Overview
For this project, we were tasked with creating an electronic light show using an Arduino Uno board. I stayed with the same group as before, which was me, Jacob Kennedy, Angus Brodeur, and Christian Pedersen. I worked with Angus to learn how to build simple circuits using alligator clips and wires. Once we got the hang of it, we started using breadboards, resistors, and potentiometers to create more complex circuits using the Arduino booklet. Some of the circuits we built included flashing lights patterns and personalized images on a LCD screen. We spent about two weeks mastering the art of circuitry before we progressed onto the next step, which was to begin building our electronic light show. Angus and I joined Jacob and Christian to build our light show. We decided to code a buzzer to play twinkle twinkle little star while a row of lights flashing in sync to the music. It took us another two weeks to complete this part of the project.
Our finished project:
For this project, we were tasked with creating an electronic light show using an Arduino Uno board. I stayed with the same group as before, which was me, Jacob Kennedy, Angus Brodeur, and Christian Pedersen. I worked with Angus to learn how to build simple circuits using alligator clips and wires. Once we got the hang of it, we started using breadboards, resistors, and potentiometers to create more complex circuits using the Arduino booklet. Some of the circuits we built included flashing lights patterns and personalized images on a LCD screen. We spent about two weeks mastering the art of circuitry before we progressed onto the next step, which was to begin building our electronic light show. Angus and I joined Jacob and Christian to build our light show. We decided to code a buzzer to play twinkle twinkle little star while a row of lights flashing in sync to the music. It took us another two weeks to complete this part of the project.
Our finished project:
Concepts
Circuit: A circuit is a complete loop of electrical conductors including a power source
Parallel Circuit: The current has a "choice" between two paths. They have the same voltage, but can have different current through them.
Series Circuit: The current has to flow across two or more resistors in one path voltage is split, but current is the same through both.
Resistance: A force against the current, decreasing it.
Current: The flow of electricity in a circuit from + to -, or - to +.
Voltage: The difference in potential energy across a circuit, the push or pull of electricity.
Kirchoff's Current Law: The total current entering a junction must equal the total current leaving the junction.
Kirchoff's Voltage Law: The sum of voltages around a current must equal zero.
Ohm's Law: V=IR, Voltage = Current x Resistance.
Bread Board: construction base for prototyping of electronics, and experimenting with circuit design.
Programming: To provide a computer or other machine with coded instructions for the automatic performance of a particular task.
Reflection
I have had a ton of fun throughout the project. I learned a lot of new skills during this project. I learned how a simple and complex circuit works, how to code, and I gained a larger understanding of how most electronics work and how electricity behaves. I had an amazing time working with my group also. We had a lot of peaks throughout our project which included our understanding of how to put together and how the circuits worked and our time management skills. We completed and thoroughly understood the Arduino Uno booklet in a relatively short amount of time. One of the few pits during this project was our quality of work. Our final project was sufficient but not quality enough for the work of four people. I feel that if we were all involved, we could have built a far better final product. I also wish I could have had more time to understand how to code. I learned simple code but I feel like if I learned how to code more efficiently I could have provided a lot more use. Overall this was a fantastic project and I am pleased with the knowledge I learned during this course.