Designing with electronics

LEVEL 1: Coin Cell

3

Volts

A battery is a device that stores chemical energy and converts it to electrical energy. The chemical reactions in a battery involve the flow of electrons from one material (electrode) to another, through an external circuit. The flow of electrons provides an electric current that can be used to do work.

THE BATTERY

1.8 - 3.3

Volts

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current flows through it. LEDs have positive (+) and negative (-) sides to them. For an LED to work it needs to be connected to a voltage source with the correct side.

THE LED

By pinching the two wires coming out of LED on either side of the 3V button cell battery, we can create a circuit by connecting the + side of the battery to the - side of the battery, which results in the flow of electrons through the wires and the Light Emitting Diode.

THE SIMPLEST CIRCUIT

Electrons jumping from atom to atom in the metal (a conductor material) is the flow of electricity.

STUDENTS EXAMPLE

LEVEL 2: SIMPLE CIRCUIT

ACTIVITY MATERIALS

A switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit. Interrupting the electric current turns the LED off, connecting the current turns it on.

THE SWITCH

An LED circuit requires three basic elements. The light, the wires that create a loop, and a battery.

A switch can also be added to allow you to open and close the circuit, turning on and off the light.

+

-

a switch is an electrical drawbridge when the bridge is up the electrons can't go anywhere

the Light Emitting Diode [LED] will provide our light

the battery holds the electrons

LED CIRCUIT BASICS

LEDs

switch

wires

batteries

LED

switch

battery

BUILDING A SIMPLE CIRCUIT

Securing the wires to the switch

Attach the metal ends of wires through holes of switch prongs

Secure each side with tape - make sure the wires aren't touching each other!

There is an option to replace wires with copper tape and insert a coin cell on the corner left

Techniques for Paper Circuits

Use folding action to complete the circuit

Lay battery flat and attach copper tape to the top and bottom

Make sure the positive terminal of the LED is connected to the positive terminal of the batter, and vice versa.

LEVEL 3: Motors

To Create a Motor Circuit

Power Supply

(Batteries)

Motor

(Takes electricity and uses it to spin)

Connector

(Conductive Wire)

Connecting the Circuit

Either use crocodile clips

or

if you have a battery pack use the wires to connect the battery to the DC motor

ARDUINO

Arduino Board

Breadboards

Allows you to connect different components together when you need to share things like POWER (5V and GND).

Arduino is a small computer that uses code to tell it what to do, like turning lights on and off.

High or Low

0-255 (brightness, speed)

Arduino : Read a Code

Put ; at the end of every commands

The curly brackets {} are used to enclose functions and conditional statements.

Indent!Indent!Indent!

Declare variables that will be used

Anything that will keep looping

Anything that only needs to run once

Water Sensor

Flex Sensor

Infrared (IR) Sensor

Temperature Sensor

Servo

DC Motor

Photoresistor

Accelerometer Sensor + Joystick Module

Force Sensitive Resistor

Motion Sensor

LED

NeoPixel

Ultrasound

Buzzer

LCD Screen

OUTPUTS

INPUTS

Arduino : Components

Water Sensor

Flex Sensor

Infrared (IR) Sensor

Temperature Sensor

Servo

DC Motor

Photoresistor

Accelerometer Sensor + Joystick Module

Force Sensitive Resistor

Motion Sensor

LED

NeoPixel

Ultrasound

Buzzer

LCD Screen

OUTPUTS

INPUTS

Arduino : Components

The combinations are endless

LEVEL 4

Arduino with LED

Water Sensor

Flex Sensor

Infrared (IR) Sensor

Temperature Sensor

Servo

DC Motor

Photoresistor

Accelerometer Sensor + Joystick Module

Force Sensitive Resistor

LED

NeoPixel

Ultrasound

Buzzer

LCD Screen

OUTPUTS

INPUTS

Arduino : Components

Components Needed:

