Design, Make, Play, Learn

More WOW Photos. We had an amazing night at the Microsoft NERD...

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 11:40:00 -0500

More WOW Photos. We had an amazing night at the Microsoft NERD for the Citizen Schools City-wide STEM WOW!. The kids did an amazing job explaining the materials and process behind building their TechnoSwag projects. They told many interested members of the community about simple and parallel circuits, conductive thread, LEDs and the anode and cathode, the Lilypad Arduino open source microcontroller, and how they programmed the microcontroller to light up their projects. It was a memorable night!

Photos from our WOW! at Microsoft NERD (New England Research and...

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 11:39:20 -0500

Photos from our WOW! at Microsoft NERD (New England Research and Development Center).

Mileidy’s Project!

Fri, 11 May 2012 16:41:57 -0400

Mileidy’s Project!

Alyssa’s Project!

Fri, 11 May 2012 16:40:22 -0400

Alyssa’s Project!

Makayla’s Project - Hunger Games!!!

Fri, 11 May 2012 16:37:07 -0400

Makayla’s Project - Hunger Games!!!

Shannon’s Project - I think she still is working on the...

Fri, 11 May 2012 16:36:04 -0400

Shannon’s Project - I think she still is working on the lighting pattern.

Ohani’s project!

Fri, 11 May 2012 16:32:32 -0400

Ohani’s project!

TechnoSwag Sessions 5, 6 & 7

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:40:05 -0400

Weeks 5, 6 and 7 of our TechnoSwag apprenticeship have all been pretty similar in our class plan: the kids are busy working on their main projects.

We made sure they finished their designs and that the designs were feasible in session 5. I took them home in between classes, reviewed each one, then wrote the student a note about what they had done well and if any changes were needed.

They then began preparing their LEDs, bending the positive (anode) lead one way, and the negative (cathode) lead another. Most of them got the hang of this quickly.

Then they traced their patterns on the back of their fabric banner or patch, glued on their Lilypad Arduino, and began sewing.

Some of the kids are quite good and fast at sewing, and for others it is a brand new (and sometime frustrating) task. At the end of Class 6, I took everyone’s project home again, and reviewed to make sure they were on track. A few of them had mistakes in their project that would prevent them from completing successfully, so I made notes so that me and my fellow instructors could help them out.

As of the end of class 7, two of the students had finished their sewing and will be ready to begin programming in our next class. The rest have at least one or 2 more classes before they will finish sewing and will be ready to begin programming. We are running a bit behind what I had planned, but fortunately we will have 1 extra week to work on the projects, so that will help significantly. We are supposed to reserve sessions 9 and 10 for WOW! planning, but now we can do that in 10 and 11 and also perhaps use some of that time to finish the projects (since I’m not sure everyone will be done after session 9).

For session 8, we have a special visitor: Dr. Amon Millner : http://www.olin.edu/faculty_staff/Bios/bio_amillner.html

This week in TechnoSwag Session 4, we started work on our main...

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:09:00 -0400

This week in TechnoSwag Session 4, we started work on our main project, which is to sew LEDs and a Lilypad Arduino into a piece of fabric. I started off with a few minutes of overview on the Lilypad - what it is, how it works, and how we will program it to light up our LEDs. Pictured above is the intro slide I used to describe this powerful little wearable micro-controller.

Then I introduced the first step in the project, which is for the kids to design their pattern. I gave them a printed copy of their designs (the same designs I had transferred to fabric using iron-on transfers) and showed them how to annotate the image with the location of all the LEDs, the Lilypad, the + and - leads, and the paths for their conductive thread. They are to connect all the negative leads to the negative lead on the lilypad, then run paths from the positive leads on the Lilypad out to each of the LEDs.

The kids made pretty good progress…several finished their designs by the end of the session, and a few others are very close to being done. I’m particularly impressed with a few students, who did a very nice, thorough job on their designs. So many will start sewing on the main project on Tuesday, which will keep us on track to finish up in week 8 of the apprenticeship, leaving weeks 9 and 10 for WOW planning.

We also had a special guest visitor: Dale Dougherty, editor of Make Magazine and Maker Faire, who was in town and stopped by to see us. Dale enjoyed meeting the kids and watching our progress. He also took time to show the kids two videos: one of all the cool stuff people make at Maker Faire, and the second of a Quad Copter that was built using an Arduino - to show the power of the platform to the kids.

I spent many nights and weekends printing iron-on transfers of...

