I have my lessons on microcontrollers on my website on a special page.
I'm Jon Barber. I'm a UVa grad, I make, repair, and learn tech/comp sci/media with middle school students near Charlottesville, VA. The Force is with me, but I am not a Jedi ... yet.
micro:bit is a good basic way to start using microcontrollers. It even has block programming, so elementary students can "code," too! Because my students are in the 7th and 8th grade Mechatronics classes, we use actual code instead of just blocks:
Lucas | 1 Heart (display) | https://youtu.be/G2U4RgM3RKU |
Eli | 2 Smiley Button (input) | https://youtu.be/P-oR-a7jmaQ |
Hudson | 3 Dice (If/Then/Else Loops) | https://youtu.be/cNkABtoAFys |
Austin | 4 Step Counter (Conditional Loops) | https://youtu.be/kHrf1c6st8g |
Leigh | "hot potato" | https://youtu.be/9aEHW1uhPWY |
August | 7 seconds game | https://youtu.be/CMzfFrVYmmI |
Charlotte | coin flipper | https://youtu.be/A2QU1dh20AU |
Greg | compass | https://youtu.be/3dgzMmC2GNA |
Alex | Crashy Bird | https://youtu.be/dxx6bnbqQLc |
Mason | Fireflies | https://youtu.be/rGUIr7iLg-0 |
Alden | level | https://youtu.be/Btf57-qJWUU |
Kingston | love meter | https://youtu.be/aBXZ2B8-ow4 |
Gerrit | micro-chat (channel) - partner | https://youtu.be/kwgPFr5LP9g |
Sean | micro-chat (channel)- partner | https://youtu.be/MUUfvhPlAX8 |
Aaron | Multiple Dice | https://youtu.be/7lGWflE79zg |
Julian | snap the dot | https://youtu.be/3tN2JF6mo_A |
Ryan | tug of LED | https://youtu.be/FIk8xNncE1U |
When we use Arduino in the Barber Shop, we try it out on TinkerCad first. This gives a rough draft "try" without having to worry about avrdude/Serial Port errors, AND it gives the coder a good diagram to look at when they are coding IRL:
Rick | Arduino Button on TinkerCad | https://youtu.be/Dx4jnm88shg |
Robert | Arduino Fade on TinkerCad | https://youtu.be/NzGHEVFtR6o |
Eli | Arduino For Loop Iteration on TinkerCad | https://youtu.be/vjjr3HWaQLc |
Treanor | Arduino RGB LED on TinkerCad | https://youtu.be/TFtF7ppA6bw |
Landon | Arduino Servo Knob on TinkerCad | https://youtu.be/o4Ujij3pdqQ |
Alex | Arduino Servo Sweep on TinkerCad | https://youtu.be/-P-BQGk6WjI |
Tom | Arduino Tone Melody on TinkerCad | https://youtu.be/u3LD3fdMup0 |
Corbin | Arduino Blink In Real Life | https://youtu.be/u4NmsMVaYn4 |
Alessio | Arduino Blink In Real Life | https://youtu.be/RgPMFSKuy-E |
Ge0rge | Arduino Button In Real Life | https://youtu.be/-p-HxpWy5Vk |
Sirius | Arduino Button In Real Life | https://youtu.be/dKgx1ZFbWE8 |
Braxton | Arduino Fade In Real Life | https://youtu.be/9aEHW1uhPWY |
Isaiah | Arduino For Loop Iteration In Real Life | https://youtu.be/_azq_C2ZFf8 |
Sam | Arduino RGB LED In Real Life | https://youtu.be/erlnfEwPcCA |
Ben | Arduino RGB LED In Real Life | https://youtu.be/Y1ZgwSjP6NU |
Andrew | Arduino Tone Melody In Real Life | https://youtu.be/PZOtDDSs8oE |
Noah | Arduino Servo Knob In Real Life | https://youtu.be/Fk6brQz79YI |
Mechatronics is Programming a Computer to convert Electricity to Mechanical Energy
What are examples?
In the past,
My class has built and flown airplanes, similar to UVA’s RazorDrone
We have built a Lego MindStorm obstacle course (from ANCIENT Lego MindStorms I found left in one of my rooms)
At UVA, Mechatronics built the HooPrint AND a complete working electric guitar
What other examples can you see in a classroom or think of that are Mechatronics?
Click on Prusa Slicer
Pull out the SD card, plug it into the Vanja “Thumb Drive” and plug that into the computer
Click on Add.
Find your .STL file in the 00001BARBERTECHNOLOGYFOLDER without typing (the list SHOULD be in ABC order … double click or click and open.
Click Slice Now in the Bottom Right corner.
Click Export GCODE in the Bottom Right corner.
Find “USB Drive” on the left side to save it in. (Save)
Click the Eject Button (NOT THE X).
Remove the Vanja and SD Card and put them back where you got them (Vanja Thumb Drive goes back in the Orange Tray & SD Card goes back in the Prusa- MAKE SURE THE METAL IS FACING YOU.
Turn the knob clockwise until it points > to your file and then poke it in quickly like a button. DO NOT HOLD IT IN TOO LONG.
PROTOTYPES ON CARDBOARD MUST BE APPROVED BEFORE YOU CAN LASERCUT FINAL PRODUCTS ON BIRCH
Open your Adobe Illustrator Project. After the previous lasercut is done, click File & Print.
On the Print Window, click Print.
Click on the red lasercutter icon (next to Adobe Illustrator on the taskbar).
If all your lines are bright red and blue, you are ready to move your design. If it is light & gray, STOP! Click on the button with 4 arrows. Some squares will appear. Drag the squares to move your design around. Take care not to miss and accidentally ZOOM in.
The “Focus View” button to the left of “arrows button” will put a red laser pointer dot on the material. Click on all the edges and corners to make sure your design will fit on your material (the top has to be open for the red dot to appear).
Once you are sure it will fit, click on the magnifying glass button to change the red “Go” button to “Settings”.
Click on the Manual Control Tab: MAKE SURE TO CLICK “APPLY” AFTER EACH ROW |
+ next to Natural + next to Wood + next to Hard Wood Then click on the actual words General Hard Woods Set the thickness to ____ (Calipers???) AFTER YOU HAVE RUN IT ONCE, IT MIGHT NOT HAVE CUT THROUGH!! You might need to run red only again! | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 7. BASSWOOD, go to Materials Database, then click on + next to Natural + next to Wood + next to Soft Wood Then click on the actual words General Soft Woods Set the thickness to ____ (Calipers???) AFTER YOU HAVE RUN IT ONCE, IT MIGHT NOT HAVE CUT THROUGH!! You might need to run red only again! |
You’re ready to lasercut!
Shut the lasercutter, and DON’T LET IT SLAM!!
Turn on the fan, by flipping the light switch on the outlet behind the lasercutter.
Click the big, green play button to start it.
Monitor it closely to make sure it doesn’t catch on fire. If it DOES catch on fire … yell, scream, and freak out until Mr. B comes running over.
After the duh-duh noise from previous cuts, the next person can click File >> Print as you can cut off the fan and retrieve your lasercut!!
FIRE??? If it DOES catch on fire … yell, scream, and freak out until Mr. B comes running over. Post-fire, we open the garage door and point every fan OUT. Leave the exhaust fan on, even though we won’t lasercut for a bit!