Some Videos of Past Projects

Here's a link to some Arduino projects of the past.

Honors Physics II: Week of 9/22/2014

We've done a number of online activities this week. In an effort to avoid confusion, here is a summary:

• Arduino project research: Find three interesting/cool Arduino projects that someone else has created and shared online. Send (email) me a link and/or quick description of all three of them to get full credit. (Due Monday, September 22)
• Initial project details: Complete an online form outlining your initial plans. Don't go into much detail in the materials section... ... we're going to tackle that today. (Due Wednesday, September 24)
• Electronic components order form: Complete an online spreadsheet that lists your required electronics materials. Whether or not your component will be able to reused will largely determine if the school will be able to purchase it, so please consider this. Please try to find the needed objects according to the list of "options."

Knight Rider!

Photo by ryanmoto, used with CC licence.

Now that we've defeated some evil pigs over on Code.org, let's try our hand at using loops in the Arduino programming language. Rather than start from scratch, use the excellent tutorial that can be found at Arduino.cc (http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Loop). Try to find 6 matching LEDs so your effects will look really cool.

Arduino Project 1

Introduction:
It's time to put what we've learned together into a (basic) project. Here's what we've worked on so far:

• Connecting the Arduino to a computer
• The Arduino IDE and uploading sketches
• Using jumper wires with a solderless breadboard
• Safely powering LEDs with Arduino
• Using pins on Arduino as digital outputs and digital inputs
• Using a momentary push button switch to indicate a logic state
• Various Arduino commands and syntax, including

• defining and assigning variables
• pinMode()
• digitalWrite()
• digitalRead()
• if()
• else()
• delay() 

At this point, you don't need to be an expert on all of the above-mentioned topics, but you should at least have a basic recollection of what we did and how they work. Go back and revisit our previous activities if necessary before continuing with this project.

Click through the break to begin this project:

A Toggle Button

Copy and past the code below the line of asterisks:

**********************************************

// Working on a Toggle Switch // // September 10, 2014 // int mode = 0; // a variable to store whether it's "on" or "off" int oldMode = 0; // stores the previous mode int buttonState = HIGH; // a variable to tell whetehr or not the button is depressed int oldButtonState = HIGH; // stores the previous state int buttonPin = 5; // your's may be different void setup() { pinMode(buttonPin,INPUT_PULLUP); Serial.begin(9600); } void loop() { buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin); // reads in whether or not the button is depressed if(buttonState == LOW && oldButtonState == HIGH) // is this is newly pressed button? { // the code that's inclosed here in these braces only is executed when it's a new button press if(oldMode == 0) { Serial.println("on"); // print "on" mode = 1; // sets the new mode to "on" } if(oldMode == 1) { Serial.println("off"); //print "off" mode = 0; // sets the new mode back to "off" } oldMode = mode; // updates the oldMode so that it is current } delay(50); // pause 50 milliseconds to "debounce" the button to avoid accidental double-presses oldButtonState = buttonState; // updates the old state so that it is current }

Working with Inputs (Introduction)

Image used under CC0 licence

Copy and paste the code that follows the line of asterisks:

*************************************************

// Define some variables for later use ...
//    - "const int" is used for values that won't chance in our sketch
//    - we're going to make a constant integer called "ledPin" and assign it to the pin the LED is connected to

const int ledPin = 8; // substitute whatever pin you're using for 8

//    - now make a constant integer called "buttonPin" and assign it to the pin the button (or switch) will be connected to

const int buttonPin = 5; // susbtitute whatever pin you're using for 5

//    - "int" is used for values that will change in our sketch
//    - we're going to make a integer variable called "buttonState" that we'll use to measure the button's state

int buttonState;

// Intialize the pins in the setup:

void setup()
{
  pinMode(ledPin,OUTPUT); 
  pinMode(buttonPin,INPUT_PULLUP);
}

// Put the code to be run over and over in the loop:

void loop()
{
  buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin); // we're "reading" the voltage on in the input pin and assigning it to our variable called buttonState
  // Since we did a digital read, there are only two possible values now for buttonState -- it's either HIGH or LOW
  
  if(buttonState == HIGH)
  {
    digitalWrite(ledPin,HIGH);
  }

  else
  {
    digitalWrite(ledPin,LOW);
  }


}

Making 3D Images

Photo by Marc Di Luzio, cc license.

