Mobile augmented reality using 3D ruler in a robotic educational module to promote STEM learning

Bulletin of Electrical Engineering and Informatics
Vol. 9, No. 6, December 2020, pp. 2499~2506
ISSN: 2302-9285, DOI: 10.11591/eei.v9i6.2235  2499
Journal homepage: http://beei.org
Mobile augmented reality using 3D ruler in a robotic
educational module to promote STEM learning
Nur Amira Atika Nordin, Nazatul Aini Abd Majid, Noor Faridatul Ainun Zainal
Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Article Info ABSTRACT
Article history:
Received Nov 30, 2019
Revised Feb 14, 2020
Accepted Apr 24, 2020
Robotics education is gaining popularity among school children in line with
the government desire to promote creative thinking in students through
STEM based activities. However, the robots for educational games are usually
made up of components and its description is usually one-way and static.
Additionally, students find it difficult to visualize distances from robot
movements when playing educational robotic games. Augmented reality
(AR) technology is a viable tool to connect between in-context information
and physical activities. The objective of this research is to design and develop
an AR based application that can visualize the distance between two robots
for supporting learning process in a game-based module. The application
consists of three parts; the first part use AR in identification of components
related to robots, while the second part involves the addition of real-time
visualization in the form of AR, enabling students to learn the distance from
the robot's movements. The third part used AR in providing the description of
the robotic games through videos. The development of the application
is based on the Agile model. The results show that the application has received
positive feedbacks from students as it can increase their interest in playing
robotic educational games.
Keywords:
Augmented reality
Dynamic
Educational games
Robotic
STEM
This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license.
Corresponding Author:
Nazatul Aini Abd Majid,
Faculty of Information Science and Technology,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM),
43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
Email: nazatulaini@ukm.edu.my
1. INTRODUCTION
Educational robotics is one of the area that have high potential to engage students in learning
activities especially activities related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
education. Robotic is used in the teaching and learning process in order to promote STEM education as it can
be employed to directly teach about robotics or indirectly to support multi-disciplinary topics [1]. Previously,
robot have been investigated for supporting pre-school children using object recognition-based second
language learning method [2], promoting active learning environment [3] and increasing the ability in
computational thinking [4] which is also important for STEM education. As reported by [5], educational
robot system based on STEM school teacher and specifications of STEM activities are affordable, support
expandable module, emphasize on hands-on activities, focus on games and attractive. Therefore, an educational
robotic module based on Arduino will be a viable option.
Arduino is a widely used open source platform for both hardware and software [6]. Its low price,
high availability of sensors and transducers, ease of use and open nature make the Arduino perfect for students
in active learning and collaboration. Besides, learning the basics of Arduino requires the development of
several coding capabilities and the open nature of the product enhances collaborative learning. There are studies been

 ISSN: 2302-9285
Bulletin of Electr Eng & Inf, Vol. 9, No. 6, December 2020 : 2499 – 2506
2500
carried out about who developed low cost robotic kits using the Arduino. The use of Arduino robotic kit has
supported and enhanced learning motivations, such as using expensive robotics like Lego, Fisher and other
robot manufacturers [7]. Furthermore, Arduino can be used to introduce programming to students, improve
their attitude toward technology, develop student information processing skills and help them relate concepts
to everyday life [8].
An affordable robotic kit usually consists of these components which are modules, Arduino based
robots and programming editor. Programming editor, such as Scratch has been used to increase interest for
STEM using educational robots [9]. Mona, an interesting mobile robot that has been developed to support
both education and research has these components [10]. However, there still exist lack of robotic modules
that emphasize the transformation of experience in order to create knowledge from the hands-on experience.
Therefore, Kolb's experiential learning theory provides a clear mechanism for the design of teaching and
learning more emphasis on construction of knowledge and skills through direct experience [11]. Kolb‟s
experiential learning theory has been incorporated in developing an educational robotic module that not only
focuses on active activities but also thinking and reflection [5, 12]. It consists of four steps; concrete
experience, reflection, abstraction and active experimentation respectively [13]. These steps have been
the basis for the development of „save our robot!‟ and „long pole game modules‟ [5, 12]. These modules not
only focus on teaching robotic components and programming but also mathematics according to Malaysia‟s
education curricula. However, the modules can be further improved by adding a connection between
the physical activities using the robot prototypes with in-context theories as the robotic modules can support
multi-disciplinary topics.
On the other hand, conventional learning methods are adequate for lower cognitive learning because
they are not effective as experience-based learning to develop higher levels of cognitive learning [14].
In term of experiential learning, there is need for requires specific analysis and application of concepts and
principles in real life or simulation problem of real life. The implementation of the learning model of
experience using modules as a media to support the learning process has been investigated by [15]. This
study compares the implementation of experiential learning using a module with a direct learning model on
the competency of measuring instruments. The results showed that the experiential learning model has a
significant effect on student learning outcomes. The learning process is carried out in four stages: questions
and answers between teacher and student, module learning level, discussion and presentation stage, and
measurement practice level. Increasing student learning outcomes are influenced by student active involvement
to feel, see, reflect, conceptualize, and apply the knowledge directly. Similarly, the implementation
of e-modules with experiential learning strategies can enhance student achievement in cognitive,
psychomotor and affective abilities [16].
Augmented reality (AR) is a viable option to connect between the hands-on activities with
the theories as it is capable to overlay digital contents on robot prototypes through a mobile phone screen.
Since AR can be used to combine the virtual object on the world of reality as well as allows its users to
interact with virtual objects [17], this technology has been used in tourism application [18], health application [19]
and halal product application [20]. In education, the use of AR to support STEM topics can be found for
chemistry [21, 22], biology [23], computer organization [24] and mathematics [25, 26]. AR also has been
used to support educational robot applications [27], but there is need for real-time data visualization that will
be based on the current state using AR to be further investigated in the area of educational robots. Hence, the
objective of the present research is to design and develop an AR based app that can visualize
the distance between two robots for supporting learning process in a game based module.
2. INTERACTIVE 3D RULER APPLICATION WITH AR FOR ROBOTIC MODULE
A 3D ruler was proposed in this study in order to provide an interactive learning. The 3D ruler can
be visualized based on two specified markers in an AR environment. Unique markers as shown in Figure 1
were attached to each of the robots; Robot 1 and 2. Furthermore, it was used to visualize the distance
between the two robots in order to support the calculation of a mathematics formula in a traditional game
called long pole game. Long pole game is a robotic game that was developed based on the Malaysian
traditional game called “galah Panjang” [28]. In this game, one robot (Robot 2) which is the defender will
not allow the opponent robot (Robot 1) which is the attacker to enter the other side of the game field.
The development of the mobile app in this research as shown in Figure 1 not only support the explanation of
the game but can also help the players to plan their strategy based on the distance between the attacker
and the defender.
The framework for implementing the 3D ruler is shown Figure 2. The positions of the robots
are the inputs for the main process in the framework. The distance between the two robots was calculated
based on the acquisition of the positions of the two robots. Similarly, based on the distance and the location
of the two robots, an image for 3D ruler was overlaid between the two robots.

