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Showing posts with label Chantain Greer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chantain Greer. Show all posts

Day 4: Robotics Navigation with Infared LEDs

6/20/2013 11:00:00 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Robotics Class:  Using Infrared Headlights to "See" the Road

Today's hottest products seem to have one thing in common: wireless communication. Personal organizers beam data into desktop computers, and wireless remotes let us channel surf. Many remote controls and PDA’s use signals in the infrared frequency range to communicate, below the visible light spectrum. With a few inexpensive and widely available parts, the BASIC Stamp can also receive and transmit infrared light signals.


Infrared: Infra means below, so Infra-red is light (or electromagnetic radiation) that has lower frequency, or longer wavelength than red light. Students were instructed to use infrared light to illuminate the robot’s path and determine when the light reflects off an object. 


The infrared object detection system we’ll build on the Boe-Bot is like a car’s headlights in several respects. When the light from a car’s headlights reflects off obstacles, your eyes detect the obstacles and your brain processes them and makes your body guide the car accordingly. The Boe-Bot uses infrared LEDs for headlights. They emit infrared, and in some cases, the infrared reflects off objects and bounces back in the direction of the Boe-Bot. The eyes of the Boe-Bot are the infrared detectors. The infrared detectors send signals indicating whether or not they detect infrared reflected off an object. The brain of the Boe-Bot, the BASIC Stamp, makes decisions and operates the servo motors based on this sensor input.


The IR detectors have built-in optical filters that allow very little light except the 980 nm infrared that we want to detect with its internal photodiode sensor. The infrared detector also has an electronic filter that only allows signals around 38.5 kHz to pass through. In other words, the detector is only looking for infrared that’s flashing on and off 38,500 times per second. This prevents IR interference from common sources such as sunlight and indoor lighting. Sunlight is DC interference (0 Hz), and indoor lighting tends to flash on and off at either 100 or 120 Hz, depending on the main power source in the region. Since 120 Hz is outside the electronic filter’s 38.5 kHz band pass frequency, it is completely ignored by the IR detectors.


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Day 3: Robotics Input Programming with LEDs and Whiskers

6/19/2013 11:00:00 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Robotics Class: Tactile Navigation and Input Programming with LEDs and Whiskers

 Many types of robotic machinery rely on a variety of tactile switches. For example, a tactile switch may detect when a robotic arm has encountered an object. The robot can be programmed to pick up the object and place it elsewhere. Factories use tactile switches to count objects on a production line, and also for aligning objects during industrial processes.


In all these instances, the switches provide inputs that dictate some other form of programmed output. The inputs are electronically monitored by the product, be it a robot, or a calculator, or a production line. Based on the state of the switches, the robot arm grabs an object, or the calculator display updates, or the factory production line reacts with motors or servos to guide products.


Students were challenged to build tactile switches, called whiskers, onto their Boe-Bots and test them.  Once tested, the student must also program the Boe-Bot to monitor the state of these switches, and decide what to do when it encounters an obstacle. The end result is autonomous navigation by touch.


The LEDs have a variety of uses, but for this project are best suited as a reporting mechanism, indicating which whisker has been activated



Instructors Laura Duke and Chantain Greer led the teams in this lesson.

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Day 2 : Robotics Challenge #1

6/18/2013 04:23:00 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Robotics Challenge #1: Follow the Line


Utilizing the methods and concepts learned from the morning sessions, each team was required to wire and program their robot to follow a black line on a light background.  The teams consumed all available time (2 hours) to finish the task and were tireless in their efforts to solve the puzzle.  Guest judge and CenturyLink volunteer Rishanta Trundles was on hand to supervise the competition.  Team Silent But Deadly won this challenge.






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Day 2: Computer Science Lesson in Cryptology

6/18/2013 12:54:00 PM | Labels: , , , , , ,

Computer Science:  Cryptology


The final lesson of the morning hinged on the study of communicating using protocols that afford information security, data confidentiality and integrity, and require authentication.  Prof. Greer led this discussion and explored various cryptographic methods utilized throughout history.


The Caesar cipher (or Caesar code) has been widely used because of its simplicity.  It is a type of substitution cipher in which each letter in the plaintext is replaced by a letter some fixed number of positions down the alphabet.  For example, with a left shift of 3, the letter "D" would be replaced by "A", "E" would become "B", and so on. The method is named after Julius Caesar, who used it in his private correspondence.


