LEGO robotics based project for industrial engineering education

This paper presents the development and implementation of a LEGO robotics based project in an undergraduate- levelclass on manufacturing systems. In industrial engineering (IE), which includes manufacturing as a major applicationdomain, advanced IT technology and automation science have recently been integrated with manufacturing. As modernmanufacturing becomes more complicated and relies increasingly on automation, a new approach is required for IEeducation. The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science andTechnology (KAIST) has developed a LEGO-based Automated Production System (LAPS) design project module fora manufacturing class, using a LEGO robotics kit and MATLAB LEGO support software. In this project, students designand develop an automated production line using LEGO. The aim of the project is to motivate the students to learn aboutthe dynamic flow behavior of production lines and about the design and analysis of manufacturing automation by workingthrough the LAPS design activity. After two years of pilot trials and official implementation in an undergraduatemanufacturing class with 32 students, it is found that the LAPS project is significantly effective in motivating students. Asurvey and class evaluation also shows that students are very satisfied with the class involving the LAPS project. This paperdescribes how innovations in IE education are possible with new educational technology such as LEGO robotics kits. Italso demonstrates how LEGO robotics can be used to effectively teach the dynamic flow behavior of manufacturingsystems and how to design manufacturing systems while taking account of this dynamic behavior.