Polytechnic University and Foreign Partners Continue to work on Developing a Unique Educational Platform

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University is carrying on cooperation within the framework of the international project POETA: this week, SPbPU representatives together with partners from Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT; Finland), industrial partner ROBBO Ltd. and the Lappeenranta Department of Education met at a regular video conference on the interim results of the project and the implementation of the project during the coronavirus pandemic.

SPbPU was represented by project coordinator Dmitry DANILOVICH and International Office staff. LUT University was represented by the Head of the System Engineering group, Professor Leonid CHECHURIN and coordinators and administrative managers of the project. ROBBO Ltd was represented by the project manager Aleksandr EGOROV and financial manager Ekaterina SAYENKO. On behalf of the Lappeenranta Education Department, the project manager Petja PYYKKÖNEN took part in the video conference.

The project "Practice-oriented children's education in the Industry 4.0 sphere on the basis of a unified open educational hardware platform" (KS1950, POETA, 2020-2022) is supported by the South-East Finland – Russia CBC 2014–2020 Programme.  and is co-financed by the European Union, the Russian Federation and Finland.

The goal of the project is to develop and certify a unique educational platform in the EU, which is based on a system of teaching materials and hardware and software resources for teaching technologies in Industry 4.0: robotics, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, and programming. Teachers of schools in the border regions (South Karelia, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region) will have at their disposal a set of guidelines for practical lessons and testing. ROBBO is responsible for the technical component (boards, sensors, etc.). A specially created information system will help organize the learning process.

During the past videoconference, the parties discussed the progress in the implementation of the project work plan, in particular, certification issues. Currently, two components of the platform require certification: a 3D printer and IoT components. It is known that a working prototype of a 3D printer will be delivered for certification to Lappeenranta in late May - early June, and the components of the Internet of Things are under development. In this situation among the most important are issues of production and delivery of platform components. Currently, ROBBO is testing various delivery options to find the best solution in terms of price and time.

During the next stage of the negotiations the parties discussed educational materials. Project Manager Petja PYYKKÖNEN underlined the necessity to increase knowledge of the Internet of Things among Finnish teachers and students. The Head of the System Engineering group Leonid CHECHURIN presented a possible solution to this issue. The idea of ​​the concept is to develop a self-study course for teachers, which would consist of theoretical material and tests for self-testing. The practical part can be implemented as a virtual tour. In order to find out exactly what materials teachers need, an online survey will be developed for Finnish and Russian teachers. The results of the survey will form the basis of the future course. In addition, the parties agreed to hold an educational camp in Russia. Preparation for it will begin in the fall of 2020.

And finally, colleagues discussed the prospects for their work in view of the coronavirus pandemic. Project participants do not disregard the fact that even after the pandemic, people might still have some psychological barriers - in particular, many will avoid mass events. To be prepared for this state of affairs, project manager Petja PYYKKÖNEN suggested conducting online classes simultaneously in Russia and Finland. Representatives of the company ROBBO reported that they are also actively redesigning offline courses into distance courses. Thus, the parties agreed that at the moment there are no serious obstacles to the implementation of the project. “We cannot predict the future, but so far we do not see any delays in the implementation of the project. Most of the offline activities of the project are scheduled for 2021. Of course, there is little risk if the situation does not recover during the year, but I think we will find a solution in this case as well, ” commented Leonid CHECHURIN.

The next video conference on the POETA project will take place in mid-May. Participants are actively continuing work on their areas of responsibility, and are preparing to present new results in a month in accordance with the road map of the work.

Prepared by SPbPU International Office