Course Syllabus
COURSE NUMBER:
TITLE:
CREDITS: 5
EET 136 Distance Learning
Introduction to Robotics
Winter 2010
COURSE LENGTH:
11 Weeks
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course introduces foundational concepts in building and programming robots.
Students program microcontrollers and configure electronic components to enable robotic
activity. Computer Lab Fee
CLASS MEETINGS
There will be three required meetings (orientation, midterm and final), and optional
weekly user meetings. If student resides outside the Seattle area, contact the instructor
for accommodations to waive the required meetings.
Orientation:
MidTerm:
Final:
5 Jan
16 Feb
23 Mar
5:00PM
5:00 PM
5:00PM
Classroom 1745B
ED Bldg
Classroom (To be announced)
Classroom (To be announced)
User Meeting: Tuesdays 5:00pm-6:00pm – Classroom 1538 Tech Building. This meeting
is not required, but available for student questions, interaction, etc.
INSTRUCTOR:
Tim Fiegenbaum
Phone: 206-526-0181
Office 2320B (above bookstore)
E-mail through Angel or
E-mail: tfiegenb@sccd.ctc.edu
http://facweb.northseattle.edu/tfiegenb/eet/
ACCESS TO EET 136 COURSE MATERIALS:
Angel is the interface used by registered students to access the EET 136 course materials.
Access to these materials located at http://northseattle.angellearning.com/ will not be
available until the beginning of the quarter:
DISTANCE LEARNING:
Distance Learning Home Page
OFFICE HOURS:
Mon / Wed 4:30pm-5:30pm (or during user meeting)
TEXT BOOKS:
What’ a Microcontroller Student Guide, Version 2.2, Parallax, ISBN 1928982026
Robotics with the Boe-Bot Student Guide, Version 2.2, Parallax, ISBN 1928892034
BASIC Stamp Syntax and Reference Manual, Version 2.2, Parallax, ISBN 1928982328
The textbooks are all available as PDFs from the class website or Parallax. The required
kit for this course includes a copy of Robotics with the Boe-Bot
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
1) Introduction to Microcontrollers
a.
Installing Software
b.
Introducing ASCII Code
2) Enabling and Disabling Lights
a.
Building and testing LEDS
b.
Counting and repeating
c.
Bi-color LEDs
3) Building Pushbutton Controls
a.
Testing pushbuttons with LEDs
b.
Reaction Timer Test
4) Controlling Motion
a.
Microcontrolled Motion
b.
Controlling and testing servos
c.
Converting position to motion
5) Measuring Rotation
a.
Adjusting dials and monitoring machines
b.
Building and testing potentiometer circuits
c.
Controlling a servo with a potentiometer
6) Digital Display
a.
7 Segment Display
b.
Building and testing 7 segment displays
c.
Displaying the position of a dial
7) Measuring Light
a.
Introducing the photo-resistor
b.
Building and testing the light meter
c.
Graphing light measurements
d.
Simple light meter
8) Frequency and Sound
a.
Microcontrollers, Speakers, beeps and On/Off Signals
b.
Action sounds
c.
Musical notes and simple songs
d.
Microcontroller Music
e.
Cell Phone Ring Tones
READING ASSIGNMENTS & APPROXIMATE COURSE SCHEDULE *
Assignments: The Calendar in Angel addresses due dates
PROCESS:
There will be extensive reading, but with a focus on concepts and terminology, not rote
memorization.
Lectures will be delivered online as MP3s. They can be accessed through your student
Angel account. For maximum viewing size pixel display settings should be 800 X 600.
In class meetings
Communication between students and the instructor will be primarily through the e-mail
system built into Angel. If there is a critical need to contact the instructor immediately
use his primary e-mail address or call.
There is a discussion page at the Angel homepage. Participation in this discussion will
make up 10% of the students grade. 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. Students are encouraged to post their own discussion questions or
comments as long as they pertain to the course.
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 Angel addressing the content of the meeting.
There will be graded assignments. Assignments will be turned in through the Angel
interface. The format will be as follows:
Subject Line: Assignment #
Attachments: Program or required writing
Homework will consist of completing the assignments
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.
Required Kit:
A special order kit is required for EET 136. It can be purchased at the North Seattle
North Seattle Community College Bookstore or directly from Parallax. If you are
planning to purchase the kit from the bookstore or if you are a student on financial aid, let
me know 1-2 weeks prior to the beginning of the quarter so I can insure the book store
orders enough kits. The bookstore price will be much higher than if purchased directly
from Parallax. The kit is custom designed for this course and can be found in the
Education Section at Parallax under Item Code 81060. The below link should take you to
the page that includes a link to the NSCC Kit:
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/184/List/0/CategoryID/68/Level/a/SortField/0/Default.asp
x The online cost is about $178 which includes the USB version of the Boe-Bot, the text
Robotics with the Boe-Bot and miscellaneous additional parts to support additional
functions.
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.
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
Mid Term Exam
Final Exam
Approx. #
11
Discussions
Percentage of Grade
40%
10%
25%
25%
100.0% Total
Grade Assignment
96 - 100 %
95
94
93
92
91
90
89
88
87
86
85
84
83
82
81
80
79
78
77
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
3.0
2.9
2.8
2.7
2.6
2.5
2.4
2.3
2.2
2.1
4.0
3.9
3.8
3.7
3.6
3.5
76
75
74
73
72
71
70
69
68
67
66
65
64
63
62
2.0
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.6
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1.0
.9
.8
.7
.0
NSCC Grading System: See Student Handbook
http://www.northseattle.edu/info/pub/
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:
Jan 18 Mon
Feb 15 Mon
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Presidents’ Day