The latest batch of ECE 412 (Embedded Systems) projects is now online. Check out the LED sign that now adorns our lab, the duct-tape based CyberHand and the sound-controlled ping pong tubes. The 14 projects also included a sorting hat, plus a different kind of sorting system based on a pressure sensor. While cardboard and tape are fine building materials for this class where we are mainly evaluating microcontroller skills, the laser at FirstBuild added a special touch to a few projects.
In ECE 473 (Electromagnetic Fields & Waves), which is normally a theory-based class, the fall students had an unusual assignment to build an electromagnetic train– and I was happy to see a few students making use of their MATLAB to plot the magnetic field along the coil. Our coils were short segments to get the basic idea, so here’s a much longer one from YouTube for inspiration. The set of videos from AmazingScience gives more details on fabrication and dimensions than most others.