Low-Cost Educational Robot for Museums and Exhibitions

Museums and exhibitions provide a valuable self-learning environment. And still, the experience can be enriched by educational robots. Whilst museum guiding robots have been known for over 20 years now, practical deployment of the typically bulky and expensive robots with high operation effort was limited to few large museums. Currently affordable commercial robots, often built for applications like telepresence robots with a standardized appearance, have entered the domain. With our approach we go a step further, towards a configurable low-cost open-source robot design to be built from off-the-shelf components. The software provides a framework for explanatory multi-media and educational game modules. This way, the robot is easily adaptable to different needs, both in appearance and behavior. We showcase our approach with a pilot project at a local children’s natural science museum, operated by a volunteers team of curators.