This paper presents CoCube a tabletop modular robotics platform designed for robotics education and multirobot algorithm research. CoCube is characterized by its low cost low floors high ceilings and wide walls offering flexibility and broad applicability across various use cases. The platform comprises four key components: CoCube robots which integrate wireless communication movement and interaction; CoModules which provide versatile external functionality; CoMaps which enable high-precision localization via microdot patterns on regular printed paper; and CoTags for interaction. CoCube operates on MicroBlocks a blocks programming language for physical computing inspired by MIT Scratch a widely-used coding language with a simple visual interface that makes programming accessible to young learners. It offers users both flexibility and ease of use with advanced API support for more complex applications. This paper details the design of the CoCube platform and demonstrates its potential in both educational and research contexts.

Scratch and other blocks languages have introduced millions of young people to coding. However, as students get older they naturally seek new horizons and new programming languages. At the same time, CS educators in higher grades want to explore concepts that go beyond the scope of Scratch. Unfortunately, text-based languages present challenges. Syntax issues, cryptic error messages, and complex programming environments can alienate students and consume valuable classroom time. GP allows exploration of computational ideas in the context of a welcoming, media-rich blocks language.

The first programming language for most children worldwide today is a blocks-based language like Scratch or Snap. GP is a blocks-based programming language designed to be a follow-on. GP aims to be a general purpose language, like Python or Ruby, in which students can create more complex programs or create standalone applications. GP includes a mechanism for creating modules for others to re-use and a wide variety of primitives, including tools for manipulating CVS and JSON data, using serial port and network connections, and manipulating pixels in pictures or samples in sounds. The language could be used in computer science classes beyond introductory computer science. GP explores the questions: "How far can we go with a blocks-based programming language? Do we have to move students to a textual programming language to explore advanced computational ideas and applications?" In this laptop required workshop, participants will try out GP. They will explore sample projects and create their own projects that push on advanced features of GP such as using multiple classes and instances, creating sets of blocks that can be shared as extension modules, using cloud data, or manipulating images and sounds. GP will be released (free and open source) in Summer 2017, so our goal is to find early adopters who are interested in trying GP and developing examples for others.

This panel will showcase and compare three leading Initial Learning Environments (ILE): Alice, Greenfoot and Scratch.

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No abstract available.

One way of coping with the complexity of biological systems is to use the simplest possible models which are able to reproduce at least some nontrivial features of reality. Although two value Boolean models have a long history in technology, it is perhaps a little bit surprising that they can also represent important features of living organizms. In this paper, the scalar equation approach to Boolean network models is further developed and then applied to two interesting biological models. In particular, a linear reduced scalar equation is derived from a more rudimentary nonlinear scalar equation. This simpler, but higher order, two term equation gives immediate information about both cycle and transient structure of the network.

Squeak is an open, highly-portable Smalltalk implementation whose virtual machine is written entirely in Smalltalk, making it easy to. debug, analyze, and change. To achieve practical performance, a translator produces an equivalent C program whose performance is comparable to commercial Smalltalks.Other noteworthy aspects of Squeak include: a compact object format that typically requires only a single word of overhead per object; a simple yet efficient incremental garbage collector for 32-bit direct pointers; efficient bulk-mutation of objects; extensions of BitBlt to handle color of any depth and anti-aliased image rotation and scaling; and real-time sound and music synthesis written entirely in Smalltalk.

Manipulating programs is hard, while manipulating objects in the physical world is often easy. Several attributes of the physical world help make it comprehensible and manipulable: concreteness, uniformity, and flexibility. The Self programming system attempts to apply these attributes to the world within the computer. The semantics of the language, the efficiency and fidelity of its implementation, and the architecture of its user interface conspire to make the experience of constructing programs in Self immediate and tangible. We describe the mechanisms used to achieve this goal, and illustrate those mechanisms within the context of an extended programming task.

Abstract The efficient satisfaction of constraints is essential to the performance of constraint‐based user interfaces. In the past, most constraint‐based user interfaces have used one‐way rather than multi‐way constraints because of a widespread belief that one‐way constraints were more efficient. In this paper we argue that many user interface construction problems are handled more naturally and elegantly by multi‐way constraints than by one‐way constraints. We present pseudocode for an incremental multi‐way constraint satisfaction algorithm, DeltaBlue, and describe experience in using the algorithm in two user interface toolkits. Finally, we provide performance figures demonstrating that multi‐way constraint solvers can be entirely competitive in performance with one‐way constraint solvers.

ThingLab II is an object-oriented constraint programming system designed specifically for interactive user interface construction and implemented in Smalltalk-80 For constraints to be effective in building user interfaces, they must not impede the responsiveness of the user interface either at run time or during construction. The necessary speed is attained in ThingLab II by making judicious tradeoffs between compilation and interpretation, and by using a fast, incremental algorithm for constraint satisfaction. The resulting system allows user interface components to be assembled, tested, and modified expediently while maintaining interactive responsiveness.