The Last Hurrah

 Final Vanity Search

FireFox Search

In addition to the original information I found in our first vanity search, I found this information while doing  this final vanity search. It was some research work that I had done in 2013 at UNT in Denton. This did not show up in my first vanity search. I had actually forgotten about doing this!

https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc226884/ Presentation

https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc181659/ Poster

I did not find any new images of myself. Lots of images for other people named Georgette, but not me. Only found the one that NAF had posted several years ago. And then I found my YouTube channel which is linked to my E-Portfolio for the ETEC596 Capstone class. The picture from my e-portfolio showed up there. So now I have found a total of 2 pictures of myself floating around on the internet. Since I hate taking pictures that makes me very happy!

I found 2 Linked In profiles with my name on them. One was mine & the other belonged to someone else. Here is the link to my profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgette-jordan-6985996

I found 2 Pinterest accounts with my name attached, but neither of them is mine.

I found an Obituary with my name in Rochester, NH (1927-2014). Obviously, that is not me because I am typing this post! LOL

I did find some correct information for me on the IDCrawl web site: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi66a7ju7b9AhU8lWoFHcq9DEU4ChAWegQIDRAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.idcrawl.com%2Fgeorgette-jordan&usg=AOvVaw10QJvGWh4yki0imiEBOG6V  It had the wrong Instagram, Twitter, & Facebook information listed. But it did have some correct information listed for me in their Background Check area and in the Public Records area.

Google Search

I was a little stunned that my foster mom’s obituary popped up on the search this time. It was not there when I did the first search at the beginning of the class. I also found my “head shot” picture that I used in my portfolio, which I didn’t see last search. I also found my YouTube channel referenced. I found the original Picture & article that NAF had posted & additionally found a new reference to one of my former robotics’ teams in the Dallas Hub that had not appeared in previous searches. This search did contain the new Twitter & Instagram information that I found on Fire Fox.  The funniest thing I found was my name listed as a Cocktail Waitress at a place named Lakes Roadhouse in Pennsylvania.  That is one state I have never been to!

Peer Reviews

One of this week’s assignments was to critique specific classmates final projects. If you are interested in what I told them you can see it here.

Final Project Critiques: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1llHQkU4RbF1eIMW97RKQTbgfwfpRkMbO/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=100128857170943344091&rtpof=true&sd=true

 

My Final Presentation

I won’t bore you with all the extra documents that I had to have for my final project. But I will post the link to my final Grad School presentation. Hope you don’t think it is too horrible!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jTKSTE_mDWylyKbzvQvrxawfCPZpJuhh/view?usp=share_link

 

Reflection

I have learned so much about Technology as a whole and Web 2.0 technologies specifically.  Actually, I think I learned more about what I did not know! These technologies can provide our students and ourselves with a plethora of resources for teaching & learning. There is technology for everyone, regardless of their capabilities, and most can be adapted to suit any need. As for what affordances I would look for in the future, since I deal with SPED students I would look for items that are easy to learn & easily adapted. The pitfalls are that some of these technologies are not adaptable to education & are primarily developed for industry. If there were anything I would want to avoid in Web 2.0 tools in the future it would be the lack of security to protect our students.

This has been a very difficult journey……Especially this 7-week semester! Taking 2 classes concurrently has almost driven me crazy. God watched over me & I made it to the end!

This is proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Final Countdown

 I do not know where to begin about how difficult this last week has been.  I had to take ETEC596 Capstone concurrently with this ETEC527 Web 2.0 Technologies class. There have been times when I really wanted to throw in the towel & drop both of these classes. I have done my best to keep up with everything going on this semester, but I am still fearful that I blew my GPA by taking both classes.  Maybe I should have waited to graduate????  

I have not had the time to post anything on Twitter this week. I have barely gotten the critical assignments completed for both classes.  To my classmates who are in the same situation....KUDDOS for making it to the end of this journey!! For those of you who are still striving to get to the end, you will make it!

Here are the links for the Final Project for ETEC527. I did it on Student E-Portfolios. After completing the Capstone class I though it was only fitting that I subject my students to the same experience. LOL  

I will still be stressing until April 7th before I know if the committee will approve my E-Portfolio as the final exam. PRAYING that they do approve it! 

Here is the link to my E-Portfolio if you are interested: E-Portfolio

As for my final project for ETEC527 Web 2.0 Technologies.... I will list the links below.  I really hope you enjoy the presentation (which stressed the hell out of me).  The links that I provided include the the entire folder of work completed for this project.

