Title :
P-CUBE: Block Type Programming Tool for Visual Impairments
Author :
Kakehashi, Shun ; Motoyoshi, Tatsuo ; Koyanagi, K. ; Ohshima, T. ; Kawakami, H.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Intell. Syst. Design Eng., Toyama Prefectural Univ., Toyama, Japan
Abstract :
We developed P-CUBE, which is an education tool for programming mobile robots, and confirmed the system operation. Elementary school and junior high school students have recently begun to learn programming using PCs. Students who are taught how to create programs are often required to use an interface of a personal computer. This method keeps visually impaired and younger children from learning programming. Furthermore, the cost associated with PCs is often prohibitive. In an attempt to address these problems, we have developed P-CUBE, which is a new programming education tool. P-CUBE consists of cubic blocks and a program mat. The user creates a program by laying out surface gap blocks on the program mat based on the structure of the algorithm. RFID readers are arranged in the programming mat, and the information of the RFID tags in the blocks is read in order to specify the location of each block. P-CUBE is considered to be nearly indestructible because of its simple structure and is expected to be used as an educational toy for students.
Keywords :
computer science education; handicapped aids; mobile robots; radiofrequency identification; robot programming; P-CUBE; RFID readers; RFID tags; block type programming tool; cubic blocks; elementary school students; junior high school students; mobile robot programming; program mat; programming education tool; surface gap blocks; visual impairments; Educational institutions; Mobile robots; Programming profession; Prototypes; Software; algorithm education; block interface; programming tool; tangible;
Conference_Titel :
Technologies and Applications of Artificial Intelligence (TAAI), 2013 Conference on
Conference_Location :
Taipei
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-2528-5
DOI :
10.1109/TAAI.2013.65