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 10:05:42 -0400

I spent many nights and weekends printing iron-on transfers of the kids images, ironing them to the duck cloth, then sewing a felt backing and edging. I had to dust off my sewing skills. It’s been enjoyable.

TechnoSwag Session 3

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 10:03:11 -0400

We had another good week in our apprenticeship, and the kids were very engaged. It was the first time that all 12 students were there, so we had a few kids who had to catch up.

Our Teaching Fellow Hannah started off with a vocabulary game to reinforce the terms and concepts we are learning.

But then dove right into continuing to work on our LED wristbands. I felt like I needed to be on roller-blades, running back and forth from one table to the next, helping kids with learning to thread a needle, the proper way to bend an LED, and helping confirm their circuit designs. It was a warm afternoon and I was over-dressed since I had come from another meeting, and I was quite exhausted by the end. Thankfully Hannah and my Cognizant colleague Saravanan were both their helping as well.

A few of the kids got pretty close to finishing the wristbands, but still only one had finished. However, we decided that for next week, we really need to move onto starting the main project, otherwise we run the risk of running out of time. They can always come back and finish the wristbands later. The main goal was to get them comfortable with circuits, preparing LEDs and sewing, and I think we’ve largely done that. Now we can move onto the main project.

We confirmed everyone’s design for the main project…we have quite a range of banners and patches that the kids will light up for their main projects, ranging from basketball imagery to Hunger Games logo to Sponge Bob, to the Lorax, a map of the world, and a cool photograph. What I really like about this is that the kids get to put some of their personality into the project by choosing the image for the fabric (which I apply using iron-on transfer). I then turn it into a banner or a patch, depending on what they want. I sew a felt backing to the duck cloth, and sew an edge around it. Its taken a fair amount of time on the weekends making these 12 banners/patches, but I’ve found the work enjoyable and cathartic.

We plan to have a special guest popping in this next week: Dale Dougherty, co-founder of O’Reilly Media, and publisher of Make Magazine and Maker Faire. Dale will be in town for a meeting at MIT and thought it would be fun to drop in. The kids won’t realize what a celebrity they have in the house, yet I’m sure Dale will win them over with his amazing way with kids.

I’m also working on planning a special guest for the official “Guest Week” on April 10th and will be tapping into my network of Boston-area Engineers/Makers for that…stay tuned!

TechnoSwag Session 2

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:36:56 -0400

On Tuesday we led our 2^nd session of TechnoSwag. We started off with a Bingo word game where Hannah, our Teaching Fellow, put up a Prezi with all the words/terms we learned last week. The kids than wrote down 5 words on a piece of paper. Out of an envelope, we then randomly drew the definitions to these words. If the definition matched a word they had written down, they crossed that word off. The first person to cross of three words won. Our words included Circuit, LED, Anode, Cathode, Conductive Thread, Switch, Parallel Circuit, Short Circuit, and Prototype. A few of these (like Parallel Circuit) proved to be challenging, but the kids knew many of them. I was particularly pleased that one girl knew that the Anode was the longer, positive lead on the LED. We did this game for about 10 minutes.

We then dove into continuing to work on our LED bracelets. I was quite pleased at how the kids were able to master the preparation of the LEDs (bending the positive lead into a square spiral, the negative lead into a round spiral). Many had never sewn before, so Saravanan, Hannah, and I showed them, primarily 1-1, how to use a needle threader (essential for the thick conductive thread) to thread a needle. They seemed to pick up hand sewing pretty quickly.

By the end of the session, one girl had finished her bracelet. Several others had sewn a path from the battery to the snap (acting as a switch) and were about to begin sewing the 2^nd of three paths. We had several students absent again, which will make things challenging for next week.

I also went around and asked each student what kind of design they want for their main project (the banner, patch, or piece of clothing they will sew the Arduino into). They had some very interesting ideas, and most the kids were able to decide. So I’ll be busy printing their designs on iron-on transfers, ironing them onto the fabric, and sewing a felt backing to the fabric prior to next week’s class.

I was really impressed with the behavior in this group of 12 kids. The project really kept them engaged, and there were no behavioral issues whatsoever. I had fun, too.

Next week we will let them continue working more on the wrist-band, but I want to introduce the main project soon since I don’t want the one student who has finished to become disengaged. I was thinking I might be able to give her some things to learn about with respect to the Lilypad Arduino that she could be doing while others complete their projects.

In honor of the opening of the New York Hall of Science...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:33:32 -0400

In honor of the opening of the New York Hall of Science MakerSpace presented by Cognizant, I made this NYSCI banner for Margaret, Karla, Dan, and all the team involved in creating MakerSpace. I hope to see it hanging proudly on the wall of the MakerSpace next time I visit.

