1. 1 Using Surveyor SRV-1 Robots to Motivate CS1 Students John Cummins Dept of Mathematics Brooklyn College, City University of New York jrpcummins@yahoo.com M. Q. “Sumon” Azhar Elizabeth Sklar Dept of Computer and Information Science Brooklyn College, City University of New York {azhar, sklar}@sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu Agents Lab http://agents.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu presenter: John Cummins and M. Q. Azhar

2. Why Surveyor robot? Hardware Motors Powerful visual sensing. Battery Life Robust communication. Does not look like a toy. Looks like a cool robot Acts like a cool robot. Low maintenance! $435 New one: Blackfin $465 Laser pointer Faster processor

3. Motivating CS1 students using “Surveyor” robot! How do I develop Educational Robotics Software? How do I integrate robot materials to existing curriculum? Is it simple to program? Is it easy to learn? Is it designed to create learnable moments. How can I enforce robust communication? Which (AI CS1) topic? When do I introduce? How many labs? How long is the lab? … Developer Educator

4. Making it work! Simplicity of programming Robust Communication Robust Hardware Robust Software Absolute integration

5. Accessing Resources: Software & Labs: http://agents.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/robotics.edu Demo! CS1 (Robotics Application) Syllabus: http://www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~mqazhar/teaching/cis1.5 Hardware: http://www.surveyor.com

6. questions/comments? http://agents.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/robotics.edu