As we studied light, optics, and human vision, we discussed a relatively simple way to make your own red cyan anaglyphs at home. A little searching online easily brings up many guides on how to do this process. The following guide is a good one, since it is thorough and requires only freely available software. The image editor it uses is a free alternative to Photoshop called gimp (the GNU Image Manipulation Program). Many other alternate programs (including Photoshop itself) can be substituted.

The guide can be found here:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/gimp/ht/3danaglyph.-UkA.htm

Have fun, be creative, and let's make some cool 3D images to share!

Science Fair Details

The registration deadline for the science and engineering fair at SC4 is right around the corner. We are going to again use SC4's documentation as a basis for our projects here at Yale.

Take a look at page 9 from the science fair booklet. It shows the proper layout of the finished project. Additional detail can be found in the complete booklet.

For students wishing to enter the fair at SC4, I've copied the instructions below:

Here's what you need to do:
1) Complete your fair project! Do a great job, keeping in mind what we are judging you on. See the grading rubric in the booklet to remind yourself of the requirements, or email me at jgibbons@sc4.edu<mailto:jgibbons@sc4.edu> to get a copy.
2) Participate in your own school fair. If your school doesn't host a fair that's ok. Please contact me to let me know.
3) Register for the County Fair using the new web form here www.sc4.edu/science-fair<http://www.sc4.edu/science-fair> . If you are working as a group the registration form will allow you to sign up using one form for the group.
4) Send in your $10 registration fee per participate. Each member of the group needs to pay a registration fee since that is what we use for your shirts and pins, etc...Make checks payable to St. Clair County Community College. Mail your payment to:
SC4 Business Office
Attn: Science Fair
Room 220 Main Building
323 Erie St.
P.O. Box 5015
Port Huron, MI 48061-5015


5) Go to the SC4 College Center building on March 6th between 3:30 and 6 pm to set up your project. This is the same location it has been for many years now.
6) Check the website (I hope) for an update on which participants are invited back to the fair for a second round of judging. This judging determines the Grand Awards and the Best of Show awards. The top Blue Ribbon winners will receive a call to arrange for an appointment on Saturday morning to help the judges understand their work. This is required to be considered for a Grand or Best of Show Award.
7) All participants are invited back to the open exhibit time between 12-2pm on Sunday, March 9th. The Awards ceremony will be held at 2 pm in the Fine Arts Theater.
8) After the ceremony participants are encouraged to remove their projects from the College Center. Everything needs to be picked up by 5 pm on Sunday.

Science Fair 2014: Science vs Engineering

Image used with CC licence

In thinking about the upcoming science fair, an important decision is which type of project to choose--either a science project or an engineering project. While they share many common aspects, they are fundamentally different. Do you want to design and build something to accomplish a particular task? Are you curious how something works, or how one quantity might affect another? These are questions to ask yourself while deciding what type of project to do.

Here a few resources to use when deciding:

1. The judging criteria for the Flint Regional Science Fair and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. (The St. Clair County Science and Engineering Fair uses a similar form.)
2. A scoring rubric that does a nice job comparing and contrasting science and engineering projects.

Weigh in--what type do you think you'll do and why?

Science Fair 2014: Getting Started

Image used with CC licence

Choosing a Specific Project

Often, the hardest part about doing a science fair project is selecting a topic to study. It's best to choose a topic that interests you. Coming up with an original idea is nice, but sometimes we need a little inspiration.

1. Do a Google image search for winning science fair projects. Try to draw some quick generalizations... ... Are there any similarities among various winners (not in their subjects, but in their presentation or style)?
2. There are many resources online with science fair project ideas. Let's use the one featured at education.com. Browse through the list, read them, and write down at least three topics that you might find interesting. Make sure your choices are not the same as anyone else sitting near you in class (we want unique projects!).