Course Syllabus
EET137 Into To Robotics
COURSE NUMBER:
EET 137 Distance Learning
TITLE:
Introduction to Robotics
CREDITS:
5
QUARTER:
S2014
COURSE LENGTH:
11 Weeks
WELCOME DOCUMENTATION


Student Guide - Course Outline
Course Orientation for EET137
(Both available in Canvas)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course introduces foundational concepts in building and programming robots. Students program
microcontrollers and configure electronic components to enable robotic activity. E-Learning Fee.
CLASS MEETINGS & TEST DATES
There will be two required meetings (orientation and final project), as well as optional weekly user
meetings. If a student resides outside of the Seattle area, contact the instructor for accommodations
to waive the required meetings.
Orientation
Wed
April 9th
Mid-Term Exam
MonWed
8:00am May
72 hours
5th 8:00am May 8th
6:00 PM
Classroom 1745B
Online-Canvas
ED Bldg
Final Project
Tue
June 4th
5:00pm 7:00pm
Main Electronics
Lab
ED Bldg
(or as announced)
Final Exam
MonWed
8:00am June
16th -
72 hours
Online-Canvas
8:00am June
18th
Weekly User Meetings (Optional): Tuesday 4:45pm-5:45pm Classroom 1745B. This meeting is not
required, but is available for student questions, interaction, etc.
INSTRUCTOR
Andrew Dole
Phone: (Emergency Only) 206-779-1316
Office 1745B
E-mail through Canvas or
E-mail: adole@northseattle.edu
ACCESS TO EET 137 COURSE MATERIALS
Canvas will be the interface used by registered students to access the EET 137 course
materials. Access to these materials, located at https://canvas.northseattle.edu, will be available the
first day of the quarter.
DISTANCE LEARNING
Distance Learning Home Page
OFFICE HOURS
During user meeting at 4:45-5:45pm Tue, classroom 1745b
TEXT BOOKS
Since this is a new robot, we are presently using Parallax’s web site as our text book, though a PDF
version of this text is currently in the development stages with Parallax. More information will follow
on this, as well as release dates.
Ultimately, the textbooks will available as PDFs from the class website or Parallax.
COURSE OUTCOMES/LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of the class, students will be able to:
1.
Build and test robotic circuits and programming code to enable LED lighting.
2.
Build and test robotic circuits and programming code to enable digital pushbuttons.
3.
Build and test robotic circuits and programming code to enable motion controls.
4.
Build and test robotic circuits and programming code to enable digital displays.
5.
Build and test robotic circuits and programming code to enable measuring of light.
6.
Build and test robotic circuits and programming code to enable frequency and sound.
COURSE OUTLINE
Topical Outline and/or Major Divisions:
1. Introduce Programming in “C” language
a.
Variables and Math
b.
Floating Point Math
c.
Array Variables
d.
Making Decisions, relational operators
e.
Make Multiple Decisions, if, else statements
f.
Decisions based on more than one condition
g.
Counting Loops
h.
Index Array Variables
2. Simple Circuits
a.
Lighting control
b.
Automated and Push button switches
c.
Programming sound
d.
Using Photo transistor as a light sensor
e.
Counting with a seven segment display
3. Programming Devices
a.
Sense distance (ultrasonic)
b.
SD card data
c.
Using WAV Files
d.
Standard Servos
4. Functions
a.
Reusable Code Functions
b.
Function with Parameter
c.
Function with Parameters and Return
d.
Memory functions using global variables
e.
Programming multiple Cores
5. Activity Bot
a.
Assemble and Connect
b.
Blinks and Beeps
c.
Navigation
d.
i.
Calibrate Servos
ii.
Go specific distances
iii.
Control speed
Navigation by touch
i.
Build and test whiskers
ii.
Inside Whisker circuit
iii.
Add Indicator Lights
iv.
Whisker Wheel Response
v.
