The semester has come to an end, and what a whirlwind it has been. Students completed three projects (Electrical, Mechanical and Robotic) and had just six class meetings with which to design, build, test and iterate on their personal project. 

As a result of the three initial projects, some students chose to expand or improve on one of these earlier works in their personal project phase. One student, for example, worked on a wooden version of the automaton as a gift for her father. 

A few students delved deeper into Hummingbird, this time using Duos in order to eliminate the tethering to the computer. They sent their Visual Programmer code to the Arduino on the other side of the board and powered their projects with battery packs. While one group found success in creating a distance sensing, object-avoidance car (hacking an existing RC car), the other group ran into some design and coding problems while trying to get a 3D printed boat to work in a similar manner. In the end, this latter group did not complete their project, but were able to show their code, their process and final build.

Finally, the remaining students worked on unique projects such as 3D designed and printed surf board fins, a water-based timer, and an LED lit iPhone case. One student, inspired by a previous student's light box project, designed a decorative box in 2D, laser cut and assembled it in wood, then 3D designed and printed a base. She then added two circuits, one for slow color changing LEDs, and another for an adjustable speed DC motor. Her final project is below. 

Once again, I enjoyed seeing the creativity, persistence, and ingenuity demonstrated by my students throughout the semester. The curriculum modification to four specific projects (including personal project) worked well, and I look forward to the spring semester. 

​For further details about student projects, please be sure to visit the Student Blogs section.

Project #2 is under way. In this unit, students are creating their own mechanical motion piece, or Automata. After a brief introduction to the concept of Automata, students are tasked with creating their own cardboard automata using iPhone boxes, foam, wood skewers and their imagination. Through the introduction, students learned about key components, like shafts, cams, gears, bearings, and cranks. They viewed a number of sample automata on youtube. They explored wooden examples in class.

The project criteria is as follows. Project must:

• fit on top of the box provided
• be no larger than 8” tall x 8” wide x 8” deep
• include the following mechanical elements:
  • at least one horizontal shaft with handle
  • at least one vertical shaft for movement above
  • at least one cam, gear or crank
• represent something in real life

After initial sketches during the design phase, students gathered their materials and began building out preliminary models. I discovered in this project that it was much harder to pre-measure in the sketches. Students didn't really know how big or small their parts needed to be until they started testing things out with real materials. Given that we primarily use cardboard and foam, this method of prototyping was still cost effective, as designs changed as a result of testing.

Students used new tools in this unit, including eyelets and eyelet crimpers. These helped to allow for a smooth channel through which their shafts travel, and to provide greater support within the cardboard walls. With one more day of iteration and building, I look forward to final products and student blog posts next week.