Experiment Platform
Guide Grades 6+
15 Minutes
Learn more about the experiment platform
The Ardusat Experiment Platform is a tool that can be used to gather and use data to build experiments.
Getting Access
You'll need an account that has permission to log in. After you get your account there are two ways to access it 1) from the
website: http://experiments.ardusat.com or 2) from the Google Chrome App Store. Either way should work.
Installing the Experiment Platform is easy! First, you'll need to have the Google Chrome browser installed on your computer.
After that then you go to the Chrome Web Store at https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/ardusat and click the button.
That's it!
To open the platform you can open a new Chrome tab and click on the Apps button in the upper left corner.
After that you can click on the Ardusat Experiment Platform icon and it will launch!
You will then be asked to login. You'll need a Google (gmail) account. Logging in will give you a additional features
including the ability to save your logged data and build shareable experiments.
After logging in, you will get a welcome message and have a "Start Experimenting" button, click that and you're ready to go!
My Dashboard
The My Dashboard page is where you can connect hardware and record data for use in an experiments.
There are three steps to connecting to the experiment platform.
Step 1. Wire your sensor to an Arduino.
Step 2. Upload a sketch onto your Arduino.
Step 3. Connect your Arduino to the Experiment Platform.
There are two ways of doing this, one is to use the USB cable included with your Arduino into the computer and the Arduino.
The other is to use the wireless expansion pack and the XBee wireless radio.
Once your Arduino is connected to your computer, you can connect it to the Experiment Platform. Click the "Connect" button.
Choose the serial port you are connecting with. If you are connecting via USB Cable choose the same serial port that you
used when uploading the Sketch in the Arduino IDE. If you are using the Ardusat Wireless Expansion CollectionXBee
wireless connection choose that port.
Click the final "Connect" button and in a few moments you should begin seeing data!
To log data to the experiment platform for use later (or to download as a CSV file) click on the Save Dataset menu along the
left side of the screen. Be sure to check which sensors you want to log and how frequently you want to capture data. It is
also required that you give it a unique name.
When you are finished logging data press the stop button.
After pressing "Stop", you will be presented with a "Download CSV" button. Depending on how much data was collected,
this can take a few moments to get the data.
From the examples menu you can find several samples of learning experiences including an "All Sensors" view, "G Force
Experiment", the "Sensor audio kit, and a "Theremin".
Discover Datasets
You can find your recorded data and discover public datasets by going to the "Discover Datasets" menu at the top of the
page. To browse public datasets be sure to check the "Show Public Datasets" box.
Be sure to scroll down to see the datasets.
You can import CSV files and Google Sheets, but they need to be formatted correctly.
After you click on the Import button a link explaining the required format will appear.
Note: after importing a dataset, the data goes to the end of the list of datasets, so if you have a lot you might need to go to the
last page of datasets. Check out our screencast by Ben Peters, Director of Engineering for Ardusat as he steps through the
process of using Google Sheets.
Experiments
The Experiments section of the platform allows you to build shareable experiments and helps step you through the process.
Click on the "+Create New" button to make a new experiment. Give the experiment a Title and a Description. It is up to you
to check whether or not you want this to be available to the "Public". If you aren't sure, you can always change that later.
After giving it a title you will be taken to the Experiment Builder page for that experiment.
Write your hypothesis. The editor uses the Mark Down language, but you don't need to know that to use it. You can
copy/paste HTML code to embed videos. Click the icons in the editor to add links, images, or embed code. Also notice the
"Preview" button to see a quick preview of your hypothesis.
The procedure is where you can explain the process you followed for your experiment. This has the same features as the
Hypothesis.
Attach datasets from the "Discover Datasets" section. These should have already been uploaded or created earlier.
After clicking the "Add Dataset" button you can browse through your datasets. Be sure to only click the dataset once, it will
be added to the list when you close the window.
Add an analysis and conclusion. You should notice the datasets showing up above the editor.
Notice that on the dataset there is a "+" button. Clicking this will take you to an "Explore and Export" page. On this page you
can select a section of the data for a closer look and export it as an image.
Be sure to save after editing!
Click the "View Public Version" button to see and share your experiment.
The URL for the public version is unique and can be emailed or submitted to an online dropbox. Keep in mind it needs to be
set up as "Public" to be able to do this. If you need to change settings click the "Edit" button at the top of the Experiment
builder page.
Change your Profile
Click on the profile image to go to edit your Experiment Platform profile.
You can change the picture by clicking on the image.
This work by Ardusat is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License based on a work at ardusat.com .
Common Core Standards
RST.9-10.3
Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing
technical tasks, attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text.
8.F.A.1
Understand that a function is a rule that assigns to each input exactly one output. The graph of a function is the set of
ordered pairs consisting of an input and the corresponding output.
RST.6-8.7
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed
visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).
RST.6-8.3
Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
RST.11-12.3
Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing
technical tasks; analyze the specific results based on explanations in the text.