Link to the whole project folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KVIHP9ER5Kx3df1hLWeYoGI1WDHfxg0b?usp=share_link

Link to the presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jTKSTE_mDWylyKbzvQvrxawfCPZpJuhh/view?usp=share_link

Link to Google Classroom:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bjpHo-ICQKZkpSM9QTgzy72ITbvKWpU3gKCXkfayxIJ5oMbNS7_XDEt5hSp14wK29MVWD75I?usp=sharing

 I hope you all enjoy what I put together for my students!  Logging off for now. It is after 11PM.

Social Bookmarking & So Much More

 This week we were to explore social bookmarking. I never knew that was a thing before now. Diigo was the site that Dr. B wanted us to use. But before I used it I wanted to do some research, and here is what I figured out.

Social bookmarking is a method of storing, organizing, and sharing web pages and online resources that you find useful or interesting. Users can save bookmarks to public websites and tag them with keywords to make them easier to find and share with others.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of social bookmarking.

Advantages:

-Easy information access: Social bookmarking allows users to access their saved bookmarks from anywhere with an internet connection. Users can also search for bookmarks by tags or keywords, making it easy to find the information they need.

-Sharing information: Social bookmarking allows users to share bookmarks with others, helping to create a sense of community and collaboration. It can also help users discover new resources they may not have found on their own.

-Saves Time: Social bookmarking saves time by allowing users to quickly find/access the information they need without having to search for it again.

Disadvantages:

-Spamming: Social bookmarking can be abused by spammers who create fake accounts to use automated software to submit links to their own websites.

-Lack of privacy: Social bookmarking sites are public, so anything that is bookmarked can be seen by anyone.

-Over-reliance: Depending on social bookmarking can lead to a lack of critical thinking & original research.

So after I researched & gathered the information above I signed up for the FREE version of Diigo & started "bookmarking" sites that I felt were important to me. I never received an invitation to the ETEC527 location.  I looked at Dr. B's Diigo page.  

This is the link to my page: https://www.diigo.com/user/georgette55

Here are some popular social bookmarking sites:

Reddit     Pinterest     Pocket     Digg     Stumble Upon     Mix     Flipboard     

Diigo     Slashdot     Folkd

It's worth mentioning that social bookmarking sites have lost some popularity in recent years due to the rise of social media, but they can still be useful for discovering and sharing content in specific areas.

I never knew that Pinterest was a social bookmarking site till this class, and I have used that site for several years. I do think I will continue to use Diigo in the future. But I am still determined to delete my Twitter account just as soon as this class ends. I am just not that big a fan of social media.

12 Days left & the semester & my Grad School Journey ENDS!!!

ETEC527 Hyperdocs Adventures

 So this week has been especially difficult for me. My vision has become increasingly blurry due to cataracts, which makes working on the computer daunting. But the show must go on!

This weeks assignments were to investigate Hyperdocs. Part of the assignment was to Tweet about what we thought Hyperdocs were & were not. If you are interested in seeing my original Tweets you can find them @GJordanfor class. 

This is what I Tweeted about what Hyperdocs are:

This is my Hyperdocs "are not" Tweets:

The best part about this weeks work was getting to look at all the Hyperdocs that my classmates & I found. I can't include them all, but I will include some for your viewing pleasure.

The Cult of Pedagogy Is a good resource of information on how Hyperdocs can transform your teaching.

How to Build a Google Slides Hyperdoc from Scratch This is a good YouTube instructional video to help you learn how to turn Google Slides into a Hyperdoc.

6 Step Hyperdoc This web site shows you how to build a Hyperdoc in 6 easy steps.

Hyperdoc Learning This site teaches you how to Hyperdoc.

Google Hyperdoc Templates This site has free Hyperdoc templates from Google.

I hope you get a feel of what we have covered this week in our educational journey. My eyes are tired & everything is getting harder to see, so I am stopping at this point for today's post.

ETEC527 YouTube Adventures

     This weeks journey has been a difficult one. Not only was I stranded at home like millions of others in the North Texas area, the ice brought with it even more internet connectivity issues. (It also screwed up the signal from our DirecTV dish!)  It is really difficult to conduct work in an on-line class when you can't get connectivity. 

