Transcript A Model for Infusing Engineering and Programming Concepts

A Model for Infusing Engineering and
Programming Concepts in Introduction to
Computer Courses at Community Colleges.
Intro to Robotics
and Programming
Lab
Intro to Microsoft
Robotics Developer
Studio
2008 Lab
Intro to Embedded
Programming Lab
Introduction to Robotics and Programming Lab
This lab introduces students to the concepts of Robotics namely, the use of
sensors to detect light and sound, object collision detection and avoidance and
line detection and following.
These are simple robot behaviors that an autonomous robot such as Scribbler
from Parallax will be able to perform. Students will use the Scribbler
programming software and is graphics based method of constructing behaviors
which are uploaded to the BASIC Stamp microcontroller in the Scribbler Robot.
At the end of the lesson student will be able to:
1) To describe the different functions of the Graphic User Interface of the
Scribbler Programming Software
2) To identify the different components of the Scribbler Robot
3) To show how to build and upload a program to the Scribbler Robot.
4) To develop simple behaviors for the Scribbler Robot .
Introduction to Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 Lab
This lab introduces students to the development environment of Microsoft
Robotics Developer Studio 2008. The framework of this development
environment runs on a Windows environment with .Net compact framework.
The run-time environment is comprised of Concurrency and Decentralized
Software Services. MRDS showcases a visual programming language which
makes it manageable to create asynchronous, state-driven robotic services. A
Visual Simulation Environment is capable of running 3-D simulations and is
useful for testing new algorithms and robots without a hardware setup.
At the end of the lesson student will be able to:
1) To describe the different functions of the Graphic User Interface of the
Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio
2) To identify the different uses of the visual programming language
3) To create a virtual robot using the Visual Simulation environment.
4) To develop simple behaviors for the virtual robot.
Introduction to Embedded Programming Lab
This lab introduces students to the associated hardware and applications needed
to program a small processor. Small processors are commonly used in devices
such as bar code scanners, breath analyzers, air conditioners and even the
airbag module of your vehicle. The Renesas mobile program selected for this
activity is USB powered and features light emitting diodes (LED), thermistor,
LCD display screen, etc. and programs in the C language is downloaded directly
to Renesas M62P 16-bit flash microcontroller. The students will be able to
perform some basic programming exercises with this device.
At the end of the lesson student will be able to:
1) To describe the different functions of the Graphic User Interface of the High
Performance Embedded Workshop application
2) To identify the different components of the QSK62P Processor Board
3) To show how to build and run a program in the processor board.
4) To modify a few lines of code in an existing program.