I am looking forward to intergrading our fluorometer with the microchip on the breadboard. I think we will get much better results this way, instead of using the LED readout on the RadioShack kit. I also plan on putting our entire fluorometer set up in a box next week. This way we can keep out a lot of the ambient light. You will open the top of the box to put the sample in and then close it to read the sample.
Last night I read a few chapters in the physical computing book, which I wish I had read before last class. Last class I was a bit confused about how the microchip works and what pins correspond to what. However, after reading the book I think I have a good understanding of how it works. I also read a bit about the BASIC programming language, it seems pretty strait forward and should not be hard to work with.
My understanding of circuits and how electronics work is also coming together. For example I did not understand how components in a circuit could be controlled by a microchip. After doing the simple set up with the microchip and the LED last class, I realize the microchip can control the current sent to the LED and thus regulate the flashes. The example that we did last class tells me that the microchip also has some way of measuring time, which was alluded to in one of the chapter in the book.
In the future I need to make sure I know the function of every pin on every component, this will greatly enhance my understanding of the circuits I build. One of my goals in this class is to be able to build circuits without instructions. I want to be able to build circuits just based on my knowledge of the components.
Great to see how you are getting into the sensor making. It is amazing how much you could do with simple components (and how we now find an amazing array of sensors in cars and phones, e.g. tilt sensors in ipods). Any insight about the movies?
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work, Emmanuel