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FRED G. MARTIN Associate Professor, Computer Science Associate Dean, College of Sciences University of Massachusetts Lowell Olsen Hall Rm 208 Lowell, MA 01854 fr...@...uml.edu office 978/934-1964 lab 978/934-2705 fax 978/934-3551 click for advising hrs |
Research
I am interested in a collection of themes around what I call “Engaging Computing”:
- Engaged computing means computational processes that are engaged with the world—think embedded systems. I'm creating computationally-active, physical-media design environments for an unusual set of users, including children, artists, and other non-engineers.
- Engaging computing means the design processes that people use when they are creating, building, and debugging. I'm specifically interested in environments that allow people to perform ultra-rapid prototyping, to exploring their ideas by implementing them immediately, getting feedback from seeing them in action, and then iterating, repeating the process. A negotiational process rather than a planned one.
Active Projects
Please see the Engaging Computing Group home page !
Past Work
In 1989, I was a co-founder of the undergraduate MIT robot design contest, known often by its course number, 6.270. This project, which was the first large-scale autonomous robotics design contest at MIT, inspired many others and helped ignite the current boom in robotics design contests.
As part of the 6.270 work, I co-designed a robotics hardware platform and software environment which were open-sourced and are now in use in high schools, colleges, and universities around the country and the rest of the world. (See the Handy Board and Interactive C).
In 2001, Prentice-Hall published my textbook Robotic Explorations: A Hands-on Introduction to Engineering. This text synthesizes the practical knowledge needed to run a design-oriented robotics class at the university level, and is being adopted by many faculty who are using mobile robotics as an entry-point to engineering, computer science, and artificial intelligence classes—including our own Prof. Holly Yanco, who introduced it to the UML 91.450 Robotics I class.
Beginning in 1987 with my Master's work with Seymour Papert, I developed a series of robotics design environments for kids. Staying at the MIT Media Laboratory after my doctorate, I continued this work as a researcher with Mitchel Resnick's Life-Long Kindergarten group.
This work was partly sponsored by the LEGO Group A/S and became the foundation for the successful LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System, which was launched in 1999.
Publications
- Martin, F. G., Scribner-MacLean, M., Christy, S., and Rudnicki, I. (2012). Developing and Evaluating a Web-Based, Multi-Platform Curriculum for After-School Robotics. In B. Barker, G. Nugent, N. Grandgenett, & V. Adamchuk (Eds.), Robots in K-12 Education: A New Technology for Learning (pp. 266–283). doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-0182-6.ch013. cite.
- Tuck, N., McGuinness, M., and Martin, F. (2012). “Optimizing a mobile robot control system using GPU acceleration,” Proc. SPIE 8301, 83010Z; http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.909231. cite; pdf.
- Sherman, M., Martin, F., and Scribner-MacLean, M. (2011). The role of iteration in the design processes of middle school students. In Proceedings of the 8th ACM Conference on Creativity and Cognition, Atlanta, GA, pp. 391. cite.
- Zhang, H. and Martin, F. (2011). “Robotic mapping assisted by local magnetic field anomalies.” Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Practical Robot Applications, Woburn, MA, April 2011. pdf.
- Martin, F. (2011). “Introducing Uninformed Search with Tangible Board Games,” Second AAAI Symposium on Educational Advances in Artificial Intelligence. pdf.
- Lee, I., Martin, F., Denner, J., Coulter, W., Allan, Erickson, J., Malyn-Smith, J., Werner, L. (2011). “Computational thinking for youth in practice.” ACM Inroads, 2(1), pp 32–37, March 2011. cite.
- Martin, F., Scribner-MacLean, M., Christy, S., Rudnicki, I., Londhe, R., Manning., C., Goodman, I. (2011). “Reflections on iCODE: using web technology and hands-on projects to engage urban youth in computer science and engineering.” Autonomous Robots, 30(3), pp. 265–280, DOI: 10.1007/s10514-011-9218-3. cite
- Tuck, N., McGuinness, M., and Martin, F. (2011). “WOAH: an obstacle avoidance technique for high speed path following.” Proc. SPIE 7878, 787811; doi:10.1117/12.876421. cite; pdf.
