The document discusses how open-source hardware and microcontrollers like Arduino can be integrated into physics education. It describes the presenter's background working in education and engineering. As an Education Engineer at Sparkfun Electronics, he develops curriculum that uses DIY sensors, Arduino, and data acquisition to promote tinkering and hands-on learning. Several example projects are provided that collect data on reaction time, light, sound, and circuits to explore physics concepts in a new, experiential way. The presenter advocates for using these tools to increase student engagement with physics.
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Background / Introduction
● Spent 8 yrs working in industry
○ ADC Telecommunications
○ Ball Aerospace
○ ...
● Attended CU-Boulder - MA+ program
● Taught HS Physics / Engineering / Robotics
○ Centaurus HS (Lafayette)
○ Overland HS (Aurora)
● Now?
○ Work at Sparkfun Electronics as an Education
Engineer.
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What I do now?
Education Engineer at Sparkfun Electronics.
- Design and lead professional development workshops
for teachers / educators.
- Develop curriculum, activities, projects for classroom
use.
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Sparkfun Electronics
Started in 2003 by Nathan Seidle (CU Alum) as
a Junior in EE.
- Burned out a programming board
- Found a supplier (Olimex) in Bulgaria
- good prices, bad website, poor payment options
- Made a website
- Sparkfun was born...
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What the EDU team does here...
Promote “tinkering” and messing around with
hardware, microcontrollers, and circuits to
empower people to build and make new things!
Support formal & informal education built around
making things -- whether with code, electronics,
or physical fabrication.
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Craft Tech Inspired
Copper Tape & Basic Circuits
Using Copper Tape,
resistive ink (Bare
Conductive) to build
paper circuits provides a
1:1 analogue between
the circuit diagram and
the actual circuit.
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For comparison:
- Apple II : 1 MHz clock, 4K
RAM
- IBM XT (8088) : 4.77 MHz,
128K RAM
In 2005 -- Enters Arduino →
8-bit, 16 MHz Microcontroller, 32K flash, 2K EEPROM
Arduino is a low-cost, open
source, easily programmable
device → operates on as low as
3V -- 2 AA batteries
16. Arduino Board
“Strong Friend” Created in Ivrea, Italy
in 2005 by Massimo Banzi & David Cuartielles
Open Source Hardware
Processor
Coding is accessible & transferrable → (C++, Processing, java)
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Open Challenges
● How fast can you blink an LED?
How fast can you see it blink?
● Morse Code Challenge -- … --- …
● Heartbeat → Halloween is right
around the corner!
● Make a light sculpture?
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Why I like the Reaction Timer
- Data is personally meaningful.
- Emphasizes accuracy / error /
uncertainty in measurement.
- As a tool -- it gives students to
ask more questions…
- Physics is about measurement,
observations, and patterns.
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What all can we do with this?
● Nature of Science: Real data is messy!
● Nature of Science: Variance / Error Analysis /
Statistics?
● Kinematics: Reaction Time vs. stopping distance
● Kinematics: Reaction Time vs. falling distance
● Add Sound -- Using tone() command and a buzzer --
does it sound make a difference?
● Other ideas? How about experimental design?
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“New” vocabulary / concepts for
physics teachers
- Microcontrollers
- void setup() / void loop() ???
- Vcc and GND
- Clock speeds
- Analog vs. Digital
- A/D Converter & Sampling
- Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
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Other fun demos / activities:
Simiple Fading →
https://codebender.cc/sketch:53011
Button Fading →
https://codebender.cc/sketch:7977
Button Tones →
https://codebender.cc/sketch:53013
Color Mixing →
https://codebender.cc/sketch:53012
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A different way of drawing
circuits?
Vcc
ANALOG INPUT (A0)
GND
6 Analog Input “channels”
10-bit A/D -> resolution of
~48.9 mV
Empirical testing:
~115 uS per measure
~7.3 kHz max sampling rate
https://codebender.cc/sketch:53064
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All of the other stuff I didn’t talk
about...
- Integration with Arduino & Vernier.
- Robotics (mechatronics) → what better way
to teach kinematics, forces, rotational
motion?
- ATtiny85 -- the “tiny” Arduino
- Voltage vs. Current vs. Power vs. Energy
- RF Wireless transmission RSSI & inverse
square losses.
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Physics Education & Reform
Interested in piloting / researching new
methods in lab & physics education reform
- Develop new ideas and identify where these fit in
“traditional” physics (& engineering) education.
- Increase engagement & participation for ALL
students.
- Encourage, Inspire, and Motivate “tinkering,” play,
and creativity!