User:Johnpritch11/sandbox

The Rapid Prototyping Laboratory in the Department of Industrial Design at Iowa State University (ISU) is a collaborative effort by the College of Design and College of Engineering at ISU to integrate practical electronics applications and product design. This lab is led by ISU faculty and staff that guide students in Industrial Design, helping them combine open-source electronics hardware and software with practices and methods in product design to realize the products they envision.

History
The Rapid Prototyping Lab was conceived by John Pritchard, Mani Mina, and David Ringholz in 2013, and deployed in 2015. The original plan incorporated printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication equipment, a full repertoire of passive components and integrated circuits, wireless communication modules, robotics equipment, advanced metrology equipment, and low and high power sources. It was decided that the first stage of the deployment include easy-to-use modules supplied by Seeedstudio (Grove products) and Arduino (Arduino Uno with Arduino IDE) using visual programming software called ArduBlock.

Ideology
In an attempt to connect electrical engineering principles with design principles, it has been challenging to create questions that also result in useful technical skills for non-engineers, specifically industrial designers. Previous attempts have presented thoughts, theories, and applications of technology creating many questions and activities. Some of these questions/activities include: These are useful questions in understanding the basic concepts of electricity and how it is applied to real world applications. These highlight methods of inquisition about the technology in our everyday life and help us think in a more meaningful way. However, many of the questions posed by students include: Both paradigms are important, however there is currently a disconnect that does not necessarily allow students to answer these questions for themselves. It is the goal of this document to propose a set of hardware kits and downloadable software development environment in order to aide in this endeavor. These kits will be supplemented with documentation that will allow a student to independently solve problems on their own, irrespective of an instructor.
 * 1) What is voltage and current?
 * 2) What are batteries and how do we use them?
 * 3) How do things work (e.g. disposable cameras, solar lamps, satellites, radios, radar, etc.)?
 * 4) How can things conduct and how do electrons move around in a conductive material?
 * 5) Why do these things work, what is the physics behind them?
 * 6) Etc…
 * 1) How can I use these concepts in my design courses?
 * 2) How can I use these components in my projects?
 * 3) How do I mount the components into my fabricated design?
 * 4) How do I find the right sensor/indicator for my project?
 * 5) How can I create a proof-of-concept to show my project could work if I had the money?
 * 6) Etc…

Proposed Hardware
The proposed hardware kits include Arduino-based modules under the Grove platform created by Seeed Studio. The Arduino comes with a shield that can connect to each module. The modules can be easily mounted since they have screw holes, and are easy to plug in since cables are provided (no breadboarding required).

Proposed Software
The free software features a “block programming” scheme designed by ArduBlock. Traditionally, an Arduino is programmed in C/C++ code, whose syntax can be complex, confusing, and with a high learning curve. ArduBlock’s block programming environment makes programming easy and intuitive, with a much smaller learning curve.

Hardware
The hardware used include the Arduino and Grove products.

Arduino
The Arduino section.

Grove Products
The Grove products include:
 * 1) Grove Shield
 * 2) Grove LED (socket)
 * 3) Grove RGB LED
 * 4) Grove LED Bar
 * 5) Grove Button
 * 6) Grove Lin/Slide Potentiometer
 * 7) Grove Rotary Potentiometer
 * 8) Grove Light Dependent Resistor
 * 9) Grove Sound Sensor
 * 10) Grove Temperature Sensor
 * 11) Grove Moisture Sensor
 * 12) Grove Tilt Sensor
 * 13) Grove Touch Sensor
 * 14) Grove Servo
 * 15) Grove LED Strip Driver

Grove Shield
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove Shield

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove Shield

Grove LED (socket)
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove LED (socket)

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove LED (socket)

Grove RGB LED
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove RGB LED

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove RGB LED

Grove LED Bar
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove LED Bar

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove LED Bar

Grove Button
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove Button

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove Button

Grove Lin/Slide Potentiometer
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove Lin/Slide Potentiometer

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove Lin/Slide Potentiometer

Grove Rotary Potentiometer
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove Rotary Potentiometer

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove Rotary Potentiometer

Grove Light Dependent Resistor
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove Light Dependent Resistor

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove Light Dependent Resistor

Grove Sound Sensor
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove Sound Sensor

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove Sound Sensor

Grove Temperature Sensor
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove Temperature Sensor

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove Temperature Sensor

Grove Moisture Sensor
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove Moisture Sensor

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove Moisture Sensor

Grove Tilt Sensor
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove Tilt Sensor

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove Tilt Sensor

Grove Touch Sensor
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove Touch Sensor

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove Touch Sensor

Grove Servo
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove Servo

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove Servo

Grove LED Strip Driver
The product information can be found at the Seeed Studio website:
 * Grove LED Strip Driver

Example ArduBlock code and getting started instructions can be found here:
 * Getting Started with the Grove LED Strip Driver

Software
This is the software.