Matt's Lab

I built an Adafruit LED Sand Toy using an Adafruit Feather M0, a blue CharliePlex LED FeatherWing, and accelerometer boards. While this was an awesome project to try out, I had some bumps along the way. It forced me to think outside the box and make some minor, but helpful, modifications to the original design. 3D Printing the Case The Adafruit Learn website for this project provides a list of materials, 3D-printing files, code, and wiring diagrams. 3D-printing the toy’s casing 3D-printing internal parts Connecting the Wires I used a thicker gauge of wire than recommended which made soldering a little difficult. This was my first time using heat-shrink tubes to insulate connected wires to keep them from being exposed to other connections. It worked out well, and I highly recommend using some heat-shrink tubes on clamps to protect circuit boards. Soldering the boards at my work station - shown with helping hands, silicone mat, tweezers, solder, and solder...

Brighten up your shoes with LEDs! Stay safe when walking outside in the dark. Show off your light-up shoes while trick-or-treating. Upgrading My Shoes Adding some illumination to my shoes seemed like a great upgrade. Sewable LED ribbons come in various colors and number of LEDs per interval. I chose ribbons with 25 blue LEDs from SparkFun Electronics . These are great for sewing, but I thought there might be a faster approach to attaching my LEDs to the soles of my shoes. Sewable LED Ribbon Lit with 3 AA Batteries NOTE: One thing you need to consider with any wearable tech project is the power source. I chose to use AA batteries to power 4.5V of electricity through each shoe’s LED ribbon. This was probably a poor choice, but worked well. Smaller batteries or even a lithium ion battery would be a better choice for this project, but make sure you don’t over-power your LEDs. Some Supplies AA Batteries, Battery Holder, Snap Connector, Shoes (don’t forget those) ...

Soldering is a great skill for anyone wanting to work with electronics - and it can be fun! Whether you’re a beginner at soldering or not quite sure how to even get started, this quick guide will get you up and soldering in no time. I’ve included the tools I use for soldering and a list of some basic kits to play with for practice. I’ve also outlined some tips and tricks to get those good, solid connections. Types of Soldering Before we jump into the materials, let’s discuss the different types of soldering. In this post I share tips for doing through-hole soldering, sometimes called plated through-hole (PTH) soldering. This involves a printed circuit board (PCB) where electrical components, such as LEDs and resistors, can be inserted through the hole connectors and soldered. Bottom and top of a PCB with some soldered components The other type of soldering, surface mount, doesn’t have holes in the PCB. This type of soldering involves soldering paste. We won’t get into ...

Using SparkFun’s micro:bot kit and their gamer:bit breakout board, I programmed the micro:bot to be controlled by a second micro:bit microcontroller. The two micro:bits transfer data packets over low-energy Bluetooth antennae. The micro:bot can also be programmed to follow a line using its three line sensors and has the capability to control a couple of servos that come with the kit. The SparkFun moto:bit, also in the kit, breaks out the 21 pins on the micro:bit and sets it up to control DC motors and servos. Additional power is provided through a barrel power jack and four AA batteries nicely secured on the lower level of the micro:bot. The entire bot takes about 30 minutes to assemble. Programming it can take as long as you want… A moto:bit package can be added to Microsoft’s MakeCode micro:bit code editor . I used this package to control the micro:bot’s motors. If you have the gamer:bit, micro:bot, and a couple of micro:bits lying around, feel free to download my program to ...

SparkFun’s micro:arcade kit comes with the gamer:bit breakout board and some awesome, retro, arcade-style buttons and a joystick. Sliding your micro:bit microcontroller into a breakout board gives you access to all 21 pins on the micro:bit. The gamer:bit board connects some of those pins to additional game-controller-style buttons for navigation and action commands. With Microsoft’s MakeCode micro:bit code editor , I tinkered with a drop game program. Feel free to download, edit, or just play my program. It uses the gamer:bit package. Code

I attended the 2017 ISTE Conference in San Antonio where I had the privilege to explore the latest trends and movement in educational technology. New platforms for teaching computer science skills to new technologies, like virtual and augmented reality, are really taking off in education. But is that enough? Virtual & Augmented Reality Let me get these two technologies out of the way first. Virtual reality puts learners in another environment. When they put on VR goggles or use a smartphone with the popularly cost-efficient Google Cardboard , students are given access to new worlds and locations they might never get to explore in real life. Virtual reality, I believe, is still in its infancy, both in the consumer and educational markets. Currently in education, I see virtual reality used to take students on virtual field trips. They can explore national monuments, tour the Louvre in Paris, or visit animals deep in the Pacific Ocean. In addition to exploring our world, other ...

My daughter enjoys inventing and creating. For a summer project, she designed and built a carrot cutting machine. Using littleBits and some household materials, I helped her construct a prototype based on her design. Lindsey's Original Design Mechanism Concept Sketch Materials dowel rods duct tape littleBits modules plastic knives cardboard box paperclip plastic carrots littleBits Schematic Modules 1 push button 1 servo motor (set to swing) 2 wire modules 1 power module 1 long LED Lever System Test Internal Components Test It Pushing the button on top of the box causes the LED to light up, showing that the machine is operating. Meanwhile, the servo pulls and pushes the lever system that causes the plastic knives to move up and down. The plastic carrots are sliced and diced!

My 4th and 5th grade STEM class students created an interactive light and sound dance machine. Using a Picoboard , a sensor board, the students designed and created mat switches to interact with a dance program they coded on Scratch. Two pieces of structure materials, such as cardboard, were lined with foil on one side of each panel. Students determined that the two pieces had to be separated slightly with the foil-lined sides facing each other. They used tissue, foam cutouts, paper, and other insulators to separate the two halves of their mat switches. While some student groups began mapping out their dance pad layout, others finished making their various mat switch designs. Speaker wire was used to connect the electrical current to each dance pad or switch. The wire then connected to the alligator clips on the Picoboard. The Picoboard connected to a computer that projected its screen on an interactive white board. Students created and executed their own computer program...