Teaching AI and Marine Robotics to High School Students - The Experience of the MASK Project

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on school education, increasing the use of e-learning and blended learning approaches. While this shift has expanded access to distance learning, hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education has faced challenges due to a lack of infrastructure or readiness. The Marine Robots for better Sea Knowledge awareness (MASK) project, a collaboration between three universities and two high schools in Germany and Croatia, aimed to leverage on the power of remote learning and the universities' infrastructure to teach marine robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to engage high school students in STEM education. In addition, the project aimed to raise awareness of environmental issues, particularly the impact of COVID-19 on marine pollution, e.g. medical waste such as surgical masks by using robotics/AI to detect and collect marine litter. Through a combination of remote theoretical classes, remote experiments, and real-life trials at sea, the MASK project offered students the opportunity to operate mini-Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) remotely and in the field and learn how to detect marine litter using AI. The project demonstrated the effectiveness of remote learning and its potential to provide access to expensive university-level robotics infrastructure. Students were introduced to AI concepts and used AI to detect marine garbage, which increased both their technical skills and environmental awareness. This article describes the methodology and outcomes of the second year of the project, including data collection, analysis of AI performance and educational impact on students, highlighting the benefits and challenges of remote hands-on robotics education and the value of at-sea trials.