SBIR Phase I: Bridging the Education Gap Between Block-Based Programs and Cryptic C++ Code with an Internet of Things Based Interactive Code Development and Debug Platform

这个SBIR第一阶段项目将开发一个低成本的教育平台，为学生提供一个用现代现实世界编程语言理解和编写软件代码的门户。这项研究解决了K-12环境下教师和学生参与编码为识字的迫切需要。目前教授K-12计算机科学和编程原理的方法往往无法弥合基于块的图形表示和基于文本的编程语言之间的差距。学校教室和图书馆中的Maker空间的强劲增长导致了K-12课程中面向Maker的产品的激增，但教师和学生都很难理解有意义地使用这些产品所需的软件编码。该项目采用了可扩展的机器人平台，为课程开发提供了肥沃的土壤，并配备了能够通过无线连接逐步执行学生代码的软件，体现了制造者的精神。这项技术的商业化将增强国内正在进行的STEM倡议的有效性-S学校，让学生在过渡到初中和高中水平时从事更高级的计算机编程，促进大学水平的技术学科的招生，并最终增加国家劳动力与技术相关的全球竞争力。该项目的目标是克服目前基于微控制器的软件开发的限制，特别关注在不使用微控制器本身的“目标监视器”硬件的情况下实现交互调试能力。该项目包括软件和硬件开发工作，因为研究旨在通过使用为物联网(IoT)应用设计的最先进的硅技术来实现高度集成的系统。这些片上系统(SoC)集成电路的出现为从根本上降低成本、连接IP的教育技术平台带来了潜力。该项目的硬件方面将包括利用无线SoC开发印刷电路板(PCB)组件，以提供具有可扩展电路接口的Wi-Fi连接机器人计算平台和为教育应用设计的内置外围设备的补充。该软件将提供与硬件平台无缝集成的基于网络的用户界面，以实现以前在无线SoC上未曾见过的交互编码级别。该项目产生的商业化产品将利用这种交互式调试用户体验来教授真实世界的编程语言开发技能。

This SBIR Phase I project will develop a low cost educational platform which provides students a gateway to understanding and writing software code in modern real-world programming languages. The research addresses a pressing need in the K-12 setting to engage both teachers and students in Coding as a Literacy. Current approaches to teaching computer science and programming principles in K-12 often fail to bridge the gap between block-based graphical representations and text-based programming languages. Strong growth in Maker Spaces within school classrooms and libraries has led to a proliferation of Maker-oriented products in the K-12 setting, but teachers and students alike struggle to understand the software coding required to make meaningful use of them. The project embraces the Maker spirit with an expandable robotics platform that provides fertile ground for lesson development, paired with software that enables step-by-step execution of the student's code over a wireless connection. The commercialization of this technology will augment the effectiveness of STEM initiatives underway in the nation?s schools, keep students engaged in more advanced computer programming as they transition into middle and high school levels, boost the enrollment in technical disciplines at the University level, and ultimately increase the technology-related global competitiveness of the national workforce.The goal of this project is to overcome current limitations in microcontroller-based software development, with specific focus on the enablement of interactive debugging capabilities without the use of "target monitor" hardware external to the microcontroller itself. The project includes both software and hardware development efforts, as the research is directed at enabling a highly integrated system through the use of state-of-the-art silicon technology designed for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The advent of these System on Chip (SoC) integrated circuits brings the potential for a radically lower cost, IP-connected educational technology platform. The hardware aspect of the project will include development of a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly leveraging a wireless SoC to provide a Wi-Fi connected robotic computing platform with an expandable circuit interface and a complement of built-in peripherals designed for educational applications. The software will provide a web-based user interface seamlessly integrated with the hardware platform to enable a level of interactive coding not previously seen on a wireless SoC. The commercialized product resulting from this project will leverage this interactive debugging user experience to teach real-world programming language development skills.