    I watched so many YouTube videos (once I could get connected to the internet) that I lost track of how many there were.  I ended up putting 29 videos into my Watch Later folder on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=WL ( @jordan-etec527)  Out of the videos on this list...I had only viewed the ones about Geometry prior to doing this assignment.  The Geometry videos are actually some of the ones that I use for tutoring the Geometry students at Conrad.

     I already had a YouTube channel from a previous semester where I had to upload videos of our Tech Play assignments in ETEC524. I decided against using the same channel for this assignment. So the YouTube channel I set up for use in ETEC527 for this week is @jordan-etec527. I found so many helpful videos while doing this assignment.  One of the most useful was How to Use Twitter in 2022! (Complete Beginners Guide) It is almost  10 minutes long (9 min 48 sec) but it was packed full of information that I wish I had found prior to getting a Twitter account.  My Twitter experience has not been a pleasure, and my lack of knowledge and lack of desire to use it has been a factor. I also found a 5 minute and 7 second video titled How Do Professors and Students Use Twitter?. I was not as impressed with that video.

    While looking into videos for using Web 2.0 tools for learning, I came across Web 2.0 Tools and the Classroom by Michael Welden. Although it sounded more like a class lecture, it did contain some very interesting information.  This video is 10 minutes & 21 seconds long, but it is well worth listening to. 

    There were several videos that stood out to me when researching videos on Teaching and Learning with Technology.  The first was Technology for Teaching and Learning 1 . This video was a bit difficult to listen to because it was done with a computer generated voice and was 13 minutes and 39 seconds long. It did contain good information. The next video I want to highlight in this category is Redefining Learning & Teaching Using Technology. This video was a 9 minute and 52 second Ted Talk that I found very enjoyable, especially after listening to the computer generated voice in the other video. If you have never taken time to listen to a Ted Talk on a subject that you are interested in, you are missing out on an enjoyable experience.

    After all this research for class, I decided to add something I enjoy to my list.  It is a video on sewing, which is one of my hobbies. I also have several pairs of jeans that need to be shortened, so this video was a given. How to Hem Jeans Using the Original/Existing Hem showed me how to keep my jeans from looking like they have been altered. If you like sewing, it is worth the watch!

    If you are interested in checking out my Twitter Tweets for this week, you can find them at @GJordan4class.  

    This has been also been a emotional week for me. As a teacher you can't help but become attached to students, especially if you teach more than one prep & the student takes all those classes. Some of my former students had me for multiple years. Yesterday I had to attend a funeral for a 24 year old whose only fault was being at the Barber Shop when other individuals got into an altercation. It has been difficult working on assignments and dealing with a loss at the same time!

    

ETEC527 Twitter Blog Post

 I never had a Twitter account prior to this class. I actually only created the Twitter account so that I can hopefully get a decent grade in this class.  My Twitter handle is @GJordan4class.  This link will take you directly to my Twitter home page. Twitter Home for GJordan  You can see my attempts at making posts there.

I am not a social media junky and typically avoid everything but Facebook. I even limit my time on Facebook!  I spend all my free time working on Graduate School assignments. 

In setting up the account I decided to simply use my first initial, last name, & #4 then the word class. It was something simple that I could remember & in another way it was my rebellious was of letting everyone know the account is only for this one class.  I intend to delete just as soon as the class ends.

The majority of my high school students do not use Twitter. I actually asked them when I found out about the assignment. They prefer to use Instagram & Snap Chat. The ones that I spoke with said that Twitter and Facebook are for old people.  There were a couple of the seniors that said they had used Twitter prior to Elon Musk buying it, but because of his narrow minded views they chose to delete their accounts. Can't say that I blame them!

When I was trying to learn what to do in Twitter I ended up asking the "All knowing Google" for assistance. Google came up with step by step directions for me, which helped lessen my anxiety. 

I can actually see the benefit of using this platform to provide students with resources for learning, such as the videos that Dr. B tweeted to us. But at the high school level we are still required to put everything into Google Classroom. So until the school district changes its views on what we should use in the classroom we will not be using Twitter. Sorry Dr. B!

In addition to working on Twitter this week, we were assigned a group project to develop a Web 2.0 Technology Evaluation Rubric. You can view the rubric here: Rubric   I hope that it makes sense to everyone.

Thank you for reading my post for this week!  

Spring Semester ETEC527, Vanity Search

Completing this Blog is part of a continuing class assignment for ETEC527, Web 2.0 Technologies for Instruction.

