A kit of 12 sensor, control and actuator modules with a six-port switching block and a machine vision camera, supporting analogue, digital, I2C, single-bus and PWM interfaces, for teaching sensor technology, data protocols and automation projects with an educational robotic manipulator.
The LABOTRIX IOKIT R6 is an educational kit of sensors and interface modules for the practical study of how physical quantity sensors work, of analogue and digital signals, and for building learning projects in automation, robotics and the internet of things. The kit contains twelve electronic modules – physical quantity sensors, controls and an actuator – together with a switching block and a machine vision camera kit. It can be used on its own with a computer or together with a robotic manipulator, in which case sensor readings influence the motion of the arm and the camera gives it machine vision. The product is used in computer science, physics, technology and robotics lessons and in club and project work; people who have completed a safety briefing are admitted to operate it, and students work with the kit only under the supervision of a teacher.
Each electronic module is a separate board in a protective housing with a unified four-pin keyed connector, and the modules are connected to the switching block with ready-made cables, without soldering and without tools. The housings have mounting holes compatible with the elements of construction sets of the LEGO type, so a module can be fixed on a model or on a rig, while the photoelectric sensor comes with its own mounting bracket and the camera with a hinged bracket. The switching block is a separate controller with six universal input/output ports, a screen and control buttons on the front panel; it powers the connected modules, polls them and can run a loaded program standalone, without a computer. The modules use analogue signalling through analogue-to-digital conversion, digital discrete input/output, the I2C serial bus, a single-bus digital interface and pulse-width modulation: analogue-to-digital conversion serves the light sensor, the sound intensity sensor and the rotary regulator (potentiometer); the I2C serial bus serves the control joystick, the combined temperature and humidity sensor, the gesture recognition sensor and the colour detection sensor; the single-bus interface serves the LED module; pulse-width modulation drives the actuator, a micro servo drive; and the digital input/output lines serve the infrared motion sensor, the double button module and the photoelectric sensor. Two of the six ports carry an analogue-to-digital converter and take the light sensor, the sound sensor and the potentiometer, and six modules can be connected at the same time, one per universal port. The 12 electronic modules are powered at 5 V direct current within an operating supply voltage range of 3.0 to 7 V direct current, the micro servo drive at 4.8 to 6.0 V direct current, and a typical module draws 50 mA. The switching block is powered from a standard power supply with a 12 V direct current output fed from a 100-240 V alternating current mains at 50/60 Hz, and it communicates with a computer over USB as a virtual serial port. The machine vision camera is connected by its own USB cable directly to the computer rather than through the switching block, its tilt angle is adjustable from 0 to 90 degrees, and it supports text recognition, face recognition and comparison and timed frame capture, the recognition result being used by the program to control the motion of the manipulator; the manufacturer states neither the camera resolution nor the sensor type or field of view. The gesture sensor recognises 8 movements – up, down, left, right, approach, withdrawal, clockwise and counterclockwise – at a working distance of 5 to 15 cm. The temperature and humidity sensor measures temperature from 0 to 60 °C and relative humidity from 10 to 90 %, the detection distance of the motion sensor is 150 cm and the micro servo drive turns through 180 degrees. Programming is done with block programming and Python text scripts: an extension for the kit is added to the manufacturer’s software platform and places ready tools for each module in the block palette or command library, with a separate image recognition extension for the camera.
The set includes a gesture recognition sensor – 1 pc; a light level sensor – 1 pc; an LED module – 1 pc; a colour detection sensor – 1 pc; a combined temperature and humidity sensor – 1 pc; an infrared motion sensor – 1 pc; a potentiometer module, a rotary regulator – 1 pc; a sound intensity sensor – 1 pc; a double mechanical button module – 1 pc; a control joystick with an I2C interface – 1 pc; a micro servo drive with cross-shaped adapters, 4 pcs, and horns, 2 pcs – 1 pc; a photoelectric sensor with a mounting bracket – 1 pc; a machine vision camera kit with a hinged bracket and a USB cable – 1 set; a switching block, an input/output expansion module with six universal ports – 1 pc; universal connecting cables – 6 pcs; extended connecting cables – 2 pcs; a USB cable for connecting the switching block to a computer – 1 pc; a power cable for connecting the switching block to the manipulator – 1 pc; a communication cable for connecting the switching block to the manipulator – 1 pc; a calibration card – 1 pc; the access right to the online course with the language model assistant (licence) – 1 pc; the passport with the warranty card – 1 pc; and individual transport packaging – 1 pc. The power supply for the switching block and the manipulator itself are not part of this kit: it is intended to work together with the Labotrix Arm R5 manipulator and its standard power supply, or with another compatible 12 V direct current source. The product arrives assembled and needs no assembly beyond fixing the photoelectric sensor in its bracket and the machine vision camera on the servo drive of the manipulator.
The product is supplied with the access right to an online teaching support course hosted in a learning management system (LMS) and designed for 70 academic hours of lessons, compiled for the current curricula of general secondary education institutions of Ukraine. The materials are grouped into research modules in physics, biology, chemistry, STEM and robotics, and each topic contains a lesson plan, a list of the equipment needed, an experiment scenario, a step-by-step laboratory work instruction explaining the expected result, a video demonstration of working techniques, interactive exercises and tasks for independent study, suitable for both individual and group work. All modules were compiled for this same equipment and tested on it, so the course follows a direct chain from the equipment through the methodology to the learning outcomes.
The kit includes an AI assistant built into the learning management system on retrieval-augmented generation. It selects research tasks and experiments matching the topic of the lesson, describes the procedure of the experiment step by step, identifies typical student errors and gives personalised recommendations for correcting them, adapts task difficulty to different levels of student preparation, supports students in compiling reports on research results and in structuring the conclusions drawn from experiments, and works on a localised knowledge base aligned with the national curriculum of Ukraine. The licence for the course and the software is valid for 12 months; content, interface and learning materials are in Ukrainian. The assistant is used alongside the kit itself: the teacher selects the topic of the lesson in the course list and receives tasks and experiment scenarios matched to the sensor modules at hand.
Modules are connected and disconnected only with the power of the switching block fully removed, the whole circuit being assembled before power is applied, and a connector is inserted only when its key matches the slot. The module boards have no continuous housing shielding and their contacts are exposed, so a static discharge from the hands can disable a module without visible signs of damage: remove the static charge by touching an earthed metal object, hold modules by the edges of the housing and store them in the standard packaging or in antistatic bags. Analogue modules and the potentiometer are connected only to ports with an analogue-to-digital converter and the micro servo drive only to ports that support pulse-width modulation; modules of the kit are not connected to the stepper motor connectors or to the 12 V power connector, whose voltage exceeds what the modules allow, and the camera is connected only by its USB cable to the computer. Before the first attempt to pick up an object with the camera, the coordinates are calibrated with the calibration card from the kit, and the calibration is repeated after every reinstallation of the camera or change of its tilt angle. When the kit works together with the manipulator, all the safety requirements of the manipulator passport apply: the working area is kept clear, cables are routed away from the moving links and the camera cable is fixed with the standard clamp. The kit contains small parts, so it is kept out of the reach of children under 3 years of age; the recommended age of students is from 10 years, that is grade 5 and above, and the product is used only under the supervision of a teacher. The service life is 5 years and the warranty period is 12 months from the date of sale.
