Classroom Activities

The Human Computer Program

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Human Computer Program

In this exercise the class is split in groups of two (you may use larger groups). One group will be the human computer, the other group will be the computer programmer. The programmers are first given a task that they must program the human computers to do using only the list of supplied keywords. The computer people are not told the objective of the exercise, only that they will be given a set of directions to follow. The programmers must write a set of directions using only the supplied keywords. A sample set of keywords is;

Stand	Sit	Turn	Up	Down
Bend	Walk	Stop	Left 90	Right90
Step	Forward	Reverse	Pick	Drop
Push	Activate	De-activate

You may add keywords or remove keywords to make the exercise more or less difficult. The computer is told to follow the set of directions to the best of their ability using only the supplied keywords.

Some sample tasks that are supplied include;

Place a piece of paper on the ground – program the computer to walk to the paper from a known starting location, navigation to the trash can and drop the paper in the trash
Have the computer navigate to a water fountain and take a drink of water. This is more challenging if the computer has to leave the room.
Have the computer navigate to a wall switch and turn the lights in the room on or off.
(advanced) Have the computer switch (replace) two chairs at a table.
(advanced) Have the computer change the position of 2 objects in the room.

Depending on the setting you can make this more or less difficult and feel free to use natural obstacles in the room. Remember the computer should not be told the ultimate objective of the exercise – they only get the directions supplied by the programmers.

This exercise teaches the necessary skills for writing and translation of computer type codes. It should be pointed out that when giving direction to any type of simulation or when writing any type of computer code that it is very important that;

- Instructions have a fixed meaning that is understood by the computer and the programmer.

- That the programmer gives explicit detailed directions of what is expected.

- That computer programming is an “exact” discipline, that human translation allows many people to assume given knowledge and let the others fill in the details – this will not work with computer programming.