Fall 2020 Course Guide

Please note: this site is from a previous course iteration and is no longer updated.

Welcome to 16-223 Creative Kinetic Systems! This introductory physical computing course addresses the practical design and fabrication of robots, interactive gadgets, and kinetic sculptures.

Contents

• Syllabus: Creative Kinetic Systems
• Daily Agenda Logbook
• Lecture and Demo Videos
• Technical Exercises
• Demo and Project Assignments
• Course Project: Kinetic Machines for People
• Physical Computing Reference Guide
• Sample Arduino Code
• Sample Python Code
• Sample Mechanical Designs
• Course Resources

Student Work WordPress

The 16-223 Student Work area is provided for posting all project documentation and discussion. Enrolled students may log in to this area using their Andrew IDs. All content may be posted either publicly or privately.

Syllabus Changes

The syllabus has been provisionally updated for Fall 2020. Some changes of particular note:

• Asynchronous Instruction

• Daily Schedule

• Computing Needs

• Materials and Equipment

• Canvas and Piazza

Fall 2020 Pandemic Changes

Fall 2020 brings many changes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The course meetings will now be entirely remote, using synchronous class time for discussion and interaction and video and readings for asynchronous instruction. The hands-on project work will utilize a provided kit of physical prototyping materials and components shipped or available as a ‘course pack’ for use at home.

The class is formally listed as “IPR” (in-person plus remote) to allow for the possibility that a limited number of students may be able to use the Physical Computing Lab in Hunt A10 during class time or other scheduled times. This optional access will not be essential for success in the course. The current status of IDeATe facilities can be found on the IDeATe Covid-19 page.

For now, I’d like to re-iterate I intend to maintain the key principles of this course: a beginner-friendly approach, collaborative development of machine prototypes, and computation and mechanism used to create playful physical behavior. The specific assignments and project scope will be adapted, but these core goals will still be met under the new conditions.

As a taste of what the course has been like in the past, I invite you to visit the Fall 2019 student projects and course materials.

Course Role and History

This course is part of the Integrative Design, Arts, and Technology (IDeATe) program at Carnegie Mellon University. It is a recommended portal course for entering either the IDeATe Intelligent Environments or Physical Computing programs. This course makes use of the IDeATe fabrication and lab facilities in the lower level of Hunt Library. The permanent link for the course is https://courses.ideate.cmu.edu/16-223.

This course was offered under this name in Fall 2019 and Fall 2018, but was previously known as 16-223: Introduction to Physical Computing in Fall 2017, Fall 2016, and Fall 2015, and under 16-223/60-223 in Fall 2014. That name is still used by 60-223: Introduction to Physical Computing.

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Creative Kinetic Systems Fall 2020 Course Guide by Garth Zeglin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.