Electronics and Programming
For this project, I was originally with Shasta Parker, Elise Chassman, and Sarah Teel. We learned how to create a basic circuit using batteries, light bulbs, nichrome wire resistors, and alligator clips. This stage was very tedious for us because to develop an understanding of electronics, we had to repeat the same type of circuits over and over again. We then moved on to using a breadboard which allowed us to shrink circuits to about the size of a palm. At first, we struggled, not quite understanding the connections, but after a lot of help from Mr. Williams and the hundreds of questions from Sarah, we made it through and got it.
Once we were done with the basics, we added some programming into it. Shasta and I broke off from the group and began using Arduino to work on our project which was to create a robot light show. We ended up creating a light show where the lights would go off to the rhythm of the buzzer which was the star wars theme song. We also had a board attached to it that lit up the words, "In a galaxy far far away...". You can see the finalized set up of our robot art show and code below:
Once we were done with the basics, we added some programming into it. Shasta and I broke off from the group and began using Arduino to work on our project which was to create a robot light show. We ended up creating a light show where the lights would go off to the rhythm of the buzzer which was the star wars theme song. We also had a board attached to it that lit up the words, "In a galaxy far far away...". You can see the finalized set up of our robot art show and code below:
starwars theme song | |
File Size: | 1409 kb |
File Type: | mov |
Concepts
Circuit: complete loop of electrical conductors that must include a power source, wires, and a resistor
Parallel Circuit: voltage splits, current stays the same Series Circuit: current splits, voltage stays the same Current: flow of electricity in a current from positive to negative or vice versa Voltage: push and pull of electricity that is the difference in potential energy throughout a circuit Resistance: weakening force in a circuit Power: brightness of a bulb Ohm's law: current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the potential difference of the two points, V=IR Kirchhoff's laws: current- sum of currents going into the connection must equal the sum coming out voltage- sum of voltages around a circuit must equal zero Breadboard: "shrunk circuits" with connections underneath the board Arduino: program we used to create the circuit and program for our robot light show |
Reflection
I have learned so much in the last month. Before this project, I had no past knowledge of electronics or programming. By the end, Shasta and I were able to figure out how to make the code our own and connect the lights to the same pin on our buzzer, saving us lines of code. Working with a partner that I was friends with really helped in this project with my perseverance which leads to my first peak. Throughout the entire project, there were problems. The connection wasn't working, the code wouldn't stop saying error compiling after an hour of editing, and so on. But when one of us just wanted to stop, take a break, and slack off, the other would keep going and encourage the other to keep working through it. Another peak that came out of our perseverance was our capability of learning from our mistakes and really learning how everything worked. But not everything was great for the two of us. One pit was, at the beginning of our project, my lack of focus. I am guilty of not being able to put my energy into one thing for along amount of time, especially when it was not working, but I got better as the project proceeded. Another pit was the length of our song. Our star wars theme song was roughly 12 seconds long, but the coding wasn't allowing us to add as many notes and frequencies as we wanted and it ended up sounding weirder the more we added so we had to shorten it.