Robot Art Show

Process

For this project, my partner and I started off by brainstorming everything we had learned from the experiments we did throughout the unit. We wrote down all the skills and all the knowledge about bread boards we had gathered, and chose three that we could incorporate in our show. We decided to play a song on the buzzer, add an LCD screen, and add an LED light. It was challenging at first, but once we got the hang of it it worked well.

Evidence of Work

Above you can see our Robot Art Show and the code we made. We did many experiments leading up to this project that helped us learn how to wire the circuits and make specific things happen. Throughout these experiments, we were also learning about programming code. We learned what different commands meant, how to add now things to the code and much more. We used these skills to come up with our Robot Art Show. One of the experiments we had to do this unit was the Electromagnet Experiment. My partner and I tested different sized nails to see which size made the electromagnetic field the strongest. This lab was a struggle because we had to do it at home. We didn't have the proper materials needed to have the best possible outcome. My lab write up is shown below.

Content

Ohm's Law V=IR

Programming and Coding Takeaways

Before this unit I knew nothing about programming. However, now I feel more confident about how it works. A few basic commands and new things I learned were:

• Anything after // isn't part of the code and you can write whatever you want after it.
• void setup() // A function created at the top of programs to get it started.
• { // Inside the brackets is the code that you want to run.
• pinMode (13, OUTPUT); // Set pin to output.
• void loop() { // Starts the loop.
• delay (1000); // How long of a pause you want before restarting the loop. Ex: 300= 3 seconds.

Reflection

This project was very different from all the other projects we've done this year because all of it was online. It was challenging to me because I have never done any programming before so this was all new. Two things I did well this project were being a conscientious learner and good collaborator. I was a good conscientious learner because I was able to manage my time efficiently. I also embraced challenges with a growth mindset. I did this by trying my hardest to learn the new programming and coding skills so that my circuit would work. It took me lots of tries but I didn't give up and in the end it worked. I was a good collaborator because I was able to maintain a positive and empathetic attitude toward my partner and the project even when it seemed like we were getting nowhere and should give up. This helped us push through and finish strong. Two things I could have done better were communication and critical thinking. I could have had better communication with my my partner because he didn't have much decision making through the process and next time I could ask him more questions about the design he wants instead of just making it the design I came up with. My critical thinking skills also could have been better this project. I need to work on analyzing multiple sources to determine validity and biases instead of just looking up something and believing the first thing to pop up because it won't always work out. All in all, I learned a lot of new things this project that I might use in the real world someday.