Jackson and Alex chose to create an alarm system using an ultrasonic sensor and a buzzer as their first project using an Arduino. The goal was to have the buzzer emit different frequencies depending on the distance of the object being detected.
They used an ultrasonic sensor to detect the the distance on objects in range and coded it so that the buzzer attached to the bread board would change it's pitch depending on how far away the object is. After a lot of trial and error they were able to get this project working successfully.
For their second learning module, Jackson and Evan decided to learn how to solder. This project began with reading about what soldering is and how to do it, followed by some practice with soldering. The remainder of the project consisted of placing different resistors, wires, and other pieces onto the circuit board, then soldering them down. They encountered issues with putting resistors in incorrect spots but it was good experience as they had to learn how to desolder using a pump.
For this learning module, Jackson and Alex decided to learn how to use the Craftbot+ 3-D printer. First they learned how to use online software to design and print things using Tinkercad and Craftware. They made the designs using Tinkercad, saved them as an STL file, and sliced them using Craftware which converted the file type to GCODE.
For the fourth learning module, Jackson and Isaac decided to learn how to develop a website. They began this project doing research on W3Schools with offers plenty of information, exercises, and examples on HTML, which is what they used to develop the site, along with JavaScript and CSS. They decided to make an incremental game for the website that simulates a chicken farm. They used the website replit to code the website since it allowed them to work simultaneously on the same site.
For this learning module, Jackson and Max decided to make a game with unity inspired by The World's Hardest Game. They began the project with lots of research since neither of them had worked with Unity before. Max was more focused on the game play while Jackson was more focused on the animations and getting the N64 controller to work with game. Their final game includes checkpoints, animations, an optional controller, and clean collision animation.
For this learning module, Jackson and Alex created a drone using the parts from two mini drones that they previously owned. In the beginning they were taking apart the two mini drones and researching the different components to learn what purpose they serve and how Jackson and Alex could use them in their drone. They ended up using a motor shield on top of an Arduino so that they could attach the 8 motors to the motor shield using wires which allowed them to control the activity of the motors. They attached all of that to a 3-D printed body using hot glue and tape, they left the four smaller propellers in the bottom half of their original body. The only way to turn it on and off is by attached a 9 volt battery to the battery clip which is attached to the motor shield.
This learning module did not exactly go as planned. Jackson and Jonathon's goal was to create an AI that can play checkers. They attempted this for the majority of the learning module but they were never able to find a way to collaborate. After trying to find a way to collaborate for 9 of the 12 days, while also working on the checkers game and the AI, they finally decided it wasn't going to happen. Jonathon continued working with the checkers AI and Jackson decided that in order to learn as much as possible in 3 days, he would just do research and take notes (some of which is seen to the left). So, although Jackson didn't have any tangible project to show for the learning module, he still learned a lot and is very knowledgeable now when it comes to machine learning.