- Tosa, S. and Martin, F. (2010). “Impact of a Professional Development Program Using Data-Loggers on Science Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inquiry-Based Teaching.” Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 29(3), 303–325. Chesapeake, VA: AACE. cite.
- Allan, W., Coulter, B., Denner, J., Erickson, J., Lee, I., Malyn-Smith, J., and Martin, F.. “Computational Thinking for Youth White Paper.” Published by the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), June 2010. PDF.
- Martin, F., Kuhn, S., Scribner-MacLean, M., Corcoran, C., Dalphond, J., Fertitta, J., McGuinness, M., Christy, S., and Rudnicki, I. “iSENSE: A Web Environment and Hardware Platform for Data Sharing and Citizen Science.” Presented at the AAAI 2010 Spring Symposium, Educational Robotics and Beyond: Design and Evaluation, Stanford, CA, March 2010. abstract and PDF download
- Martin, F. and Roehr, K. “Cultivating creativity in tangible interaction design.” In Proceeding of the Seventh ACM Conference on Creativity and Cognition, Berkeley, California, October 2009. ACM DL
- Martin, F., Greher, G., Heines, J., Jeffers, J., Kim, H.J., Kuhn, S., Roehr, K., Selleck, N., Silka, L., and Yanco, H. “Joining Computing and the Arts at a Mid-Size University.” Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, v. 24, no. 6, pp 87–94, June 2009. ACM DL
- Rhine, D. and Martin, F. “Integrating Mathematical Analysis of Sensors and Motion in a Mobile Robotics Course.” In ISSEP 2008: Proceedings of the Second International Conference, “Informatics in Secondary Schools: Evolution and Perspectives,” Torun, Poland, 1–4 July 2008.
- Scribner-MacLean, M., Martin, F., Prime, D., Penta, M., Christy, S., and Rudnicki, I. “Implementing iCODE (Internet Community of Design Engineers): A Collaborative Engineering and Technology Project for Middle and High School Students in Urban Settings.” In Proceedings of the 2008 Conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE), March 2008, pp. 4321. abstract pdf.
- Martin, F., Grinstein, G., Kuhn, S. “A Radical Design Course: Leveraging APIs for Creativity and Innovation in Software.” In Proceedings of the 11th IASTED International Conference, Software Engineering and Applications (SEA 2007), Cambridge, MA, November 19–21, 2007. ISBN 978-0-88986-705-5 (paper) or 978-0-88986-706-3 (CD), pages 318–323. PDF.
- Martin, F., Hjalmarson, M., Wankat, P. “When the Model is a Program.” Book chapter in volume entitled Foundations for the Future in Mathematics Education, Richard Lesh, Eric Hamilton, and James Kaput, editors, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007.
- Martin, F. “Little Robots that Could: How Collaboration in Robotics Labs Leads to Student Learning and Tangible Results.” In Intelligent Automation and Soft Computing, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 81–92 (special issue entitled “Global Look at Robotics Education”), David J. Ahlgren and Igor M. Verner, eds., 2007. pdf.
- Kim, H., Coluntino, D., Martin, F., Silka, L., and Yanco, H. (2007). “Artbotics: Community-Based Collaborative Art and Technology Education.” ACM SIGGRAPH 2007 educators program, San Diego, CA, 2007. ACM cite.
- Martin, F., Kim, H., Silka, L., Yanco, H., and Coluntino, D. (2007). “Artbotics: Challenges and Opportunities for Multi-Disciplinary, Community-Based Learning in Computer Science, Robotics, and Art.” Presented at the 2007 Workshop on Research in Robots for Education at the Robotics Science and Systems conference, June 30, 2007. PDF. p>
- Martin, F. (2007). “Real Robots Don't Drive Straight.” In Proceedings of the AAAI Spring Symposium on Robots and Robot Venues: Resources for AI Education, Stanford, CA, March 2007. PDF.
