instructors:
  Dave Kauchak - [first_initial][last_name]@middlebury.edu
  Alec Cooper - [first_initial]s[last_name]@middlebury.edu
  Colby Horn - [first_initial][last_name]@middlebury.edu

office hours: MBH 632
  Su, T, Th: 7:30-10:30pm
  or by appointment (I'll be around most days during the day)

time: MWF 9am - 12
location: MBH 635
web page: http://www.cs.middlebury.edu/~dkauchak/classes/cs1020/ (or go/cs1020)

general information:
In this intensive introductory course, you will design and build robots out of LEGO parts, sensors, motors, and Handy Boards (palm-sized computers), and then program your creations to do your bidding. We start by learning some fundamental skills in the context of building and experimenting with a simple robot. Then, working in small teams, you will design, build, and program a number of robots, culminating in a creative final project, which you will demonstrate to the college (and town) community in a "Talent Show" in the MBH Great Hall.

Some of the concepts and skills you can expect to learn in this course include: simple programming (sequencing, conditionals, loops, procedure calls, concurrency), procedural abstraction, basic electronics (voltage, power, motors, sensors), fundamental mechanics (building robust structures, friction, gearing), hypothesis testing and debugging, divide-and-conquer strategies for problem solving, modularity and abstraction, the value of simplicity and robustness, as well as creating web pages.

• administrivia
• students
• final projects

Resources

• Code examples from class
• Accessing middfiles
• Handy board boot loader
• Connecting to CS files
• Web/HTML
• HTML cheatsheet
• HTML/CSS reference
• Web color chart