Note: “codebook” entries below are verbatim pasting of all of the code we used in class. It’s possible they may not compile (i.e. may have errors) if we left things unresolved, or were writing pseudocode, etc.

Tuesday, August 31st: Intro

  • Welcome to class!
  • Quick introductions
  • Brief IDeATe walking tour
  • Phys Comp Lab tour
  • Guest visitors Mike Melville and Sara Longo (both join to speak about respective research studies addressed in the syllabus)
  • Beginning of learning about Arduino board
  • Homework 1 assigned

Thursday, September 2nd: Technical learning

  • Intro to new people
  • Syllabus quiz—but points for that homework not yet assigned (will be on Tuesday)
  • Going over students’ selected projects-of-interest from past semesters
  • Please remember to sign up for the NSF-funded study
  • Introduction to Diary of Sorrows and Asynch Homework Questions fora on Canvas
  • Homework review
    • Introduction of custom draw.io interface for circuit drawing
    • Class assigned into pairs for quick circuit-drawing exercise
  • Introduction to block diagramming with MakerCards
    • Hand out Maker Card decks
    • Distribute machine assignments
    • Students build machines with cards on table, as well as with block diagram tools in draw.io
  • Collecting materials to complete asynch homework assignments
    • Arduino
    • breadboard
    • jumpers (male–male)
    • potentiometer
    • LEDs (a few)
    • resistors (2) 330Ω and (2) 10kΩ
    • tactile button
    • bin to put all of this in
  • Homework 2 assigned

Tuesday, September 7th: Review asynchronous learning

  • Future Labor Day in Pittsburgh recommendation: check out the Labor Day Parade downtown! One of the biggest in the country.
  • Only one post on the Asynch Homework Questions forum! Pleeeeeease use the forum as you’re going through assignments!
  • Using draw.io to draw schematics
    • together, draw a functional block diagram for a potentiometer driving an LED’s blinking rate
    • then, together draw a schematic of the same (using the schematic, rather than block, symbols)
      • use 5V and ⏚ symbols for power and ground nets, respectively
      • be sure to use current-limiting resistor for LED
      • try to make short, straight lines in the drawing when possible
    • instructor’s in-class solution is here
  • Final asynch module “More Inputs and Outputs” assigned as homework
  • Adding a few more pieces to the kit:
    • HC-SR04 ultrasonic ranger
    • hobby servo motor
    • photoresistor
    • 5.6kΩ resistor
  • Class released about 50 minutes early to work on asynch lecture material

Thursday, September 9th: Technical Q&A and Project 1 introduced

  • Open Q&A from the asynchronous lectures, including:
    • The electrical difference between a pin in INPUT and OUTPUT modes
    • The Arduino as “battery” vs. the Arduino as “voltmeter”
    • The meaning of “9600” in Serial.begin(9600)
    • Software writing conventions
  • Introduction to Project 1: A Double Transducer and team assignments
  • Project 1 work time for remainder of class

Tuesday, September 14th: Timing multiple events and Project 1 ideation sharing

  • Deciding by vote on Catherine’s lab hours. Options are:
    • Wednesdays 4:30–5:30 p.m.
    • √ Fridays noon–1 p.m.
    • Fridays 1–2 p.m.
  • Technical lesson: timing with the event-loop model (with reference to the “Blink without Blocking” page)
  • Individual presentations to Zach and Catherine sharing their Project 1 ideation
  • Zach will be out of class on Thursday 9/16 and Catherine will be running the class as a work session (and she’ll be taking attendance so be sure to come!)

Thursday, September 16th: Project 1 work day

  • Zach is out, Catherine’s running the show
  • Please be sure to add your sorrows to the Diary of Sorrows!

Tuesday, September 21st: Project 1 work day

  • Soldering tutorials are online (the middle-step aspects of your project should have soldered connections)
  • Work day

Thursday, September 23rd: Project 1 work day

  • Like the title says!

Tuesday, September 28th: Project 1 due

  • ~10 minute presentations by each student (organized by groups) of their projects
  • In the last twenty minutes, a thrilling attempt to build the entire signal chain, from head to tail, using each team’s device
    • It actually kind of worked! Nice job, everyone. Actually the best signal chain any class has built yet.

