This project looks at the future of play. Technology currently dominates kid’s leisure time. Digital distractions contribute to decreasing playtime, emphasizing passive media consumption over active engagement in play. The project proposes integrating digital interactivity into physical toys to enhance active play. Doing so by expanding play possibilities and inspiring purpose. Simultaneously it is addressing the challenges of designing toys for diverse preferences by designing adaptive play elements. This project is exploring what is important for a regulating entity in Digi-physical play experiences. Calling for a conceptual solution named a Play agent. The report dives into various prototypes exploring what a play agent could be, what its roles are and what aspects could make them successful in creating sustained play patterns. It proposes two play types synced to the use of a play agent.

Στη διπλωματική λύνουμε το πρόβλημα του sudoku με χρήση του εκπαιδευτικού ρομπότ της Lego, το LEGO Mindstorm NXT. Το εκπαιδευτικό ρομπότ αυτό δεν έχει συγκεκριμένη μορφή αλλά αποτελείται από αλληλοσυνδεόμενα μεταξύ τους πλαστικά μέρη. Με χρήση αυτών κατασκευάσαμε ένα όχημα που αποτελεί παραλλαγή οχήματος από άλλη εργασία. Το όχημα αυτό μπορεί να κινείται μόνο μπροστά και πίσω. Διαθέτει έναν βραχίονα που μπορεί να κινεί δεξιά-αριστερά και στον οποίο εφαρμόζεται ένας αισθητήρας φωτεινότητας. Τέλος, στον βραχίονα υπάρχει θέση για στυλό. Το πρόβλημα του sudoku που δίνεται στο ρομπότ είναι εκτυπωμένο σε ένα χαρτί Α4. Το ρομπότ αναλαμβάνει να το αναγνωρίσει με τον αισθητήρα, να το επιλύσει και να το αποτυπώσει με τη χρήση του στυλό. Για την επίτευξη αυτού του στόχου επιστρατεύονται αλγόριθμοι ρομποτικής και αλγόριθμοι τεχνητής νοημοσύνης. Συγκεκριμένα για την πλοήγηση του οχήματος εφαρμόζεται μετρική και τοπολογική πλοήγησης, στη συνέχεια για την αναγνώριση του προβλήματος και την ταυτοποίηση κάθε εικόνας που λαμβάνεται υλοποιήσαμε αλγόριθμους μορφολογικής επεξεργασία και τέλος για την επίλυση του προβλήματος sudoku υλοποιήσαμε και συγκρίναμε δύο αλγόριθμους, την αναζήτησης κατά βάθος και την αναζήτηση κατά βάθος με διάδοση περιορισμών. Οι τελικοί αλγόριθμοι που αναπτύχθηκαν διαπιστώσαμε ότι πετυχαίνουν το σκοπό τους αφού το όχημα αναγνωρίζει τους αριθμούς του δοσμένου προβλήματος με ποσοστό επιτυχίας 95%, λύνει τα περισσότερα προβλήματα σε λιγότερο από ένα δευτερόλεπτο και συμπληρώνει επιτυχώς τα κελιά του sudoku με τους σωστούς αριθμούς. Πέρα από αυτές τη σύγκριση των αλγορίθμων θεωρούμε ότι η μελέτη ενός τέτοιου συστήματος είναι ιδανική για εισαγωγή σε θέματα ρομποτικής και μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί ως εκπαιδευτικό εργαλείο πειραματισμού. Μάλιστα ο κώδικας μας σχολιάζεται επαρκώς σε αυτή την εργασία για να είναι ευκολότερη η κατανόηση του. Εκτός αυτού έχουμε αναπτύξει και πρόγραμμα αλληλεπίδρασης χρήστη-ρομπότ μέσω κονσόλας. / We solve the problem of sudoku using the educational robot LEGO Mindstorm NXT, made by LEGO. This educational robot doesn't have specific form but consists of interlinked plastics. We constructed a vehicle that is a variant from another work. This vehicle can move only forward and back. It has an arm that can move side to side and is equipped with a light sensor and a marker. The problem of sudoku is given to the robot in printed form on a A4 paper. The robot at first recognize the problem with the sensor, then it resolves it and finally writes the solution down by using the pen. To achieve this goal we implemented various algorithms. Specifically, we studied robotic algorithms such as metric and topological navigation. Moreover, to identify the printed problem we processed every captured image morphologically and finally to solve the sudoku instance we implemented and compared two methods, first-depth search and first-depth search with constraint propagation. We should mention that our code is written in Java for the lejOS firmware. The final code is capable of recognizing the numbers of the given problem with a success rate of 95%, solving most problems in less than a second and completing the cells on the paper with the correct numbers. Finally, we have developed an accompanying program that is usable for debugging purposes and for calibrating the robot. Even more, it can be used as education tool.

