Sunday, April 25, 2010

Some videos to watch

Some videos to look at. The first explains the Arduino. They did it on "speak like a pirate day". Take a look at them then write a short review. See the tasks posting.


The classic intro on "talk like a pirate day"

Tasks. Write your answers into your blog.

Tasks. These are your assignements. Be able to show your program working on the VC and post your code into your blog for me to mark.

1) Start your blog by going into Blogger and just follow the simple instructions for creating a new blog. The first post should introduce yourself and upload of photo if possible or a picture of your dog or favourite computer or person etc. Just say who you are an a bit about interests, what IT knowledge you have especially with regard to microprocessors, computer applications, games, languages and skills that you have. If you've not done much in this field, it doesn't matter. Once you've done this send a link to Peter Brook at peter.brook@op.ac.nz

2) Have a look at the YouTube videos listed in another posting. Write a short review of each one. What's it about; what's in it; how did you find it for information or entertainment.

3) Do a search for two more Arduino based videos and provide a link and a short review of each one.

4) Copy the blink program into your blog. Get it running and then experiment with variations of the program in the tasks below.

5) Same as blink but this time make the blinking twice as slow. Put your new code, the whole program, into your blog but make sure you label it task 4.

6) Get the blinking to go very fast. Write your new program in your blog and add a comment about how fast you could go before your eyes couldn't see the blinking any more.

7) Write a program to get the on-board led to be on almost all the time but once per second it winks off but for a very short time.

8) Write a program to do the reverse of 7. That is, you should see the led as off most of the time but if you look hard you can see that the led winks on for just a little burst once a second.

9) List in your blog five things that have got leds built into them. Find one that does a flashing led and estimate how long it's on for and how long it's off for.

10) Download the fritzing program http://fritzing.org.

11) Make up the fritzing diagram just like the one in the fritzing post but put your components in slightly different places.. See if you can put a copy of your fritzing diagram into your blog with a comment about how it's the answer to task 11. It could go into another post as sometimes text and pictures don't mix too well.

12) Check out some cool projects using Arduinos in http://fritzing.org/projects/. Write down the project you liked best. We are doing most of these in the BIT degree at Otago Polytechnic. You may wish to investigate one of the simpler ones for your project due at the end of the course.


Welcome

Hi VC microprocessor students

It was good to meet most of you when you came to Otago Polytechnic.

Keep an eye on this blog for information and assignments. The work you're expected to do is in the Tasks section. Post your answers in your own blog which should come from Blogger like this one. In fact your first assignment is to start your own blog and send a link via my email: peter.brook@op.ac.nz so that I can read it and mark your assignments. Mostly, you'll work through tasks on the Arduino. Like the Blink example we did in class the other day in Dunedin. The Arduinos are yours to keep but please look after them as they'll cost over $70 to replace. You pass the course by completing all the assignments and passing one test at the end.

Ok, let's get going. Find the tasks and keep up to date with them. Try to keep ahead and spend plenty of time on the Internet looking at Arduino sites for information and ideas. See you on the VC.

PeterB