Physical Computing - Interactive Art, Robotics, and Tech for Good

Low-cost microcontrollers, sensors, and computing devices like the Raspberry Pi make it possible to create technical projects that humans can physically interact with. This course assumes no prior programming experience but will progress quickly through block-based MakeCode programming, then CircuitPython programming so that all students have coding knowledge necessary to create hardware projects. Students will purchase an amount of hardware and tools similar to the cost of books in a standard course, and we'll use these parts to build a series of projects that control lights, read sensors, produce sound, respond to touch and app control, capture camera images, and more. We'll also build a wheel-based robot, and students will have an opportunity to create and present several original projects and share their work with classmates. This course was formerly numbered: ISYS2170.