Microcontroller Kits For Students

Microcontroller (MCU) kits for students are of great interest to me for several reasons, but primarily because the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group will be offering one or several Intro To Microcontrollers sessions to any interested Humboldt State University (HSU) students this fall. Additionally, it will be great if we are able to connect with Humboldt County high school students to offer opportunities of interest to them for learning about MCUs.

(There are many middle school students doing cool things with microcontrollers. But there are only so many hours in a week, and a person has to make decisions about how to spend their limited time. My top student priority for the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group is getting as many college and high school students involved with the regions microcontroller community because that makes it easier on parents -- people in those two groups often dont need to rely on parents for transportation. However...  If any middle school students are interested in learning more about microcontrollers, or want to teach us new microcontroller tricks, wed be happy to have them at the bi-weekly meetings of the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group, and wed be thrilled to work with middle school teachers to figure out how we could help with microcontroller basics activities.)

So, back to MCU kits for students. I read an ARM press release yesterday about a new $50 Lab-in-a-box kits aimed at university students for DSP (digital signal processing) audio. While the focus of this kit isnt basics of microcontrollers, it does include an STM32F4 Discovery microcontroller board from STMicroelectronics. The press release says:

"ARM and its Partners will start shipping a digital signal processing (DSP) Lab-in-a-Box (LiB) to universities worldwide to help boost practical skills development and the creation of new ARM-based audio systems. This will include products such as high definition home media and voice-controlled home automation systems...LiB packages offer ARM-based technology and high quality teaching and training materials that support electronics and computer engineering courses. DSP courses have traditionally used software simulation packages, or hands-on labs using relatively expensive development kits costing around $300 per student. By comparison, this new DSP LiB...will cost around $50...The DSP kits, powered by ARM Cortex-M4-based processors, enable high performance yet energy-efficient digital signal processing at a very affordable price. We expect to see them being used by students to create commercially-viable audio applications."

Its not a bad thing that above Lab-in-a-box isnt a basics of microcontrollers kit. Many students may be a lot more interested in a kit focused on practical applications of microcontrollers, such as "high definition home media and voice-controlled home automation systems" than a kit that just teaches them microcontroller basics.

The next step for the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group regarding the ARM LiB kit is to contact a few instructors at Humboldt State University to find out if they are already working with ARM or one of its partners to obtain at least one LiB kit. If it appears no HSU faculty are already working on this, we can ask if they are interested in collaborating with us on an opportunity for HSU students to work with this kit. Two people at or near the top of my HSU list to contact about this are David Marshall and Ken Owens, who did a Robot Camp at HSU last week.

In the its a small world category, the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group will be an especially good partner for HSU or College of the Redwoods for working with the LiB kit. Just last week at the

Humboldt Makers meeting, John H did a fantastic talk and demo about audio with a single-board microcontroller. Part of Johns talk focused on the Wolfson audio card, so the Humboldt Microcontroller community has someone already very knowledgeable about using the audio electronics in the LiB kit. The Wolfson / Raspberry Pi combo picture on the left is from an Engadet article talking about the Wolfson card.

There are other MCU resources aimed at students. Here are a few examples -- these are aimed primarily at universities:

• Texas Instruments TI University Program
• Microchip Technologys Academic Program
• Atmel University Program
• Freescale University Programs
• ARM University Program (which includes ARM-recommended development boards for students, as well as other ARM topics)

If you know of other student-focused microcontroller programs or cost-effective kits, please send an email with a link or other info to arcatabob (at) gmail {dott} com. It would be great to create a list of good microcontroller student kits and programs for Humboldt students to choose from. Id like to have at least three or four low-cost MCU Basics kits for student intro sessions, and it would be nice to have three or four other higher-cost kits for more involved MCU projects or workshops.

Because most teachers arent microcontroller experts, and because they are already responsible for cramming more stuff into their class time than is humanly possible, the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group might be able to offer opportunities outside the classroom for students to learn how to use Arduinos and other microcontroller-focused electronics. 

If youre a student, an instructor, or a parent of a student in Arcata, Eureka, McKinleyville, Fortuna, Trinidad, Blue Lake or any of the other fine parts of the Humboldt region who is highly interested in electronics or microcontrollers, please contact me. We can discuss ways to get you or your student(s) more involved with the Humboldt microcontrollers community.

