Towards the Vision of an LMS Integrated, Browser-Based Simulation to Program LEGO MindStorms EV3s in ANSI-C

In practical Computer Science lessons at our University of Applied Sciences the students (Bachelor of Engineering in Mechatronics as well as Electrical Engineering and Information Technology) learn the programming language ANSI-C during the curriculum. In 2015 the LEGO MindStorms EV3 robots were integrated into these lessons. Looking at this teaching and learning arrangement, the evaluations showed a higher level of undergraduates' motivation, more fun, and more practical relevance, but also some challenges; for instance the problem that the robots are only available in the lab during opening hours. Therefore, a transformer was developed to run an existing EV3 simulation. The plan is now to use a plug-in for integrating this option into the Integrated Development Environment Eclipse as an intermediate stage. In the long term, several developments shall be combined to build a browser-based development environment for programming EV3 robots as well as the self developed EV3 simulation.