History of the Experiential Robotics Platform
How a question about the future of work became a robot for every classroom
The Experiential Robotics Platform (XRP) is an open-source educational robot built so that any student, in any school, can learn engineering by building and coding a real robot.
Its story starts in Washington, D.C., where national leaders were asking how Americans would prepare for a changing world of work. It continues at DEKA with Dean Kamen and the FIRST model of learning, takes shape in classrooms with teachers and the e4usa team, and comes together as a product through DigiKey, SparkFun and a group of open-source partners.
Contents
The future of work at the White House
Dean Kamen, FIRST and DEKA
Brad Miller, WPI and a robot for home
Making robotics accessible
The XRP platform
Dr. David Schneider and Cornell
Governor Sununu and New Hampshire
Secretary McMahon and the US Governors Cup
See also
References
XRP
1. The future of work at the White House
The Office of American Innovation
The White House Office of American Innovation was created to bring fresh ideas from business, technology and education into the federal government. One of its biggest areas of work was the American workforce: how people learn the skills they need, and how they keep learning as jobs change.
The American Workforce Policy Advisory Board
The American Workforce Policy Advisory Board brought together leaders from companies, schools, labor and government to advise on a national workforce strategy. The board worked alongside the Office of American Innovation on questions that affected millions of workers and students.
Questions facing the nation
The country was wrestling with several connected problems:
Automation and new technology. Robots, software and AI were changing what many jobs looked like, and which skills employers needed.
The skills gap. Employers reported open technical jobs they could not fill, while many workers lacked a clear path into those jobs.
Many paths to a career. Leaders looked beyond the four-year degree to apprenticeships, community colleges and hands-on training.
Lifelong learning. Workers would need to retrain more than once during their careers.
Equal access. Students in rural, low-income and under-served communities often had the fewest chances to try technical work early.
Dr. David Rogers, White House Fellow
Dr. David Rogers served as a White House Fellow [YEARS OF FELLOWSHIP], working on [DESCRIPTION OF DR. ROGERS'S FELLOWSHIP WORK WITH THE OFFICE OF AMERICAN INNOVATION AND THE ADVISORY BOARD].
This work raised the question at the heart of the XRP: if the jobs of the future need people who can build, test and solve problems, how can every young person get real, hands-on practice early, no matter where they go to school?
2. Dean Kamen, FIRST and DEKA
FIRST as a model
Dean Kamen is an inventor and the founder of DEKA Research & Development. In 1989 he founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to make science and technology as exciting for young people as sports.
In FIRST, students team up with mentors from industry and universities to design, build and program robots for competition. They learn by doing, work in teams, solve open problems on a deadline and meet professionals who do this work for a living.
For Rogers, FIRST was a working model of what the future of work needed: hands-on learning, real mentors and a direct link between classrooms and industry. The open question was how to bring that experience to students who could not join a competition team.
Coming to DEKA
Rogers met Kamen [WHEN AND HOW THEY MET] and came to DEKA to design a new program in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF). The goal was a low-cost robot and learning program that any classroom could use, carrying the spirit of FIRST into everyday teaching. [NSF AWARD NAME/NUMBER]
3. Brad Miller, WPI and a robot for home
The software behind FRC
Brad Miller of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is the creator of WPILib, the software that runs the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). Students on FRC teams use it to program their competition robots.
A need that COVID made clear
Miller was passionate about small robots. When COVID closed schools and team workshops, he saw a clear need: a robotics platform that students could build and program at home, not only in a lab or team shop.
Making the case
Miller worked to convince leaders at WPI and DEKA, along with volunteers across the FIRST community, that the world needed a new platform. That push helped set the stage for the XRP.
4. Making robotics accessible
A robot only helps if teachers can actually use it. To make sure the XRP would work in real classrooms, Dr. Adam Carberry and Dr. Medha Dalal of [INSTITUTION] worked with teachers around the country and with the e4usa (Engineering for US All) team, which brings high school engineering to all students.
Together they looked at what keeps robotics out of classrooms, including:
Cost. Many kits were too expensive for a whole class.
Teacher confidence. Many teachers had no robotics background and little time to learn.
Fit with the school day. Lessons had to work in normal class periods, not only after-school clubs.
