For the past 2 months our main focus in STEM was circuits and electricity. First we experimented with breadboards and simple circuitry and then graduated to Arduino, which utilizes code to enhance the functions of the circuit. We went from lighting an LED to coding an entire song and making images appear on a screen. After the art show, for three days we worked on creating a micro grid for Novato, or a micro grid for San Marin. Our group decided to create a micro grid for San Marin.
Electricity concepts
Circuit Definition: complete loop of conductive material from one side of a power source to another
Voltage Definition: potential energy difference across a component in a circuit Equation: v=ir Unit: V
Current Definition: flow of charge through a circuit Equation: i=v/r Unit: A amps
Resistance Definition: amount the current is slowed or resisted through a component of a circuit Equation: series- r total=r1+r2+r3…. Parallel- 1/r total=1/r1 +1/r2….. Unit: Ohms
Series circuit Definition: A circuit where current must run through all currents one after another
Parallel Circuit Def: 2 or more pathways that current can choose to go through
Power (p) Def: rate at which electrical energy is transferred Equation: p=iv Unit: W Watts
Breadboards
To learn about how to wire circuits, our class worked with breadboards and their different components such as LEDs, resistors, and multimeters. We used breadboards because they are solderless forms of connection and are rather straightforward to use. Also, we also used some simulations of circuits to help us with our electricity work. We were given a packet with different experiments we had to do involving breadboards that helped prove basic laws of electricity such as how in a series, resistance is added, and in parallel circuits, all paths have the same voltage. Unfortunately I was sick for most of the breadboard section but My partner and I did do some .Once this was finished, our groups took a blinky light quiz, which was a project that required all the knowledge that we had acquired throughout the given experiments. During this quiz, we used multiple components such as an LED, a resistor, and a potentiometer to make a light blink on the breadboard that we were using. Once we were done with this, we moved on to our actual robot art show where we used our breadboard experience along with programming.
The robot art show
As you can see, With the combined efforts of me and my partner, we managed to code the song Africa, by Toto This was difficlut to do but we still managed to put the correct wiring into the arduino board and through lots of trial and error, managed to get the song working. Unfortunately, I cannot show you the code for I no longer have access to it.
Power Novato
Although short, The power novato project was actually very fun, We first went on a feild trip to a micro grid in sonoma, a micro grid is a small power grid that can be used in places like hospitals to keep theit power running in case of a city/town power shutdown. Along with my other team members, we desighned a power grid for san marin, consisting of wind turbines and solar panels.
In conclusion, both these projects wer super fun. As a group, our work ethic wasnt amazing but we still managed to create a pretty solid plan for both Power Novato and the robot art show. Next time I would have worked harder at understanding how to code because that proved to be difficult and problematic.