Nowadays, self-driving robot vacuum cleaners are being sold by various vendors, which can clean the area by avoiding obstacles and working without human interaction. This project aims to create and program such a robot vacuum cleaner. The project is educational, and while conducting it, students create 3D models of the vacuum cleaner’s components, design electrical schemes, and develop the software.
In order to locate and fix motors, sensors, battery and other electronic components it is required to model and 3D print the core frame. However, before modeling the frame, children must conduct research to properly understand other vendors’ robot vacuum cleaners’ structural and functional differences. Based on the research, students will choose the components for their project’s needs.
Before designing the main electronic circuits, children must have sufficient theoretical knowledge of motor types (stepper motor, DC motor), sensor types (distance sensor, infrared sensor), and controlling boards (ARDUINO, Raspberry Pi). Initially, more basic sub-projects are accomplished, such as controlling motors’ speed with a potentiometer and defining motors’ speed based on values given by distance sensors. Then, children start designing the general electronic circuit of vacuum cleaners, taking into account the pre-targeted educational and technical objectives.
After the robot is physically assembled, programming software is developed. In the first stage, children write the code to control the robot vacuum cleaner on the computer. In the second stage, children develop the final software. Based on values obtained from the distance and other sensors, the robot must clean the room area by avoiding obstacles.
The robot vacuum cleaner mid-disciplinary STEM project carries immense educational significance. Using their knowledge, schoolchildren practically create and test self-driving systems capable of cleaning room areas without human interaction.