It uses the LilyPad Arduino Simple board. I programmed 5 different patterns for the LEDs.

TechnoSwag Session 1

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:03:00 -0500

On Tuesday, my colleague Saravanan and I taught our first session of our TechnoSwag e-textile apprenticeship to 12 six-graders at the Irving Middle School in Roslindale. Hannah, our Citizen School Teaching Fellow, was there to guide and support us.

We have the pleasure of teaching a great group of kids…they were really well behaved and seemed very engaged. We introduced the first project they will make, which is an LED wrist-band. We then taught them a little about circuits, and passed out coin-cell batteries, holders, some wires, and LEDs so they could practice and play with making their own circuits. We introduced some terminology, and then got them to designing, using a paper prototype, what their wrist-band would look like. We taught them how to prepare the leads on the LEDs, by bending the positive leads in a square pattern, and the negative in a spiral pattern, so the LEDs can be easily sewn onto the felt.

The students picked things up at different speeds, and several of them cut their felt and were about to begin sewing before class ended. Some were still finalizing their designs. Next week we will plan on using the entire 90 minutes to complete the project (except for a brief exercise at the beginning where we will review terms and concepts from the first session).

I’m sure there will be ups and downs along the way, but I really had a blast teaching this first session and hope that things continue to go this well.

Today I teach the first session of my Apprenticeship at the...

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 08:27:04 -0500

Today I teach the first session of my Apprenticeship at the Irving Middle School. We’ve decide to name it “TechnoSwag” since the kids will be adding some technology (LEDs, Microcontrollers) to some “Swag” of their choice…a hat, banner, patch, etc. I’ve got all my materials laid out and ready to go. I’ve got my curriculum, a few powerpoint slides, tools, and materials. My tools include things like needlenose pliers, scissors, sewing needles, glue guns, etc. My supplies include felt for the wrist band project we will start with, lots of LEDs, coin cell battery holders and batteries, lots of conductive thread. I’ll also be bringing banners I’m making for kids that are not able to bring something in from home (like the Citizen Schools one). And I’ll be providing the Lilypad Arduino Microcontrollers, too, for later sessions.

I’ve now gone throug a bunch of training to get me ready to teach, all provided by Citizen Schools: Apprenticeship 101, WOW Planning, and tonight after my first session all be attending a behavior management class. Hopefully, all these trainings will equip me to be a successful Citizen Teacher! I think the biggest thing is I need to show up with lots of energy, patience, and a strong desire to bring the joy of learning and making to the classroom.

I finished my sample project using the Duck Cloth and this is...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:39:00 -0500

I finished my sample project using the Duck Cloth and this is definitely a good way to go for my students. It was easy to sew, the cloth can be cut into any size or shape, and we can print virtually anything on it. I used velcro an applied my Citizen Schools patch to my PopTech messenger bag…pretty cool, I think!

Now I’m going to stop making projects and shift my focus to finalizing my curriculum and created some cheat sheets for the students.

Arduino Sketch Template

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:26:00 -0500

Below is my Sketch template for the students in the apprenticeship to start with. This sketch simply turns on, then off, each of the 9 pins on the Lilypad Simple board, repeating endlessly. The students can then modify it to their liking, adding loops, etc.

I also plan to pre-load this sketch to all the Lilypads before I give them out to the students. This accomplishes several things:

I can make sure the Lilypads are not defective and will accept a program
Once they finish their sewing they can test them immediately
If I run into problems downloading the the Lilypads, as has happened in the past, I at least know they are working, and their projects will be functional while I’m figuring out what is wrong.

Here is the code:

/* LilyPad Loop

* For Citizen Schools

* 9 pin Lilipad Simple Board

int timer = 200; // The higher the number, the slower the timing.

void setup()

{

// Initialize all pints to output

pinMode(5, OUTPUT);

pinMode(6, OUTPUT);

pinMode(9, OUTPUT);

pinMode(10, OUTPUT);

pinMode(11, OUTPUT);

pinMode(16, OUTPUT);

pinMode(17, OUTPUT);

pinMode(18, OUTPUT);

pinMode(19, OUTPUT);

}

void loop()

{

int i;

// for (i = 0; i < 3; i++) { // loop 3 times)

