
de elope s de elop, sha e and use code, obo designs, educa ional esou ces and
much mo e. I welcomes people o wo k on MIRTE and de elop he amily so ha
mo e people may de elop much needed obo ics skills.
2 WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES
Du ing his wo kshop, pa icipan s will be in oduced o MIRTE Pionee , i s uses and
explo e i s po en ial use in hei own educa ion. I consis s o a combina ion o hands-
on expe imen a ion wi h he MIRTE obo , and g oup discussions, in which
pa icipan s will explo e he po en ial o in eg a ing he MIRTE Pionee in o hei
educa ional en i onmen s.
2.1 Ta ge audience
The a ge audience consis s o enginee ing educa o s and cu iculum de elope s
om any discipline, in e es ed in disco e ing i using an Open Science obo is a
po en ial al e na i e o eaching hei s uden s abou elec onics, p og amming, AI,
obo ics, and mechanical enginee ing in an ac i e way. No p io knowledge is
equi ed (bu can be help ul). Pa icipan s a e asked o b ing hei lap op o connec
o he MIRTE Pionee o expe ience wo king wi h MIRTE using a web in e ace. No
addi ional so wa e needs o be ins alled.
2.2 Expec ed lea ning ou comes
A he end o he wo kshop pa icipan s will ha e:
- Basic knowledge o he MIRTE Family and i s possibili ies as educa ional
obo s
- Connec ed o and ope a ed a MIRTE Pionee o pe o m a small obo ics
mission con olled using hei lap op
- Know whe e o ind and how o use he MIRTE Open Science esou ces on
Gi Hub and he MIRTE Docs
- Ha e i s ideas on how o use a MIRTE (o al e na i es) obo in you
educa ion and wha i would ake o ha o happen
- Me o he educa o s in e es ed in using obo s in educa ion and ound
po en ial collabo a o s and iends
3 WORKSHOP DESIGN
3.1 Time plan
This one-hou wo kshop will p ima ily ocus on hands-on obo expe ience as his is
he bes way o expe ience he un and he challenges o using obo s in educa ion.
Table 1. MIRTE Wo kshop Time Plan
Run ime
Ac i i y
No es
10 min
In oduc ion o MIRTE
The concep behind MIRTE, i s
modula i y and use explained
30 min
Connec ing o & ope a ing MIRTE
using Open (Educa ional) Resou ces
In small g oups (4-6 people)
connec o MIRTE and lea n how
o ope a e MIRTE using basic
commands and comple e a small
mission wi h MIRTE
10 min
B ains o ming on po en ial use
MIRTE in you educa ion
In you g oup b ains o m, how you
could use MIRTE (o al e na i es)
in you educa ion and wha you
would need o achie e ha
10 min
Conclusions & esou ce sha ing
W ap up and sha ing o MIRTE
Resou ces & collabo a ions
3.2 In e ac i i y
In his wo kshop, we will in oduce he MIRTE Pionee (see Fig 1). A e a sho
in oduc ion, pa icipan s emba k on a hands-on ial o he obo , i s connec ing o
he obo and lea ning how o ope a e i , ollowed by ying o comple e a small
mission in small g oups. A e his, pa icipan s discuss in hei g oups wha
possibili ies, hey see o using such a obo in he con ex o hei educa ion and
wha i would ake o achie e ha . The session ends by explaining whe e all
esou ces can be ound, and how pa icipan s can con ibu e o and collabo a e in
he MIRTE communi y o sha e ideas, suppo and lea n om each o he .
4 WORKSHOP RESULTS
The wo kshop was well a ended wi h 18 pa icipan s, wi h 14 sha ing hei inpu o
his sec ion o he pape . When asked abou insigh s gained, pa icipan s epo ed
ha hey gained a be e unde s anding o how o wo k wi h obo s h ough hei
hands-on expe ience wi h MIRTE and o he lexibili y and possibili ies MIRTE o e s
a low cos in hei own educa ion. When asked wha hey would use MIRTEs o in
hei own educa ion a a ie y o uses we e epo ed ha exceeded ou own
expec a ions as au ho s: In addi ion o using MIRTE o eaching obo ics and STEM
ou each, po en ial uses lis ed by pa icipan s we e, using MIRTE as a sha ed objec
o wo k on oge he in a common en y p og amme o enginee ing, o each con ol
and algo i hms, eam building, eaching coding/p og amming and b eaking ea o
coding, elec onics, senso s and e en da a science. Finally, when asked wha
pa icipan s would need o make ha happen, hey lis ed as hei needs: Ha ing
MIRTEs (2x), unding (3x), eady- o-buy/use package obo s, mo e esou ces
including a py hon only web in e ace (no Blockly), suppo including esou ces and
educa ional con ex , how o deli e ac i i ies o la ge coho s.
In conclusion, as au ho s we ound he wo kshop inspi a ional and lo ed he
in e ac ion wi h pa icipan s and he subsequen connec ions o med. We would like
o hank all pa icipan s o hei pa icipa ion and look o wa d o u u e
collabo a ions o build a communi y o educa o s who use and co-de elop MIRTEs.
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