Imagine the computer with sensors that could measure sound, light, heat, pressure, speed, distance, rainfall. The computer could monitor the weather. The computer could see when the sun came streaming in the window. There are devices on the market that can simplify the computer-real world interface. Inc. The Experimenter connects through the serial port on any PC, Mac or notebook computer.
Students are able to easily use the computer to monitor and control things in the physical world.
Here are case studies of two such projects. A stepping motor rotates the rangefinder, giving 360 coverage. The computer paints a graphic display of its surroundings with resolution better than 0.1 inch. This project combines motor control with measurement of time intervals. The rangefinder emits a brief pulse of high frequency sound.