DEVELOPMENT OF A SUCCESSFUL OPEN-ENDED ROBOTICS DESIGN COURSE AT THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL Nora Ayanian * , James Keller * , David J. Cappelleri † , and Vijay Kumar * * Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics University of Pennsylvania † Mechanical Engineering Stevens Institute of Technology Abstract We have developed an intensive, three-week summer robotics program for high school students. The program requires special teaching methods since it is offered to rising 10th through 12th grade students with diverse backgrounds, and a low student/teacher ratio to ensure all students grasp the material. We use a project- based learning approach, assigning labs, projects, and competitions specially designed to prepare students for the main element of the program, the design of a semi-autonomous robotic vehicle. The project culminates with testing of their vehicles on an obstacle course. In this paper, we report on the special teaching methods required for the course, reflect on changes that have positively and negatively affected the success of the program, and discuss results of a recent survey of former students. Introduction The annual Summer Academy in Advanced Science and Technology (SAAST) Robotics program, founded in 2005, is an intensive, three- week robotics program for talented high school students. The program is taught primarily by graduate students, and is structured around a principal project modeled after NASA's Mars Rovers. The students must teleoperate (via remote control and a webcam feed) a semi- autonomous truck to navigate and collect objects of interest from an obstacle course with various difficulties of terrain. The mission objective is to collect as many points as possible in a fixed time, with varied points based on difficulty procuring each item. Special teaching methods are necessary to ensure success, since the program is offered to rising 10 th through 12 th grade students without prerequisites. A Project Based Learning (PBL) approach is key to introducing a large amount of material to the students in this context. Open- ended, specially tailored problems serve as building blocks for and culminate in the comprehensive open-ended principal project. Students get hands-on experience with mechanism design, electronics, CAD/CAM, and microprocessor programming. Targeted design reviews guide students with their designs and ensure teams will successfully complete the principal project. A low student to teacher ratio (in 2009, the ratio was 25:8, or 25:12 including residential teaching assistants) ensures students get the one-on-one mentoring they need. The recent survey of program alumni shows that the students enjoy the project based approach, and they feel they have learned a great deal while participating in SAAST Robotics. Furthermore, participation in the SAAST Robotics program has had a positive effect on determining their field of study at the college level. Relevant Work Robotics is a truly integrative engineering discipline, combining mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science in a truly comprehensive field of study. This poses challenges to teaching and learning robotics that cannot be addressed in the traditional disciplinary learning paradigms. Interest in robotics education and curricula has been gaining momentum in recent years, with