Part of our assignment this week was to set up a Blog account, Google account, and a Twitter account.  Luckily I had not deleted this Blog which I started in a previous semester as an assignment. I also had a Google account (truth be told I have several of those since I use them for personal, work, and grad school). I begrudgingly set up a Twitter account so that I can hopefully make a decent grade in this course. I have never had an interest in Twitter, and I will be deactivating the account when this class ends.

In addition to the tasks listed above, we were to do a Vanity search using Google. I never realized that there were so many people in the United States that I share a name with.  I also never realized how much factual information about me is out there on the internet.  I was relieved to see that there was only one picture of me that appeared when I did the search. The other pictures were of the people who share the same name with me. The one picture I found was published by the National Academy Foundation (NAF) when I had participated in a technology program. The most disturbing part of this vanity search was seeing how many times my name popped up. I found my name listed on 6 different web sites, and a couple of those sites had me listed more than one time. One of the sites has me listed as living in the wrong town, but it has my correct cell phone number posted for the whole world to see.

I am thankful that I did not find a bunch of pictures floating around on the web. But on the other hand I am appalled at the amount of factual information that is there for anyone to make use of. I work hard to protect myself. I never post pictures of myself. I refuse to use cash apps or fill out information from my cell phone. I have heard commercials about helping people remove their information from web sites.  After doing this assignment, perhaps I should research how to best do that.

Personal Retrospective

             I am not sure where to begin or what to say about the last 7 weeks in this class.  To be honest, I absolutely hated programming prior to taking this class.  I still dislike writing code because I have not been able to figure out how to modify it or write it from scratch.  I have been proud of every build we did during this class, so it is hard for me to pick out a favorite.  Since we have to pick a favorite, I suppose I will have to say it was the 7-segment display.  I liked having to trace which leg on the IC had to be connected to the appropriate numbered pin on the display.  I had difficulty with the initial test because a portion of the display did not light up.  After I switched a couple of the connections the display worked perfectly.

            The thing I learned is how to use Sketchup, or at least I “kind of learned” it.  I will most likely never use Sketchup ever again but having to use it did stretch my capabilities.  I prefer using CAD programs such as Autodesk Inventor because I have used it for years.  I could have done my Maker Space design much faster if I had used a program that was familiar to me, but I would not have learned something new by doing it that way.  I did learn that I am tenacious enough not to give up on trying new things that make me uncomfortable.  I also learned how to set up a YouTube channel and upload videos. 

            My challenges each week were the same.  Never enough time to work on assignments during the week was the biggest challenge, which made my lack of programming skills prevent me from learning how to modify the code as my classmates were doing on their projects.  Another challenge was working off of a hot spot for internet connection.  The last time I was taking classes I was close enough to campus to drive and use the all-night computer lab or park outside of a building and use the campus WIFI.  A 2-minute video should not take 3 hours to upload!

            My next adventure is to have my own equipment to play with here at my own home.  I have wanted a 3D Printer and a Laser Engraver for my house for several years.  I want to be able to teach my grandchildren how to use these machines because their schools do not have Maker Spaces.  I may not be able to afford these things, but I am going to work toward that goal.

            I really enjoyed working with everyone during this class and seeing all the wonderful accomplishments everyone made.  I pray that you all are successful in your endeavors.

Motoring to the Finish

Challenge of the week 

This week our tech challenge was to use a motor in conjunction with a sensor of our choice.  Unfortunately for me I could not find any examples that furnished code for a project like this that used the same components that came with my starter kit.  I tried working with sensors alone & was able to successfully make them work using the information furnished with the kit.  When I would combine the sensor code with the motor code something got scrambled, and nothing would work.  

To at least have a project to turn in, I opted to do the motor without the sensor.  This sounds relatively simple, but it was more involved than I expected.  Attaching the motor directly to the Arduino causes a threat of damaging the Arduino board.  For this reason a power supply module must be placed on the breadboard.  Although the instructions said I could provide power from the Arduino directly to the power supply board I was unable to do it.  Evidently it requires a cable that I did not receive in my kit, so I ended up providing power to it with the furnished 9 Volt battery and its provided cable.  The power supply module has a convenient, built in on/off switch.  The power feeds through the L293D IC (integrated circuit).  There is a long drawn out description of how this IC works, but I will not bore you with all the technical mumbo jumbo.  It simply helps make the circuit work properly.