Thesis (MSc (Mathematical Sciences))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / In this thesis we consider the modelling of a particular layout optimisation problem, namely, the LEGO construction problem. The LEGO construction problem, in short, concerns the optimal layout of a set of LEGO bricks to represent a given object. Our goal is to develop a software package which LEGO enthusiasts can use to construct LEGO sculptures for any real-world object. We therefore not only consider the layout optimisation problem, but also the generation of the input data required by the LEGO construction problem. We show that by using 3D geometric models to represent the real-world object, our implemented voxelisation technique delivers accurate input data for the LEGO construction problem. The LEGO construction problem has previously been solved with optimisation techniques based on simulated annealing, evolutionary algorithms, and a beam search approach. These techniques all indicate that it is possible to generate LEGO building instructions for real-world objects, albeit not necessarily in reasonable time. We show that the LEGO construction problem can be modelled easily with cellular automata, provided that cells are considered as clusters which can merge or split during each time step of the evolution of the cellular automaton. We show that the use of cellular automata gives comparable layout results in general, and improves the results in many respects. The cellular automata method requires substantially less memory and generally uses fewer LEGO bricks to construct the LEGO sculpture when using comparable execution times.

Uno de los aspectos esenciales en la robótica móvil es la obtención y procesamiento de la información relativa a la localización del robot en el espacio de movimiento, con el fin utilizarla para generar los movimientos deseados del robot. Para esto se busca utilizar la mayor cantidad posible de fuentes de información con el fin de corregir los errores de posición asociados a la presencia de ruido en las mediciones del robot. La fusión de esta información es tema central de la tesis en la cual se exponen distintos algoritmos de fusión, desarrollados específicamente para robots móviles con recursos de computación limitados. Utilizando modelos dinámicos en conjunto con técnicas de fusión basadas en filtro de Kalman se realiza una estimación local de la posición utilizando sensores inerciales. Esta estimación se fusiona mediante un filtro de Kalman con información de un sensor global y una corrección basada en eventos. Esta combinación de filtros en cascada con corrección basada en eventos es el principal aporte de la presente tesis. Esta solución al problema de localización permite una precisión similar pero un coste computacional menor a esquemas más complejos de fusión, lo que permite su implementación en robots de recursos limitados. El esquema propuesto se extiende para permitir la localización cooperativa de grupos de robots, modificando la actualización por eventos para incorporar la fusión de la posición de distintos robots cercanos entre si. Para esto se determina la posición entre los robots y se utiliza un sistema de comunicación y gestión basada en agentes. Este método permite realizar una fusión sensorial inteligente, tomando en cuenta únicamente la información de posición más fiable para actualizar al grupo de robots, lo que nuevamente reduce el costo computacional de la solución sin repercusiones considerables en la precisión de la localización. Los algoritmos propuestos son probados extensivamente mediante simulación y en distintas plataformas, principalmente en el LEGO NXT. Se presentan además ejecuciones de tiempo extendido que comprueban la estabilidad y robustez del método en largas distancias. / Marin Paniagua, LJ. (2014). Localización de robots móviles de recursos limitados basada en fusión sensorial por eventos [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/38902 / TESIS

Designing good digital experiences for children can be difficult; designers have to consider children's cognitive and motor skill limitations, understand their target audience, create something entertaining and educational, comply with national and international jurisdiction, and at the same time appeal to parents. We set out to create a general framework which designers and developers can use as a foundation and testing ground for their digital products in the field of user experience. The methods used during the thesis include interviews, literature studies, user testing, case studies, personas, prototyping, and more. The results created are primarily user experience guidelines packaged in a Theoretical Framework, user testing conclusions, along with suggestions on improving the current Lego Star Wars: Force Builders application, a few in the form of prototypes.

