Electronics, Programming, and Robotics
In this project we did a variety of things including setting up alligator clip circuits and programming Arduino breadboards. My partner in this project was Elise Chassman and at times we worked with Grace Olson and Shasta Parker. Throughout the project we learned a lot about programming and setting up circuits. We learned about setting up circuits by doing packets for each type of circuit. After that we started using Arduino which was helping us prepare for our robot art show which used a code we created or just altered a code already given to us. This is our set up for our robot art show:
In this project we did a variety of things including setting up alligator clip circuits and programming Arduino breadboards. My partner in this project was Elise Chassman and at times we worked with Grace Olson and Shasta Parker. Throughout the project we learned a lot about programming and setting up circuits. We learned about setting up circuits by doing packets for each type of circuit. After that we started using Arduino which was helping us prepare for our robot art show which used a code we created or just altered a code already given to us. This is our set up for our robot art show:
In our circuit we used a buzzer to hum the Harry Potter opening theme song and we had the lights flash quickly one after the other once the music stopped. We combined the code for the LED lights and the buzzer to make our own code. We told the computer to send power to specific pins and then connected those pins to to the lights/buzzer by wires. The lights are also connected to resistors. The connections are made inside the breadboard.
Concepts:
circuit- closed loop of conductive material connecting one end of the power source to the other end.
voltage- the "push" of energy through a resistor, a potential energy difference. It is measured in Volts.
resistance- It is an obstacle that makes it more difficult for the current to travel through a circuit. It is measured in Ohms.
current- the "flow" of electricity measured in Amps.
Ohm's Law- V=IR, Voltage = Current x Resistance.
Kirchoff's Laws-
Current: The sum of the currents going into a connection must equal the sum of the currents leaving the connection.
Voltage: The sum of the voltages around a circuit must be equal to zero.
parallel- It is independent to other bulbs and the current has multiple roots it can take.
series- It is dependent on the other bulbs and the current has to go through multiple resistors in a row.
alligator clip circuits- these are classic circuits using wires, light bulbs, batteries, and switches. This was our building block for more advanced electrical devices.
breadboard- We used breadboards after the alligator clip circuits. It is a more compact way to make a circuits. In a breadboard, you can't see the connections because they are inside the board.
Arduino programming- This was also using breadboards but these breadboards were connected to a power source of the computer. We used an application on the computer to send messages to the breadboard about where to send the power and how much of it we needed. This also involved a bit of coding to make us able to change the messages being sent to the board and to make sure the codes were the right ones for what we wanted to make the breadboard do.
Reflection:
My partner Elise Chassman and I worked very well together and came up with a pretty good end product. There were definitely things I learned and did well in this project but also some things that I could've done better. Two of the things I did well were that I made sure I fully understood every aspect of the project and I gained a lot of knowledge about circuits and electricity. I made sure I fully understood everything by asking questions whenever I was unsure or questioned myself. This is actually what led me to gain a lot of knowledge about circuits and electricity. Asking questions has led me to deeply understand concepts in a way that I will remember them for a long time.
Two of the things that I could've done better was focusing more and being more patient while learning. I needed to focus more because at times I would get very off topic during class. I think it was probably because we spent the whole period working on the same thing and I can't focus very long on one thing. I needed to be more patient while learning because I got very frustrated if I didn't understand a concept right away. I need to learn to accept that I might need to learn a bit more before I will completely understand the original concept.
circuit- closed loop of conductive material connecting one end of the power source to the other end.
voltage- the "push" of energy through a resistor, a potential energy difference. It is measured in Volts.
resistance- It is an obstacle that makes it more difficult for the current to travel through a circuit. It is measured in Ohms.
current- the "flow" of electricity measured in Amps.
Ohm's Law- V=IR, Voltage = Current x Resistance.
Kirchoff's Laws-
Current: The sum of the currents going into a connection must equal the sum of the currents leaving the connection.
Voltage: The sum of the voltages around a circuit must be equal to zero.
parallel- It is independent to other bulbs and the current has multiple roots it can take.
series- It is dependent on the other bulbs and the current has to go through multiple resistors in a row.
alligator clip circuits- these are classic circuits using wires, light bulbs, batteries, and switches. This was our building block for more advanced electrical devices.
breadboard- We used breadboards after the alligator clip circuits. It is a more compact way to make a circuits. In a breadboard, you can't see the connections because they are inside the board.
Arduino programming- This was also using breadboards but these breadboards were connected to a power source of the computer. We used an application on the computer to send messages to the breadboard about where to send the power and how much of it we needed. This also involved a bit of coding to make us able to change the messages being sent to the board and to make sure the codes were the right ones for what we wanted to make the breadboard do.
Reflection:
My partner Elise Chassman and I worked very well together and came up with a pretty good end product. There were definitely things I learned and did well in this project but also some things that I could've done better. Two of the things I did well were that I made sure I fully understood every aspect of the project and I gained a lot of knowledge about circuits and electricity. I made sure I fully understood everything by asking questions whenever I was unsure or questioned myself. This is actually what led me to gain a lot of knowledge about circuits and electricity. Asking questions has led me to deeply understand concepts in a way that I will remember them for a long time.
Two of the things that I could've done better was focusing more and being more patient while learning. I needed to focus more because at times I would get very off topic during class. I think it was probably because we spent the whole period working on the same thing and I can't focus very long on one thing. I needed to be more patient while learning because I got very frustrated if I didn't understand a concept right away. I need to learn to accept that I might need to learn a bit more before I will completely understand the original concept.