Background Information

General Background

Age Range: 5-11 (elementary students)

Reasoning: Strengthen STEM education in youth

We were called upon to create an iteration of the design that will further improve the product for the public release in 2020.

“We all chose engineering education and came up with the idea to redesign the classic breadboard. We discovered a love-hate relationship with the breadboard; while it is the industry standard for prototyping circuits, it doesn't have an intuitive design or a steep learning curve.”

Patent Search

Snap Circuits Jr: This is a toy that already exists and appears to be a way into learning about circuits. It is designed for children 8+ and seems to be more based on one project at a time where as the EdBoard is looking for a story that is interactive and leaves children wanting more. This appears to be very popular so something similar but more engaging could be wildly popular.

Home Depot: Home Depot offers something very similar to the above stated, so there is obviously competition for this product already.

Standards/Codes/Safety

Standards: Aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and Colorado Common Core Standards

Circuit boards projects have a story-based lesson that relate to real life and real world.

Safety: Reasonably sized components, magnetic connections for ease of use

Codes: Unclear, but understood that these need to be very safe and accessible for young children.

Reverse Engineering

Once we have the part, it will be simple to reverse engineer some of it, as that is what the users of the product will be doing. We will also be able to see how the shell is made and what is inside it, once we start working more with the client.

In terms of the code that is already being used on the breadboard, we will be able to see that and hopefully get some explanation on why the code is the way it is, so we can better move forward to create a storyboard for the learning activity the client is hoping to achieve.