This study explored the phenomena of pre-adolescents growing up in an informal settlement and explored how needs and wants influenced their value and moral formation. The research was located within the specific context of a qualitative interpretivist study. A phenomenological research design was used to highlight how these young people construct their personal identities rooted in their unique value and moral structures. The criteria used to choose the participants included pre-adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14 who lived alone without parental care or who were left alone for long periods during the day. The selected participants were young people who were daily exposed to adverse conditions and who had to make real life choices. Data on how these pre-adolescents viewed their situation were collected using stick figures, collages, drawings and observations, followed by in-depth individual and focus group interviews and discussions on moral dilemmas. The aim of interviewing the young people personally was to explore their own views of the realities of their lived experiences and how they perceived the world around them. From the empirical evidence and the theories studied a number of significant themes emerged that indicated a strong need for emotional and social support, besides their obvious material needs. The major themes were (1) family and community, (2) emotional needs, (3) financial and material needs, (4) protection and security, (5) moral choices and needs, (6) education and (7) religion. The findings of the study revealed that individuals progress through various stages of moral growth and development as they grow from childhood to adulthood, and that children are not born with an innate moral or value system. These have to be taught through the process of socialisation whereby they learn social values, morals, attitudes and expectations as these are communicated from one person to another. The findings also showed that these young people are able to act in a caring, concerned, altruistic and resilient manner, just as much as they are able to act in a destructive manner. These young people are as able to do good just as they are able to do bad things. They have a strong sense of moral rightness and wrongness and the values that underpin morality. It showed that even when their basic human needs are unmet they can still make choices that reflect good moral values. They have the capacity to transcend themselves and to make radical change in their personal lives and in turn contribute to the well being of a better society. Since this was an exploratory study of specific marginalised young people in a particular environment which focused more on pre-adolescents’ espoused theory and how they would act if faced by moral dilemmas, it suggests the need for further exploration and research on the theory in action by studying the reasons why preadolescents engage in at-risk behaviour. SEPEDI : Thuto ye e hlohlomiša ponagalo e kgolô ya baswa bofalalelong bjo e sego bja tlwaelo, gomme ya hlohletša ka moo dinyakwa le dihlokwa di tutueditšego popego ya metheo le setho. Nyakišišo ye e ile ya ela khwalithi ya seo se nyakišiswago tlhoko. Go somišitšwe moakanyetšo wa phatišišoponagalo go tšweletša ka fao baswa ba bopago boitšhupo bjo bo letšego popegong ya mehola le boitshwaro bja bona. Kêlo ye e šomišitšwego e aparetše baswa gare ga mengwaga ye 10 go iša go 14; bao ba phelago ba le tee, go se na tlhokomelo ya batswadi goba bao ba tlogelwago ba le tee nako ye telele mosegare. Batšeakarolo be e le baswa bao ba bego ba lebanwe ke maemo a šoro gomme ba swanetse go ikethela tsela. Data ya ka moo baswa bao ba lebelelago maemo a bona, e ile ya kgoboketšwa go šomišwa diphata, dibopego tšeo di gomareditšwego, dithalwa le temogo ye e latelwago ke poledišano le mongwe le mongwe, goba sehlopha ka ga mathata a boitshwaro. Maikemišetšo a poledisano le baswa ke go nyakišiša dikgopolo tša bona ka ga bonnete bja maitemogelo, le ka moo ba bonago lefase. Go tšwa bohlatseng bja boitekelo bjo, le go teori tše di nyakišitšwego, go bonagetše nyakego ya thekgo ya khuduego le leago, gape le tša dinyakwa tša bophelo. Dintlhakgolo di bile (1) lapa le tikologoleago (2) dinyakwa tša moya (3) dinyakwa tša tšhelele le didirišwa (4) tšhireletšo le potego (go lotega) (5) boitshwaro le dihlokwa (6) thuto (7) bodumedi. Dikhwetšo tša thuto ye di utollotše gore mongwe le