2023 Class Calendar #
Phase 1 #
| Week | Date | Class topics | Hands-on | What to study | What’s due before class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9/6 | Course overview, introductions, kit contents | Breadboard basics; Power an LED with “wall” power | Prototyping; Voltage and current; LEDs | |
| 2 | 9/11 | Voltage, current, resistors, voltage dividers | Voltage dividers | Series vs. parallel; Resistors; Multimeters | |
| 9/13 | Voltage regulators, capacitors | Project 1 start (Also: labs begin) | Capacitors; Voltage regulators; Videos for P1 | Intro post on Canvas | |
| 3 | 9/18 | Voltage regulators; Project 1 | Debug your voltage regulator; Soldering demo | Voltage regulators; Videos for P1; Adafruit soldering guide | |
| 9/20 | KiCad | KiCad demo | PCB design; Kicad resources | P1 proto | |
| 4 | 9/25 | PCB design | KiCad Q & A | PCB design; KiCad demo videos |
Phase 2 - Instructors Swap Classrooms #
| Week | Date | Class topics | Hands-on | What to study | What’s due |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/27 | Transistors as switches | Make a switch with a BJT | Low power/high power | P1 PCB due Thurs. night | |
| 5 | 10/2 | Intro to P2 (game v1), DC motors, MOSFETs | Run a motor with a MOSFET | Motors | |
| 10/4 | Microcontrollers, CircuitPython | KB2040 set-up | Microcontrollers; KB2040 hardware; Solder pins to your KB2040 and bring to class | ||
| 6 | 10/9 | NO CLASS | (Indigenous People’s Day) | ||
| 10/11 | Digital and analog I/O hardware | KB2040 challenges | KB2040 programming; KB2040 challenges | ||
| 7 | 10/16 | Intro to P3, H-bridges | Start building an H-bridge | H-bridge motor driver; Intro and video for P3 | P2 (game v1) |
| 10/18 | More H-bridge details | More H-bridge work | |||
| 8 | 10/23 | Motor electrical power, detailed PCB design | Motor measurement; H-bridge debugging | P3 proto |
Phase 3 - Instructors Swap Classrooms #
| Week | Date | Class topics | Hands-on | What to study | What’s due |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/25 | Intro to P4, Motor mechanical power | More motor measurement; P1 PCB test | Solder components to your P1 PCB and bring to class | Soldered P1 PCB | |
| 9 | 10/30 | Motor modeling, PWM | P4 planning | P3 PCB | |
| 11/1 | Sensors, state machines | More KB2040 challenges | KB2040 programming; KB2040 challenges | ||
| 10 | 11/6 | Stepper motors | Stepper motors | ||
| 11/8 | Discriminatory design | ||||
| 11 | 11/13 | Raspberry Pi intro | Booting the Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi setup; Raspberry Pi programming |
Phase 4 - Instructors Swap Classrooms #
| Week | Date | Class topics | Hands-on | What to study | What’s due |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/15 | P4 demo & reflection | P4 (game v2) demo day | P4 (game v2) | P4 | |
| 12 | 11/20 | Project 5 intro | Pi challenges | Raspberry Pi challenges | Raspberry Pi setup check on Canvas |
| 11/22 | NO CLASS | (Thanksgiving) | P5 partners | ||
| 13 | 11/27 | How does the internet work? | P5 planning | Internet; Servers and clients | |
| 11/29 | Oscilloscopes | P5 Q & A | |||
| 14 | 12/4 | Project management, BOMs | Design ethics | ||
| 12/6 | P5 reflection | P5 demo day | P5 | ||
| 15 | 12/11 | P6 intro, Jobs talk | P6 Q & A | ||
| (16) | 12/18 | (ME 30 finals block) | P6 showcase, Dec. 18, 3:30-5:30pm |
Lab Calendar #
| Lab # | Lab dates | Lab focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9/13-9/19 | Voltage regulator circuits |
| 2 | 9/20-9/26 | Learn KiCad, and solder your KB2040 pins |
| 3 | 9/27-10/3 | Control a motor with transistors, and solder your KB2040 pins |
| (No labs 10/4-10/10) | ||
| 4 | 10/11-10/15 | KB2040 challenges; P2 help |
| 5 | 10/16-10/22 | Soldering P1 PCB and H-bridges |
| 6 | 10/23-10/29 | H-bridges |
| 7 | 10/30-11/5 | More KB2040 challenges |
| 8 | 11/6-11/12 | Complex motorized games |
| 9 | 11/13-11/19 | Raspberry Pi setup & challenges |
| (No labs 11/20-11/25) | ||
| 10 | 11/27-12/3 | Optional attendance: Project 5 robots |
| 11 | 12/4-12/10 | Optional attendance: Project 5 robots |