3rd IFAC Workshop on Internet Based Control Education

November
3rd
3rd 4-6, 2015.on
IFAC Workshop Brescia, Italy
Internet Based Control Education
3rd IFAC
IFAC Workshop
Workshop onon Internet
Internet Based Control
Control Education
BasedAvailableEducation
online at www.sciencedirect.com
November
November 4-6, 2015. Brescia, Italy
November 4-6,
4-6, 2015.
2015. Brescia,
Brescia, Italy
Italy

ScienceDirect
IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-29 (2015) 105110
Experiences on using Arduino for laboratory experiments of
Experiences
Experiences on
on using
using Arduino
Arduino
Automatic for laboratory
forand
Control Roboticsexperiments
laboratory experiments of
of
Automatic Control and Robotics
Automatic Control and Robotics
F. A. Candelas, G. J. Garca, S. Puente, J. Pomares, C.A. Jara, J. Prez, D. Mira, F. Torres
F.
F. A.
F. A. Candelas,
A. Candelas, G.
Candelas, G. J.
G. J. Garca,
J. Garca, S.
Garca, S. Puente,
S. Puente, J.
Puente, J. Pomares,
J. Pomares, C.A.
Pomares, C.A. Jara,
C.A. Jara, J.
Jara, J. Prez,
J. Prez, D.
Prez, D. Mira,
D. Mira, F.
Mira, F. Torres
F. Torres
Torres
University of Alicante, Carretera de San Vicente del Raspeig, s/n, PO Box 03690, Alicante, Spain
University
University of
University of Alicante,
of Alicante,
Alicante, Carretera
Carretera de
Carretera de San
de San Vicente
Vicente del
Vicente
Sanjpomares, del
del Raspeig,
Raspeig, s/n,
s/n, PO
s/n, PO Box
PO
Raspeig, jpalepuz, Box
Box 03690,
03690, Alicante,
03690, Alicante,
Alicante, Spain
Spain
Spain
(e-mail: {francisco.candelas, gjgg, santiago.puente, carlos.jara, damian.mira, fernando.torres}@ua.es)
(e-mail:
(e-mail: {francisco.candelas, gjgg, santiago.puente, jpomares, carlos.jara, jpalepuz, damian.mira, fernando.torres}@ua.es)
(e-mail: {francisco.candelas,
{francisco.candelas, gjgg,
gjgg, santiago.puente,
santiago.puente, jpomares,
jpomares, carlos.jara,
carlos.jara, jpalepuz,
jpalepuz, damian.mira,
damian.mira, fernando.torres}@ua.es)
fernando.torres}@ua.es)

Abstract: The free hardware platforms have become very important in engineering education in recent
Abstract:
years. AmongThe free hardware
platforms,platforms
Arduinohave become very important
by in
its engineering education in recent
Abstract:
Abstract: The these
The free
free hardware
hardware platforms
platforms highlights,
have
have becomecharacterized
become very
very important
important in
in versatility, popularity
engineering
engineering education
education in and
in low
recent
recent
years.
price.
years. Among
This these
paper
these platforms,
describes the
platforms, Arduino
Arduino highlights,
implementation of
highlights, fourcharacterized
laboratory
characterized by its versatility,
experiments
by its for popularity
Automatic
years. Among these platforms, Arduino highlights, characterized by its versatility, popularity and low
Among versatility, and
Control
popularity and low
and
low
price.
price. This
Robotics paper
courses
paper describes
at the
describes the
the implementation
University of Alicante,
implementation of
of four
which
four laboratory
have been
laboratory experiments
developed
experiments for
based
for Automatic
on Arduino
price. This paper describes the implementation of four laboratory experiments for Automatic Control and
This Automatic Control
and
Control and
other
and
Robotics
existing
Robotics courses
courses at
Roboticsequipment.
courses at the
the University
at Results
the University
University of
of Alicante,
were evaluated
of taking
Alicante,
Alicante, which
into have
which
which have
have been
account thedeveloped
been
been developed
developed based
based on
views of students,
based on Arduino
Arduino and
on concluding
Arduino and
and other
that the
other
other
existing
existing equipment.
proposed
existing experiments
equipment.
equipment. Results
havewere
Results
Results beenevaluated
were
were attractivetaking
evaluated
evaluated taking
taking into
into account
to them,
into account
account the
and they
the views
the have
views of
of students,
viewsacquired
of theconcluding
students,
students, knowledgethat
concluding
concluding that
that the
about
the
the
proposed
hardware
proposed experiments
proposed configuration
experiments and
experiments have
have been
been attractive
haveprogramming
been that to
attractive
attractive wasthem,
to
to and
and they
intended.
them,
them, and they have
they have acquired
have acquired the
acquired the knowledge
the knowledge about
knowledge about
about
hardware
hardware configuration
configuration and
and programming
programming that
that was
was intended.
hardware
Keywords: configuration
2015, IFACArduino, and Federation
(International programming
Automation, was intended.
thatExperiments,
of Automatic
Education, intended.
Control)Laboratory,
Hosting by Elsevier
Robotics. Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Keywords: Arduino,
Arduino, Automation,
Automation, Education,
Education, Experiments,
Experiments, Laboratory,
Laboratory, Robotics.
Robotics.
Keywords: Arduino, Automation, Education, Experiments, Laboratory, Robotics.

such as the course organized by the Spanish Committee in
1. INTRODUCTION
such
1.
1. INTRODUCTION such asas the
Automatic
such as the course
theControl
course (CEA,
course organized
organized
organized 2015).by
by the
the Spanish
by Courses
the like Committee
Spanish
Spanish this, not only
Committee
Committee in
in
in
1. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION Automatic
are addressed
Automatic Control
to people(CEA, with 2015). Courses
particular like
interest this,
in not only
Electronics
Before the rise of open hardware platforms such as Arduino, Automatic Control
Control (CEA, (CEA, 2015).
2015). Courses
Courses like like this,
this, not
not only
only
are
are addressed
and
are Robotics,to
addressed
addressed tobut
to people
people
people alsowith
with
with particular
to teachers
particularwho
particular interest
want
interest
interest in
in Electronics
in to use the
Electronics
Electronics
Before
hardware the and
rise of open hardware platforms wassuch as Arduino,
Before
Before the
the rise
rise ofofsoftware
open
open hardware prototyping
hardware platforms
platforms such
such complex
as
as Arduino,
Arduino,and and Robotics,
platform
and in but
education. also to teachers who want to use the
hardware and Robotics,
Robotics, but but also also toto teachers
teachers who who wantwant to to use
use the
the
hardware and software prototyping was complex and
expensive.
hardware and
and software
Therefore,
softwaremany prototyping
universities
prototyping was
and
was complex
research
complex centres
and
and platform
platform in education.
expensive.
began to
expensive. Therefore,
develop
Therefore, many
cheaper
many universities
and easier
universities and
alternatives
and research
research in centres
the late
centres platform in in education.
education.
expensive. Therefore, many universities and research centres All previously mentioned features have made Arduino
began
began toto develop
twentieth
began to century. cheaper
develop
develop But these
cheaper
cheaper and
and easier
easier alternatives
andsolutions
easier were not general
alternatives
alternatives in
in the
in the late
the and
late
late All previously mentioned features have made Arduino
twentieth century. But these solutions were not general and become
All a very popular
All previously
previously mentioned
mentioned platform and widely
features
features have extended
have made
made Arduino in the
Arduino
they were
twentieth not
twentieth century. popular
century. But outside
But these the
these solutions institution
solutions were were not where general was
not generalthey and
and become
they
used.
they were
This not
was popular
true outside
until the
Arduino institution
was born where
in 2005 they in was
the become a very popular platform and widely extended in
context
become a
of
a very
very popular
education,
popular platform
both in
platform and
bachelor
and widely
and
widely extended
higher
extended in the
degrees.
in the
the
they were
were notnot popular
popular outside
outside the
the institution
institution where where they they waswas context
Arduino
context of
ofis education,
especially
education, both
popular
both in
in bachelor
in and
education
bachelor and higher
on
higher degrees.
Electronics,
degrees.
used.
IVREA
used. This was
institute true
(Italy)until
as Arduino
a student was born
project runin 2005
by in
Massimo the context of education, both in bachelor and higher degrees.
used. This
This waswas truetrue until
until Arduino
Arduino was was bornborn in in 2005
2005 in in the
the Arduino
IVREA
Banzi, institute (Italy) as a student project run by Massimo Arduino is
Automatic
Arduino is especially
is Control orpopular
especially
especially Robotics
popular
popular in
in education
in (Barber on
education
education on
onet Electronics,
al. 2013;
Electronics,
Electronics,
IVREA who
IVREA institute
instituteapplied
(Italy)the
(Italy) as aaconcepts
as student of freerun
student project
project runhardware
by
by Massimo
Massimo and Automatic Control or Robotics (Barber
Banzi,
software, whowhich applied
meantthe concepts
a major change of free hardware and Granvillano
Automatic
Automatic ControlC. 2014;
Control or Ishikawa
or Robotics et
Robotics (Barber (Barber et
al., 2009; et al.
al. 2013;
etSobota
al. et al.
2013;
2013;
Banzi,
Banzi, whowho applied
applied the
the concepts
concepts of (Kushner,
of free
free hardware D., 2011).
hardware and
and Granvillano C. 2014; Ishikawa et al., 2009; Sobota
software,
The which meant a major change (Kushner, D., 2011). 2013; beda
Granvillano
Granvillano C. et al.,
C. 2014; 2009;
2014; Ishikawa Valera
Ishikawa et et al.,
et al., 2014).
al., 2009; Sobota et
2009; Sobota et al.
et al.
al.
software, which meant a major change (Kushner, D., 2011).a
concept
software, which of free
meant hardware
a major relates
change to
(Kushner, a design
D., of
2011). 2013;
2013; beda et al., 2009; Valera et al., 2014).
The 2013; beda
beda et et al.,
al., 2009;
2009; Valera
Valera et et al.,
al., 2014).
2014).
The concept
The concept of
microprocessor-based
concept of free
of free hardware
free electronic
hardware system
hardware relates
relates which
relates to
to aaa design
to of
of aaa
is available
design
design of Considering all the features of the Arduino platform, as well
microprocessor-based
for free use.
microprocessor-based electronic
electronic system
electronic system
system which which
which is is available
is available Considering
microprocessor-based
for
available as the works all
Considering
Considering andthe
all
all the
the
features
results
features
features
of
of other
of theresearchers,
of the
Arduino platform,
the Arduino
Arduino platform,
platform,
as
authors thought
as well
as well
well
for free
for free use.
free use.
use. as the
this works
platform and results
was results
a goodof of other researchers, authors thought
Nowadays, there are available a great variety of Arduino as
as the
the works
works andand results ofchoice
other on
other which to build
researchers,
researchers, authors
authors laboratory
thought
thought
this
this platform
experiments
this platform for
platform was
wasthe
was aaa good
good
good choice
subjects
choice
choice theyon
on which
whichInto
onteach.
which to build
tothis
build
build laboratory
way, certain
laboratory
laboratory
Nowadays,
boards
Nowadays,
Nowadays, withthere
there
there are
are available
different
are processors,
available
available aaa great
sizesvariety
great
great variety
variety of
of Arduino
and connectivity
of Arduino
Arduino
boards with different processors, sizes and connectivity experiments
experiments for the subjects they teach. In this way, certain
existing
experiments for
deficiencies
for the
the subjects
related
subjects tothey
the
they teach.
subjects
teach. In
In this
were
this way,
resolved,
way, as
certain
certain
features.
boards
boards with The Arduino
with different hardware
different processors, has
processors, sizes become
sizes and cheap and easy
and connectivity
connectivity existing deficiencies related
features.
to acquire,The Arduino
priceshardware
ranging has become
about cheap 20 and easy the next section
existing
existing explains.
deficiencies
deficiencies related to
related to the
to the subjects
the subjects were
subjects were resolved,
were resolved, as
resolved, as
as
features.
features. Thewith
The Arduino
Arduino hardware
hardware from
has
has become
become cheap
cheap to 52
and
and easy
easy the
to acquire,
(+VAT)
to with
depending prices
on ranging
models. from
Regardingabout the20 to
software 52
to the next
the next section
next section explains.
section explains.
explains.
to acquire, with prices ranging from about 20 to 52
acquire, with prices ranging from about 20 to 52 The remaining content of this paper is organized as follows.
(+VAT)
program
(+VAT) depending
Arduino, the
(+VAT) depending
depending on
on models.
on same
models.
models. Regarding
IDERegarding
(Integrated
Regarding the software
theDevelopment
the software
software to to
to The
The remaining
Section
The 2 explains
remaining
remaining content
content
content the ofof
of this
this paper
reasons
this paper
paper is
is organized
that led
is organized
organized as
as follows.
to use Arduino,
as the
follows.
follows.
program
Environment)
program Arduino,
Arduino,is usedthe
the same
for all
same IDE
boards,
IDE (Integrated
and
(Integrated
program Arduino, the same IDE (Integrated Development it is Development
available
Development for Section 2 explains the reasons that led to use Arduino, the
Environment) is subjects
Section where
Section 22 explains it has
explains the been
the reasonsapplied,
reasons that and
that led the
led to academic
to use
use Arduino, context.
Arduino, the the
different
Environment)
Environment) is used
OS (Arduino,
is used for
used for all
all boards,
2015).
for all This IDE
boards,
boards, and
andis it
and is
is available
itopen
it is and free,for
available
available as
for
for subjects
The where
mainwhere
aspects it has
of thebeen applied,
developed and the academic context.
different OS (Arduino, 2015). This IDE is open subjects
subjects where it
it has
has been
been applied, experiments
applied, and
and the
the academic
academicare described
context.
context.
well as
different
different OSeasy to
OS (Arduino, get,
(Arduino, 2015).start and
2015). This use.
This IDE C/C
IDE is open and
is open ++ and
and free,
free, as
is used
free, as
as The
in main aspects of the developed theexperiments
results of a are described
well TheSection
The main 3. Section
main aspects
aspects of
of the 4 presents
the developed
developed experiments
experiments survey
are
are to the
described
described
well as
well as easy
programming
as easy to
to get,
easy language,
to get, start
get, whichand
start
start and
and use.
enables
use. C/C
C/C to++
use. user
C/C ++ is
is used
++create
is fromas
used
used asa
as in
programming
simple program language,
based onwhich enables
procedures user
in an to create
single from
file, a in Section 3. Section 4 presents the results of a survey to
in Section
students
Section 3.
about
3. Section
their
Section 4
view
4 presents
on
presents the the
use
the results
of
results of
Arduino.
of a
a survey
Finally,
survey to the
to the
the
programming
programming language,
language, which which enables
enables user user to to create
create fromfrom aa
to students
simple
complex program based
object-oriented on procedures in an single file, to a students about their view on the use of Arduino. Finally, the
main about
conclusions
students about their
theirof view
the
view workon
on the
are
the use
use of
discussed
of Arduino.
in
Arduino. Finally,
Section 5.
Finally, the
the
simple
simple program
program based
based on on program
procedures
procedures in in multiple
in an
an single
singlefiles.
file,Other
file, to
to aa main
complex
relevant
complex object-oriented
aspect of the
object-oriented program
Arduino platform
program in
in multiple
is the
multiple bigfiles.
amount
files. Other
of
Other main conclusions
main conclusions of
conclusions of the
of the work
the work are
work are discussed
are discussed in
discussed in Section
in Section 5.
Section 5.
5.
complex object-oriented program in multiple files. Other 2. CONTEXT AND MOTIVATION
relevant
relevant aspect of the Arduino platform is the big amount of
information
relevant aspect
aspect of
of the
available
the Arduino
about
Arduino platform
it, ranging
platform is
is the
thefrombig
big amount
the
amount basic
of
of
information available about it, ranging from the basic 2.
2. CONTEXT
2. CONTEXT AND
CONTEXT AND MOTIVATION
AND MOTIVATION
MOTIVATION
documentation
information in
available the official
about web
it, site,
ranging
information available about it, ranging from the basic to full
from books
the for
basic
documentation in The work developed includes the design and implementation
different application
documentation
documentation in the
in the
the official
fields (Banzi,
official
official web
web
web 2011;site,
site, to
to full
site,Warren
to fullet books
full al. 2011).
books
books for
for
for The work developed includes
different
different application
different application
application fields fields (Banzi,
fields (Banzi, 2011;
(Banzi, 2011; Warren
2011; Warren
Warren et et al.
et al. 2011).
al. 2011).
2011).
of
Thefour
The worklaboratory
work developed includes the
developedexperiments
includes thefor
the design
someand
design
design and implementation
andoptional subjects
implementation
implementation
of
of four
taught inlaboratory
official experiments
engineering for
studies someof optional
the subjects
University of
Another fact that shows the success of the Arduino platform of four
four laboratory
laboratory experiments
experiments for for some
some optional
optional subjects
subjects
taught
Alicante
taught in official
(Spain), engineering
and especially, studies
in the of the
Masters University
Degree of
in
Another
is fact
fact that
the amount
Another
Another fact of shows
that
that specific
shows
shows the success
thecourses
the successabout
success of
of the
of theitArduino
the that areplatform
Arduino
Arduino offered
platform
platform taught in official engineering studies of the University of
in official engineering studies of the University of
Alicante
Automatics
Alicante (Spain),
and and
Robotics especially,
(MAR). in the
The Masters
experiments, Degreewhichin
is the
today,
is
is the
amount
some
the amount
amount of of of specific
them
of specific
courses
supported
specific courses by about
courses about
it
outstanding
about it
that
it that
that are
are offered
institutions,
are offered
offered Alicante (Spain), and especially, in the Masters Degree in
(Spain), and especially, in the Masters Degree in
today, some of them supported by outstanding institutions, Automatics
Automatics
Automatics and and Robotics
and Robotics
Robotics (MAR). (MAR).
(MAR). The The experiments,
The experiments,
experiments, which which
which
today,
today, some
some of of them
them supported
supported by by outstanding
outstanding institutions,
institutions,
2405-8963
Copyright 2015, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control)
2015 IFAC 105 Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Peer reviewunder
Copyright 2015 responsibility
IFAC of International Federation of Automatic
105 Control.
Copyright
Copyright
2015
2015 IFAC
IFAC
10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.11.221 105
105
IFAC IBCE 2015
106
November 4-6, 2015. Brescia, Italy F. A. Candelas et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-29 (2015) 105110

were implemented during the last two academic years (2013- the other hand, students who are experts in Computer Science
2015), are the following: and programming but have a limited knowledge of Automatic
Control.
- Simple temperature control for a 3D printer hot-end by
using a PID. This experiment is developed in two subjects
Bearing in mind the characteristics of Arduino, authors
which introduce students to the Automatic Control:
thought that this could be a good platform to develop
Automation and Robotics (6 ECTS) of the Degree in
laboratory experiments which are attractive for the two kinds
Computer Engineering, and Industrial Automation (6
of students. On the one hand, students with a more industrial
ECTS) of the Degree in Chemical Engineering.
or electronics profile could learn object-oriented
- Automation of a Cartesian robot. The main objective of this programming with C++, benefiting from their knowledge on
experiment is to teach students how to use and program a hardware. On the other hand, students from Computer
microcontroller as a controller for an industrial machine in Engineering could learn to connect devices such as sensors
the subject Industrial Computing (3 ECTS) of the MAR. and actuators, while taking advantage of his training in
programming. This was other important reason to do the
- Humanoid robot programming. This experiment is taught in
work described here.
the subject New Trends in Robotics (3 ECTS) of the MAR,
and its main aim is to show students the working and
3. DEVELOPED EXPERIMENTS
control of a type of robot very different from other ones
seen in other subjects of the master.
3.1 Temperature control for 3D printer hot-end
- Follower robot programming. Different activities are
developed with a follower robot in order to introduce
Robotics, not only in subjects of engineering degrees as the The objectives of this laboratory experiment are to introduce
previously mentioned Automation and Robotics, but also in the Arduino environment to students, teach students how to
activities for free-elective credits. develop a simple circuit for temperature control, and program
and adjust a digital PID controller.
With the developed experiments, authors have tried to
achieve three basic objectives, as follows: On the one hand, students have to implement and verify the
necessary circuitry for controlling the temperature in the
- Experiments should be attractive to students, and easy to extrusion head, commonly called hot-end, of a standard 3D
start with them, so that students focus on the important printer. As Figure 1 shows, the hot-end has a resistor for
issues, and they do not lose much time learning how a heating the filament flowing through it, and a thermistor to
specific device is configured. The Arduino platform meets measure the temperature. Thus, two basic circuits are
this purpose. Besides, the knowledge learned about Arduino necessary to connect the hot-end to the Arduino ONE used as
in one subject is useful to other later subjects. controller (see Figure 2). The first circuit for the temperature
- Some existing equipment with little or no previous use, but reading through an analog input, and the second one for
which could be interesting for teaching the subjects, should actuating the resistor via a digital output.
be reused, replacing the original controller with an Arduino.
- It was no possible to acquire more than one unit of the
equipment for some experiments, mainly due to the costs of
some of the robots. However, each student could have an
additional Arduino board on which to carry out the
development and a basic testing. This enables students to
develop a first program that can be executed in the final
equipment, and makes easier to share that equipment.
Fig. 1. 3D printer hot-end mounted on a holder.
In addition to the previously mentioned objectives, there is
another important aspect that has been taken into account to
choose the Arduino platform. The entering students to the
MAR come from different degrees in engineering (Computer
Science, Electronics, Industrial Engineering, Production
Design, Telecommunications, etc.), and, while all them have
a good basis in engineering, it has been found that the levels
of knowledge about programming and hardware aspects
depend heavily on the source degree. This fact also depends
on the double orientation of the MAR, professional and
research. There are students who are professionals enrolled
mainly to catch up in hardware or programming technologies.
In this way, it can be considered two kinds of students in
general. On the one hand, students with good background in
hardware or Automatic Control, but not in programming. On Fig. 2. Circuits connecting Arduino with the hot-end.

106
 IFAC IBCE 2015
November 4-6, 2015. Brescia, Italy F. A. Candelas et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-29 (2015) 105110 107
On the other hand, the student has to develop a program for
Arduino, which reads and scales the sensor temperature,
compares it with the reference, applies a PID control
algorithm, and activates the heater resistor by using a
hysteresis loop. Student has to tune the PID to meet an
overshoot and a settling time, as well as adjust the parameters
of the hysteresis.
Students had 6 hours to carry out individually the different
phases of the experiment. An Arduino and a set of the
necessary components to assembly the circuits, including the
hot-end, were provided to each student. For the assessment,
each student has to deliver a report summarizing his results.
3.2 Automation of a Cartesian robot
This experiment is based on a Cartesian robot which moves a
carriage along the axes horizontal and vertical, covering a
planar working area close to 4m2, as Figure 3 shows. The
main goals of this experiment are to show students the basic
elements of an industrial automation system, and teach them
to develop a control program that interacts with the sensors
and the actuators to move the carriage to the desired target
positions accurately. Students also have to bear into mind the
alarm conditions such as the emergency button or the alarm
signals from the motor drivers.
Fig. 3. Scheme of the Cartesian robot.
The robot includes basic elements used in many industrial
automation equipment, as Figure 4 shows. As actuators, the
robot has two triphasic power motors, managed by two
inverters, and a pneumatic brake on the vertical axis. Each
inverter has several input logic signals to control the direction
and the speed, as well as output signals indicating the state of
the motor (running, overcurrent alarm). The sensors are four
limit switches and two incremental encoders. In addition, the
robot has a control panel with a joystick for manual
movements, an emergency button, and several lights.
The Cartesian robot is usually controlled by a PLC S220
from Siemens, which uses 24V logic. But in this experiment,
the PLC is replaced with an Arduino Mega 2560. This
Arduino is characterized by having many I/O lines, which is
essential to interact with all the elements of the robot. In
order to have the option of switching between the original
PLC and the Arduino, and to convert the voltage levels
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between the 24V I/O signals and the 5V logic of Arduino, the
authors have developed the adaptation circuits, which also
include electrical insulation to avoid surge problems in the
Arduino and the PC. The circuit for the input signals is also
responsible for directing the signals from the encoders and
other relevant sensors, such as the limit switches and the
emergency button, to the interrupt inputs of Arduino, being
necessary to share interruptions for some sensors.
Fig. 4. Cartesian robot and its main components.
To ensure that all students know the robot operation and they
are able to make a basic control program, without preventing
the most outstanding students to consider more advanced
features, two blocks of tasks are proposed. The first block
includes these mandatory tasks: calibrate the axles, control
the vertical axis brake, detect the limit switches, move the
carriage in both axes with the joystick, manage the
emergency button, and detect possible alarms from inverters.
As optional work, the following task are proposed: use of
speed ramps for movements, develop a graphical interface for
a PC and communicate this with the Arduino, as well as
move the carriage to a target position, either according to a
number of encoder steps, or according to a distance in meters.
For the assessment, students had to show the teacher how the
tasks proposed were carried out by real robot using their
program, while they explained how the program solved the
tasks. The experiment was developed by pairs of students, not
only because the number of students (12) or the fact that only
there was one robot, but also because this experiment was
considered to be a bit complex. Students had 12 hours of
laboratory for this experiment.
Although only one robot was available, the teacher supplied
each group of students with an Arduino Mega, a prototyping
board, and a set of components such as LEDs, push-buttons
and encoders. These elements enabled students to simulate
many of the features of the robot while they were developing
the program.
3.3 Humanoid robot programming
The Robonova is a humanoid robot (biped and with two
arms) of about 31cm high, developed by HiTec. Although
this robot is no longer sold, today there are many similar
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alternatives. Thanks to its 16 degrees of freedom, this robot
can perform many movements including walking, bending or
lifting, up or down stairs, etc. The robot was supplied with
the controller MR-C3024 which was quite limited in choices
of programming and connection of sensors. Therefore,
owners used to change the controller (Perea et al. 2010).
In this experiment, students have to become familiar with the
working of the humanoid robot, and program it to walk. For
the experiment, the Robonova has been modified to use an
Arduino DUE as a controller, as Figure 5 shows.
Fig. 5. Robonova modified with Arduino Due.
The Arduino DUE is characterized by using a 32-bit ARM
processor, which is far more powerful than those of
traditional Arduinos, besides having more memory for
program and data. This way, the Arduino DUE is able to
execute complex programs while accurately generates the
PWM control signals for the 16 digital RC servos of the
robot, which are directly connected to it. The Arduino also
receives the signals from four bumpers located at the feet of
the robot, and three IR distance sensors placed on the
shoulders. In addition, three LEDs that can be controlled
from the Arduino have been included in the head of the robot.
In the program, all servos are managed as a vector of 16
objects created from the standard Arduino library "Servo".
These objects are initialized for the range [600s, 2.400s]
allowed by the Robonova servos, which matches to an angle
of 0 to 180 degrees, and differs from the standard range
[544s, 2.400s]. The library generates the PWM signals to
the servos by software, with aid of the Arduino timers. In
order to generate the 16 PWM signals with greater precision
and stability, it is possible take advantage of the fact that the
Arduino DUE has more timers than other versions, by setting
the parameter SERVOS_PER_TIMER in the source file
"servo.h" to 4.
As a mandatory part of the experiment, the student has to
program the Arduino DUE of the Robonova in order to walk
a distance, standing as straight as possible. For the
assessment of the student, a smooth and natural movement,
like that of a person, is valued. To program this robot, the
student must keep in mind especially the servos of both legs,
but moving the arms can also help to keep the balance. The
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task of walking is not as easy as it may seem because the
student not only has to define the movements, but also
guarantee that the robot has a stable balance.
Before facing up the robot programming with the Arduino
IDE and C++, the student has to estimate the values of the
key positions for the servos, and the time intervals that are
required to run the basic trajectories that are necessary for the
desired tasks, like take a step, lift the robot, etc. This can be
done with some software application that simulates the
Robonova, as for example the free program "RZ1 Action"
(Micono Utilities, 2008). After estimating the positions and
times, the student can begin the program design. The program
must sent the positions previously stored in memory to the
servos, in the right time, and repeat a sequence to get the
robot walks step by step. The use of an interpolation
algorithm is recommendable to smooth the movement.
Finally, when the program is running, the student have to
readjust the movements to get the robot walks properly.
As optional part of the experiment, the student can consider
that there may be big obstacles in the middle of the path by
which the robot moves. Thus, he has to modify the program
so that the robot can detect obstacles with its sensors, and
avoid the objects in its path.
Since the subject in which the experiment was developed had
only 5 enrolled students, students were enabled to carry out
the experiment individually. Although there was one
Robonova only, each student had available an Arduino DUE,
a prototyping board, and a set of components such as LEDs,
push-buttons, IR sensors, and servomotors. This enabled
students to test some functions of the program without the
Robonova, and made easier to share the robot.
For the assessment, the teacher asked each student to show
the robot running and to explain his program. The quality of
movement of the robot when walking, the program structure,
and the degree of development of the optional part, were
considered for the qualification. Student had about 15 hours
to carry out the experiment.
3.4 Follower robot programming
This experiment is based on the GoShield-GR robot (see
Figure 6), designed jointly by the online shop GoShield and
some of the authors of this work. The GoShield-GR is a line
tracker robot specially designed for tracking competitions, a
task for which the robot has twenty photo-reflective sensors
on its bottom side. The robot's brain is an Arduino DUE.
Taking advantage of the number of devices included in the
GoShield-GR robot, different activities are proposed to the
student, so that he learns the operation of the robot step by
step. This way, he will be able to program increasingly
sophisticated functions within the time schedule of the
course. The number of activities presented to the students
depends on the course in which the robot is used.
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Fig. 6. Follower robot GoShield-GR.
The catalogue of activities developed with this robot, ordered
from the simplest to the most complex, is summarized below:
- Hello world, and semaphores. These beginner exercises are
intended to program the LEDs so they flash with a certain
cadence, or emulate traffic lights with the right timing.
- Morse code. The student has to use the buzzer to generate
beeps representing the word "SOS" in Morse code.
- Roulette game. Using the LEDs, the buzzer and the push-
button, the student has to design a roulette game where the
LEDs turn on sequentially, and the player must try to press
just when a particular LED is on.
- Basic line tracker. The robot must follow a line with the
minimum oscillation of its direction regarding to the line, at
a constant speed. Figure 7 shows a picture of a test of this
exercise.
- Speed control. The robot must match the speed of its
motors depending on the part of the racetrack in where it is,
that is, depending on the straights and curves.
- PID control for the direction. When the robot runs at high
speed, it is necessary to apply a PID control to the direction
in order to the robot does not leave the circuit.
- Identification of intersections. The student have to add to
the program the logic that enables the robot to identify
intersections and decide where to go, on a circuit with
multiple ways. The intersections are identified by special
marks on the track.
Fig. 7. Follower robot during a test for a basic track.
The robot gives many options and enables students to work
with different aspects about programming simple mobile
robots. Student have to carry out the activities individually or
in pairs depending on the course. In any case, until now, the
assessment of the student has been done by testing the
working of the student's program on the robot, and the
explanation that the student gives about his program.
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4. STUDENT OPINION
At the end of the courses, students were invited to make a
voluntary survey in order to know their opinion on using
Arduino in laboratory experiments, and also to know their
level of initial and final knowledge about programming and
hardware. Table 1 summarizes the survey questions.
Table 1. Survey questions
N. Question
Q1 Before starting the course, I had good programming skills.
Q2 Before starting the course, I had knowledge of electricity
and electronics.
Q3 I found easy and quick to get started with the software and
hardware Arduino.
Q4 The available time to develop the experiments was enough.
Q5 The material available to develop the experiments was
adequate.
Q6 Doing the experiments to control real equipment encourages
the development of practical contents.
Q7 Using Arduino for experiments, against other control
equipment with closed hardware, is a wise move.
Q8 I found it easy to create programs for Arduino with C ++.
Q9 Using Arduino, I have learned or improved my knowledge
of how to connect input and output devices.
Q10 The knowledge gained about Arduino will enable me to use
this platform to solve other control applications, automation
and robotics on my own.
Q11 I bought, or I'm going to buy an Arduino board to solve the
experiments of the course or other applications.
Q12 Probably I will use Arduino to solve applications in the
future.
Q13 I think Arduino is applicable also in the professional field, in
addition to education.
Q14 I missed working with a controller with more industrial
characteristics.
The questions Q1 and Q2 refer to the previous knowledge of
students about programming and hardware before the course.
Q3 to Q5 address the availability of time and resources, as
well as the difficulty to get started with the software and
hardware of Arduino. The degree to which Arduino motivates
conducting the experiments is addressed in Q6 and Q7.
Students opinion about their results are captured in the Q8 to
10. Finally, Q11 to Q14 addressed other aspects.
For each question, students had to answer an integer number
between 1 and 5 indicating their level of agreement with the
question, where 1 means "I disagree" and 5 means "I totally
agree". Figure 8 summarizes the results of the survey.
Fig. 8. Results of the survey: degree of agreement of the
student (1-5) for each question (Q1-Q14).
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When the results are analysed, firstly it can be seen as the
minimum and maximum values for Q1 and Q2 confirm the
disparity in prior knowledge levels that students had for both
programming and hardware. The result for Q3 shows that, in
general, students thought their beginning with the Arduino
platform was easy. Regarding the availability of time
captured by Q4, the student opinion was varied, but not very
bad. Students were strongly agree with the fact of using
Arduino in laboratory, as reflected in the results of Q6 and
Q7. The answers to questions Q8 to Q10 reflect students
mainly believed they acquired or improved their knowledge.
Also, responses to Q11 and Q12 reflect how students were
quite willing to buy an Arduino board on their own.
Regarding the use of Arduino on a more professional level, in
contrast to the educational, the opinion was diverse, although
positive in general, as indicated by the Q13. Finally, the
responses to Q14 show that there was some disparity of
opinion relating to whether it would have been more
interesting to use a controller with industrial features.
5. CONCLUSIONS
This paper describes how authors have managed to bring the
Arduino platform to different laboratory experiments of
engineering courses at the University of Alicante, which
address different aspects of Automatic Control and Robotics.
To put in practice Arduino in the labs has been relatively
easy, thanks to previous experience of the researchers, as well
as, the easiness of starting and using of Arduino platform.
Furthermore, good results have been achieved on the interest
shown by students and his learning, which has been verified
through the academic results and a survey to students.
The Arduino platform can be started and learned quickly.
Thus students are focused on the problems of the
experiments, such as the development and programming of
control algorithms that make the robot or the machine works
with the given specifications.
One problem that arises in the teaching of subjects in the
Master in Automation and Robotics is that students come
from different engineering degrees and they have quite
different knowledge levels on hardware and programming.
With Arduino-based practices, it has found that students can
learn best the skills they lack. Thus, students who knew best
aspects of hardware, learn object-oriented programming,
while students who have a better basis on computers enhance
their knowledge about hardware.
It has also been achieved to take advantage of several
laboratory equipment that was available but it did not have a
good use, after replacing the control electronics by a suitable
Arduino controller. In addition, the low cost of Arduino
hardware and its free software encourages students to buy
their own devices in order to practice outside the laboratory
classroom, and even develop their own projects.
Although Arduino proves to be an excellent educational tool,
and may also be useful for many real applications, it is
undesirable to leave aside completely the professional
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equipment. It is therefore advisable to maintain laboratory
experiments using industrial and commercial equipment as
far as possible, since those are the devices that students will
find in the professional field. The students themselves say so.
The compromise solution is to combine Arduino platform
with real robots or machines, as it has been done in one of the
experiments described in this paper.
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