Power Supply Module

Power Supply Module Mounted on Breadboard

L293D Pin Configuration

Motor Project Schematic

Motor Wiring Diagram

Top View of Motor Assembly

Motor Video

This particular project reminded me of rigging power supply fans to use as desk fans when the air conditioning would go out in the summer.  But I think this project was a little more difficult.

This is the code that the kit furnished for use on this project.  I did not make any adjustments to it.  Every time I changed something the program quit working.  I know what I did wrong was most likely simple, but without someone to double check my work I could not understand what it was.

/************************

Exercise the motor using

the L293D chip

************************/

 

#define ENABLE 5

#define DIRA 3

#define DIRB 4

 

int i;

 

void setup() {

  //---set pin direction

  pinMode(ENABLE,OUTPUT);

  pinMode(DIRA,OUTPUT);

  pinMode(DIRB,OUTPUT);

  Serial.begin(9600);

}

 

void loop() {

  //---back and forth example

    Serial.println("One way, then reverse");

    digitalWrite(ENABLE,HIGH); // enable on

    for (i=0;i<5;i++) {

    digitalWrite(DIRA,HIGH); //one way

    digitalWrite(DIRB,LOW);

    delay(500);

    digitalWrite(DIRA,LOW);  //reverse

    digitalWrite(DIRB,HIGH);

    delay(500);

  }

  digitalWrite(ENABLE,LOW); // disable

  delay(2000);

 

  Serial.println("fast Slow example");

  //---fast/slow stop example

  digitalWrite(ENABLE,HIGH); //enable on

  digitalWrite(DIRA,HIGH); //one way

  digitalWrite(DIRB,LOW);

  delay(3000);

  digitalWrite(ENABLE,LOW); //slow stop

  delay(1000);

  digitalWrite(ENABLE,HIGH); //enable on

  digitalWrite(DIRA,LOW); //one way

  digitalWrite(DIRB,HIGH);

  delay(3000);

  digitalWrite(DIRA,LOW); //fast stop

  delay(2000);

 

  Serial.println("PWM full then slow");

  //---PWM example, full speed then slow

  analogWrite(ENABLE,255); //enable on

  digitalWrite(DIRA,HIGH); //one way

  digitalWrite(DIRB,LOW);

  delay(2000);

  analogWrite(ENABLE,180); //half speed

  delay(2000);

  analogWrite(ENABLE,128); //half speed

  delay(2000);

  analogWrite(ENABLE,50); //half speed

  delay(2000);

  analogWrite(ENABLE,128); //half speed

  delay(2000);

  analogWrite(ENABLE,180); //half speed

  delay(2000);

  analogWrite(ENABLE,255); //half speed

  delay(2000);

  digitalWrite(ENABLE,LOW); //all done

  delay(10000);

}

Maker Space Presentation

We were also tasked this week with making a presentation about our desired Maker Space.  The purpose of this is to have a convincing presentation to use in hope of getting the school district and/or solicit outside funding.  

Maker Space Presentation

 Reflection

This has been a very difficult week for my school job and Grad School work.  Sometimes I question how any of us are able to keep up with the work at our school jobs and still remain sane enough to get our assignments done.  I tried so hard to get the code to work with the sensors and the motor at the same time.  It took up the majority of my week, and I finally got so frustrated that I only completed the motor alone.  For me to understand coding I believe I would have to take a class in nothing but that and not be working to distract me from learning.  At least I was able to get the motor assembly to work.  The instructions said I could power it with the Arduino, but I could not find a cable to make that happen.  I ended up using the 9 Volt battery and its cable to connect to the power supply module to power the project.  I left the project assembled because I want to figure out how to use the power from the Arduino to make it work.

This project is a good example of how ventilation fans can be controlled, and of how the cooling fans in computers work.  Additionally, the cooling fans for the radiators in our cars are now controlled by computers and not simply turning when the motor is on.

The presentation for the Maker Space was a little time consuming.  I had to track down information for a Maker Space I had seen in Conroe a couple of years ago.  I wanted to show what could be accomplished when students put their minds to it.  I wish I could have found better pictures of the inside of the building, but I could not find them for all angles.  I hope there are enough  to tweak your interest so you will look up the news articles. 

