Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2017

Abstract

The goal of this project is to develop a programmable LED board to be used for educational purposes and encourage students to pursue degrees in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (S.T.E.M.) fields. When the board is complete, it will be brought into middle and high school classrooms for use as an interactive activity to demonstrate the basics of memory and programming. When students are finished programming their boards, they can mount it on a stick and swing it in circles to display their message in the air. The goal is to make the average production cost of each board under $5 so that the students can take them home and demonstrate the project to their friends and parents. The LED board will communicate with a user interface that will allow students to program the LEDs to light up in a desired design with dipswitches. The user interface features four pushbuttons, a bank of eight dipswitches, a 3-D printed case, and an LCD display. For each “bit” the students program into the LED board their selection will be displayed on an LCD display. Eventually after programming in their select word or character the LCD will display their whole series. After the student moves from each memory location to the next, the sequence will be saved into the LED board for when it is mounted. The LED board will be mounted on a 3D-printed box attached to a piece of PVC pipe. After being disconnected from the user interface, the LED board will be powered with AA batteries. The teacher will receive a user interface to keep in the classroom for future use.

Download

Share

COinS