Texas Instruments unveils solderless robotics kit for university education

Designed for the university classroom, the solderless assembly is designed to allow students to build an embedded system in under 15 minutes. Classrooms that may not have access to soldering equipment will be able to use the solderless, hands-on kit and curriculum, and reuse it year after year.

TI launched the TI-RSLK series last year to help universities across the globe keep students engaged with hands-on, customizable options for learning embedded systems design. The TI-RSLK Max completes all tasks and robotic challenges covered in the previous TI-RSLK Maze edition kit, such as solving a maze, line following and avoiding obstacles. It also provides an assembly of the various sub-systems, designed to speed up the building and testing of the robot.

The Max kit includes the Simplelink MSP432P401R MCU launchpad development kit, easy-to-connect sensors, and a chassis board that turns the robot into a mobile learning platform. Through accompanying core and supplemental curriculum, students learn how to integrate their hardware and software knowledge to build and test a system. For advanced learning, wireless communication and IoT capabilities can be added to the TI-RSLK Max to remotely control the robot or establish robot-to-robot communication.

“We know engineering educators are continually looking for more ways to teach complex concepts while keeping students engaged,” said Peter Balyta, president of TI education technology and vice president of academic engagement and corporate citizenship. “The TI-RSLK MAX does exactly that. Since the robotics kit can be built quickly, educators can spend more time teaching abstract and advanced concepts, while giving students a foundational hands-on understanding in real-world embedded system design.”