Teaching Robotics with ROS 2 | ROSCon UK 2025 Workshop

Overview

Teaching robotics is uniquely challenging. Between managing complex tooling, navigating steep learning curves, and balancing theory with hands-on skills, many educators struggle to deliver effective robotics education. ROS 2 offers immense power, but it’s not always easy to teach.

This half-day workshop brings educators, students, and developers together to share honest experiences of teaching robotics with ROS 2. Through lightning talks, demos, discussions, and breakouts, we'll explore what’s working, what isn’t, and how we can better support each other. Our goal: to build community, share tools, and improve how we teach robotics.

Presenters

Dr Vijay Pawar
UCL Bartlett School

Dr Rafaello Bonghi
NVIDIA

Prof Sabine Hauert
University of Bristol

Prof Marc Hanheide
University of Lincoln

Alexander Enoch
Robotical

Martin Klomp
TU Delft

Riccardo Tellez
The Construct

Dr Ingo Keller
The National Robotarium

Outline and Goals

As ROS 2 continues to evolve, so too do the ways it's being taught—in universities, industry training programs, outreach efforts, and informal communities. This half-day workshop brings together educators, curriculum developers, tool/platform creators, and students to share real-world experiences in teaching robotics with ROS 2.

The workshop will feature short talks, panel discussions, interactive sessions, and practical demos, all centered around key questions:

What tools and methods are educators using to teach ROS 2 successfully?
What hasn’t worked, and what can we learn from that?
How can the ROS community better support robotics education at all levels?
What platforms—hardware and software—enable effective, scalable learning?
Can we build more alignment between tool developers and education needs?

Our goals:

Showcase diverse teaching approaches and challenges with ROS 2.
Share reusable tools, techniques, and platforms across the community.
Foster networking and potential collaboration between educators, students, and developers.
Begin forming a living resource hub or ongoing ROS Education community of practice.

Intended Audience and Learning Outcomes

This workshop is for:

University educators (UG and PG) teaching robotics, mechatronics, or embedded systems.
Industry trainers and technical educators running ROS 2 bootcamps or onboarding.
High school and outreach educators working to introduce robotics early.
Developers of educational tools and platforms based on ROS 2.
Hobbyist/maker educators or content creators teaching through informal channels.
Students and recent learners, offering insight into learning barriers and motivations.
ROS 2 Developers and Community, to provide a perspective on how learners interact with ROS 2 and insights into what works well and what needs improvement.

Attendees will leave with:

Practical course design strategies and pitfalls to avoid.
A list of effective tools, simulators, and hardware platforms for teaching.
Fresh insights into engaging students and reducing friction with ROS 2.
New contacts and possible collaborators in the ROS education space.
Access to a shared open source collection of teaching materials and resources.

Workshop Schedule

Session	Time	Description
Welcome & Workshop Goals	14:30–14:40	Framing the workshop themes and introducing the team and agenda.
Lightning Talks (Part 1)	14:40–15:20	4 short talks (~10 mins each + Q&A). Presenters: • Dr Vijay Pawar • Dr Rafaello Bonghi • Prof Sabine Hauert • Prof Marc Hanheide
Lightning Talks (Part 2)	15:20–16:00	More short talks on ROS education. Presenters: • Alexander Enoch • Martin Klomp • Riccardo Tellez • Dr Ingo Keller
Break & Networking	16:00–16:15	Coffee and snacks. Informal discussions and networking among attendees.
Demo Showcase	16:00–16:40	Live or semi-live demos of teaching platforms and tools. Examples include: • Robot kits, digital twins, RViz-based tools • Open course frameworks and simulators • Attendee 2-minute informal demo slots
Interactive Panel & Audience Q&A	16:40–17:15	Moderated panel with educators, students, and developers. Topics: • Student engagement strategies • Open-source vs commercial tools • Inclusive and accessible robotics education
Collaborative Breakouts & Discussions	17:15–17:45	Small group discussions with prompts such as: • Designing a ROS 2 curriculum from scratch • Gaps in the ROS teaching ecosystem • Major challenges in ROS education Groups will report key insights.
Wrap-up & Next Steps	17:45–18:00	Summary of insights and discussions. Feedback gathering and information sharing. Option to join ROS Education interest group or mailing list.

Details of Lightning Talks

Presenters	Title	Description
Dr Vijay Pawar	TBD	TBD
Dr Rafaello Bonghi	TBD	TBD
Prof Sabine Hauert	Using ROS in education and research - hurdles and opportunities	In this talk I'll explore the different levels of ROS2 use in education and research, common pitfalls, opportunities, and open questions to help adoption.
Prof Marc Hanheide	A robot in a Box: Adventures in GPU-accelerated ROS2 devcontainers for education and assessment	We have developed a comprehensive GPU-accelerated ROS2 development environment delivered as a DevContainer, featuring a virtual desktop with VirtualGL and NVIDIA runtime support for 3D acceleration if available. This containerised solution runs seamlessly across Windows, Linux, and Mac hosts, providing BSc robotics and computer science students with a fully configured development environment in under three minutes from initial setup. The platform includes web-based desktop access, eliminating complex local installations whilst maintaining professional development workflows through Visual Studio Code integration. Our implementation leverages Zenoh bridging technology to connect the containerised development environment to real-world robots, enabling students to seamlessly transition from simulation to physical hardware interaction. I will share lessons learned from deploying this solution in production teaching environments, along with our open-source repository template and comprehensive resources for replication at other institutions.
Alexander Enoch	The good, the bad, and the terrible WiFi - Learnings from putting robots into schools	Robots are fantastic tools for schools, and useful not just for teaching robotics and coding, but also to encourage a broader interest in STEM subjects. This talk will cover some of the theory behind why that is, and how active learning and constructionist learning techniques can empower learners using robots. I'll also talk about some tips and learnings from our last 10 years of getting robots into classrooms - including some things that really tripped us up!
Martin Klomp	Beyond Simulation: Lessons from Using the MIRTE Robot in Education	At TU Delft we use the open-source MIRTE robot across bachelor- and master-level courses. While simulations are valuable, real robots provide unique learning opportunities. In this talk I will share how we balance simulation and hardware depending on the learning objectives and highlight the key challenges we faced along the way.
Riccardo Tellez	The importance of mixing simulations and real robots in robot education	In this talk I will explain: 1) the reasons why educators must not skip practice with simulators nor with real robots in their lessons. 2) the advantages of each one in the educational process. 3) and how to implement a simple system that allows the teacher to provide both experiences with minimal preparation