Repair and reuse. Robots had to survive many classes and be easy to fix.
What they learned from teachers shaped both the robot and the curriculum that goes with it. [SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS OR NUMBER OF TEACHERS/SCHOOLS INVOLVED]
5. The XRP platform
DigiKey builds the team
DigiKey played a key role by assembling a team of open-source hardware and software leaders to turn the idea into a product. SparkFun Electronics led the team and the design of the platform.
The wider consortium includes WPI, SparkFun, DEKA, Cornell, MIT, FIRST, ST, Raspberry Pi, DigiKey, Arm, Ohio State, 3D Printing Nerd and the National Science Foundation.
The robot
[PLATFORM DESCRIPTION FROM SPARKFUN.COM/XRP]
The XRP is an affordable, open-source robot kit that students build themselves. It is designed so beginners can get a robot driving quickly, while still leaving room to grow into advanced projects. Key features include:
Controller: [CONTROLLER BOARD AND PROCESSOR]
Motors and sensors: [MOTORS, SERVO AND SENSORS INCLUDED]
Programming: [SUPPORTED LANGUAGES AND CODING TOOLS]
Open design: Hardware and software are open source, so schools can repair, change and extend their robots.
Price: [PRICE]
See the XRP product page for the current kit.
6. Dr. David Schneider and Cornell
Searching for an open platform
Dr. David Schneider of Cornell University was an advocate for robotics education. He wanted an open platform for his program, so his team evaluated more than 40 robotics platforms. They decided the XRP was the best open resource available.
Academic Advisory Chair
Schneider then joined the XRP consortium, where he serves as Academic Advisory Chair.
Taking the XRP to the extremes
His team at Cornell has taken the XRP far beyond the classroom:
Into space. An XRP flew aboard a Virgin Galactic flight.
Underwater. The team turned the XRP into a submersible.
To the top of the world. An XRP reached the summit of Mount Everest with climber Len Teedeschi of Applied Materials.
7. Governor Sununu and New Hampshire
An XRP in every classroom
Governor Chris Sununu of New Hampshire committed to putting the XRP in every classroom in the state. [DATE OR YEAR OF ANNOUNCEMENT] [DETAILS SUCH AS NUMBER OF SCHOOLS OR CLASSROOMS AND HOW THE ROLLOUT WAS FUNDED]
A model for every school in the country
New Hampshire showed that hands-on robotics does not have to stop at the few schools with a robotics team. By reaching every classroom in one state, it gave other states a working model for bringing the XRP to every school in the country.
In his own words
In this video, Governor Sununu talks about what the XRP means for students, teachers and the wider economy.
8. Secretary McMahon and the US Governors Cup
A recommendation to the governors
Secretary McMahon attended an XRP event, [EVENT NAME, LOCATION AND DATE], and saw students and teachers using the XRP firsthand. Afterward, she recommended that the program be presented to the nation's governors. [DETAILS OF HER VISIT OR REMARKS]
From a vision to a 50-state competition
Steve Smith, a tireless volunteer for the XRP, helped translate that vision into the US Governors Cup: a 50-state competition held during the winter meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA), in celebration of America's 250th anniversary.
What began as one state's promise in New Hampshire now has a stage in front of governors from across the country. Learn more on the Governor's Cup page.
10. References
[SOURCE ON THE OFFICE OF AMERICAN INNOVATION AND THE AMERICAN WORKFORCE POLICY ADVISORY BOARD]
[SOURCE ON DR. DAVID ROGERS'S WHITE HOUSE FELLOWSHIP]
[NSF AWARD RECORD]
[SOURCE ON BRAD MILLER AND WPILIB]
[PUBLICATION OR REPORT BY CARBERRY AND DALAL]
SparkFun Electronics. XRP product page. sparkfun.com/xrp
[SOURCE ON CORNELL'S XRP PLATFORM EVALUATION AND THE SPACE, UNDERWATER AND EVEREST MISSIONS]
[SOURCE ON GOVERNOR SUNUNU'S NEW HAMPSHIRE CLASSROOM INITIATIVE]
[SOURCE ON SECRETARY MCMAHON'S VISIT AND THE US GOVERNORS CUP]
Help write the next chapter
The XRP is built by a growing group of schools, companies and makers. Meet the partners and find your place in the story.