The Vigenere cipher is a method of encrypting alphabetic text by using a series of different Caesar ciphers based on the letters of a keyword


A cryptogram is a type of puzzle that consists of a short piece of encrypted text.  Generally the cipher used to encrypt the text is simple enough that the cryptogram can be solved by hand.  "E" is good letter to help solve cryptograms because most English words end with "E", occurring in that fashion almost 13% of the time.


ASCII is a another character-encoding scheme originally based on the English alphabet.  One can encode strings of text based on numerical equivalents.  This encoding scheme assists computers in translating human text to machine readable code and vice-versa.

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Day 2: Robotics Programming Using Subroutines

6/18/2013 10:30:00 AM | Labels: , , , , , , ,

Robotics Class: Programming Using Subroutines, Calls, and Comments

This morning's first lesson revolved around the importance of using subroutines and comments in programming.  Prof. Greer led the talk stressing the re-usability of subroutines in streamlining code.


By definition, a subroutine is a sequence of program instructions that perform a specific task, packaged as a unit. A subroutine is often coded so that it can be started (called) several times and/or from several places during one execution of the program, including from other subroutines, and then branch back (return) to the next instruction after the call once the subroutine's task is done.


Comments in computer programming are also beneficial to coders in that they annotate the code, highlighting important parts and describing what sections of code do.  This can be especially useful for a programmer who has not reviewed the particulars of a program in quite some time and may have forgotten what functions are performed within.

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STEM Summer Boot Camp Day 1

6/17/2013 09:49:00 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

STEM Kick-off

The inaugural STEM Summer Boot Camp got off to a fast start today with a non-stop slate of events starting with introductions to the camp and expected outcomes.  Campers were split into teams of four or five with each team competing against the other in a series of robotics challenges for top prizes.  Prizes include Android tablets, iPod Shuffles, and Skull Candy headphones along with other assorted rewards given throughout the week.


7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

Camp organizer Jeanne Collins began the day with a spirited discussion of Sean Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, a best-selling book based on the principles found in the 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.  The 7 habits include:

  1. Be Proactive
  2. Begin with the End in Mind
  3. Put First Things First
  4. Think Win-Win
  5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
  6. Synergize
  7. Sharpen the Saw

Ms. Collins expounded upon all of the habits, giving the students valuable guiding principles to employ during the camp and throughout life.  The lesson culminated in a group exercise revolving around the third habit, "Put First Things First", where campers were challenged to combine two full bowls of multi-colored stones into just one of the bowls.  The first bowl held the largest rocks, representing the most important things one should tend to in life.  The other was filled with tiny pebbles, representing those things that tend to distract us from the more important tasks.  With some thought, all campers were able to successfully combine the stones but only after fully understanding the guiding principle of the lesson.


Robotics Class:  Motion Programming

Things really moved into high gear when computer science professor Chantain Greer took center stage to introduce students to robotics programming techniques utilizing the PBASIC programming language and Parallax Boe-Bots.  


The students quickly engaged in this work and programmed their robots to perform maneuvers including moving forward, backward, turning clockwise and counterclockwise.  


Building upon this information, campers were then challenged to instruct their robots to perform a series of movements to navigate through a maze.


Their commitment to completing the task spilled over into lunch, where campers contemplated the best ways to accomplish this feat.


CONNECT w/ Brian Heath (CenturyLink)

After lunch, corporate strategist Brian Heath of CenturyLink introduced students to the wide open world of the "Internet of Things (IoT)".  Through examples including a dog collar that alerts owners through SMS of its temperature and risk of exhaustion, to sensors placed on cows that report their location and vital signs, Mr. Heath illustrated that anything that can be connected to the Internet will indeed be connected at some point in the future.  The data gathered from technologies like these can be very useful and he encouraged all students to peer into the future and envision the next great invention utilizing Internet technology.  The students are to present their ideas and marketing plan at the end of the week.


Introduction to Cyber Science and Prezis

To cap off a full day of learning and experimentation, liberal arts instructor Ashlee Bell, English instructor at West Monroe High School, engaged the students in a thought provoking talk on the benefits and pitfalls of technology.  Her timely talk reminded the students that as they try to solve the the challenges of the future, they must also be mindful of the negative fallout the technologies may produce.  She then segued into an overview of a relatively new zooming presentation technology, Prezi.


In all, campers had a full day of discovery and exploration.   More to come on Day 2...

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