November 2015 Lunch: Google Apps Scripting

Dan St Pierre came in to talk to us about how his group at LSA has leveraged google apps scripting.

Much of the work they did was related to integrating calendars into an interface that made it easier to schedule and change events. Dan has graciously shared his code, which is attached in the below folder.

Another interesting use was leveraging google scripting within a spreadsheet to make an API call out to MCommunity. Through this script (also attached) a validation is performed against a record in MCommunity and returns a correct email address. From there, the spreadsheet can automatically send an email to recipients based on whether they've scheduled their thesis defense or not.

Dan's code

We'll be taking a break in December for the holidays, but stay tuned for some more interesting topics in 2016!

October 2015 Innovation Lunch - Digital Signage!

October’s Innovation lunch was focused on Digital Signs in Higher Education. Christopher Gardner and Mandy Grabowski from the Content Management team presented on their experiences on how to design a digital sign.

Their presentation focused on the best practices for the types of communications and content on a sign. Sign content should focus on the location of the sign and who the audience is. For example, digital signs in a busy hallway should have content that is quickly absorbed in a glance. Digital signs near an elevator, in comparison, can display more detailed information, as the people viewing the sign are standing around for a bit longer.

Mandy and Chris also covered best practices for where to place signs, how to make them readable and accessible, while using content design to draw attention. For example, they discussed not posting signs in areas that may produce glare. They also mentioned the power of animation to draw attention.

Finally, the duo covered the different types of content available to use on the digital signs. They gave examples of signs on campus, illustrating the use of live data, weather, and images. For additional information about the service and its capabilities, please visit the digital signage website: http://www.itcs.umich.edu/digital-signage/

August Innovation Lunch - 3D Modeling Demo with Blender

On August 19 and 20, Alex Peplinski demoed 3D modeling with the open source software tool Blender. Here are a few notes taken at the August 19 session.

Alex got experience with virtual modeling in 3D while studying at Washtenaw Community College. He's interested in 3D animation, video editing, graphic design and art in general.

He showed samples of 3D models - including a car that he modeled with about  3 months of work

Blender is open source and free. It's available on Linux and freeBSD.

His slides started with a definition of topology, which underlies the 3D structures in Blender.

When first using Blender, it's probably easier to start with a standard object instead of a blank grid.

Demoed creation and modification of simple object (e.g. cylinder, which as the start start of a soda can).

Using a 3D scan of himself, Alex showed how Blender can be used to move the image, put it into a box or other structure, etc. Animation is a feature available in Blender, but he animated his car in a street scene using other software.

While at WCC, Alex developed an animated 3D model of a sports car. He described how he developed the car, got the wheels to move, put it on a street scene, etc.

To see examples of Alex's work, including examples of 3D, go to Alex Peplinski's Portfolio.

The slides from Alex's presentation are here: 3D Simple Slides

July Lunch - A tour of the Digital Fabrication Lab

For the July Innovation Lunch, we took a field trip to the Digital Fabrication Lab run by the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning on U-M’s north campus. https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/labs-workshops/digital-fabrication-lab

Our tour guide of the FABLab was Asa, a graduate student who also works as a research associate for the Digital Fabrication Lab.

The first machine he showed us is a Swiss vacuum table. It cuts out any shape you put into it—primarily 2D work. Students can use it 24 hrs/day. This type of machine is used in design-making industries, and you can draw and cut with it.

This is a 3D knitting machine. These machines are industrial machines, and would be in a manufacturing facility typically. They’ve had this 3D knitting machine for about 2 years. Machines are a combination of research and grant funded, with some budgeted for by the FABLab itself. This 3D knitting machine can be used for a lot of different things; can control and play with the tensile strength of the material. A project that it was used for was projection mapping with a 3D kinect (presumably this): http://taubmancollege.umich.edu/research/research-through-making/2015/social-sensory-surfaces)

Training on equipment is class-based. For example, the knitting machine can be hard to program so needs more training (whereas the first machine doesn’t need much to get up and running using; more plug-and-play).

TAs run CNC machines. People can also pay for the FABLab to fabricate things for them, like specialized tools.

CNC machine has 3 axes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_control) stands for Computer Numerical Control. 3 axes of movement for cutting and milling. Was invented to help build airplanes. Can be used to cut plywood, MDF (medium-density fibreboard), foam. A different CNC machine is needed to cut metal. These machines get lots of use by students and projects from all across U-M.

The files have to be set up online to do the cutting. You give the machine XYZ coordinates to tell it where to cut. You have to run through lots of software simulations before you can cut it, and those also help you lay out the order of when things happen—when to cut, drill, or resurface the material. Issues can still happen if you don’t program it correctly, for example if you forget to tell the machine to raise the drill high enough above the material, and it ends up scraping across the surface as it moves to its next cut. You have to know (or learn) things like the cut rate and the tools to use for your material before programming. They use a database to help understand the different cut rates for materials and tools (a delicate drill bit can only drill so fast without breaking; denser materials may need to be cut slower or with more passes, etc.)

The metal CNC machine uses dust and water to keep the metal from overheating (presumably). Can cut metal up to a few inches thick; 2D shapes. The machine might be running XP embedded?

ROBOTS. Kuka robots. Have 7 axes of movement. Work by programming something in. They can be used to make tools as well—the FABLab makes a lot of tools themselves. Recently, this robot was being used to place fabric in place and heat solidify it. They have an incredible range of motion, and can handle complex geometry. They can be used to weld things. The two robots can also be linked to operate in “teamwork” mode.

They work by making a line in space for the toolpath to follow, and a reference path is sometimes needed as well, to know how to point the machine so that it can follow the proper toolpath. You can simulate the path in advance to make sure it works the way you want it to. Fairly simple and straightforward to program—Asa programmed it quickly while we were standing there.

The robots can move up to 1 m/sec, but the FABLab limits theirs to .25 m/sec (and they rarely are run at that speed). In an industrial setting, these tools will usually have a cage around them.

This is a 5-axis CNC machine. It can cut sideways and beneath something, as well as on top and from either side like the 3-axis CNC machine. There is one for metal and one for wood.

For many of these machines, you don’t have to write code. The software interface is visual and based in geometry. This means you can skip the learning curve; you can make things without writing code.

CAD has tools built in for simulations, so you can see what happens (before it happens).

The 5-axis CNC uses router bits (not drill bits) and uses Mastercam CAD/CAM software to control the movement. The software is a bit harder to learn to control 5-axis movement.

Robot programming tool! Touchscreen tablet.

All architecture masters students are required to take a digital fabrication class—a new element of the program (check site for more info)(cannot verify online)

Purpose really is because they want to use sophisticated technologies—how can you design something that uses more advanced technology and processes. Augment existing processes. Use a robot to cast metal in sand (see thing at end). These tools can be used to take traditional processes, and make them easier and more precise.

There is a robotics engineering degree and those students can learn to program these robots, but they help the architecture students play with the capabilities and test the boundaries of these tools. “How can we make things with these tools, doing it in a creative way?” The dichotomy of engineering and creativity. Focus on problem-solving.

there is an extruder attachment for the robot too. This is aluminum cast in sand, for a student project.

Blog of the digital technologies program at the architecture school:

http://tcaup-msdt.blogspot.com/?view=classic

A good student blog with some more detail about what it takes to program one of these robots:

http://mattlovestechnology.blogspot.com/

Future of Education: Big Data?

Last week’s innovation lunches were about the future of education and technology, with featured speakers Kris Steinhoff (formerly of ITS) from the Digital Innovation Greenhouse (DIG) presenting at both lunches, and Ryan Henyard from MSIS (Medical School Information Systems) able to present at the first lunch.

Attendees at the Boyer lunch ask questions of Kris and Ryan (seated, right)

Big data seems like the (current) future of education!

Many of the goals outlined by both MSIS and DIG involve using large quantities of data available about students to help them succeed in college and in their future careers.

DIG aims to support innovative work by U-M faculty, scaling and funding prototypes and small-scale solutions developed by faculty and making them more broadly available across campus (and even beyond!).

They’re working to develop three tools more fully:

• ECoach, a tailored communications tool targeted at helping support student success.
• ART, or academic reporting toolkit, which is used to visualize data.
• Student Explorer, used by advisors as an early warning system to gauge student engagement.

MSIS is working to transform medical education, which hasn’t changed much in the last century. The goals of the transformation include:

• Move curriculum toward a learner-centered portfolio.
• Building a more “responsive” medical student.
• Shifting toward a more predictive model for med student success.
• Preparing the student for the future, not the year that they are in school, since med school lasts so long. Students graduating in 2015 are expected to have their own practice in 2030

These initiatives are grant-funded and research-based currently, which allows the successes of the programs to be scientifically examined to see if they produce measurable results for students, and the successes should be well-established in order to grow beyond grant funding.

Naturally, data privacy, security, and ethics around the use of student data was discussed.

• Data privacy is important as student education record data is federally regulated as FERPA data. The sensitivity and privacy of the data are already being protected in some of these tools. In ART, data won’t be displayed for classes of 20 students or less, because the aggregate data could be de-anonymized at that small scale. The Safe Computing website offers more general guidance on Handling University Data.
• Data security is considered as well, with data for the DIG tools being stored in the Data Warehouse, which is approved for storing most sensitive data types.
• Data access is controlled as well, with logs to monitor and later audit access to data, and roles and permissions to restrict access to various types and levels of data.
• Ethical frameworks guiding data protection and use are increasingly important. For example, MSIS requires that data be used to support student performance and retention.

It’s likely that expectations of privacy and data restrictions will shift in the future, and data access could become more open. What do you think about this direction for the future of education?

May Innovation Lunch: How ITS Works

Last week, someone had the bright idea of asking me to show up and talk about How I work, productivity and other interesting (I hope) things. Part of the structure about this was inspired by the Lifehacker series, How I Work.

Here are the presentation materials

If you have questions, suggestions, comments, differing opinions or new tech I'd love to hear about it! Comment here, IM or Google+ are all good ways to reach out.

Thank you everyone who attended!

Arduino presentation link

Hi everyone,

Thank you to all who attended. Sorry for the delay on getting this presentation link up here. I was out of town right after the presentation.

https://docs.google.com/a/umich.edu/presentation/d/1xDRzN2nOdjsRWqejxR7UFsfGXE4kQwZFIZqyFUJF_cc/edit?usp=sharing

Chris