Roaming with Whiskers
READING ASSIGNMENTS & APPROXIMATE
COURSE SCHEDULE
Assignments: The Calendar in Canvas addresses due dates
PROCESS
There will be extensive reading, but with a focus on concepts and terminology.
Lectures will be delivered online as MP4s and/or Tegrity Videos. They can be accessed through
the weekly assignment (found in the Assignment section in Canvas) and/or through the Tegrity
Video section.
Communication between students and the instructor will be primarily through the e-mail system
built into Canvas. If there is a critical need to contact the instructor immediately, use his primary email address.
The Learning Management System (LMS) Canvas will be used in this
course. https://canvas.northseattle.edu/login. The login will be your student ID number and your
password will be the first six letters of your last name. At this time Canvas will be used primarily to:
1. Access assignments, listed under “Assignments”
2. View due dates posted in “Calendar.”
3. The grading function in Canvas will be in use.
4. Communication between students and faculty:
a. It is requested that the Canvas “Inbox” be used for e-mail communication.
b. Faculty will make every attempt to answer e-mail within 24-48 hours.
c. If the concern is of an urgent nature the instructor e-mail mentioned above may be used.
d. If it is a question about curriculum or issues other students might have, feel free to make a
post in the discussion forum.
5. A discussion forum is available in Canvas and is available for asking questions and making
comments about course content.
a. Faculty will post questions, but it is primarily for students to interact in both asking and
answering questions.
b. On many occasions other students working through the curriculum may provide a quicker
answer than the faculty.
c. Details about Netiquette and forum use is posted
at: http://facweb.northseattle.edu/tfiegenb/eet/discussion/discussion.htm
d. Weekly participation on the discussion page will make up 5% of your grade.
6. Problems accessing Canvas, Tegrity Videos or any of the instructional materials should be
addressed to:
a. Your instructor-contact info above
b. NSCC e-Learning http://www.virtualcollege.org/resource/technicalhelp_index.htm
There is a Discussions section in Canvas that we will use throughout the quarter to pose questions
as they arise. Collaboration is strongly encouraged in this course. Both students and the instructor
may post their own discussion questions, comments, useful tips and/or suggestions to the class so
long as they pertain to the class. Students are encouraged to make an entry in response to
discussion questions the week the questions or comments are posted. At the end of the quarter the
instructor will review discussion participation and assign a discussion score. Overall quarterly
participation in these types of discussions will make up 5% of the students grade.
Extra credit can be obtained by attending meetings at any of the local Robotic clubs or
societies. One of the more popular clubs is the Seattle Robotics Society which meets the
3rd Saturday of every month at Renton Technical College. To get credit you need to make a post on
the discussion page within Canvas addressing the content of the meeting. Photos of the event are
encouraged.
Homework
There will be weekly graded assignments.
Weekly assignments will be found using the Assignments section in Canvas.
A video addressing how to submit assignments will also be posted on the Canvas home page
under Course Resource Links for your reference.
Weekly assignments will be submitted via the Canvas interface using the “Submit Assignment”
button (found in upper right corner of the weekly assignment page). Submission requirements are
listed on the weekly assignment's Assignment Sheet (a downloadable .pdf file). Submission
requirements may vary from assignment to assignment; however, will typically be either in the form
of written text or uploading a file.
Assignments must be submitted by (or before) the Due Date specified on the weekly assignment
sheet. Contact your instructor if circumstances arise which may require an assignment to be
submitted late. Whether late assignments will be considered will be on an individual basis, if
requested in advance of the assignment's due date.
Each Weekly Assignment will contain the following:




A link to download the Assignment Sheet (a downloadable .pdf file). View this document
before beginning the assignment! Viewing this document first will be important, as some
sections and/or tasks may be skipped.
The assignment Due Date. You may also utilize the Canvas Calendar to view upcoming due
dates.
Instructions of how to Submit the Assignment.
A Weekly Movie that addresses specifics tasks or walks through an activity.


