Teaching Robots to Learn Teaches the Students Too -- THE Journal

Typically, students work with robots that have been pre-programmed or program robots to undertake simple tasks for which the outcome is known. But a research project in Israel came up with a way for high schoolers and first-year engineering students to learn robot intelligence technologies by engaging them in teaching robots -- both physical and digital -- to learn. In a paper recently published by the International Journal of Online Engineering, three researchers described how students taught their robots to acquire skills by implementing a "reinforcement learning (RL) process" that used simulation modeling and cloud communication. The idea of RL is to use trial and error rather than direct instructions to help the robot determine appropriate performance criteria -- in this case, what angle it should situate itself in to lift varying weights. The project followed three phases.