Use of the walking machine Flat Freddy in computer science education

This paper is a case study addressing a walking machine, named Flat Freddy, which was designed and built for practical work within computer science studies. The regular aim of the annual practical course “Electronics and Microsystem Technology” is to design an electronic circuit, normally a piece of digital hardware. Another rationale behind it is to broaden the students´ view of systems design. In 1999, we decided to use a walking machine as the target application platform in order to emphasise the need for an interdisciplinary system design and the control aspects of dynamic systems in general. Another aim was to cover as many levels of a (mobile) robotic system as possible, with the emphasis on electronics. In this paper, the walking machine itself and the specific task of the practical work are briefly described. Then the results are presented and the experiences gained from them are discussed