The Section Tasks that are required to be covered in the assignment (this will redirect you to
the section content and a link and/or URL to Parallax’s content and/or website).
There will also be Links and/or additional resources that will be helpful during the assignment in
question.
Note: Each Assignment will cover a certain number of sections. The Sections themselves will also
be found using the Assignments section of Canvas; however, you do not need to reference these
individually unless you are actively working on that section as the sections themselves are
referenced within the Assignment for you.
Although most assignments will be submitted directly through Canvas; there may be some tasks
and/or extra credit labs which may require email submission. If an assignment calls for email
submission, when emailing assignments the following format should be utilized (emails may still be
sent through the Canvas interface (Inbox)):
Subject Line: Course - Assignment #
Attachments: Program(s) (code) and/or required documentation
Writing assignments: Can be pasted into the “Message” section of the email (if it is less than 1
page); otherwise attach the writing assignment as a .doc, .docx or .pdf file as needed.
Exams will also be required during the quarter (midterm and final exams). More details on these
exams will be announced as we get closer to the exam dates.
STUDENT SUPPLIES
Each student will need access to a computer with a high speed internet connection (DSL, CABLE
or, Satellite). This will be necessary to view the curriculum. Windows is the preferred OS.
Required Kit:
A special order kit is required for EET 137. It can be purchased at the North Seattle North Seattle
Community College Bookstore or directly from Parallax. The kit is custom designed for this
course and can be found in the Education Section at Parallax under Item Code 81061. The below
link should take you to the page that includes a link to the NSCC Kit:
http://www.parallax.com/search?search_api_views_fulltext=81061&=Search
The online cost is about $209 which includes the USB version of the ActivityBot.
If when ordering you happen to see the message “OUT OF STOCK”, order the kit
anyway. Since this is a custom kit, they do not usually stock it. However, they can usually
be built and shipped within 24 hours (Note: They are closed on Holidays).
The following items are in the kit:








- (16) 150-01011 - 100 ohm 1/4 W 5% Carbon Film Resistor
100 ohm 1/4 W 5% Carbon Film Resistor
- (1) 152-01031 - 10 k 3-Pin 3/4 Turn Potentiometer
- (1) 29122 - IR Remote Parts Kit
- (1) 32500 - ActivityBot
- (2) 350-00027 - 7-Segment Green LED
- (1) 570-28015 - PING))) Mounting Bracket Kit
- (1) 725-32905 - ActivityBot Speaker Mount
- (1) 900-00018 - Veho 360 Speaker
Students may want to obtain a small parts box since there will be many tiny parts to keep track of
and a very low end digital volt meter for testing batteries, resistors etc..
Throughout this course a calculator (Calc98) will be used, which is available as a free
download http://www.calculator.org/download.html.
STUDENT EVALUATION METHOD
Grades will be based on the following:
Category
Labs
Participation
Approx. #
11
Discussions
Percentage of Grade
60%
5%
Mid Term Exam
17.5%
Final Exam + Project
17.5%
100.0% Total
GRADE ASSIGNMENT
96 - 100 %
4.0
95
3.9
94
3.8
93
3.7
92
3.6
91
3.5
90
3.4
76
2.0
89
3.3
75
1.9
88
3.2
74
1.8
87
3.1
73
1.7
86
3.0
72
1.6
85
2.9
71
1.5
84
2.8
70
1.4
83
2.7
69
1.3
82
2.6
68
1.2
81
2.5
67
1.1
80
2.4
66
1.0
79
2.3
65
.9
78
2.2
64
.8
77
2.1
63
.7
62
NSCC Grading System: See Student Handbook
.0
ACCOMMODATIONS
Any student with a documented learning disability (i.e. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing)
who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations is requested to contact the Educational Access
Center, and the instructor, at the beginning of the quarter.
Holidays
Seattle Community Colleges • Academic Calendar - 2013-14 Calendar