Schedule

Home Page Schedule Assignments & Reading Parts Printable Syllabus

The most current syllabus and assignment list for this class is on my teaching site. Students should refer to that during the course of the semester to be sure they have the latest information.

Week 1

• Intro, Tools
  • Embedded net devices
  • radios
  • soldering review
  • syllabus review
• Discuss phys comp improv project
• Assignment:
  • Phys Comp Improv Project
  • Get Ethernet components now. You'll need them in week 3
• Reading:
  • Making Things Talk chapter 1, 2
  • "There Will Come Soft Rains", Bradbury
  • Weiser, The Coming Age of Ubiquitous Computing

Week 2

• Serial protocols and Network Structures
• TCP/IP basics
• Layers and OSI model
• assembling a basic embedded net device
• Assignment due: phys comp improv project
• Reading:
  • Making Things Talk chapter 3,4 (try out project 5, "Hello Internet!" when you get your Ethernet parts in)
  • Weiser, "The Computer for the 21st Century"

Week 3

• Intro to Embedded net with Ethernet modules
• Assignment: Networked Pong. Make a networked pong client. You'll be connecting to the server in chapter 5, project 7.
• Reading:
  • Making Things Talk chapter 5
  • Weiser and Brown, The Coming Age of Calm Computing

Week 4

• Assignment due: pong project
• HTTP, mail, and other network exchange protocols
• A little more on serial, software serial and hardware handshaking
• Assignment: Espionage Chain
  • receive a secret message from one partner, using a particular communications technology, add to the message, then pass it along to the next partner, using a different communications technology
  • create a simple physical output to indicate success
  • don’t let the zombies win
• Viewing:
  • ''Fast, Cheap and Out of Control" (We’ll arrange a screening outside of class time, if possible.)

Week 5

• catch your breath. By now we'll have discussed a lot of technical material,and built a lot of things. This class is a chance to ask questions about any of what we've covered so far, and to make sure you're clear on the concepts and the execution.
• discuss final project. Discuss the brief, brainstorm possible ideas
• Assignment: develop ideas for your final project.
• Reading:
  • Making Things Talk chapter 6
  • "Internet of Things", Scientific American

Week 6

• Wireless Intro: 802.15.4 XBee and Bluetooth
• Assignment due: Final project concept presentations
• Reading:
• Reading: Making Things Talk chapter 7

Week 7

• Wireless part 2. By now those working with wireless will have a lot of questions and we'll talk about them in depth.
• Zigbee mesh networking/UDP
• Assignment due: espionage assignment
• Reading:'
  • Making Things Talk chapter 8 and 9
  • "Everything Everywhere", Nature

Week 8

• Location vs. Identification
• Assignment: start your final project.

Week 9

• RFID and other technologies (TBD depending on class discussion)
• Discuss final assignment interaction plans

Week 10

• Assignment Due: By now you should have finished planning the interaction for your project and be working on a physical mockup.

Week 11

• Workshop

Week 12

• Workshop

Week 13

• In-class final presentations

Week 14

• Final presentations to New York Times R&D staff