One good way to increase the use of Ada is to
increase the number of Ada programmers. A good way
to do that is to make programming fun. John
McCormick has demonstrated that the use of model
trains to teach real-time systems works at the
university level. The students had so much fun
getting their model railroads to work and
enhancing their systems, that they continued to
work on their systems even after they received
their grades. They even got friends who were not
registered for the course to come along and
help.
The goal of the "Fun with Ada" project is to provide a focal point for individuals and Ada user's groups or SIGAda chapters around the world to share their ideas and work. The objective being to make it easier to implement similar laboratories for teaching and learning about real-time control systems in different locations.
A few years ago I started to work with Eleanor Roosevelt High School (a science & technology showcase school) near NASA Goddard in Greenbelt, MD USA where I worked at the time. When I transferred to CSC's Shady Grove facility, the project folded. Now that I'm working closer to home in a more flexible job, I'd like to resurrect the project.
They’re several high schools nearby Johns Hopkins
Applied Physics Lab located in Laurel/Columbia MD:
Laurel High School (PG county), Hammond, Athelton,
& Centennial (Howard county). In Montgomery
County
and Fairfax counties there are also science &
technology schools. There may be others near where
you live or work that you might adopt. I'm looking
for enthusiastic volunteers who would like to help
me get "Real-Time Software Engineering" (using Ada
of course) into one or more area high schools.
The concept is to use interesting "toys" such as
those demonstrated at various SIGAda conferences.
For example, model railroads, model cars, blimps,
robot hands, road warrior robot, etc. that will
capture the interest of teens (especially the
technical types). The project is currently in the
planning phase.
The following URL's should be helpful:
LEGO's official site
LEGO Robotics Invention System version 1.5
best price $167.97
LEGO Robotics Invention System version 2.0
best price $199.99
Both Robotics Invention Systems (v1.5 & 2.0)
come with an assembly guide for several robots and
a GUI programming system where you connect various
functions to allow the robot to do simple
things. However, you probably will find them
too limiting and need to move up to programming in
Ada or Not Quite "C".
Ada programming for LEGO Mindstorms robots
Dave Baum's book "
Definitive Guide to LEGO Mindstorms
" $20.96
"Building and Programming Lego Mindstorms Robots
Kit" & "Creative Projects with LEGO
Mindstorms"
2 book set $34.96
"Extreme Mindstorms: an Advanced Guide to Lego
Mindstorms"
book $20.96
A
good intro to home brew sensors &
programming
The Balt. chapter of ACM SIGAda is featuring "Fun with Ada" at our meeting here at APL 2/12/02 7pm I will be bringing my robot others may be bring robots, games, or other fun examples of Ada applications. Visit their website for directions or updates on our meetings .
Individuals with one or more of the following skills are needed:
Join our email chat list!
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For more information contact
Rush Kester
