Mexico ITESO team builds portable robotics teaching platform RoboMeshA under EPICS in IEEE, with two units built and classroom validation at high schools

The team developed RoboMeshA, a portable, self-contained mobile learning network that students can use directly from a web browser without the school building a dedicated computer lab or installing complex software. Compared with conventional robotics teaching setups that require specialized facilities or preinstalled software, the platform combines mechanical design, embedded systems, control engineering, computer vision, and AI into a single robotic system that functions as a mobile learning laboratory. The text reports the team size (15 engineering students, faculty advisors, and IEEE volunteers), platform functions (browser connection, manual interaction, control modes, movement and obstacle avoidance), and the fact that two units have been built; this is project self-description and functional description without quantitative teaching-outcome data.

The team partnered with CETI Colomos and Prepa ITESO high schools to validate the platform in real classroom settings, emphasizing that first interactions should be simple and intuitive: power the robot, connect to its network, and begin interacting. It moves the design goal from mere functionality toward low-threshold use by students with different levels of experience, and explicitly uses classroom settings as the validation environment. The text names the partner schools and the validation setting and quotes a team member on simplifying first interactions; this is a statement of process and design intent, without reported outcome metrics from the classroom validation.

The team is developing a modular coupling framework that uses a structured system design approach to connect independent software components while minimizing internal dependencies, enabling four RoboMeshA robots to operate together. Beyond a single teaching platform, it extends toward scalable multi-robot research and classroom demonstration capability. The text states the framework is still under development and gives the design goal of four robots operating together; this is a description of work in progress.

The project also serves education and social impact: many participating students came from ITESO's applied professional projects program and gained practical training in project management, system integration, and user-centered design, and the team presented a research paper and a project poster in May at the Engineering Congress of the Jesuit University System. It pairs engineering education with community service, framing a model that other schools, universities, and IEEE student branches could adopt. The text reports the program source, training content, and the conference presentation; this is a record of project experience and activities, without independent evaluation of student learning outcomes.

The platform targets high school classrooms that lack dedicated robotics laboratories or preinstalled software, especially schools with limited resources but motivated teachers and students interested in STEM; the usage mode is that students connect to the mobile learning network via a browser and manually interact with the robot or use its control modes to watch it move and detect and avoid obstacles. The team has built two units and partnered with CETI Colomos and Prepa ITESO to validate the platform in classroom settings, while developing a modular coupling framework to support four robots operating together and expand capabilities for research and classroom demonstrations. The team also hopes the model will be adopted by schools, universities, and IEEE student branches in Mexico and internationally as a blueprint for engineering education that integrates technical innovation.

The text does not provide specific outcome metrics from the classroom validation, pre/post learning-outcome data for students, or platform performance parameters, so the platform's actual effectiveness across students with different experience levels remains to be observed; the modular coupling framework is still under development, and four robots operating together is a design goal rather than a reported result; the platform's replicability outside Mexico and its long-term maintenance costs also remain to be tested.