Semester Countdown

This Week's Overview

Week 5 in some ways has been more stressful than even the first week of class.  Trying to juggle Thanksgiving, my children coming in from the Houston area, and the week 5 assignments has been challenging.  My 1 year old granddaughter hid my mouse, and my 9 year old granddaughter had to help me with my circuit.  Luckily my 4 year old grandson was happy to watch TV & play with the goats.

I was excited that we were able to pick our own Tech Play circuit for the assignment.  Since I am counting the days to the semester's end, I chose to build a circuit with a 7 segment display.

7 Segment Display

This particular circuit requires more than just placing the display on the board & uploading the code.  In addition to the 7 segment display there is a 74HC595 shift register integrated circuit (IC), 8-220 ohm resistors, & approximately 26 jumper wires.  Learning the pin out for the IC and the display was a bit confusing.  When I first looked at the diagram for the circuit all the pins on the display were depicted to be on the left side.  In actuality, the 10 pins on the display are at the top & bottom of the component.  Pins 3 & 8, which are the center pins on each end, are the ground pins.  I had to look on the internet to refresh my memory on how to read the pin positions on the 74HC595 shift register IC.  Using components that have fixed pin positions made the assembly process much harder than using LEDs which can be spread out on the breadboard.

IC to Display Pin Configuration

7 Segment Display Pin Designation

Looking at the chart helped me understand which pin on the IC should connect to the corresponding pins on the display.  I am glad that the CD which came with my starter kit has such good information.  The CD contained step by step instructions, but they seemed confusing to me, so I opted to use the schematic to make my wiring connections.

Schematic

Picture Wiring Diagram

It was difficult to wire up the circuit even with the color coded schematic.  The pins on the IC & the Display are so close together that it was extremely difficult to connect the jumper wires on the breadboard to the corresponding pins.  It took me several attempts to get the wires in the correct position.  The first time I tested the circuit the G designation on the display did not light up.  I had to retrace all the jumper wires and ultimately swap two of them.  Once I did that I was able to run the program successfully.  Immediately below is the code that was furnished with the kit, with some timing modifications.  The original code had the delay set at 1000, but I thought the numbers changed too fast so I changed the delay to 2500.

7 Segment Display Code

//www.elegoo.com

//2016.12.12

// define the LED digit patterns, from 0 - 9

// 1 = LED on, 0 = LED off, in this order:

//                74HC595 pin     Q0,Q1,Q2,Q3,Q4,Q5,Q6,Q7 

//                Mapping to      a,b,c,d,e,f,g of Seven-Segment LED

byte seven_seg_digits[10] = { B11111100,  // = 0

                              B01100000,  // = 1

                              B11011010,  // = 2

                              B11110010,  // = 3

                              B01100110,  // = 4

                              B10110110,  // = 5

                              B10111110,  // = 6

                              B11100000,  // = 7

                              B11111110,  // = 8

                              B11100110   // = 9

                             };

 

// connect to the ST_CP of 74HC595 (pin 3,latch pin)

int latchPin = 3;

// connect to the SH_CP of 74HC595 (pin 4, clock pin)

int clockPin = 4;

// connect to the DS of 74HC595 (pin 2)

int dataPin = 2;

 

void setup() {

  // Set latchPin, clockPin, dataPin as output

  pinMode(latchPin, OUTPUT);

  pinMode(clockPin, OUTPUT);

  pinMode(dataPin, OUTPUT);

}

 

// display a number on the digital segment display

void sevenSegWrite(byte digit) {

  // set the latchPin to low potential, before sending data

  digitalWrite(latchPin, LOW);

     

  // the original data (bit pattern)

  shiftOut(dataPin, clockPin, LSBFIRST, seven_seg_digits[digit]);  

 

  // set the latchPin to high potential, after sending data

  digitalWrite(latchPin, HIGH);

}

 

void loop() {       

  // count from 9 to 0

  for (byte digit = 10; digit > 0; --digit) {

    delay(2500);

    sevenSegWrite(digit - 1); 

  }

   

  // suspend 4 seconds

  delay(2500);

}

Pictures/Videos of the circuit

Top View

Side View

Arduino Side View

Video 1: Slower Speed

Video 2: Faster Speed

Reflections

This project was much more difficult than I thought it would be when I picked it.  I initially placed a couple of wires in the wrong place and had to trace all the connections to find the mistake.  That took considerable time.  This project is most like the score boards and the countdown timers used at sporting events, although they have more than one display (typically 3).  It could also work in a kitchen timer. I feel very satisfied that I was able to get the project to function, even though I had to use the furnished code. I am glad I was able to modify the timing on the code.