1 x Arduino
1 x LED
1 x 220-ohm resistor
Jumper wires

int ledPin = 13;

void setup() {

// Set pin 13 as an output pin

pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);

}

void loop() {

// Turn the LED on

digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);

delay(1000);

// Turn the LED off

digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);

// Wait for a second

delay(1000);

}

Circuit Build

Student Project Example

School: LAMBA - Studio: Responsive Architecture

Arduino +LED

Cardboard Prototype

Water Sensor

Flex Sensor

Infrared (IR) Sensor

Temperature Sensor

Servo

DC Motor

Photoresistor

Accelerometer Sensor + Joystick Module

Force Sensitive Resistor

LED

NeoPixel

Ultrasound

Buzzer

LCD Screen

OUTPUTS

INPUTS

Arduino : Components

Create a robot that monitors water levels in real-time, with an LED indicator showing different stages of water rise to alert users of potential flooding risks.

Track and manage rainfall in a community garde

Build an erosion detection system that uses multiple water sensors and LEDs to map and visualize erosion patterns in a small-scale landscape model.

Create an automated flood detection system for a home’s basement that uses a water sensor to monitor rising water levels and triggers LEDs to indicate safe evacuation routes.

Student Project Example

School: Kelvinside- Studio: Cyborg Enhancement

Arduino + LED + Water Sensor

Rain Water Collection Device

Water Sensor

Flex Sensor

Infrared (IR) Sensor

Temperature Sensor

Servo

DC Motor

Photoresistor

Accelerometer Sensor + Joystick Module

Force Sensitive Resistor

Motion sensor

Neopixel

NeoPixel

Ultrasound

Buzzer

LCD Screen

OUTPUTS

INPUTS

Arduino : Components

Design an art installation where NeoPixels light up in patterns triggered by movement.

Develop a jacket with NeoPixels that light up and animate based on the wearer’s movement

Game where players need to aim to catch or interact with NeoPixels that light up and move around based on their movements.

Build a compact system that combines motion sensors and NeoPixels for a functional night lamp.

School: KARAM- Studio: UN GOALS

NeoPixel + Motion Sensor

Student Project Example

School: KARAM- Studio: UN GOALS

NeoPixel + Switch

Student Project Example

LEVEL 5

Arduino with Servo

Components Needed:

1 x Arduino
1 x Servo
Jumper wires

Attach wires to the 3 pins at the end of the servo’s wire.
Connect VCC (red) wire on the Servo to the 5V pin on the Arduino.
Conned the GND (brown or black) wire on the Servo to one of the GND pins on the Arduino.
Connect the Signal wire on the Servo to digital pin 9. (The signal can be white | yellow | orange depending on size and brand of servo).

STUDENT EXAMPLE

School: LAMBA - Studio: Cyborg Enhancement

Student Project Example

LEVEL 6

Arduino with Inputs

#define trigPin 13

#define echoPin 12

#define led 11

void setup()

{ Serial.begin (9600);

pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT);

pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);

pinMode(led, OUTPUT);

}

void loop()

{ long duration, distance;

digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);

delayMicroseconds(2);

digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);

delayMicroseconds(10);

digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);

duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);

distance = (duration/2) / 29.1;

if (distance < 10)

{ digitalWrite(led,HIGH);

}

else {

digitalWrite(led,LOW);

}

Serial.print(distance);

Serial.println(" cm");

delay(500);

}

Components Needed:

Ultrasonic Sensor (HC-SR04)
Mini-BreadBoard
1 kohm Resistor
Jumpers.
1 LED.

LEVEL 6

Arduino (2 sensors)

School: KARAM- Studio: UN GOALS

Servos + Ultrasound + Neopixel

Student Project Example

School: CAMBRIDGE- Studio: Emoto-Bots

Student Project Example

School: CAMBRIDGE- Studio: Emoto-Bots

LEDS + Servos + Ultrasound

Student Project Example

Or