This unit is essentially IntroductionToProfessionalEngineeringGENG1003 for Computer Science.

A number of people doing this unit are only learning Java at the same time. Be warned, most of this unit is spent trying to teach these people Java. Turning up to lectures is definately not necessary, and most people don't; though watching the lecturer lecture to two people (one of whom is gently snoring) in Weatherburn LT is quite a spectacle.

In the past there was a project where you have to write software for a (model) lift. The Java licence specifically forbids Java from controlling lifts, but this is bye the by. It is possible to fail the assignment and still pass the unit.

Now the project is to build a robot out of lego and then to program it using Lejos, a java approach to programming the RCX. It is incredibly silly, because the firmware is significantly worse than the default one - for example, stuff likes measuring light sensor values actually requires you to write a program to do so (as opposed to just making the 'View' button on the top of the RCX do its job). Next year (2007) will apparently use the NXT and a new version of Lejos.

Has been taught by DuHuynh. In 2006 the lecturer was Mark Reynolds, while labs were taken by Rachel Cardel-Oliver.

Unit webpage

Handbook entry


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