For the past week, our scholars have been developing their coding skills and increasing their understanding of electric circuits by using Arduino boards. Today, we were pleased to have Manuel Alvear speak with our scholars about his job as a Senior Technical Writer at RadioShack Corporation and how he uses Arduino boards.
Mr. Alvear started by encouraging our scholars to pursue their passions and find a way to make their interests a part of their future careers. He explained how as a kid, he wanted three things to be a part of his job: toys, Star Wars/Star Trek, and comic books.
- Toys: He writes instructional manuals for RadioShack products, and he explained how they conduct destructive testing on their products, including remote-controlled cars.
- Star Wars/Star Trek: You can use three Arduino boards to create a fully functional R2D2 robot with lights, sounds, and motors that operate independently.
- Comic books: You can use Arduino boards to create an Iron Man suit with lights and sound effects.
Through his stories, he also explained the history of Arduinos. They started in 2005 as a student project, and they provide an inexpensive way for anyone (hobbyists, students, and professionals) to create devices that interact with their environment (input and output) (Source: Smart Projects and Arduino Electronics). He described open sourcing, that allows computer programs and its source code to be available free of charge to the general public. He also touched on the need for breadboarding to test a circuit before you solder and make it permanent, just like our scholars have been practicing.
Mr. Alvear showing scholars a remote control car
Mr. Alvear created this infinity mirror by programming the sequence of colors for blinking LEDs.
Mr. Alvear used an ultrasonic range sensor, and he programmed this to detect how far away something is. The colors changed as an object became closer and farther away.
