A Forth course for engineers

Abstract

In order to convey to/! power of the Forth language in developing programs for use in the field of automation, at Villanova University we make use of our Robotics labqratory to present an interesting applications area. This elective course has been given at the senior level for approximafely five years with good results; however, the last two years has seen a downward trend in stu'dent interest which inay_ be a result. of a co1Jlbination of factqrs, such as the health of the engineering job market in general, a lack of activitj in the automation industry, and perhaps the absence of a visible Forth computer language arena. In this paper, we present a complete topical outline o/ihe course together with the laboratory work and representative student projects.