- Yanco, H. A., Kim, H. J., Martin, F. G., and Silka, L. “Artbotics: Combining Art and Robotics to Broaden Participation in Computing.” In Proceedings of the AAAI Spring Symposium on Robots and Robot Venues: Resources for AI Education, Stanford, CA, March 2007. PDF local PDF.
- Martin, F. and Chanler, A. (2007). “Introducing the Blackfin Handy Board.” In Proceedings of the AAAI Spring Symposium on Robots and Robot Venues: Resources for AI Education, Stanford, CA, March 2007. PDF local PDF.
- Butler, D., Strohecker, C., and Martin, F. (2006). “Sustaining Local Identity, Control and Ownership While Integrating Technology into School Learning.” Book chapter in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 4226/2006, Springer Berlin / Heidelberg. publisher link.
- Martin, F. and Greenwood, A. (2007). “Using Programmable Crickets to Help Beginning Teachers Experience Scientific Inquiry.” Presented at the 2007 meeting of the Association for Science Teacher Education, Clearwater Beach, FL, January 2007. PDF.
- Martin, F., Lurgio, M., and Coffey, D. “Robotic Jewelry: Inventing Locally Contextualized Mathematics in a Fourth Grade Classroom.” In ISSEP 2006: Proceedings of the Second International Conference, “Informatics in Secondary Schools: Evolution and Perspectives,” Vilnius, Lithuana, 7–11 November 2006, V. Dagiene and R. Mittermeir, eds. pp. 214–225. PDF
- Martin, F., Meo, M., and Doyle, G. (2006). “Triskit: A software-generated construction toy system.” Presented at the “Let's Get Physical” workshop at the 2nd International Conference on Design Computing and Cognition (DCC ’06), Eindhoven, Holland, July 8, 2006. PDF.
- Grinstein, G., Martin, F., and Kuhn, S. (2006). “ Radical Design: From Pencils to Software to Processes to Clothing.” Presented at the “Exploring Design as a Research Activity” workshop at the Designing Interactive Systems conference (DIS2006), Penn State, Pennsylvania, June 26, 2006. PDF.
- Martin, F. (2006). “Toy Projects Considered Harmful.” Technical Opinion essay in July 2006 Communications of the ACM, pp. 113–116. DOI. PDF.
- Martin, F. and Kuhn, S. (2006). “Computing in Context: Integrating an Embedded Computing Project into a Course on Ethical and Societal Issues.” In Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Houston, Texas, USA, March 03 - 05, 2006). SIGCSE '06. ACM Press, New York, NY, 525-529. DOI. PDF.
- Martin, F. (2006). “Integrating Hardware Experiences into a Computer Architecture Core Course.” In The Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, v. 21, n. 6, Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA, 2006. PDF.
- Xu, L. and Martin, F.. (2006). “Chirp on Crickets: Teaching Compilers using an Embedded Robot Controller.” In Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Houston, Texas, USA, March 03 - 05, 2006). SIGCSE '06. ACM Press, New York, NY, 82-86. DOI. PDF.
- Martin, F., Par, K., Abu-Zahra, K., Dulskiy, V., and Chanler, A. (2005). “iCricket: A programmable brick for kids' pervasive computing applications.” Published in the 2nd International Workshop on Ubiquitous Computing (IWUC-2005), held at the 7th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, Miami Beach, FL, May 2005. PDF
- Martin, F. and Pantazopoulos, G. (2004). “Designing the Next-Generation Handy Board.” In Proceedings of the Spring 2004 AAAI Symposium, American Association for Artificial Intelligence, Stanford, CA. PDF