Thursday, September 30th: Project 2 introduction; basic DSLR usage

  • Review some great (i.e. sorrowful ☹) entries in the Diary of Sorrows from the runup to the last project
  • One catch-up Project 1 presentation by a student who joined the class late
  • Quick review of the semester overview calendar as seen on the course home page
  • Introduction to Project 2: An Assistive Device for Someone You Know Very Well
  • Quick-and-dirty DSLR tutorial with reference to this site’s relevant resource page.
    • Generally recommended DSLR settings:
      • P or “Program mode” on the dial
      • “Automatic” white balance
      • ISO 1000 or thereabouts
      • Image size doesn’t matter (but “small” saves some data)
      • Don’t be afraid to crank the EV (exposure) values up and down to get it looking good (quite often students take photos that are too dark—to remedy this, select a positive EV value such as +1 EV or +2 EV)
    • Best practices for good photos:
      • Good lighting and a good background make more of a difference than nearly anything else
      • Get some sort of camera holder if you’re shooting video (IDeATe Lending has lots of options)
      • Take lots of photos, using different settings. You’re not wasting any film! Pick through them later on the computer when you can actually see them well.
  • Homework due Tuesday 10/5:
  • Class dismisses a few minutes early.

Tuesday, October 5th: Project 2 ideation

  • Project 1 documentation is due at the start of class
  • Everyone disassembles their Project 1 boards and returns working/salvageable parts to their homes in the lab
  • Nearly all of class time is given to discussing Project 2 ideation individually with Zach and Catherine
  • Project 2 prototype due in 1 week

Thursday, October 7th: Project 2 prototype work time

  • Quick discussion of the meaning of the Project 2: Prototype assignment (due Tuesday)
    • Note: this is a short deadline and we’ll be adjusting our expectations appropriately!
  • Students give peer feedback on Project 2 ideation in small groups
  • A few catch-up Project 2 ideation people
  • Mostly work time in preparation for the upcoming prototype deadline

Tuesday, October 12th: Project 2 prototype demos

  • Quick schedule check-in
    • prototypes are due today
    • no class on Thursday 10/14 for mid-semester break
    • Tuesday 10/19 guest speaker at the top of class, then Fusion360 lasercut design tutorial and IDeATe laser use lessons
    • Thursday 10/21 is a work day
    • Tuesday 10/26 (two weeks from today) the project is due!
  • Quick fun warmup to shake off the cobwebs (“Zip Zap Zop” with some additions)
  • Prototype demo via document camera
    • everyone shows their piece from the front of the room for ~2 minutes
  • Class is broken into three random teams for 8 minutes apiece of individual peer feedback (the Tangelos, Paw Paws, and Persimmons)
  • Reminders at the end of class:
    1. Take pictures as you go (and take photos of your prototype)—your final documentation includes images of your process and the only time to take them is as you’re progressing
    2. If you need any materials ordered, write me an email as soon as you can
  • Very simple homework assigned for class next Tuesday

Tuesday, October 19th: Guest speaker and Fusion360/lasercutting tutorial

  • Guest speaker Emily Eckel talks Occupational Therapy and design/build best practices. Slide deck
  • Fusion360 and lasercut tutorial. Fusion design steps:
    • Create a new design
    • Make a new component called “mount”
    • Make a new sketch on the xz plane
    • Pan, zoom, and orbit with the mouse
    • Draw a two-point rectangle with one point at the origin
    • Specify one dimension in millimeters (30mm height)
    • Specify another dimension in inches (2” width)
    • Change the first dimension to 35mm
    • Round the UR corner of the rectangle with a fillet operation using a 7mm radius
    • Measure a component that you wish to panel mount (a potentiometer, toggle switch, etc.)
    • Draw a cutout for that component in the center of the rectangle
      • To find center, draw a construction line from the UL to the LR (draw a line, then make it construction)
      • Add a circle with center at the midpoint of that line, OR
      • Add a center rectangle at the midpoint of that line
    • Finish that sketch and extrude it up to a thickness of 3mm (do not extrude the cutout)
    • Toggle body and sketch visibility
    • Make new sketch on the top of the body
    • Project the body geometry (using body selector, not geometry selector)
    • Rename bottom sketch “base”; rename top sketch “top”
    • Add text in LR corner (3mm tall) spelling out AndrewID
    • Right-click and explode text
    • Add any regular polygon in the upper left region (this will be etched out)
    • Right-click the “top” sketch in the file browser and “save as DXF” using a good name
    • Then lasercut! (All students took their files to the IDeATe lasers and cut their designs there)

Thursday, October 21st: Project 2 work day

  • Just a work day for Project 2, which is due on Tuesday, Oct. 26th

Tuesday, October 26th: Project 2 crit

  • Class organized into two groups for critique
  • Guests include:
    • Chris Bartley, Principal Research Programmer at CREATE Lab
    • Nestor Gomez, Assistant Teaching Professor in MechE
    • Daniel Rosenberg Muñoz, Assistant Professor in Design
  • Crit structure:
    • Present for ~3 minutes:
      • The problem you were aiming to solve
      • The solution you came up with
      • The challenges you had along the way
    • Group discussion and response, starting with invited guest critiquers for ~6 minutes
    • Written feedback throughout, and especially during the last 2 minutes
      • Please use this document to write feedback for other students in your group

Thursday, October 28th: Beginning of the final project—meeting and greeting