An ideal way to get final year students to familiarize themselves with how robotics is revolutionizing manufacturing, among other sectors, is to provide them with several case studies and later test them on the details. Examples of how robotics have improved production at automotive, food and pharmaceutical factories are particularly easy to find as most robotics companies are eager to publicize their success.
Many manufacturing exhibitions are showcases for the latest robotics technology and are therefore ideal for students to visit to gain a better understanding of the sector. A project could entail them visiting such an exhibition, speaking to the various companies exhibiting their equipment and compiling a report on their trip. Each company will obviously talk up its own products but by talking to several companies, the students will have an opportunity to compare and evaluate different offerings.
Another practical project would be for the final year students to visit a factory to see the robots in action. The most interesting would probably be a food factory, many of which now feature robots in at least one of their processes. Robotics are used, for instance, to place lids on jars and provide vision systems to pick up faults or detect foreign objects, such as metal. Many large companies are particularly keen to be seen as giving something back to the community, and would welcome the opportunity to host students.
A final project would entail either inviting an academic expert to the classroom or taking the students on a field trip to the facility at which the expert is based. The point of this exercise would be to allow the students to initiate a Q&A session with the expert on their experience of robotics. The issue of human redundancy in the face of robotic intervention could be addressed, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of a firm using robotics to streamline its process. This would give the students a holistic view on robotics and its effects on the community.