Week 6 Arduino Experiments 8-11

Experiment #8:

Experiment #8 took some problem solving. Isn´t funny how sometimes it takes an experiment or two to get back into your circuit groove? The wiring was fairly simple but we didn´t understand the diagram at first. The wires on the motor did not allow for connection to the redboard. We tried connecting the motor and redboard using additional wires and all was good! The directions didn´t specify to add an attachment to the servo motor but we did and got to see the motor in action.

Experiment #9

Ellen remembered that Heather posted a question about this experiment in the HELP section so we read that before beginning the task. It was good to get that advice from John before we started. I see Heather´s hesitation with the multiple warnings of possibly ruining the board if wired incorrectly. Once we got started, we were stumped. The H bridge was nowhere to be found! We looked at every piece, searched the floor, crawled behind the table and computer with no luck. Just before we decided to quit and post on the HELP section, we reexamined the piece that looked so similar to the H Bridge. We pulled it apart and realized that it was just a piece of foam covering the legs/spikes. DUH! How could we have overlooked this? We had a good laugh and proceeded with success.

Experiment #10

Although there were many, many wires, this experiment worked fairly well. There were many warnings in the directions that scared us but we just went for it and the motor rotated in different directions. We weren´t sure if it really was rotating in different directions but after reexamining, it certainly did! Ellen and I were discussing how people with fleeing vision or big hands would have a difficult time managing these boards and were wondering if they made bigger boards for such a reason. Children would also appreciate bigger boards, I imagine.  

Experiment #11

The wire formation was not too strenuous for this one but we got stumped with the coding and position of the LED. It was a bit confusing when we got to the serial monitor part section. We tired spaces and commas in the number and no spaces with commas to no avail. Luckily, the troubleshooting sections helped us realize that it was not the serial number but the position of the LED light and then realized we were missing a wire. We got the wire in place and repositioned the LED and it turned green. We looked more carefully at the LED light and had to reposition it again for it to turn purple...those silly little pins!