MACUL - Student Technology Showcase

So, tomorrow I'll be bringing a small group of students to the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning. They will be participating in the Student Technology Showcase. Come down and see us and all the other students between 11:00 and 1:00.

They will be showing off what they've learned about electronics and programming with the Arduino. Here's a capsule description:

Physical Computing - Electronics with Arduino

This is the beginning of an ongoing project focused on having students investigate and learn about electronics and programming in through inquiry and project based learning. Students are encouraged to push the bounds and learn what they need to solve the problems they face while they are facing them. In some cases they learn more about certain aspects of the material than I, their "instructor", know.

As students learn they share what they've learned on our class wiki, hosted through Google Sites. In this way they actually provide instructions for other students in the class or for future classes.

Arduino is an open-source platform that incorporates an Atmel micro-controller. It is programmed with the Arduino programming language (which is based upon C++). Students learn to use a variety of sensors to interact with their programs.

Our Wiki:
http://sites.google.com/a/divinechildhighschool.org/electronics/Home

More Information on Arduino:
http://www.arduino.cc

Arduino in High School Electronics

I started using Arduino, an open source electronics platform in my one semester electronics course. Arduino incorporates a microcontroller (mini computer) and allows for a lot of really cool options. Last semester was the first semester I used Arduino with the whole class. It went fairly well.

All students were required to create a final project. I gave them the option of working with a partner with the caveat that when they presented their final project I would get to decided which of the two of them would have to answer my questions.

Their projects included not only the circuitry and programming, but students also had to physically build the device. This ended up being a really good project. Even if they chose to build upon a project they found on the net they had to tinker with it to make it do what they wanted it to do.

Once completed, students had to write up and present their projects on Google Sites. If you're interested you can go to the class site to find descriptions, pictures and Arduino code. Below is a video created by a pair of my students who used an old remote controlled car as the chassis for an autonomous Arduino controlled robot.


Crossposted from FlosScience

Arduino - eeePC Nightmare!!!

So, I decided to totally change the way I teach my electronics class. It will now center around the Arduino microcontroller, a platform that uses an Atmel ATmega 64/128 microcontorller. Anyway, I don't really have enough laptops to go around, so I scrounged some funds together and bought two of the Asus eeePC 2G Surfs. I figured these would be just about perfect.

Problem #1: Java, which is needed for Arduino doesn't come on the 2G Surf. So, after searching for a way to get it on the 2G Surf for a few hours I find it. It installs and all is good.

Problem #2: To really make the Arduino sing I also need Processing. Unfortunately there's not enough room left to fit it.

Problem #3: After a bit more searching I find a way to delete stuff I'm never going to need (like Chinese language support) from the eeePC. Unfortunately this makes no space available to me.

Apparently there are two main partitions on the eeePC. One for the user to do whatever they want and one that the user really can't touch. All the programs come installed in the one the user really can't touch.

Solution? After maybe 10 hours yesterday and another 7 hours today I think I may have this licked. I'll write up process and post it to FLOSScience for those interested. If I'm right I should be able to capture am image of my one working one and put it on the other one. This would take less than 5 minutes, otherwise I'll be looking at at least another 2-3 hours to get the other one set.

Better Solution? Get the 4G version ($50 more).

Arduino or PICAXE?

This is a pretty geeky post... You've been warned.

Among the courses I teach is electronics. It is a one semester course, where we cover basic theory in the first half of the semester and students breadboard circuits for the second half of the semester. I inherited the course and its general structure from the previous electronics teacher and it seems to work pretty well.

Anyway, I've been thinking about changing it. I've been wanting to incorporate microprocessors into the course for some time, but I've been daunted with either the price tag or for the cheap stuff with the technical know-how that I just don't have. By bringing in microprocessors I can also get students doing some programming . Additionally, a lot of electronics these days includes embedded microprocessors.

Enter the PICAXE and Arduino micro-controllers. Both can be had relatively cheaply and are fairly easy to program. Unfortunately I discovered these at about the same time. If I only knew about one of them I'd have been content to buy a bunch and get to work redesigning my course. As it stands right now, I have no idea which one to choose. So I'm writing this post to get my ideas down and I'm partly hoping for some insight from potential experts.

PICAXE: The PICAXE micro-controller is a Pic based chip that has a bootloader loaded onto it allowing for a very simply programming cable to be used. It can be programmed using a form of basic or with a flow chart based interface. There are some great guides online for its use, but they'd have to be edited a bit to make them usable for my course. There are multiple versions of this chip with different numbers of inputs/outputs. The programming is slightly different from chip to chip.

Pros: Cost. The chip (8M) itself costs less than $4. Theoretically students could easily make permanent projects with this. Basic programming: I know basic and basic programming is relatively easy.

Cons: The 8M, the chip I'd focus on, is a bit limited. There are other chips we could add in, but their structure is different. Apparently limited availability. I'd really have to plan ahead to ensure I had the supplies I'd need (unless I want to order from the UK). Windows only.

Arduino: This board is really a Basic Stamp replacement. I'd thought it was going to be outside of the price range I'd set for the course, but then I found a supplier who supplies a version that I can get for $11/board in bulk. The programming for this chip is in a C++ like language. There is also a lot online support for this board and at least one project designing a course in basic electronics with the Arduino as the platform.

Pros: Expandability. This chip has some wickedly cool potential. It interfaces circuitry directly with a computer easily, making it possible to create circuits that control or respond to functions on the computer. Support for Mac, WinXP, and Linux.

Cons: I don't know C++ or any other object oriented programming language. More expensive so it would cost more for students to make permanent projects.

I guess the bottom line is the PICAXE is probably simpler to start using but while the Arduino has a steeper learning curve at the start it allows for more advanced functions more easily. At least I think. Right now I'm leaning towards the Arduino. I've already got one independant student working with the PICAXE. I'll get a couple working with the Arduino this semester as well and see what they all think.