An introductory course for humanoid robot motion realization for undergraduate and graduate students is presented in this study. The basic operations of AX-12 motors and the mechanics combination of a 16 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) humanoid robot are presented first. The main concepts of multilink systems, zero moment point (ZMP), and feedback…

This paper describes the production of a software program for Master of Education students studying the "Introduction to Research Methods" course at a tertiary institution in Hong Kong. The course was originally delivered in a lecture mode, which proved unsatisfactory in providing sufficient learning support for the students. The paper…

The following paper has been conceived to deal with the contents of some lectures aimed at enhancing courses on digital electronic, microelectronic or VLSI systems. Those lectures show how to use a hardware description language (HDL), such as the VHDL, to specify, design and verify a custom microprocessor. The general goal of this work is to teach…

Studying fundamental Computer Architecture and Organization topics requires a significant amount of practical work if students are to acquire a good grasp of the theoretical concepts presented in classroom lectures or textbooks. The use of simulators is commonly adopted in order to reach this objective. However, as most of the available…

This article proposes a VHDL language course that establishes a strong correlation between the language statements and their use in circuit synthesis. Two course modules are described: a basic module that contains the essential concepts of the language, sufficient for students to describe medium complexity circuits, followed by a second module…

This work describes a new "Moodle" module developed to give support to the practical content of a basic computer organization course. This module goes beyond the mere hosting of resources and assignments. It makes use of an automatic checking and verification engine that works on the VHDL designs submitted by the students. The module automatically…

Streaming audio/video contents over the Internet requires large network bandwidth and timely delivery of media data. A streaming session is generally long and also needs a large I/O bandwidth at the streaming server. A streaming server, however, has limited network and I/O bandwidth. For this reason, a streaming server alone cannot scale a…

Operating systems theory primarily concentrates on the optimal use of computing resources. This paper presents an alternative approach to teaching and studying operating systems design and concepts by way of parametrically optimizing critical operating system functions. Detailed examples of two critical operating systems functions using the…

This paper describes the use of video to provide a screenplay depiction of a proposed artificial intelligence software system. Advantages of such use are identified: (1) the video can be used to provide a clear conceptualization of the proposed system; (2) it can illustrate abstract technical concepts; (3) it can simulate the functions of the…

Discussion of communication between designers and users of information systems focuses on a review of seven participatory design techniques in terms of the communication dimensions found in the Lievrouw and Finn communication systems model. Implications for the development of more effective and appropriate design models and methods are suggested.…