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Bronx Writing Academy Students journals

During the spring project, Amrita (Bronx Writing Academy teacher) and I asked the group of 6 grade students to write a few lines after each session summarizing what they have done, how they felt and what they think on that day.
Here are a few excerpt form the notebooks.


3/11/15
Today we were building the frame. I learned how to measure the center [on the piece of wood we used to build the frame]. I drew a X on the wood, the center of the X is the center. I like how we made the legs of the machine [frame], this will make it stand up. Sebastian

We are building a sort of table to grow the plants in hydroponics. One thing I liked is that we build
stuff to grow plants like flowers and roses, and strawberry. Ismael 

I lined up with the X with a and d so the screw can go in it [a and d were 2 piece of the frame for the system, the X was to mark the center of the piece of wood]. I also drilled a hole. Jarik

The thing I like about today is building because using lots of force and you are using lots of strength you will get tired but also strong. Abraham

 3/18/18
 Today, we learned how a man planted in the streets of LA. [the man is Ron Finley, who started a movement to use the sidewalk to grow food in LA]Sebastian

3/25/15
Today I learned how the system worked. I helped put the tubes. We planted our food. Sebastian

I learned about how plants grow, I also learned how to measure the watering tower. I liked seeing the water make the plants grow. Corey

I learned that soil is worm poop. I also see that with water [we can] grow lots of plants. I and [the class] also created a growing system. Franklyn 

I learned that if soils goes though the pipes, the it gets dirty. Also I like helping make something for everyone.  Nichalos

Something I like today as I went to the roof. [the system was installed temporarily on a protected part of the school roof]. And I also learned how to plant different plants in ways I never imagined. Abraham

4/1/15
We learned how a worm can interact [with the plants growing in the soil, or in our hydroponic system]. I likes making them a home. I helped make food for the worms. Sebastian


What i liked today was drill [holes in the worm bin]. I learned about worms and how the live. What I like as holding the worms. Corey

I want the feel the worm again. I learned that there are things inside the worms, like blood. I like how [the worm] tickled me. Franklyn

Today I learned that worms dont like the light. I like looking for the worms. Stiven

I draw worms and cocoons. I learned that [some animals] can breath without a nose. Tyrone

4/16/15
I learned that ammonia is in urine. I liked that there is 2 separate bacteria that transforms ammonia into plant food. I want to to the experiment with the colored chemicals [ammonia, nitrite and nitrate colorimetric tests]. Elizabeth 

I learned about chemical formula. I like chemistry about the substances [that feed the plants]. Franklyn

I learned that ammonia is toxic to the fish, meaning it can kill it. Ammonia is something that you produce. I liked to learn about the nitrification. Nichalos

4/23/15
Earth day, special Guest JT Bear (aquaponic practitioner) :

You can do the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle)
Factories and littering is hurting the earth
We recycled / reused the [soy sauce] buckets for the system.
I was proud to show him my future job. We use a complex system to grow plants. Sebastian


It helps to speak out opinions about the environment / pollution. Elizabeth

 What we could do the preserve the earth is stop littering and [release] too much carbon [dioxide].  Whats destroying the earth is pollution in factory. We make hydroponic system and grow plants. The hydroponic system is how to grow plants out of recycled things. I am proud I told JT about the hydroponic system. Corey M.

We plant plants or trees to produce O2 and soil. Franklyn

One thing I can do the preserve the earth is to make more plants. To help people eat healthy by making more plants using a hydroponic system that provides water and nutients to the plants [from composted food waste]. Abraham

4/29/15
I liked doing the experiment with the vegetables. I learned how to measure plants. Ismael.

I measure how long the plants grew. I liked seeing the salt turn into liquid [on that day we did an experiment where we put salt in the center of a fresh potato and compared it to a cooked potato, to show how osmosis happens only if the vegetable is alive]. I want to do this again, and learn about the inside parts of the carrots.  Franklyn


The last 3 meeting of the group of students was dedicated preparing the wow. We did not take the time to write in the notebooks.








After the Wow, A local restaurant kindly accepted to "oversummer" the system, with the new school year starting, we will continue the program at the Bronx Writing Academy.

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