Advanced CS/Web/Robotics Projects

Syllabus

Advanced Web Projects uses the same syllabus but focuses on web-based skills
Robotics Projects uses the same syllabus but focuses on engineering, Electronics, AI & Autonomous Robotics, and physical computer science (Microcomputers & Microcontrollers).

Your Task

About this course

This is an independent study style course where you can pursue a computer science topic of your choosing.

Advanced CS Projects is a course designed to allow students the opportunity to go in a direction of their own choosing. You're encouraged to to pick 1-3 projects to cover the entire 18 weeks of class. They should generally be connected in some way, but they don't have to be.

The most difficult things about doing an independent project are:

Coming up with ideas
Having resources to direct learning
Making the most of your time

I can help you with 2 of those 3, but staying focused is something you have to do on your own.

Document your progress - regardless of which course you're doing.

- Google Doc
- Google Slides
- Google Site (preferred as a portfolio of work)

Share progress regularly with Mr. Birkel

Present work/learning/project @ end of semester

The "Advanced Projects" menu item has sub menu items that cover some of these topics.

I'm done, now what? - You get what you put into it.

The most frustrating thing I see on projects is low attention, low effort, low results. This results in a low grade. You get out of this what you put into it.

America's Test Kitchen is a business that researches recipe perfection. It's amazing what they go through in order to come to that "perfect" recipe.

Like a good recipe, your program needs to be tested, improved, perfected. How can you make your program better?

Test - You need to run the program multiple times to ensure it works as expected.
Debug - look for ways your program could break (assume people are going to do the unexpected and find ways to catch or prevent that).
Improve
1. Can you make the program more user friendly?
2. Can you make the program more efficient?
3. Can you make the program more interactive?
4. Can you make the program more interesting?

Here's content America's Test Kitchen sent me in an email (apperently I unknowingly signed up for a newsletter...):

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You’ve heard us mention that our recipes are “failproof” and that they’ve been “rigorously tested.” But what does that mean? It means that every recipe you find (and enjoy) from our family of sites, cookbooks, magazines, and television programs has been thoroughly researched and developed by our test cooks and food scientists to be the very best version it can be. As you can imagine, making the slightest change to even one variable can have a huge impact on a recipe.

It’s not uncommon for our recipes to be tested anywhere between 40 and 75 times.

The test kitchen process

But we can’t take all the credit for our recipes. We also rely on our home recipe testers, a group of about 50,000 home cooks, who volunteer to make the recipes we’re developing. Their feedback provides critical insights to what is and isn’t working with the recipes. Are the instructions clear? Did the recipe come out as expected? What should be changed? We then return to the kitchen and use their feedback to keep refining the recipe until we are confident it’s the best it can be. Translation: Our testers give their seal of approval.

The test kitchen in action

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Goal

We love chocolate chip cookies. What’s not to like? They’re crispy, chewy rounds of pure delight, flavored with toffee and butterscotch. Yum. One bite and all your worries seem to float away. Because everyone should be able to enjoy the ultimate feel-good treat, we set out to perfect this beloved family favorite.

Research and Testing

We started with one of the most iconic chocolate chip cookie recipes: Toll House Cookies by Nestlé. (You’ve probably seen the recipe on the back of a bag of Nestlé chocolate chips.) It helped us identify the improvements we wanted to make: amping up the flavor and getting beyond a cakey texture to something more chewy and nuanced.

As our research continued, we looked at the work of other experts in the culinary industry and applied their methods in our tests. Some suggested that a prolonged resting time of the dough would intensify the flavor or that freezing the dough before baking would do the trick. Others called for uncommon ingredients such as milk powder to boost the chewiness. Their insights were helpful but didn’t pass muster with our tasters, so we decided the best course of action was to examine the ingredients and elements of the recipe in isolation. Here’s a simplified breakdown of our analysis.

We asked these questions and countless others, making changes and adjustments, until our tasters were convinced: Our chocolate chip cookies couldn’t be any better. Chewy middles and crisp, caramelized edges with a more complex flavor than buttery sweetness. Success!

Interested in learning more? Read the full article here.

Project Ideas - CS Projects

Develop a mobile app (Android Studio)
Develop a game (Gamemaker, Unity)
Learn a new programming language (C++)
Go deeper in a programming language you already know (Java, Python)
Learn 3D Modeling & Printing
Cyber Security Principles (Potential College Credit)
Cyber Challenges (CTFs)
Programming Challenges (George Fox University)
Issues in Technology

Project Ideas - Web Projects

- Develop a website for someone.
- Learn a new content management system (Wordpress)
- Learn a new web language (php, jquery, ruby, typescript, go)
- Develop Web Apps (HTML, CSS, JS) - beyond what we covered in class. Focus on HTML Canvas or some of the other tools listed at the bottom of Web2 that we never got to.
- Learning a new Web-Based tool (Servers & Data Bases)
- Focus on tasks a specific web-career would focus on (server-side scripting, client-side scripting, database management)
- Learning to code a theme/plugin/module for a Content Management System like Wordpress

Project Ideas - Robotics Projects

- College Credit Opportunity through Chemeketa - Talk to me about this (may or may not be available)
- Microcontrollers (Arduino), Microcomputers (Raspberry Pi), & electronic circuits
- AI
- Autonomous Robotics & Sensor Exploration
- Different Robotics Providers - VEX vs Lego vs Basic Stamp vs Arduino vs...

Resources

Google Doc - Advanced CS Project Ideas (Contains a list of Online Learning providers as well)

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