NEW AGE ROBOTICS: IMPLICATIONS FOR A BLOCKCHAIN INTEGRATED PROTOTYPE FOR EDUCATION

Abstract

In the 21st century, the rapid expansion of automated robots and intelligent devices in industries such as manufacturing, production, healthcare, and education ushered in the era of digital informatics. However, the emergence of a new era of robotics has presented significant security challenges in the supply chain of manufacturers, users, and data exchange between these smart devices, making them attractive targets for cybercriminals. This paper proposes the development of a new-age robotics prototype and a conceptual three-level framework for robotics prototypes by integrating blockchain technology with the robot order, ownership, and robot-to-robot communication processes. The objective was to provide a model for the safe development and use of robots with secure access to internal data with educational implications. The researchers adapted a prefabricated robot prototype for the ESP32 family of microcontroller boards and Raspberry Pi Pico as the receiver to accomplish this. Due to the large number of pins, the ESP32 board was used for the values from the primary sensors, while the Raspberry Pi Pico board was used for components that required precision and stable operation. Using an encryption mechanism with a hash function in conjunction with uploading the command set from the factory to the robot, the robotics prototype of the twenty-first century was able to secure instructions and data effectively. This also encrypted the owner's command set, including encrypted robot-to-robot communication, and divided the operation into three parts, making it simple to update the robot with new information. This mechanism could be combined with a language for creating Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as MicroPython. The robotics prototype was implemented in education through the testing and evaluation of a pilot prototype by students, who reported high levels of satisfaction, improved academic performance, and acquired artificial intelligence (AI) skills. Lastly, the robotics prototype could serve as a blueprint for future innovation-generating research.