mongwe o tšwelela dikgatong tše mmalwa tša kgolô ya boitshwaro le tšweletšopele ge ba ntše ba gola go tšwa bjaneng go ya bogolong; le gore bana ga ba belegwe ba na le mokgwa wa maitshwaro wa tlhago. Tšeo di rutwa ka tsela ya phedišano; ka fao ba ithute kagišano, maitshwaro bjale ka ge di hlagiswa ke batho ba bangwe. Khumano e laeditse gape gore baswa ba kgona go hlokomela, ba amege, ba be le phanô, gape ba itshware ka tsela ye e sa swanelago. Baswa ba kgono dira botse, ba fetoge ba dire bobe. Ba na le moya wa setho le moya wa tshenyo; gape le theô ye e laetšago maitshwaro a botse. E bontšhitse le gore, le ge dinyakwa tša bona di sa kgotšofatswe, ba kgono kgetha ba laetše maitshwaro a mabotse. Ba na le maatla a go feta mathateng, ba fetole maphelo a bona gomme ba be le kabelo go kaonafatša tikologoleago. Ka ge se e bego e le fela thutotlhotlhomišo ya baswa bao ba lego mellwaneng ya bophelo tikologong e itšego, gomme ya ikamanya fela go teori ya baswa le ka moo batla itshwarago, ge ba lebanwe le mathata a setho, e laetša nyako ya tlhotlhomišo e tseneletšego, e tšwelago pele ka nyakišišo ya teori ye ka go ithuta mabaka ao a dirago maitshwaro a. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Abstract in English, Sepedi and Zulu / The people with the greatest stake in Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) interventions are the children and their parents/guardians. Unfortunately, most OVC programmes are predesigned and implemented without considering beneficiaries’ perceptions when developing solutions (ALI 2007:15). The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the perceptions of orphans and vulnerable children’s parents/guardians about the effectiveness of Future Families’ children programme in Olievenhoutbosch. This study used a qualitative, explorative and descriptive design. Thirteen parents/guardians of children registered with the Future Families were interviewed on the effectiveness of the Future Families programme using a semi-structure interview guide. The study results suggested that parents/guardians were happy with Future Families’ services and believed the programme is effective in responding to their families’ needs / Abantu abathinteka kakhulu ekungeneleni kokuphathelene nezintandane kanye nabantwana abasengcupheni (ama-OVC) ngabantwana kanye nabazali noma abaqaphi. Ngeshwa, izinhlelo eziningi zama-OVC zenziwe futhi ziqala ukusetshenziswa ngaphandle kokucabangela imibono yalabo okumele bahlomule kwizisombululo zokuthuthukisa (ALI 2007: 15). Inhloso yalolu cwaningo kwakuwukuhlola nokuchaza imibono yabazali nabaqaphi bama-OVC mayelana nokusebenza kohlelo lwabantwana olunikezwa yiFuture Families e-Olievenhoutbosch. Kwasetshenziswa uhlelo oluhlolayo noluchazayo kulolu cwaningo. Abazali abayishumi nesishiyagalolunye noma abaqaphi babantwana ababhalisiwe kwaFuture Families, okuyinhlangano engenzi nzuzo ehlinzeka izinsizakalo kuma-OVC nakubantu abaneHIV/AIDS noma abahlukumezekayo ngenxa yalokho, babuzwa imibuzo kusetshenziwa umhlahlandela wemibuzo ehlelekile kwezinye izindawo ukuze baveze imibono yabo maqondana nokusebenza ngempumelelo kohlelo lweFuture Families. Imiphumela yalolu cwaningo iphakamise ukuthi abazali nabaqaphi bagculisekile ngemisebenzi ehlinzekwa yiFuture Families, futhi bakholwa ukuthi lolu hlelo lusebenza ngempumelelo ukubhekana nezidingo zemindeni yabo. / Batho ba ba nago le setseka se segolo go ditseno ka bogare tša Bana ba Ditšhiwana le bao ba lego Kotsing (OVC) ke bana le batswadi/bahlokomedi ba bona. Ka bomadimabe, mananeo a mantši a OVC a akanyetšwa pele le go phethagatšwa ntle le go tšeela šedi maikutlo a batho ba ba tlago holega ge go naganišišwa ditharollo (ALI 2007:15). Morero wa thuto ye e be e le go hlohlomiša le go hlaloša maikutlo a ditšhiwana le batswadi/bahlokomedi ba bana ba ba lego kotsing mabapi le go šoma gabotse ga lenaneo la bana la Malapa a ka Moso (FF) kua Olievenhoutbosch. Thuto ye e šomišitše moakanyetšo wa khwalitheithifi, wa go hlohlomiša le wa go hlaloša. Batswadi/bahlokomedi ba 13 ba bana ba ba ingwadišitšego le Malapa a ka Moso ba ile ba botšišwa dipotšišo mabapi le go šoma gabotse ga lenaneo la Malapa a ka Moso ka go šomiša mokgwa wa dinyakišišo wa go botšiša dipotšišo. Dipoelo tša thuto di šišintše gore batswadi/bahlokomedi ba be ba thabile ka ditirelo tša FF le go dumela gore lenaneo le šoma gabotse ka go iphetolela go dinyakwa tša malapa a bona. / Health Studies / M.P.H.