//Loop is commented out…can add looping later

// Turn each LED on, then delay for duration of timer, then turn off

digitalWrite(5, HIGH); // turn one LED on,

delay(timer); // pausing

digitalWrite(5, LOW); // turn one LED on,

digitalWrite(6, HIGH); // turn one LED on,

delay(timer); // pausing

digitalWrite(6, LOW); // turn one LED on,

digitalWrite(9, HIGH); // turn one LED on,

delay(timer); // pausing

digitalWrite(9, LOW); // turn one LED on,

digitalWrite(10, HIGH); // turn one LED on,

delay(timer); // pausing

digitalWrite(10, LOW); // turn one LED on,

digitalWrite(11, HIGH); // turn one LED on,

delay(timer); // pausing

digitalWrite(11, LOW); // turn one LED on,

digitalWrite(16, HIGH); // turn one LED on,

delay(timer); // pausing

digitalWrite(16, LOW); // turn one LED on,

digitalWrite(17, HIGH); // turn one LED on,

delay(timer); // pausing

digitalWrite(17, LOW); // turn one LED on,

digitalWrite(18, HIGH); // turn one LED on,

delay(timer); // pausing

digitalWrite(18, LOW); // turn one LED on,

digitalWrite(19, HIGH); // turn one LED on,

delay(timer);

digitalWrite(19, LOW); // turn one LED on,

delay(timer);

// } End of loop, commented out

}

Experimenting with Fabrics: For my apprenticehip, I’m...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:31:00 -0500

Experimenting with Fabrics:

For my apprenticehip, I’m going to allow the kids to bring something from home (made of fabric) that they can use for the Lilypad arduino project, in which they will add LED lights and a microcontroller - a hat, banner, or just a piece of fabric with a pattern. However, I’m expecting many kids won’t have anything suitable for the project, so I wanted to find some various fabric items to bring with me. However, it has been challenging finding things in the local stores (I’ve searched Sports Authority, Dicks, Bobs, the craft and fabric stores, etc) and have found very few affordable things that they can use for the project.

Then I read something in an MIT blog about using Canvas Paper and printing patterns on it. I went out to my local office supply store and found the canvas paper. I grabbed a Celtics image off google images, printed it on the paper, and am testing it out to see if its good for e-textile projects. One downside is that the canvas is coated and so it is really hard to push a needle through, but it works. Also, if it gets wet, the colors may run, although I could use a spray Fixative to seal it. I used spray adhesive to put a felt backing on it to make it easier to sew the Lilypad on the reverse side without the thread showing through.

Then, while wandering through the craft store, I got the idea of using Iron-on patches. I went back to the office supply store and got some Ink-jet printer Iron-on transfer sheets. I also purchased some Duck Cloth (light canvas) from the fabric store. I picked a good colorful image (in this case the Citizen Schools Logo!) and printed it on the Iron-on transfer paper, and then used the hot iron to adhere it to the fabric. It seems to work well. I plan to use a sewing machine to sew a boarder around it, and sew in the felt backing (which makes it easier for sewing to the back of it when you don’t want the stitches to show through). I plan to turn this one into a patch that could be velcro’d onto a messenger bag (like the original blinky messenger bag project on Make Projects which is the source of my inspiration for the Apprenticeship).

Over the next few days, I’ll finish both projects and see which works best: canvas paper or Iron-on transfer. My gut feel is that the iron-on will work best, since it will be easier for the kids to sew through. I have more Lilypad microcontrollers on order, so I’ll need to wait till they arrive to finish these sample projects.

Finally, I’ll find a bunch of cool images on the web to show the kids, then they can pick an image that they want to use, and I’ll print it at home, iron it on, and we will have their fabric ready for the project. I’d love to do this with them in the apprenticeship, but I’m not sure we will have time. If they have their own graphic, I could print and iron that on, as well.

Never thought it would be this much work just to find some good e-textile project fabric!

I’ve been working to identify a “warm-up” project for my Citizen...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:06:00 -0500

I’ve been working to identify a “warm-up” project for my Citizen Schools apprenticeship to get kids comfortable working with conductive thread and circuits prior to starting the main project with the Lilypad Arduino. From the MIT media lab site (and Lilypond) I came up with the idea of a conductive bracelet, which I think could be an inexpensive and easy warm-up project.

The materials are simple:

Piece of felt
Coin Cell Battery Holder (and Battery)
A few LEDs
Metal Snaps
Conductive Thread

I made the above one as a test…I’ll make a few more, and will also make some with some cheaper coin cell holders that I’ve ordered. In this one, the snap acts a switch.

The kids could also adorn them with other color felt cut-outs, stickers, and other bling.

Video

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:34:58 -0500