It's a Two in One Week

The week at a glance:

This week has been filled with challenges for Grad School and at work.  Students always get crazy the week before the holiday, and this week was no exception!  By the time I made it home at 7pm each night I was so exhausted that I would grab a quick snack and then crawl into bed.  Needless to say I did not get any work done for our assignments this week until Friday night.  We had two projects to do this week: design a Maker Space and build a "Dice" LED circuit.

Maker Space Challenge

Last week we turned in information on what we envisioned for our dream Maker Space.  I am not very good at drawing, so I searched for hours until I found a picture that came closest to what I want.  It was very well designed, but I thought there should be a few changes to it.  This week we were assigned to learn SketchUp to make our floorplan for the Maker Space.  Even though I have experience with CAD, SketchUp is very different from the Autodesk Inventor that I am accustomed to using.  I spent several hours watching YouTube videos on how to use SketchUp, but even after that I had a hard time doing the assignment.  It took me so long to do just the building floor plan that I had to stop to work on the other assignment for this week.  I was not able to draw any of the furniture, and I also did not figure out how to draw doors for the openings.  I specifically made the main entrance and one of the shop entrances large enough to accommodate large equipment. (Small garage door size.)  All doors meet the minimum ADA requirement for wheel chair accessibility, and many are larger to allow for larger furniture and/or storage cabinets.  Hopefully from seeing the original picture I modeled my design after you will be able to visualize my intentions.

SketchUp Floor Plan for Dream Maker Space

Dream Maker Space Example
URL for Picture

LED DICE

This circuit has been the most challenging build so far.  The placement of the LEDs on the breadboard is extremely tedious.  Then getting the 330 ohm resistors attached to the correct lead is even more difficult.   I am accustomed to the programming being difficult for me, but this week the assembly has been just as difficult.  Configuring the LEDs in an H pattern is what made assembling the circuit so hard.  Every example I found on the internet seems to be different.  I tried to look at some of my classmates examples that were already posted, but even that did not help make it easier.  I wasn't sure if I followed the schematic I found correctly.

LED Dice Schematic
Instructables Web Site

Since I was having so much trouble understanding the schematic above, I went in search of an example that I might be able to understand easier.  Below is the color example of the LED Dice circuit that I found on a different web site.  With it being in color it made a little more sense to me.

Color Circuit Diagram for LED Dice
Circuitlib Web Site

I tried building the circuit on Tinker Cad, but I never could get the wiring worked out to look like what I built.  Tinker Cad has set a width on the LED leads and adding the additional jumper wires to attempt to match my working circuit did not happen.  Maybe I can do an update later if I can work out that portion.  For now, I will follow the diagram above so that I can finish my circuit on time.

After several hours (approximately 8) I finally got the circuit to function.  It was difficult at times because of the bread board having some ports that are lose and not making a good connection.  When I made my video I could not get all the numbers to work.  I think it was because I was holding the phone with one hand and using the other to hit the push button switch.  I tried to wiggle the wires at the same time, but it didn't work well one handed.  To show that my circuit will produce all the numbers, I took pictures of each one working in addition to the video I made.  

Assembled Circuit 

All 6 Dice Configurations

I took pictures with the lights on in the room and with them off so that I could see the difference on how the LEDs show up.  I don't think my phone takes very good pictures, but that is all I have to work with.  You can definitely see why the circuit uses 7 LEDs in an H pattern.  I wish my kit would have had 7 Red LEDs, but it didn't.  So I used a Blue LED in the center position.  

I tried to think of other uses for a configuration like this.  The one that first came to mind is the Score Boards at almost every sporting event.  I know the one in the gym at school functions very similarly to this circuit.  It also reminds me of the crosswalk signs as they count down right before they change to do not cross. 

A search of the internet was of no use when it came to figuring out the Distribution of Rolls graph for this circuit.  I assume it has something to do with Statistics, and Math is not something I can do well.  I barely manage to keep up with the Inclusion Support in Geometry at school, and if I didn't get example sheets from the teacher I couldn't do that.

