ROVSTEAM: STEAM Skills Development through Low-Cost Educational Marine Robotics

This project proposes the construction of remotely operated marine robots (ROVs, Remotely Operated Vehicles) at an educational level in various fields of action, based on low-cost tools, with free hardware and software. The proposal constitutes the continuation and extension of the FECYT 2017 project “ROVINO – Low Cost Educational Robotics with Arduino Technology”, making the experience grow in every sense.

On the one hand, the project proposes to carry out a science and technology dissemination activity that can reach more people (students from different standard and non-standard educational levels, families and the general public), taking as a reference the experience carried out at the Elder Museum of Science and Technology in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in August 2017, but taking it to a National Museum of the FECyT. On the other hand, the aim is to incorporate more technological elements and tools suitable for different educational levels through a project-based learning methodology, both by using appropriate hardware and software programming platforms and by introducing 3D printing of certain parts related to different aspects of marine robotics activity. This project also considers a greater integration of girls and young women into scientific and technical education and vocation. Recent studies show that girls are more involved in these activities when technology is not the goal in itself (usually social projects). Therefore, girls might be more interested in these projects when technology is not the goal in itself. Thus, a pilot experience of access to classrooms in hospitals is proposed.

The ROVSTEAM project is part of PLOCAN’s Educational Marine Robotics Initiative, with the collaboration of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECyT) – Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the Obra Social de La Caixa and the Cabildo de Gran Canaria.