Braitenbergian experiments with simple aquatic robots

This paper describes the development of a short introductory underwater robotics course, aimed at college freshman and high school and middle school students. During these courses, students work in teams to build and program underwater robots using a combination of LEGO and other simple materials. As an introduction to ideas of artificial intelligence and robot programming, students undertook a practical exploration of the concepts developed by cybernetician Valentino Braitenberg in his famous book "Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology". Over five laboratory sessions, students gradually evolved their own designs for waterborne "robotic amoebas" through a series of progressively more complex design challenges. These courses build on our previously reported work in which students have built underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles using similar materials and educational strategies. This work is now being adapted for dissemination to large numbers of middle and high schools across New Jersey through a grant from the National Science Foundation.