SEED projects 2019 – A new Canvas for teaching and learning

Remote teaching lab for mobile robots

Dr Hazim Namik (Faculty of Engineering)

In MECHENG 201 the students are given the challenging hands-on project to program a robot to perform certain tasks. Outside the weekly scheduled lab session for eight weeks, students can only work on their algorithms but not test them on a real robot. This project has helped students on campus to access robots and upload their programs outside the sessions.

More contact time with the robot is one of the most common feedback comments in student surveys. Due to lab availability and student timetables, it has not been possible to schedule more lab sessions. Allowing students additional contact time with the robot has therefore allowed them to test additional ideas and concepts discussed in the lectures and increases their chances of successfully completing their project to a high standard. I hope that the findings of this project will help other departments and faculties to rethink their labs and how to give students increased access to labs where limited resources and availability have become an issue.