1997-1998
read
background information
Students
in the course are required to turn in final projects of various designs
to demonstrate and apply their newly acquired technology: Erik
Hayes chose to create The Hazer Graver,
an
engraving machine which inscribes words into wood. His project
also
featured a size selectable font-- no easy task for a high school
programming
student! Ben Hejl took on the challenge of
creating
a manipulator that automatically moved circular disks to solve the
famous
Towers
of Hanoi puzzle.
Other
students in the class created equally challenging projects: Andrew
Reitano created an apparatus that moved chess pieces through Classic
chess matches. Drew Foster
created
and
Automatic card dealer, which deals out the
appropriate number of cards to an indicated number of players for any
of
several selected card games. Frank DeMartino
created a three floor computer controlled Elevator,
and Chris Messineo chose to design and
create
a
CNC drill press designed to drill holes
in printed circuit boards. Lyndon
Kennedy's
mission was to convert, as he put it, slabs of wood into a computer
controlled
plotter
which accepted Logo®-like commands to draw figures and letters on
paper.
The
most in-depth robot project this year was Eric
Burns
miniature Saw Mill, which cut up raw lumber
into planks of specified measurements. His project also featured
a see-through safety cage to keep fingers safely away from the cutting
blade and also included a safety sensor that shut the system down if
the
lid to the cutting area were opened.
The
pioneer of all these projects is Juan Melli
Huber
who single-handedly set the standard of excellence for these final
projects
by spending countless hours designing his CD
Jukebox
the first year that the Programming Applications Course ran.
The
course is challenging at times, but also very rewarding. The
students
frequently show up before school and spend many hours after school to
work
on their projects and programs, learn more about the new equipment, and
the like. Interest and excitement is high, and Real World
applications
are endless.
You
can help: We're looking for old, dead printers, discarded disk
drives,
VCRs and CamCorders-- they're a valuable source of motors, gears,
belts,
pulleys, tracks, etc. If you have some old equipment that you
don't
need anymore and would be interested in donating it for use in the
course,
kindly contact Jack
Bozzuffi at 856-264-5644.
page created by:
J. Bozzuffi