Dialogue Guests

Zhou Maohua

Head of the Maker Education Research Center at Shenzhen Second Senior High School

Chief Editor of the National High School Information Technology Textbook “Open Source Hardware Project Design” (People’s Education – Map Edition), Deputy Leader of the Maker Education Expert Group of the China Electronics Society Modern Educational Technology Branch, dedicated to the research of maker education and STEAM education, published a monograph “Innovative Learning Methods in the Maker Era,” and co-initiator of the domestic open source hardware “Master Control Board” project.

Wang Peipeng

Maker Teacher at Bayannur No. 1 Middle School, Inner Mongolia

Robot enthusiast, coach for the Western Youth Robot Competition, key referee for the Inner Mongolia Youth Robot Competition.

Wu Junjie

Information Technology Teacher and Physics Teacher at Beijing Jingshan School, STEM Education Researcher

Research direction focuses on the popularization of maker education courses and professional development of teachers, founder of inclusive courses in maker education, co-initiator of the National Primary and Secondary School STEAM Education Conference, co-founder of the “Cat Friends Association” community, initiator of the Family Maker Space Plan and LaserBlock open source structural component project.

Wu Junjie: In the winter of 2019, I traveled from south to north to conduct research, visiting representative maker spaces and familiar teachers and enterprises. The purpose of the research was to explore how to help maker education undergo in-depth upgrades at the 2.0 level in 2020. Upgrading requires retaining the excellent components of the original, while also gathering new concepts and methods. It should be said that the open source robotics-themed maker space is an upgrade of the original maker space, combining creation and mechanical manufacturing. Today, the two teachers we invited come from the north and south, and I would like to ask them to introduce the open source robots they are proud of.

Wang Peipeng: I’ll go first. I’m worried that our work will be overshadowed when the high-end robots from Shenzhen come out. This is a multi-legged 3D-printed robot ant (see Figure 1). Each leg has three servos that can move independently, and the head’s claw can grasp objects like a real soldier ant. The main control uses Arduino with a servo expansion board, and its total length is 50 cm; there are no ants of this size in nature. This robot ant is the star of our maker space, and every time it is exhibited, many people love its performance.

Wu Junjie: When I went to Bayannur for training, I initially felt that the maker education here was just starting, but when I arrived at No. 1 Middle School, I was shocked to see how Teacher Wang transformed the information technology and general technology classrooms into a campus maker space. Not only the maker works but also the students who actively come to the maker space to learn before evening self-study moved me a lot. Teacher Wang’s 3D-printed work is quite large, which requires stable processing from the 3D printer. Additionally, using the Arduino 2560 main control allows for more port control, ensuring flexible movement of multiple joints.

Zhou Maohua: Since Teacher Wang brought a large 3D-printed creation, I’ll introduce a “little partner” processed with a laser cutter, which is the open source robot we often use in our school, named “Creation Box” (see Figure 2). How to popularize and develop open source robotics projects is indeed a question worth serious thought and research. In 2019, we launched the “Let’s Play with the Master Control Board” strong teacher action plan, using workshops to help carry out teacher training across the country. This led us to think about how to create a popular open source project that can get the robot moving within 40 minutes at a cost of around 200 yuan, while also developing related projects in the Internet of Things and makers, providing open-source solutions for teachers and students. This little box is our research result. I believe that the design and application of open source robots is an important way to popularize robotics technology and bring robots into the classroom. Our school’s maker space can produce 50 sets of teaching equipment for a semester in just one day, and if students break some parts during class, there’s no need to worry; if something breaks, it indicates a design flaw, and modifying it together with teachers and students is a great educational opportunity. Open source robotics not only allows robots to move away from an era of material scarcity but also provides teachers and students with better and more authentic learning experiences.