Bulletin of Electr Eng & Inf ISSN: 2302-9285 
Mobile augmented reality using 3D ruler in a robotic educational module to… (Nur Amira Atika Nordin)
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Figure 1. Visualizing the distance using 3D ruler between two robots based on AR multi target inputs
Figure 2. The calculation of 3D ruler for distance visualization
The algorithm for the visualization of the 3D ruler is given below:
1) Get position for Robot 1 from its marker: X
2) Get position for Robot 2 from its marker: Y
3) Calculate the distance between Robot 1 and Robot 2: distance= Y-X
4) Get the link position between Robot 1 and Robot 2: Z
5) Calculate the new position of the 3D ruler: Z + distance/2
6) Visualize the 3D ruler
From the above algorithm; Step 1 until Step 6 will be implemented using AR environment.
The position of the robot will be tracked by the AR engine via the phone camera based on the attached
marker. Users can see the image of the 3D ruler overlaid on top of the mobile phone screen when there
is a change in the distance. The visualization of the 3D ruler will be updated based on the changing positions
of both Robot 1 and Robot 2 so that the users can see the real time value while playing the game.
3. RESEARCH METHOD
3.1. Participants
The participants of the present study were four secondary school students and seven higher
education students. The first four students aged between 13-15 years old, while that of the students from
the higher education aged between 19-22 years old.
3.2. Mobile Application
The mobile application that was developed and used in the present study is called ARLongPole
game, in which the 3D ruler algorithm makes one of the main functions. Overall, has three functions as
shown in Figure 3, which are; video-based AR for games explanation (VideoAR), 3D model using AR for
robotic component visualization (RobotAR), and 3D ruler using AR for visualizing the distance between two
robots in a long pole game (JarakAR). The first function, VideoAR consists of two videos about robotic
component and the game that will be played based on the selected marker. The second function, RobotAR

 ISSN: 2302-9285
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consists of three 3D models, which are; Arduino, servo motor and sensor that will be visualised based on
the selected marker. The third function, JarakAR consists of the visualization of a 3D ruler as discussed
in section 2.0.
Figure 3. The main functions in the mobile application: RobotAR, VideoAR and JarakAR
The mobile app was developed based on rapid application development (RAD), which consists
of four main phases: planning, design, development and implementation. In order to integrate AR in
the mobile app, the development of the mobile app involves: (1) Unity 3D for Android platform development
using C#, (2) Vuforia for augmented reality development, and (3) Blender for 3D editing. The main menu
of the application consists of the three main functions, which are; RobotAR, VideoAR and JarakAR as shown
in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Three modules in the ARLongPole application
In order to support self-learning, the students can select RobotAR button for visualizing the 3D
model of the robotic components, illustrated in Figure 5. The students can proceed to select VideoAR button
for tracking the specified marker so that they can learn more about the game based on the overlaid video on
the mobile phone screen, illustrated in Figure 6. This function is important in the development of a mobile
application that support robotic module. This is because the robotic module consists of assembling of
the robot components and developing the programs for the robots.

