Systems Engineering
Students will discuss flowcharts, shapes associated with them, and their meanings. Students will also build LED circuits and develop programs to flash an LED and perform basic maneuvers.
Students build on previous work by adding multiple LEDs and whiskers to their bot. Students create a program that uses the whiskers for navigation and LEDs to signal movements.
Students develop and understanding of binary numbers, translate between base 10 and base 2 systems, then develop a program for a visual binary counter.
Students incorporate pushbuttons into a circuit as input devices, test their circuits, and incorporate LEDs to display pushbutton activity.
Students build a circuit containing multiple pushbuttons and LEDs. Students then develop a program that stores a personal four-digit code like a PIN number used for banking.
Based on the previous “Bank Vault” lesson, students create a “Hacker Bot” that is hard wired to a Bank Vault Bot and attempts to find the correct 4-digit PIN
Students create and test an infrared circuit then design a program that will use the information from the infrared circuit to navigate around objects without touching them.
Based on the previous "Infrared Navigation Lesson", students use a programmable remote and sensors on the bot to detect and interpret infrared light patterns in an attempt to create a wireless remote control for their bot.
Students investigate gravity, its effects on objects, and how an accelerometer uses these effects to generate output. Students Identify the x- and y- axes of the accelerometer and how the bot represents tilt on each axis.
Based on the previous lesson, "Introduction to Accelerometers", students use the accelerometer to create a bot that autonomously navigates a terrain with many hills and slopes built in.
Students will incorporate an external breadboard to create a “runway” of LEDs. Students use schematics to design their build and participate in several LED challenges.
Students are introduced to soldering and safe soldering practices. Students practice soldering wires together then solder extensions to a Hall Effect Sensor for later use.
Students use phototransistors to detect variances in light intensity. Students build and test their circuits which can then be used to develop a line following bot.
Based on the previous lesson, “Phototransistor Navigation”, students add a Hall Effect sensor to their build and modify their program to display when a magnetic field is detected near the Hall Effect sensor.
Based on the previous lesson, "Phototransistors and Hall Effect Sensor”, Students modify their program and bot behavior so that it not only follows a line correctly but also detects and reacts to unseen “mines” placed in its path.