Digital Electronics,
Microcontrollers, and Robotics
Don
Allen
Dave
Wittry
Electronics &
CS
Ken
Gracey
Controllers &
Robotics
LED (Lots
of
Enjoyable
Didactics!
ok, sorry)
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Outline
• Who
– Dave Wittry & Don Allen (Troy), Ken Gracey (Parallax)
• Why
– show you enough fun things that you might want to
start/add to a class
• Game plan
– ICT, Microcontroller Course, Parallax
• www.troyhigh.com/wittry
– all info today can be found here
• docs, this presentation, more… (for tests/quizzes, contact us)
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
ICT
• History of the development of the class.
• from general electronics to digital/computer
electronics
• the infusion of ACSL-like topics
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
A bit - about - the bits … that
make up the class
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Numbering Systems (1.5 weeks)
• conversions: Baseany  BaseanyOther
• addition/subtraction
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Logic gates (3 weeks)
• AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR,
XNOR
• wiring the labs
– breadboards, chips, led’s (little exploding
devices)
• lab sheets/assignments
• the lab itself
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Karnaugh (K-Maps), NAND
Implementations, Minterms
(2 weeks)
• method of simplifying boolean algebra
expressions
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Boolean Algebra (2 weeks)
• basic laws plus some specific only to
boolean values
• DeMorgan’s Laws
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Door–Goat–Wolf, AirLock,
Football Projects
• ties all topics to this point together
• requirements
Project
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Flip-Flops (2 weeks)
• RS, RS-clocked, D, J-K
• basic building block of shift-registers,
counters, memory devices
• students find it cool that the same switch
combination can result in a different output
(output based on last outcome)
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Counters
(3 weeks)
• up, down, mod-N counters, using a 555timer
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Shift Registers (2 weeks)
• left, right, re-circulating
• multiplying/dividing by 2
• bit string flicking (ACSL)
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Adders/Subtractors (3 weeks)
• ½ adders, full adders, ½ subtractor, full
subtractors
• 1’s and 2’s Complement, integer math
• binary multiplication
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Equipment costs
• Per group (2 students)
–
–
–
–
breadboard, power supply ($75)
20 chips ($15)
wires, template
6 LED’s ($1)
• Class set
– logic probe ($10), multi-meter ($15)
– pliers, cutters, stripers, solder, solder-iron, misc. ($50)
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Programming
Microcontrollers & Robotics
• History and Motivation for the class
– melding of hardware & software
– freedom to experiment and have fun with
practical labs before it gets serious in college
– BS2 sounded like fun and the means to my end
– took 2-day educator course from Parallax
• great if you’re a newbie to controllers
– the curriculum is fun (WAM, BAD, IC,
Robotics)
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Programming
Microcontrollers & Robotics
(cont’d)
• much harder to get physical, real-world
projects to do exactly what you want (neat!)
as opposed to a software (theoretical) class
– they’ll need time to experiment and try
algorithms
• cool thing I learned right away: watch out
how much you tell them – they’re
smarter/more creative than you! Let them
suggest lab ideas and then try some.
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Teaching Style & Prerequisites
• if you plan on teaching this type of course
using a facilitative approach, keep
prerequisites high
– 20 students or so
– otherwise you’re in for a nightmare with such
an independent, self-motivated type curriculum
and somewhat expensive hardware
– great for middle-schools students as well
– this class is LOTS of fun to teach
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
The BS2 and How it Works
Code
Wiring
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Interfacing to the real-world
through a variety of devices
• limited only by your imagination
• Types of devices you can interface to the
BasicStamp
– almost anything!
• simple electronics stuff – plus the more
advanced/fun things (sound module, RF
receiver/transmitter, video, web server…more from
Ken)
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Electronics Component
Companies
•
•
•
•
•
http://www.stampsinclass.com (Parallax)
http://www.elexp.com/ (Electronix Express)
http://www.jameco.com/ (Jameco)
http://www.kelvin.com/ (Kelvin)
… more; easy to find on web
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Robotics Labs
• great curriculum, well-written, nice
springboard to bigger better things, great for
Back-To-School night
• usage of servos, usage of devices already
‘played’ with (potentiometer for direction
control, button for go/stop, etc.) (Francisco)
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Robotics Labs (cont’d)
• line following (photo-resistors, “TROY” signfollowing
• Maze labs (spend as much time as you want here –
it’s where they have the most fun)
– maze construction/development
– floor, walls, costs
– one-hallway maze
• find way in, ‘report’ at end, find way out
• using “whiskers”
• using infrared devices
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Robotics Labs (cont’d)
• algorithms learned/discovered (careful how
much you tell them)
• follow-wall-right (quick bit on “Karel”)
– spin off idea (stay straight and follow wall)
• will be neat to try with Fuzzy Logic concepts
• bump-and-turn
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Student-Designed Project
• provided you have a budget, let students go
through web sites, magazines/catalogs
(Parallax, Nuts-And-Volts, Robot Magazine,
Mouser, etc.), books and design a project.
Limit them as to how much they can spend.
Have them “prove” they can make it work then buy materials and have them go at it
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics
Fuzzy Logic (optional topic)
• read a book in an engineering class? boy am I
mean!
• Bart Kosko’s “Fuzzy Thinking” is a nice, friendly
place to start
• current technology used in control systems to give
smoother, simpler control of complex systems
• eventually implement a fuzzy-controlled system
with Parallax’s new Java-enabled microcontroller
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Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers, Robotics