Mailman 3 September 2004 - Edu-sig

Re: [Edu-sig] A suggestion for a high school programming project
by David Handy Sept. 8, 2004

Sept. 8, 2004

Paul Barrett wrote: > In my opinion, creating such a package should not be too difficult. > Vision already provides the visual programming environment. The next > step is to extend it with software for creating electronic circuits. What kind of electronic circuits - analog or digital? What do you mean by "creating electronic circuits"? Do you mean simulation, generating FPGA input files, or fabrication masks? What do you mean by "extend it with software" - I have to assume you mean "connect it with software" that already handles synthesis, simulation, or whatever it is you are trying to do. I don't think writing accurate simulation or logic synthesis software from scratch is acheivable by most high school seniors in a semeseter or two, but hey, maybe I'm out of touch with the rising generation! > I'm > guessing that advanced high school students should be able to tackle > this project with some guidance from a computer science teacher and an > electronics teacher. In addition, a possible application of this package > would be to create an OBDII (On-Board Diagnostics 2) scanner for reading > information from a car's microprocessor. Hardware, which can be used to > interface the car's microprocessor to a laptop, can be purchased for > about $100. ... > Any takers or am over the top on this one? > > -- Paul This reminds me of one of the first commercial software projects I did (when I was 21) for my Dad who had an Analog ASIC design business. I wrote software for him that connected the output of a visual circuit designer (OrCAD) to the input of an analog circuit simulator (PSpice). I had at that time only the most basic understanding of electronics. However, the software just had to know how to properly connect inputs and outputs, look up components by name, and transform ASCII files from one format into another. That project would have been in the reach of advanced high school students. However, it was time consuming to get the details correct to the point that circuits would actually simulate properly. You would have to carefully define the scope of your project to make it sucessful in the time frame that you have to work with. David H.

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RE: [Edu-sig] Python for Fun
by Kirby Urner Sept. 3, 2004

Sept. 3, 2004

> Thanks Kirby for this reference. THis looks interesting. > We're using Python now instead of Lisp in our AI course. Also > we have a new comparative language class that's going to cover > oop (like smalltalk), functional (like scheme/lisp), and logic progamming > (prolog). > Randy Latimer > Excellent. If any of your curriculum is on the web, I hope you'll share a link. Kirby

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RE: [Edu-sig] Python for Fun
by Kirby Urner Sept. 1, 2004

Sept. 1, 2004

> Thanks for pointing that out, Kirby. > Hey Dethe, sorry I missed you in Canada. Thought I was going to be presenting to local compsci teachers (high school level), then they went and canceled the talk, cuz the teachers are being herded into Java. I've been running your pygame-based slides and games. Some minor problems on Windows -- will check with gomoku.py with Linux later. I'd played with doing slides in Pygame for OSCON but wimped out with just a demo opener slide (proof of concept) -- then went to OpenOffice. I had my pygame graph plotting demo queued up, but didn't have time for it, amidst other demos. Anyway, great work on all those games. The artistry ain't bad, especially on goboard and quipu IMO. Haven't checked any of your source code yet. Wondered how you got /usr/dict to work in Windows. On Solipong, the ball jets right through my paddle -- I'm such a loser. Kirby

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Python for Fun
by Kirby Urner Aug. 31, 2004

Aug. 31, 2004

I'm impressed by this new resource from Chris Meyers. http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/py4fun/ This is good stuff, and handsomely presented. Kirby

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