Using Ada-based robotics to teach computer science

We present an Ada-based interface to Lego Mindstorms TM, a programmable robotics kit that has attracted considerable attention in the computing community. We discuss our motivations for choosing Ada over other high-level languages, and our particular implementation over possible alternatives. Robotics and Ada combine very nicely, for teaching basic computing concepts to both technical and non-technical majors, as shown with several examples.