Educational Kit Based on an Open Microcontroller Architecture for Studying Artificial Intelligence and Control Systems

• Purpose: study of microcontroller programming, control system design and the basic artificial intelligence technologies of speech recognition and machine vision together with a training robotic manipulator
• Control board microcontroller: AVR architecture, clock frequency 16 MHz
• Control board flash memory: 256 KB
• Digital inputs/outputs: 50
• Analog inputs: 12
• Data interfaces: UART, I2C, SPI
• Connection to the robotic manipulator: through the serial communication port of the manipulator, via the expansion module, without complex wiring
• Connection flexibility: the expansion board connects the manipulator with a large number of peripheral devices — the speech recognition module, the camera module, the joystick, button, LED indicator and basic sensors — through plug-in connectors, without complex wiring
• Control board power supply: through the interface cable from a computer or from an external power source
• Programming environments: open-source environment with a graphical block interface and with text code entry
• Open architecture: programming through open-source development environments for studying low-level and high-level programming languages: C and C++ code for the microcontroller of the control board and graphical block programming
• Programming languages: C, C++; graphical block interface
• Voice command set: 22 commands plus a wake word; in the program each command is mapped to the required action of the manipulator
• Expandability: third-party electronic modules and sensors connect to the free pins of the control board over UART, I2C and SPI
• Digital learning materials: 70 academic hours in a learning management system, access licence 12 months
• Kit manufacturer: UNOWA Sp. z o. o.; the kit includes the serial base device Dobot Basic AI Kit (control board, switching unit) (made in the PRC) together with software and teaching materials developed by UNOWA; the hardware design and technical characteristics of the base device are not changed

Kit Contents:

Control and Connection

• Control board, AVR microcontroller, compatible with an open-source programming environment — 1 pc
• Expansion module (expansion board) for connecting the control board to the robotic manipulator and to the peripheral devices of the kit without complex wiring — 1 pc
• Set of connecting wires and interface cables — 1 set
• Set of brackets and mounting elements for installing the components on the work platform — 1 set

Artificial Intelligence Modules

• Sound and voice command recognition module, fixed set of 22 commands with a wake word — 1 pc
• Camera module for computer vision algorithms, recognition of objects, colours and symbols — 1 pc

Manual Control and Indication

• Joystick, button and LED indicator — 1 set
• Set of basic sensors and indicators for initial setup — 1 set

The learning management platform includes an AI assistant built on Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, which forms its answers from a localised knowledge base aligned with the national curriculum of Ukraine.

AI Assistant Functions

• Task selection: automated selection of research tasks and experiments matching the topic of the lesson
• Methodological support: step-by-step description of the procedure for conducting experimental research
• Error analysis: identification of typical student errors and personalised recommendations for correcting them
• Adaptive difficulty: adaptation of task difficulty to different levels of student preparation
• Reports and conclusions: support in compiling reports on research results and in structuring the conclusions drawn from experiments
• Knowledge base: operation on a localised knowledge base aligned with the national curriculum of Ukraine
• Licence: right of access to the software and materials valid for 12 months
• Language: content, interface and learning materials exclusively in Ukrainian

Language of the learning environment

All content, the interface and the teaching and learning materials are provided exclusively in Ukrainian. The digital course, the learning management system interface, the AI assistant and all learning and teaching materials of the product are in Ukrainian.

The AI assistant is an integral part of the kit and is supplied with it. Access is provided on the edu.unowa.eu platform.