Summary from the 2007 AAAI spring symposium breakout session

Advice on what to do when incorporating robots into the curriculum
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Use only small teams.
Have enough batteries.
Test everything thoroughly.
Use a simulator first, if possible.
Double the lab time you think you need.
Allow open access to the robot room/lab.
Have more robots than teams working on them.
Don't show students the AIBO, then hand them an RCX.
Be careful with the line between teamwork and plagiarism.
Don't expect to cover all the material you expect to cover. :-)

If you want students to investigate AI, make sure the task 
  requires some AI (and not just sensorless control).

Consider creating a semester-long goal, with smaller projects
  leading up to it. Give students time to "mess up."

More generally, be as thorough and articulate about setting
  goals for your students and their uses of robots.

If you include an engineering component in your expectations,
  include such a component in the material taught.

Consider creative grading strategies in which teams
  that don't complete the project might still do well.

Help administrators realize the resources - time, space, and money -
  needed to successfully use robots in the undergraduate curriculum.

Romember that not all topics are best presented via robots!




And, spoken from hard-won experience:

   Don't start the AIBO on a table without sides!





Question on platforms tried
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Within your curriculum, what robot platforms

1) have you tried?

RCX          20
Handy Board  14
AIBO          9
Pioneer line  7
Khepera line  6
XBC           5
Roomba/Create 4
ER1           3
Lynxmotion, Surveyor, Robix, Scribbler also appeared


2) might you like to try?

NXT           11
Roomba/Create  9
Blackfin HB    4
AIBO           3
Qwerk          2
ePuck, Surveyor, Scribbler, XBC, Handy Board also appeared