User:Jcasey

Personal Information

My name is John Casey and I am currently a rising junior at Tufts University pursuing degrees in History and Computer Science. I work with Dr. Dennis Brylow, primarily within his research for Xinu, and its potential as a platform for the ECS robotics project.

Summer 2014 - ECS Robotics Module Redesign

Week 00 (05/27/14 - 05/30/14)

Tuesday

• Underwent REU Orientation
• Began planning potential modules

Wednesday

• Made schedule and divided work
• Investigated Scratch and determined its potential as a platform
• Began searching for previous work to utilize when designing course structure

Thursday

• Investigated the current status of XINU on the Raspberry Pi
• Began preliminary system set up for Scratch mod creation

Friday

• Encountered difficulty in installation of packages required to mod Scratch 2.0
• Found a distribution of Raspbootin which had a modded version of Scratch 1.4 that may serve our needs

Week 01 (06/02/14 - 06/06/14)

Monday

• Explored peripherals for the Pi based on cost and availability

Tuesday

• Installed the modified version of Raspbootin on the Pis
• Began exploring Scratch 1.4 for pi, with significant resolution problems

Wednesday

• Continued exploring the pi, with the resolution problems somewhat improved

Thursday

• Began exploring modification of Scratch 1.4

Friday

• Met with new member of the project and briefed him
• Found a better distribution of Scratch 1.4 for modding

Week 02 (06/9/14 - 06/13/14)

Monday

• Determined that the group had enough experience in the technical aspects (modding scratch, working on the raspberry pi, etc.) to move forwards with developing content
• Began an in depth exploration of the ECS curriculum to begin developing content

Tuesday

• Began building presentation on state of the project

Wednesday

• Completed presentation
• Spent time reading non-directly relevant sections of ECS curriculum

Thursday

• Introduction to Research Talks
• Presented current status to Dennis Brylow

Friday

• Brainstormed potential modules for Scratch on the Pi

Week 03 (06/16/14 - 06/20/14)

Monday

• Investigated platform switch to Arduino

Tuesday

• Determined what peripherals were currently available
• Ordered Arduino Leonardo boards

Wednesday

• Began development of document which would summarize modules for High School teachers

Thursday

• Ethical Research Training

Friday

• Finished summary document

Week 04 (06/23/14 - 06/27/14)

Monday

• Participated in Google hangout with Bob Juranitch to discuss project goals and possible module actities
• Narrowed down peripheral list
• Attended REU baseball game

Tuesday

• Attended Dr. Corliss' LaTeX presentation
• Continued Ardublock modifications

Wednesday

• Continued Ardublock modifications
• Read through ECS educational objective documentation

Thursday

• Curriculum discussions
• Ardublock Modding

Friday

• Building Curriculum document outline in LaTeX

Week 05 (06/30/14 - 07/04/14)

Monday

• Finished Curriculum document outline

Tuesday

• Began developing curriculum outline

Wednesday

• Continued developing curriculum outline

Thursday & Friday

• out for holiday weekend

Week 06 (07/07/14 - 07/11/14)

Monday

• Met with Heather to discuss direction of curriculum design

Tuesday

• Read common core standards

Wednesday

• Read CSTA standards

Thursday

• Read Understanding By Design

Friday

• Finished Understanding By Design

Week 07 (07/14/14 - 07/18/14)

Monday

• Began content creation in Curriculum

Tuesday

• Continued content creation in Curriculum

Wednesday

• Continued content creation in Curriculum

Thursday

• Continued content creation in Curriculum
• Began Posters

Friday

• Finished Posters

Week 08 (07/21/14 - 07/25/14)

Monday

• Worked on finalizing shield components

Tuesday

• Worked on finalizing shield components

Thursday

• Continued content creation in Curriculum

Friday

• Poster Presentation

Week 09 (07/28/14 - 08/01/14)

Monday

• Begin creating handouts

Tuesday

• Continue creating handouts

Wednesday

• Continue creating handouts
• Presentation to ECS

Thursday

• Final Presentations