Open-source social robots offer accessibility, repairability, and student empowerment, yet the build itself often presents a barrier. Existing platforms either ship pre-assembled, foreclosing hands-on learning, or expose students to unfamiliar fasteners, opaque wiring, and inaccessible service points that erode engagement. Whether targeted mechanical redesign can lower this barrier whilst maintaining structural integrity remains untested. Here we show that Design for Assembly (DfA) and Design for Disassembly (DfD) interventions reshape how a build feels before they shorten how long it takes. Working with university students in Guyana and Estonia, we applied the Double Diamond framework to co-create the Robot Study Companion (RSC) v4.1: mapping pain points, then redesigning its chassis around twist-lock fasteners, snap-fit joints, and tool-free service latches. Across two studies with developers and first-time builders, system usability climbed from Poor to Excellent (SUS 59.4 to 89.4), perceived workload trended downward (NASA-TLX 4.29 to 4.00), and mean assembly time trended downward (21.4 to 13.7 minutes, with juniors' learning effect), whilst orientation cues and navigation continuity for first-time builders emerged as the next documentation frontier. Perceived workload, not completion time, appears to govern whether students take up open hardware.

翻译：开源社会型机器人提供了可访问性、可修复性和学生赋权，但机器人的建造过程本身往往是一个障碍。现有平台要么直接交付预组装产品，排除了动手学习的机会，要么让学生接触不熟悉的紧固件、不透明的布线以及难以触及的维护点，从而削弱了参与感。针对性的机械重新设计能否在保持结构完整性的同时降低这一障碍，目前尚缺乏验证。在此，我们展示了面向装配的设计（DfA）和面向拆卸的设计（DfD）干预措施如何首先改变建造体验，而后才缩短建造耗时。通过与圭亚那和爱沙尼亚的大学生合作，我们应用双钻模型共同创造了机器人学习伙伴（RSC）v4.1：首先绘制痛点图谱，然后围绕扭锁紧固件、卡扣连接和无工具服务锁扣重新设计其底盘。在涉及开发者和首次建造者的两项研究中，系统可用性从“差”提升至“优秀”（SUS分数从59.4升至89.4），感知工作量呈下降趋势（NASA-TLX得分从4.29降至4.00），平均装配时间也呈下降趋势（从21.4分钟降至13.7分钟，含初级用户的学习效应），同时为首批建造者提供方向指引和导航连续性成为文档设计的下一前沿。影响学生是否采纳开源硬件的关键因素似乎是感知工作量，而非完成时间。