Curriculum

Electronics and
Digital Electronics

Beginner Course: Electronics & Digital Electronics

About the Program

Imagine you are from the rural villages of Nyamira, where you’ve noticed that many school students ride their bicycles up steep mountain paths every day. It's a struggle, especially during the rainy season or for students with heavy backpacks. You want to help make their daily journey easier by creating affordable bicycle kits that convert regular bicycles into electric bikes, giving students an extra push without the high costs of traditional electric bicycles. To do this, you need to understand the fundamentals of electronics and digital systems to design and build your own kits.

In this Course in Electronics & Digital Electronics, you'll learn how to make this idea a reality by diving into the basics of electronics, analog circuits, and digital systems. The course will take you through everything you need to know about electronic components, circuit design, and practical applications that will help you build simple yet powerful electronic devices, like the bicycle conversion kit you envisioned. By the end of the course, you’ll have a strong foundation in electronics, enabling you to create real-world, low-cost solutions for everyday challenges in your community.

Course Description:

This comprehensive course covers the essential aspects of electronics, giving you the foundational knowledge and practical skills to build real-world solutions like the affordable bicycle conversion kits. With a hands-on approach, you’ll work with both analog and digital electronics, learning how components such as resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, and microcontrollers work together to form functional circuits.

The course begins with an exploration of the Basic Electronics Fundamentals, where you’ll understand how current flows in circuits and how to use multimeters to measure voltage, current, and resistance. You’ll also learn about essential tools like breadboards, jump wires, and power supplies that are crucial in any electronics project.

Moving into Analog Electronics, you’ll work with components like resistors, capacitors, and transistors to create simple analog circuits. You’ll learn how to build amplifiers, filters, and voltage dividers—key elements in controlling the power for your bicycle kit, ensuring that the motor gets the right amount of power to assist in pedaling.

The Digital Electronics section introduces logic gates, binary arithmetic, and basic circuit design. You’ll understand how microcontrollers (like Arduino) can be used to control and automate your circuit. This knowledge is crucial for programming your bicycle kits to operate efficiently, adjusting motor speeds based on user input, and managing battery power.

Finally, the Electronics Activities will allow you to put your skills to the test. You’ll build real-world projects, including simple circuits and devices, learning how to troubleshoot and refine your designs. You will gain confidence in your ability to take an idea, like the electric bicycle conversion kit, from concept to functional prototype.

Requirements

A computer with at least a core i5 processor and 8GB RAM; prior programming or electrical experience is not required.

Student to Teacher Ratio of 10:1
Beginner Course: Electronics & Digital Electronics

Curriculum

This section introduces essential concepts in electronics that are crucial for understanding and building robotic systems.
  1. Introduction to AC and DC Electricity
    1. DC Electricity: Understand the basics of direct current (DC), including voltage and current flows, and its applications in battery-operated devices and robots.
    2. AC Electricity: Learn about alternating current (AC) and how it differs from DC. Gain insight into AC sources, frequency, and phase, with a focus on applications in power supplies.
    3. AC with DC Voltage: Explore circuits where both AC and DC voltage are present, such as coupling capacitors and rectifiers.
  2. Ohm's Law and Power Calculations
    1. Application of Ohm's Law (V = IR) and power formulas (P = IV) to determine voltage, current, and resistance in various circuit components.
    2. Understand real-world applications, such as how power requirements impact battery choice and component selection.
  3. Using Multimeters
    1. Learn to measure voltage, current, and resistance with multimeters.
    2. Practice hands-on troubleshooting in simple circuits, building the foundation for more complex diagnostics in robotic systems.
  4. Resistors and Variable Resistors
    1. Study the function of resistors, including fixed and variable types (potentiometers).
    2. Understand how resistors regulate current and are used in sensor interfacing, motor control, and signal processing.
  5. Capacitors and Diodes
    1. Explore capacitors as energy storage elements, timing circuits, and filters.
    2. Learn about diodes, LEDs, and Zener diodes for current direction control, voltage regulation, and light generation in robotics applications.
  6. Breadboarding and Prototyping Basics
    1. Introduce breadboards and how to use them to create and test prototype circuits quickly.
    2. Practice building simple circuits with LEDs, resistors, and diodes, as well as troubleshooting and refining designs.
  7. Schematic Diagrams and Circuit Design
    1. Understand and create schematic diagrams, learning symbols for all components studied.
    2. Design and analyze simple circuits using resistors, capacitors, and LEDs. Cover topics like parallel and series resistors and their effect on total resistance.
This section delves into more complex analog circuits that allow for signal amplification, modulation, and power management, essential for powering robotic systems.
  1. Operational Amplifiers (Op-Amps)
    1. Introduce basic circuits, including inverting and non-inverting amplifiers.
    2. Applications include signal conditioning, filters, and amplifying weak sensor signals in robots.
  2. Transistors and Amplification
    1. Study transistors (NPN and PNP) as switches and amplifiers, critical for controlling motors and other robotic actuators.
    2. Learn about MOSFET transistors and heat sinks for high-power applications, focusing on power efficiency in mobile robots.
  3. Power Distribution and Battery Management
    1. Understand voltage regulation, including linear and switching regulators, to ensure consistent power.
    2. Explore battery management for rechargeable systems, with a focus on energy-efficient power supply in portable robots.
  4. 555 Timer Circuits and Oscillators
    1. Learn about the 555 timer in astable and monostable modes, using it for timing applications such as tone generation, LED flashing, and motor speed control.
    2. Explore voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) and their role in generating specific frequencies for use in remote control or sensor applications.
Digital electronics provide the foundation for logic and control in robotics, allowing students to design circuits that make decisions, process binary data, and communicate with microcontrollers.
  1. Logic Gates and Boolean Algebra
    1. Understand the principles of Boolean algebra and basic logic gates (AND, OR, NOT, XOR).
    2. Explore real-world applications, such as using gates to control sensors, activate motors, and create decision-making circuits.
  2. Binary Number System and Digital Circuits
    1. Learn about binary, decimal, and hexadecimal systems, including conversions between them.
    2. Understand how digital circuits work in robots, using binary states (on/off) to control actuators and interpret sensor signals.
  3. Microcontrollers and Digital Signals
    1. Introduce microcontrollers and their digital input/output capabilities.
    2. