In this paper it is presented a Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) mobile robot programming approach, to be applied in a robotics educational context. The motivation to apply this approach is the fact that students can program the robots without access to the robot hardware, but still maintain some important closed loop control critical features, such as a realistic lag time and the possibility for a larger number of students to program at the same time. Therefore, the developed software is applied to the real hardware without any change. The HIL approach was applied to provide a simulation close to reality, once the processing occurs in the real robot processor and the actuation and sensorization inside the simulation, adding to the advantage to test the firmware avoiding damage in the physical robot.

This article presents the prototyping of an educational manipulator robot, based on the "EEZYbotARM Mk2" robot, tailored for first-year master’s students in the field of robotics. The project encompasses the assembly of the robot arm, computation of both forward and inverse kinematics, and analysis of two path-planning movement algorithms. These features are consolidated into an Arduino library to streamline the process for students to generate instructions for the robot. The "EEZYbotARM Mk2" features a three-degree-of-freedom revolute arm with a gripper that remains parallel to its base at all times, enhancing its suitability for educational applications such as pick-and-place tasks. The article provides detailed descriptions of the materials and methods employed, along with proposed challenges for student engagement.

This paper is devoted to present the most recent results regarding the ongoing work carried out in the scope of the STC 4.0 HP project, which aims to automate the finishing process of ceramic tableware at the GRESTEL S.A. industry, focusing on non-circular shaped plates. A collaborative robot is in charge of handling the tableware and making it go around its entire perimeter through a sponge, to perform the finishing. An array, with the distances from the center to the different points of the plate, is applied as data to trace the path that the robot must follow. The final goal of this prototype is to obtain an even finish while maintaining a constant force along the entire perimeter of the ceramic tableware. After carrying out a series of tests, it was possible to conclude that the current approach was able to manipulate 3D-printed tableware made for testing and travel its perimeter to carry out the finishing.

In this paper it is described a Pilot that took place at Emídio Garcia School from Bragança, Portugal. The presented Pilot is based on a Challenge based Learning Approach, being an activity of the RoboSTEAM - Integrating STEAM and Computational Thinking development by using robotics and physical devices - ERASMUS+ Project. In the presented educational experiment it were used physical devices, being chosen the mBot robot, programmed using Scratch. The presented challenges had as research question a global problem that was Wildfires. Student had to propose and to develop solutions based on the use of robots to prevent and fight wildfires. The students that participated in the experiment were secondary school students, from Spain and Portugal, with their background in technology and arts respectively. Previously to the experiment the involved students filled a STEM semantic Survey and during the experiments their performance was evaluated.