Computer Science

Robotics

Robotics plays an important role in computing; it’s the way in which computers can make a physical difference in the world around them. Applications for robots include exploration, rescue operations, manufacturing, entertainment, making social connections, and so much more.  Robots have also been the basis for much research in artificial intelligence. 

Research section: “Creative Robot Programming” (for beginners and students with limited programming experience)

This research section is specifically designed for students who are relatively new to programming. We’ll be first looking at getting robots to perform a variety of basic tasks, which might include performing choreographed dances, interacting with a person, finding objects of interest, and avoiding obstacles. We’ll be doing all of this using LEGO Spike Prime robots, and learning how to program them with either Scratch or Python, depending on expertise level of the student. We’ll then move to research projects where students will work in teams, which might include designing a robot pet, making a robotic soccer player, navigating through a labyrinth, or any number of other potential possibilities. Students working on these projects will build and program robots that can decide on appropriate actions to achieve goals set by the students, and to do so in a changing physical environment.

Weeks 2 and 3 class (non-research participants): “Robotics Algorithms”

In this course, our primary focus will be on understanding and implementing algorithms to solve a variety of robotics problems. The course will feature opportunities for students to work in teams on activities such as getting the robot to explore its world — by remote control or on its own — as well as learning how to solve problems for itself. We’ll look at particular concepts and designs such as hierarchical and reactive architectures, reinforcement learning techniques, finite state machines, and PID control. You’ll then be implementing those techniques and improving on them with LEGO Spike Prime robots and programming them in Python.

Web Development

Web development is an exciting area of computer science that allows software engineers design and develop solutions to specific needs of their clients. Sometimes those solutions are public but often they are small internal tools used to provide a web-based access to the data stored in various formats within an organization. In any case, scientists and engineers can use a variety of methods to access data and present it on the web.

In this course we’ll learn to develop data-driven sites and use application programming interfaces (APIs). We are going to connect user interface (front end), application logic (back end), and a database (data storage) using a variety of common tools, frameworks, and libraries. Students are going to work in small teams to design and develop solutions to showcase their interests and address their specific needs.