On Engaging Bioengineering Students in Hands-on Robotics Applied in Rehabilitation

This article highlights some key benefits of involving bioengineering students in hands-on projects developed within a robotics laboratory. The initiative of creating such a laboratory lays the groundwork for educational team projects that are finalized with realistic robotic devices. Students are given the opportunity to acquire basic knowledge about software and hardware systems for robotics, by working relatively autonomously over extended periods of time. An introduction to the main concepts addressed by this approach is provided along with a description of the main skills that students develop during the projects. In the paper, the workflow is also summarized and some products emerging from the project are illustrated.