Thymio educational robot

Thymio is an open-source educational robot designed by researchers from EPFL, in collaboration with ECAL, and produced by Mobsya, a nonprofit association whose mission is to offer comprehensive, engaging STEAM journeys to learners of all ages.

The increase of digitalization offers an unprecedented opportunity to make digital education accessible to everyone on an equal opportunity basis. Many countries such as Switzerland, France, Belgium, Canada, and Tunisia have already included programming, computational thinking and educational robotics in their compulsory curricula, with more and more policymakers following suit each year.

The Thymio mobile robot can already be seen equipping schools across primary, secondary, and University levels. It is produced and distributed by Mobsya, a nonprofit association that continues to develop Thymio into a complete digital education concept centered around three core pillars:

  • Sustainable, open-source platform: The Thymio educational robot is a small interactive teaching device, based entirely on open-source hardware and software. The robot is compact, very robust and features numerous LEDs that provide immediate feedback on the robot’s perceptions, touch-sensitive keys, an accelerometer, two independent motors, a microphone, speakers and much more. It is designed and suitable for use in all educational contexts from primary schools to universities.
  • Simple programming interfaces: Thymio enables you to discover the world of robotics and to learn a robot’s language. Everyone can grow at their own pace, starting with six plug-and-play pre-programmed modes and advancing through increasingly sophisticated programming options (visual, block-based, full text code) in order to develop computational thinking and coding skills, as well as transversal skills, such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity.
  • Rich learning resources and ecosystem: One of the key strengths of Thymio in supporting compulsory education is that the platform comes with exciting learning journeys based on ready-to-use educational activities that empower, inspire, and raise curiosity in users of all ages, whose expertise may range from novice to proficient. Building these diverse STEAM and so-called 21st century transversal skills through multi-faceted learning journeys, such as those shared among members of the Thymio and Mobsya community hub, encourages active involvement in digital society.

Come and join the community of teachers and supporters of educational robotics with Thymio!

Developing STEM and Team-working Skills Through Collaborative Space Robotics Missions

K. Su; E. Bonnet; F. Mondada 

2021. 2021 IEEE AFRICON, Arusha, Tanzania, 13-15 Sept. 2021. p. 1-6. DOI : 10.1109/AFRICON51333.2021.9570851.

Investigating the Role of Educational Robotics in Formal Mathematics Education: The Case of Geometry for 15-Year-Old Students

J. Brender; L. El-Hamamsy; B. Bruno; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; J. Dehler Zufferey et al. 

2021. European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 2021), Virtual, Septembre 20-24, 2021. p. 67-81. DOI : 10.1007/978-3-030-86436-1_6.

Fostering computational thinking through educational robotics: a model for creative computational problem solving

M. Chevalier; C. Giang; A. Piatti; F. Mondada 

International Journal of STEM Education. 2020-08-03. Vol. (2020) 7:39, p. 1-18. DOI : 10.1186/s40594-020-00238-z.

Towards the alignment of educational robotics learning systems with classroom activities

C. Giang / F. Mondada; A. Piatti (Dir.)  

Lausanne, EPFL, 2020. 

Introducing a Paper-Based Programming Language for Computing Education in Classrooms

A. Mehrotra; C. Giang; N. Duruz; J. Dedelley; A. Mussati et al. 

2020. 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Trondheim, Norway, June 15-19, 2020. DOI : 10.1145/3341525.3387402.

A Tangible Programming Language for the Educational Robot Thymio

A. Mussati; C. Giang; A. Piatti; F. Mondada 

2019-08-18. IISA 2019 The 10th International Conference on Information, Intelligence, Systems and Applications, Patras, Greece, July 15-17, 2019.

Augmented Robotics for Learners: A Case Study on Optics

W. Johal; O. Robu; A. R. Dame; S. Magnenat; F. Mondada 

2019. IEEE RoMan 2019 – The 28th IEEE International Conference on Robot & Human Interactive Communication, New Delhi, India, October 14 – 18, 2019. DOI : 10.1109/RO-MAN46459.2019.8956363.

How do pupils perceive educational robotics as a tool to improve their 21st century skills?

L. Negrini; C. Giang 

Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society. 2019-05-01. Vol. 15, num. 2, p. 77-87. DOI : 10.20368/1971-8829/1628.

Robot swarms as an educational tool: The Thymio’s way

A. Vitanza; P. Rossetti; F. Mondada; V. Trianni 

International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems. 2019-01-31. Vol. 16, num. 1, p. 172988141882518. DOI : 10.1177/1729881418825186.

Localization of inexpensive robots with low-bandwidth sensors

S. Wang; F. Colas; M. Liu; F. Mondada; S. Magnenat 

2019. 13th International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS), London, ENGLAND, November 7-9, 2016. p. 545-558. DOI : 10.1007/978-3-319-73008-0_38.

Elements of Robotics

M. Ben-Ari; F. Mondada 

Cham: Springer, 2017.

Improved mobile robot programming performance through real-time program assessment

R. A. Siegfried; S. Klinger; M. Gross; R. W. Sumner; F. Mondada et al. 

2017. 22nd Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Bologna, July 3-5, 2017. p. 341-346. DOI : 10.1145/3059009.3059044.

Bringing robotics into formal education using the Thymio open source hardware robot

F. Mondada; M. Bonani; F. Riedo; M. Briod; L. Pereyre et al. 

IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine. 2017. Vol. 24, num. 1, p. 77-85. DOI : 10.1109/MRA.2016.2636372.

Electroencephalography as implicit communication channel for proximal interaction between humans and robot swarms

L. Mondada; M. E. Karim; F. Mondada 

Swarm Intelligence. 2016. Vol. 10, num. 4, p. 247-265. DOI : 10.1007/s11721-016-0127-0.

Pedagogical Uses of Thymio II: How Do Teachers Perceive Educational Robots in Formal Education?

M. Chevalier; F. Riedo; F. Mondada 

IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine. 2016. Vol. 23, num. 2, p. 16-23. DOI : 10.1109/MRA.2016.2535080.

IniRobot : a pedagogical kit to initiate children to concepts of robotics and computer science

D. Roy; P-Y. Oudeyer; S. Magnenat; F. Riedo; G. Gerber et al. 

2015. 6th International Conference on Robotics in Education, Yverdon, Switzerland, May 20-22, 2015. p. 28-34.

Thymio

F. Riedo / F. Mondada; P. Dillenbourg (Dir.)  

Lausanne, EPFL, 2015. 

A sociological contribution to understanding the use of robots in schools: the Thymio robot

S. Kradolfer; S. Dubois; F. Riedo; F. Mondada; F. Fassa 

2014. Fifth International Conference on Social Robotics, Sydney, October 27-29, 2014. p. 217-228. DOI : 10.1007/978-3-319-11973-1_22.

Improving the Thymio Visual Programming Language Experience through Augmented Reality

S. Magnenat; F. Mondada 

2014

Fuzzy Control System for Autonomous Navigation and Parking of Thymio II Mobile Robots

F. Boufera; F. Debbat; F. Mondada; M. F. Khelfi 

International Journal of Computer and Electrical Engineering (IJCEE). 2014. Vol. 6, num. 4, p. 321-325. DOI : 10.7763/IJCEE.2014.V6.846.

Teaching a Core CS Concept through Robotics

S. Magnenat; J. Shin; F. Riedo; R. Siegwart; M. Ben-Ari 

2014. 19th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE’14), Uppsala, Sweden, June 21-25, 2014. p. 315-320. DOI : 10.1145/2591708.2591714.

Thymio II, a robot that grows wiser with children

F. Riedo; M. S. D. Chevalier; S. Magnenat; F. Mondada 

2013. The 2013 IEEE Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts (ARSO), Shibaura Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, November 7-9, 2013. p. 187-193. DOI : 10.1109/ARSO.2013.6705527.

Seamless Multi-Robot Programming for the People: ASEBA and the Wireless Thymio II Robot

P. Rétornaz; F. Riedo; S. Magnenat; F. C. Vaussard; M. Bonani et al. 

2013. 2013 IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation, Yinchuan, China, August 26-28, 2013. p. 337-343. DOI : 10.1109/ICInfA.2013.6720320.

A Programming Workshop using the Robot “Thymio II”: The Effect on the Understanding by Children

S. Magnenat; F. Riedo; M. Bonani; F. Mondada 

2012. The IEEE International Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts, Munich, Germany, May 21-23, 2012. p. 24-29. DOI : 10.1109/ARSO.2012.6213393.

A two years informal learning experience using the Thymio robot

F. Riedo; P. Rétornaz; L. Bergeron; N. Nyffeler; F. Mondada 

2012. 6th International Symposium on Autonomous Minirobots for Research and Edutainment, Bielefeld, Germany, May 23-25, 2011. p. 37-48. DOI : 10.1007/978-3-642-27482-4_7.