I tried to write my own code, but as always it did not work.  Then I printed the code and was trying to copy it by typing the code myself.  But I must have made too many typing errors because when I checked it it was full of errors.  So to get my circuit functioning I downloaded the code below from CircuitLib.com.  This is the link:CircuitLib.com

Code for Dice LED Circuit

//Simple LED Dice based on Arduino
/*circuitlib.com*/
//By G. Adam

int i;
int button=5;
int A=6;
int B=7;
int C=8;
int D=9;
int E=10;
int F=11;
int G=12;

// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {
  // initialize digital IO direction
  pinMode(button, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(A, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(B, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(C, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(D, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(E, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(F, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(G, OUTPUT);

  // initialize counter value
  i=1;
  
}

// Turn on LEDs for mode 6
void turn_on_6 ()
 {
    digitalWrite(A,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(B,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(C,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(D,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(E,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(F,HIGH);
 }

// Turn on LEDs for mode 5
 void turn_on_5 ()
 {
    digitalWrite(A,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(C,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(D,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(F,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(G,HIGH);
  }

// Turn on LEDs for mode 4
void turn_on_4 ()
 {  
    digitalWrite(A,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(F,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(D,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(C,HIGH);
  }

// Turn on LEDs for mode 3
void turn_on_3 ()
 {  
    digitalWrite(C,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(G,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(F,HIGH);
 }

// Turn on LEDs for mode 2
void turn_on_2 ()
 {  
    digitalWrite(F,HIGH);
    digitalWrite(C,HIGH);
 }

// Turn on LEDs for mode 1
void turn_on_1 ()
 {  
  digitalWrite(G,HIGH);
 }

// Turn off all LEDs
 void turn_off_all ()
 {  
    digitalWrite(A,LOW);
    digitalWrite(B,LOW);
    digitalWrite(C,LOW);
    digitalWrite(D,LOW);
    digitalWrite(E,LOW);
    digitalWrite(F,LOW);
    digitalWrite(G,LOW);
 }

// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() 
{
  bool state;
  state=digitalRead(button);   
  if (state==LOW) // Button is pressed?
  {
    turn_off_all();
    if (i==1) turn_on_1();
    if (i==2) turn_on_2();      
    if (i==3) turn_on_3();
    if (i==4) turn_on_4();
    if (i==5) turn_on_5();
    if (i==6) turn_on_6();
  }
 
 i=i+1;
 if (i>6) i=1;
 delay(15);
 
 } 

 

My video did not turn out as well as I would have liked.  There are lose connections on the breadboard and when I would push the button switch I would cause wires to lose connection.  I was unable to get the circuit to cycle through all 6 numbers.  

Dice Circuit Video

Reflections

This is the second time I have written the reflection for this week’s challenges.  I usually write directly on the blog post compose screen.  For some reason when I logged out to see if my hyperlinks worked everything I wrote for the Reflections section was lost.  I don’t know if it was caused by a glitch with the internet or by something I did wrong.  So here I go again!

 There were so many things that did not go well this week that I am not sure where to begin.  My Dream Maker Space was hard to design.  SketchUp was extremely difficult for me even after watching multiple videos and going to the help area for the software for tutorial help.  I believe the difficulty I experienced is because I am so accustomed to using Autodesk Inventor.  My brain just couldn’t easily maneuver the differences between the two softwares.  It took me entirely too long to design the building layout.  I had to make the decision to quit working on it or jeopardize having enough time to get the circuit done.  Because of this I did not get to add furniture or equipment to the diagram.  I also did not have the opportunity to research cost for the building, furnishings, or equipment. 

The Dice LED circuit was the most difficult assembly I have encountered during this class.  The circuit needing to be in an H configuration required the LEDs be placed closely together.  This made it hard to insert the components and jumper wires by hand, so I had to use needle nose pliers for every lead.  Additionally, the breadboard has loose ports on it which caused connection errors.  I had to keep tension on the wires by pulling the Arduino at an angle so the current would flow.  During the video I must have jarred loose wiring when pushing the button switch, which caused two of the numbers in the sequence not to work.  I was able to get regular pictures of each number working. And since Math is my weakest subject, I never figured out how to do the Distribution of Rolls graph.  I tried to find information on the internet for how to do it but did not have any luck.  I assume it is a statistical function, but I am not good at Statistics. 

Overall, I am pleased that I got the circuit to eventually work.  I tried printing the code and looking at that to type it myself, but I obviously can’t do that well either because I ended up with too many errors to figure out.  I ended up downloading the code from the internet.  At least it did work using that code.  Praying I will eventually learn some coding!