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Before you can either use or evaluate Carnegie Mellon's STEM courses, you need to set up an account with Carnegie Mellon. This video demonstrates how to achieve this.
This video can be downloaded to a smartphone, so that you do not have to attempt the difficult task of juggling "setting up a new account", while "attempting to follow this tutorial" on the same screen.
Next, after setting up a CS2N account, a user who wishes to have fun with one of CS2N's Virtual STEM courses, must obtain access to a "CS2N virtual licence". This video documents our experiences in:
1) obtaining a virtual license,
2) being added to a CS2N tutorial group, and
3) being allocated access to a CS2N virtual course.
This workthrough uses the virtual interface as it demonstrates how to tackle lesson 2.2A In this lesson, students learn how to turn the pixels on the top surface on the Robot's hub on and off.
This workthrough demonstrates use of the virtual ebvironment as it looks at the second (2.2B) and third (2.2C) parts of lesson 2.2.
Even thought the hub has only a 5x5 matrix of pixels, it is possible to use these to imitate expressions.
It is possible to give the appearance of animation by careful use of coding commands that follow each other.
We find out how to make our virtual robot move.
This video contains only some possible virtual runs, to be used as an assisant if you are really stuck!.
This is our first Mini-Challenge, so we partially work throught it more detail than we have in some of the other videos.
The video also contains a possible run, but this run is not optimal. See if you can produce a better solution.
This tutorial looks at the difference betwen "turning the motors" for a certain number of degrees, and "turning the Robot" for a certain number of degrees.
Worth checking out. In my experience, this difference causes confusion for many students.
The purpose of this Mini Challenge, is to send the Robot around some craters, without crashing or falling over the cliffs.
We present a sample run, and the code that produced it.
Copy this only if you are desperate - you learn much more by doing it yourself first!
Up until now we have only found out how to make our Robot turn sharply, in approximately 90 degree turns.
In this tutorial we learn how to teach our robot to make gentler turns.
The challenge in this tutorial is to use the new gentler swing turns to teach our robot how to go around a crater, and return safely to home base.
3.12A Arm Movement
3.12B Try It: Smaller Movements
3.12C Try It: Getting Stuck.
In this mini-challenge, your robot has the task of collecting some spilled silverware, and returning it to home base.
This is a much bigger Challenge than we have met so far. Be careful, and if you use the "code 1 line, test 1 line" approach, your task will be much easier in the long run.
This tutorial introduces "My Blocks". These are really useful if you have a lot of repetitive code.
I also show an extension to this tutorial.
TACOBOT keeps running until an obstacle approaches too closely.
TACOBOT can keep going forwards, but stops when an obstacle becomes too close.
TACOBOT weaves a mildly serpentine course around a collapsed building.
TACO's colour sensor can tell when something green is nearbye.
TACOBOT moves until it sees a red object
TACOBOT can stop when it comes to a line below it on the ground.
TACOBOT has a sensor that can detect pressure.
TACOBOT can start a pattern to start cleaning a room.
TACOBOT maneuvers to a safe place in a disaster site.