The current trends of permanent learning experiences and NewSpace involving newcomers to space missions are the key-drivers of the DreamCoder 2.0 development as a system that allows the programming in Python language of an electronic board with 12 sensors.
In addition, it can interact with a twin board installed on the International Space Station (ISS) to perform measurements and experiments.
This copes with the needs from the onset of COVID-19 has forced countless students worldwide to learn from home, bringing unprecedented change to the educational landscape.
By allowing direct digital access to an exclusive electronic board installed on the International Space Station (ISS), users can gather data on various environmental conditions such as humidity, temperature, and acceleration, learning the fundamental principles of human spaceflight and computer engineering.
The DreamCoder 2.0 experience is perfect for both beginners and advanced users, no prior experience is required! Your adventure begins as soon as the hardware kits arrives.
The interactive and collaborative online platform enables the users to plan, structure and operate their own space missions/experiments.
The DreamCoder 2.0 system is composed of:
For schools
1) Multi-user platform enabling the performance of users with different roles and capabilities:
- The teacher can navigate the classes through the Virtual Classroom, and handling the pairing of the ground-based Sagan board;
- The student can participate to the Virtual Classroom, interact with the teacher and other students, and can write code experiment, execute the experiment and the retrieve the results;
- The administrator can manage the schools and the users, it receives the code to be executed on the ISS-based board.
2) The collaborative nature of the Code Editor enables teachers and students to share their code experiments with each other.
For individuals:
- The single user can pair his/her board, write code experiment, execute them, and retrieve results.
- The single user can challenge him/her-self in testing the learning experiences with quizzes, gain badges to get a certificate.
- The single user can build his/her own coding experiments from Earth to the ISS and back
For teambuilding:
- The teams at the same corporation can enhance themselves in exploring and challenging their own mission to Space
DreamCoder 2.0 has been awarded by the European Space Agency, which selected it as an innovative response to the emerging demand for distance learning for STEM disciplines, and in particular for computer programming and space sciences and technologies.
The pilot phase with test users has been performed involving schools and tech enthusiasts from several Italian regions, e. g. Sicilia, Puglia, Campania, Lazio, Piemonte. So far, the DreamCoder 2.0 in development has been tested and validated by over 200 users.
During the pilot phase students found many innovative applications for the Sagan board that we hadn’t thought before, demonstrating how the only limit of DreamCoder 2.0 is the imagination of the user.
Nanoracks Space Outpost Europe S.r.l. (“Nanoracks Europe”), located in Turin, Italy, is a wholly owned subsidiary of XO Markets, Inc. It is duly registered under Italian law as an "S.r.l. corporation." XO Markets is a space commercialization holding company focused on bringing about a vibrant, commercial marketplace from low Earth orbit to deep space and beyond.
Leveraging access to a multitude of in-space platforms worldwide, both in the government and private sector, XO Markets owns and operates Nanoracks Europe, XO Airlock LLC, Nanoracks LLC, DreamUp PBC, and other innovative space-based organizations.
Nanoracks Europe is the licensee of the XO Markets facilities for their commercialization and exploitation in Europe and Asia. It has its own vision and contribution to unlock interdisciplinary research access to space.
RINA team provides technological expertise for the updated DreamCoder 2.0 infrastructure and cloud computing element, which will open it to the home-learning environment.
Through a global network of 3,900 talented professionals operating out of 200 offices in 70 countries, RINA supports market operators across the entire lifecycle of their projects, whilst assisting them in renewing their products, technologies and services. Entrusting a project to RINA employees means being sure that everything will be taken care of, and our mindset allows us to apply a simple approach to complex situations.
DreamCoder 2.0 is a project co-funded by ESA Business Solutions.
For any further inquiry don’t hesitate to contact us at the addresses listed below:
- IT Architecture: Andrea Maria Ferrari - andrea.ferrari@rina.org
- DreamCoder 2.0 kit: Veronica La Regina, vlaregina@nanoracks.com