Creating "High-Tech Tools and Toys Lab" learning environments at four universities

Northeastern University (NU), Boston University (BU), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM) have piloted a program to teach freshman computation using a hands-on "High-Tech Tools and Toys Laboratory" learning environment. At NU, students programmed computers running the new MATLAB Data Acquisition and Instrument Control Toolboxes to control test and measurement equipment, x-y positioners, and acoustic and ultrasonic sensors to image concealed objects. In the Spring semester of 2002, BU is using the HTT&TL concept with optical imaging hardware in a freshman module in imaging and tracking using C++, MATLAB, LabView, and Vision Foundary. In the Fall of 2002, RPI and UPRM will pilot the HTT&TL in freshman "Intro to EE" labs using, respectively, instrumentation for image processing and hyperspectral imaging. The experiences of the different universities are reviewed and compared and lessons for successful hands-on instrument-control computation courses extracted.