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Teaching students programming through unity simulation

Discussion in 'Getting Started' started by syedasmarali1, Sep 30, 2021.

  1. syedasmarali1

    syedasmarali1

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    I want to teach students programming through unity simulation. Let us assume we have a conveyor belt, and I want to simulate it. Of course, with the help of C# script, I can simulate the conveyor belt, but I want students to write the program (code) to simulate the conveyor belt.

    As the students will be totally new to programming, I don't want them to use unity C# script directly as it will be for them very complicated, instead I want them to write a very basic program (may be in python) to simulate the conveyor belt in unity. Is there any way out?

    Thank you in advance!
     
  2. JeffDUnity3D

    JeffDUnity3D

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    Unity Simulation allows developers to test their completed game in our back end environment. Sorry for the confusion. Agreed, introducing students to programming using Python is a great idea. C# and Unity might be too much to learn for new students.
     
  3. syedasmarali1

    syedasmarali1

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    Thank you for the answer. I agree!

    But is there any way out that students could create a simple program in Python or in any other programming language to create a very basic simulation in unity?

    Actually I want to teach students programming through simulation, just like the students should write a code, and their code controls a 3D object. This is the goal!
     
  4. JeffDUnity3D

    JeffDUnity3D

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    No, it's not possible to incorporate a Python script within Unity as you suggest. I agree however, that Python is great language to learn with and is how I teach new students. You might consider using only Python including the simulation. Unity (perhaps unfortunately) has a large learning curve, and learning C# is only part of it. In my opinion, Python is easier to learn.
     
  5. syedasmarali1

    syedasmarali1

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    Then how can I use python for simulation?
     
  6. JeffDUnity3D

    JeffDUnity3D

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  7. JoeStrout

    JoeStrout

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    If you'll forgive a bit of self-promotion, I wrote a scripting language (MiniScript) specifically to address this sort of need — it's easy to embed within Unity, and presents a clean, modern language that is even simpler than Python. You can read more about why, or check out this academic paper about MiniScript as a teaching language.

    MiniScript is open-source, and has an active user community. It can easily work as you describe (students write a script which controls a 3D object in your Unity app). Helping students learn programming is one of my passions, so I'd be happy to help you get it working.
     
    JeffDUnity3D likes this.
  8. dylanmanningke10

    dylanmanningke10

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    Thanks for sharing it! I always use such sites when I have to write something, as it is very difficult for me to structure my ideas in a long essay. Plus, I make many grammar mistakes, this is why whenever I have to write an essay I use a proofreading service which I have found after reading the Proof-Reading proofreading reviews. However, using it many times I have noticed where I make the most mistakes and now I write almost with no mistakes.
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2022
  9. JeffDUnity3D

    JeffDUnity3D

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    Unity uses C#, no need for python
     
  10. mgear

    mgear

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    if you need proper python simulation environment,
    this is professional tool for that https://www.visualcomponents.com/

    its especially made for accurate simulations of robotics, conveyor belts, feeders etc.
    you can build any type of machines and components there yourself. (and has large library of industry standard machines)
     
  11. RichAllen2023

    RichAllen2023

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    So cool to be able to teach school kids programming, in my Secondary days (late 80s/early 90s) there was none of that because the Internet as we know it hadn't been invented yet.