[GSoC ideas] Squeak

Hi,

I would like to propose the following projects:

==========================================================================

Project name: Implementing Etoys on Amber

Description:

The objective of this project is the implementation of a subset of Etoys features on top of Amber Smalltalk. This subset should at least include a basic version of the halos, viewer, and script editor. 

To develop the graphical user interface, several libraries can be used, for example: Morphic on Athens [1], morphic.js [2], KinecticJS [3], etc. The student would need to decide which of these is more suitable for the task.

This project would have an enormous impact on Etoys users by allowing them to work and share their projects directly in the browser without installing any plugin.

[1] http://m-sp.org/gsoc2013/demo/amber-athens/morphic.html

[2] http://chirp.scratchr.org/dl/experimental/JsMorphic/morphic.html

[3] http://kineticjs.com/

Skill level: Intermediate

Possible mentors: 

- Ricardo Moran ([hidden email])

- Gonzalo Zabala ([hidden email])

==========================================================================

Project name: Etoys touch UI

Description: 

The objective of this project is to adapt the Etoys user interface for touch gestures such as rotate, scale, and such. Currently, Etoys is very dependent on the user to interact with Morphs with the cursor. Given the popularity of multitouch devices this represents a severe disadvantage.

Bert Freudenberg has done some initial work adapting the Squeak Virtual Machine and Morphic to support multitouch events [1]. As he stated, the UI would need to be improved (or maybe even redesigned from scratch) before we can deliver this to kids.

In this project we don't propose the complete redesign of Etoys UI (which we think it would take more than 3 months to complete) but at least a new implementation of Morphic interaction that takes into account multitouch gestures.

[1] http://croquetweak.blogspot.com.ar/2010/06/squeak-etoys-on-ipad.html

Skill level: Intermediate

Possible mentors: 

- Gonzalo Zabala ([hidden email])

- Matías Teragni ([hidden email])

==========================================================================

Project name: Physical Etoys plugins

Description:

Currectly, Physical Etoys is dependent on a number of external libraries to interact with different hardware platforms. To do this, Physical Etoys uses FFI bindings, which represents a security issue. To solve it we propose the implementation of this FFI bindings as VM plugins.

The student would need to learn how to compile Etoys VM and Slang in order to implement the plugins.

Skill level: Intermediate

Possible mentors: 

- Matías Teragni ([hidden email])

- Gabriela Arévalo ([hidden email])

==========================================================================

Project name: Physical Etoys XO bundle

Description:

The objective of this project is to finish the bundling of Physical Etoys as a Sugar activity for the XO computers. The student will need to make sure all Physical Etoys modules work correctly in Linux and specifically on the XO laptop. This would involve porting some libraries, dealing with platform-specific issues and wrap all the necessary files in an Activity bundle.

Skill level: Intermediate

Possible mentors: 

- Gabriela Arévalo ([hidden email])

- Ricardo Moran ([hidden email])

==========================================================================

Best regards,

Richo

On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 2:03 PM, Bert Freudenberg <[hidden email]> wrote:

(sending on behalf of Paolo Bonzini, who runs this year's Smalltalk GSoC)

Hi folks,

ESUG, the European Smalltalk User Group, is applying for this year's Google Summer of Code.  As you probably know, the Summer of Code provides the opportunity to fund students to work during the summer on Smalltalk.  Please reply to this email (be sure to use "Reply to all") if you have ideas you would like to propose.

Please include a summary of the project and links to web pages that can help prospective students to write their application. Please also include the following information:

- if applicable, other dialects that you would be willing to mentor this project for

- the skill level

- name of the mentor(s), email addresses, and possibly any IRC network/channel/nickname where they can be found.

Thanks for contributing to ESUG's Summer of Code application!

- Bert -

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Dear all,

is there any Smalltalk development involved in this project ?

Regards,

On Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 11:23 PM, Steve Thomas <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Kathleen,
>
> Great feedback, thanks.  Below is an updated version:
>
> Many children can not communicate verbally whether due to nonverbal autism
> or some other factor.  While there are many catalogs and websites with
> adaptive equipment and software but the prices are high.  There is a OLPC
> deployment in Uraguay where a student uses his stuffed animal as an input
> device for using an XO and Etoys.  We would like to build on this to make it
> easier and lower cost or these children and their parents to communicate and
> use computers.  The software would be free and OpenSource and the hardware
> to hack a Stuffed Animal could potentially repurpose old keyboards [2] or
> under $10 by repurposing a used USB game controller (free if kids donate
> their old ones).
>
> In the first project a student would design and document how to hack a
> stuffed animal to be used as an input device similar to a joystick or arrow
> and a few other keys to allow a nonverbal child to use their favorite
> stuffed animal as an input device.
>
> Level: beginner
> Skills required: Maker skills. To Hack a stuffed animal. Etoys (If student
> knows Scratch, they can learn the skills needed in Etoys for this project)
>
> In the second project a student would design a set of picture boards that
> could be navigated using a joystick or arrow keys and arrow and few other
> keys.  The project would also allow a parent or teacher to simply add and
> re-arrange pictures using a webcam, imported pictures or simple drawings
> that can be made using Etoys[1].  Etoys runs on Linux, Windows and Mac OS
> and is one of the core applications in the OLPC XO.
>
> Level: beginner
> Skills required: Etoys (If student knows Scratch, they can learn the skills
> needed in Etoys for this project)
>
> Mentor:
> Stephen Thomas <[hidden email]>
>
> [1] http://squeakland.org/
> [2] http://www.instructables.com/id/Hacking-a-USB-Keyboard/?ALLSTEPS
>
> On Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 11:23 AM, Harness, Kathleen <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
>>
>> Steve,
>> You may want to emphasize in the application that this is a low cost
>> adaptive technology. There are many catalogs and websites with adaptive
>> equipment and software but the prices are high. A cost comparison might be
>> persuasive.
>> Regards,
>> Kathleen
>> ________________________________
>> From: [hidden email] [[hidden email]]
>> on behalf of Steve Thomas [[hidden email]]
>> Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 12:19 AM
>> To: Bert Freudenberg
>> Cc: [hidden email]; etoys dev; Paolo Bonzini; The
>> general-purpose Squeak developers list
>>
>> Subject: Re: [etoys-dev] [gsoc-mentors] [GSoC ideas] Squeak/Etoys
>>
>> Many children can not communicate verbally whether due to nonverbal autism
>> or some other factor.  There is a OLPC deployment in Uraguay where a student
>> uses his stuffed animal as an input device for using an XO and Etoys.  We
>> would like to build on this to make it easier and cheaper for these children
>> and their parents to communicate and use computers.
>>
>> In the first project a student would design and document how to hack a
>> stuffed animal to be used as an input device similar to a joystick or arrow
>> and a few other keys to allow a nonverbal child to use their favorite
>> stuffed animal as an input device.
>>
>> Level: beginner
>> Skills required: Maker skills. To Hack a stuffedSerge Stinckwich
UCBN & UMI UMMISCO 209 (IRD/UPMC)
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When a program works, it is beautiful. The art of programming is the skill of controlling complexity. The great program is subdued, made simple in its complexity.

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