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Figure 5. Learning robotic components module based on AR
Figure 6. Video for explaining long pole game
After watching the video, the students can start to play the long pole game. They can modify
the programs for the robots via a visual programming editor called blockly. In order to see the output
of the programs, the robots will be located on a printed canvas as shown in Figure 7. While playing the game,
the players can start to use the third function which is JarakAR in order to visualize the real-time changes
of the robots‟ distance. The 3D ruler will be updated based on the location of the robots. The distance can be
further used by the player to calculate the speed of the robot.
Figure 7. The visualization of the 3D ruler in supporting the educational games in real time

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4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Data was collected through distributed questionnaires and observations made while respondents use
this application. Descriptive statistical analysis was carried out to identify the satisfaction level of using
the developed AR application in learning materials related to robotic modules. The mean and the frequency,
scale of 4 to 5, were calculated to identify the level of students‟ interest and engagement in using
the application. It can be seen from Table 1 that item 7 and 12 has the highest level of engagement with mean
4.5 and frequency 11. The overall mean for each of the attributes are in the range of 3.9 to 4.5. This indicates
that the respondents were satisfied with the use of the AR based application in learning an educational robotic
game. As shown in Figure 8, two students were engaged with the app in learning the educational game.
Table 1. Frequency (scale of 4 to 5) for the interest and engagement of using mobile apps AR
Num. Item Frequency Mean
1 This application is very easy to use 9 4.25
2 The content of the application is compelling 8 4.2
3 I can visualize distances from robot movements 10 4.3
4 I found this app to have an interesting interface 8 3.9
5 This app enhances my understanding of the main components of the robot 10 4.1
6 I was able to identify the main components of the robot through this application 10 4.4
7 I feel like I can understand how to play Long games using robot 11 4.5
8 This app has increased my interest in learning robotics 10 4.2
9 This app encourages me to learn interactively 9 4.4
10 This application enhances my interest in Technology 9 4.1
11 This app interests me in the field of Math through distance visualization 8 4.1
12 This app enhances the curiosity of developing robots 11 4.5
Figure 8. Two students were using the app in learning the educational robotic game
Respondents also show positive response in using 3D ruler for visualizing the distance between
robots as some respondents stated:
“I like using AR for visualizing the distance because it is easy to know the distance virtually”
“I like the 3D ruler part because it solved the difficulty in estimating the distance between objects”
An interview was conducted with an expert in educational robotic, and the expert responded
positively during the usage of the application. The distance visualization module embedded in the learning
module for the games using robots was said to be interesting and can help students visualize distances in real
time. The main feature of the ARLongPole games application is the function of the 3D ruler. By visualizing
the distance via using the ruler, as shown in Figure 7, students can further relate the distance of the robot with
the strategy to move the robot in order to win the game. The expert also said that the concept of the robot
component description using the AR concept made it easier for students to know the main components of
a robot. This is because this robot-related lesson requires students to have a strong interest in learning it.
As the use of AR technology can make learning more fun. Hence, the expert felt that the application could
help students understand how to play long games with robots and learn robot components as well. The use of
this app to play the robot is expected to make students more self-reliant and increase their interest as AR has
proven to be effective for teaching robotic modules [29, 30]. In the future, multi modal input, such as the use
of speech input in an AR application [31] can be further investigated for an effective robotic module.

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5. CONCLUSION
In order to engage students in learning STEM using educational robotic games, the present research
proposed a mobile AR application with an interactive 3D ruler. The 3D ruler will be overlayed on the mobile
phone screen in order to show the real-time distance between the two robots. Based on the value indicated on
the screen, the students can relate topics in school, such as distance while playing. This mobile AR
application was designed to help students to get in-context information while playing the robotic educational
game. The students can retrieve the information by tracking markers related to the robotic components and
robotic games. Also, they can visualize the distance between two robots by using real-time value through 3D
ruler technique. This will enhance their understanding about the learning environment, especially for those
who are new in using robotic components. In order to promote STEM among students, the proposed mobile
application can be a supportive tool to connect between the theories and physical activities. In addition,
this mobile application comes with a low-cost robot so that it is accessible to a wide range of students
worldwide. Therefore, these efforts will support the government‟s aim to expand access to quality
and capability education.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia and Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia (FRGS/1/2017/ICT04/UKM/1).
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BIOGRAPHIES OF AUTHORS
Nur Amira Atika Nordin is currently pursuing the Bachelor of Software Engineering with
Honours (Multimedia System Development) at Faculty of Information Science and Technology,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Nazatul Aini Abd Majid did her Bachelor of Computer Science with Honours and MSc
(Computer Science) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and received her PhD from The
University of Auckland, New Zealand in 2011. Currently she is a senior lecturer and researcher
at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She is a member of the Center for Artificial Intelligence
Technology. Her research interest includes Augmented Reality, Educational Robotic,
Multivariable Statistical Process Monitoring, Industrial Computing, High Performance
Computing and Cloud Computing.
Noor Faridatul Ainun Zainal did her Bachelor of System Management and Science and MSc
(System Management and Science) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She is currently pursuing
the EDD in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Currently she is an IT instructor at Faculty of
Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

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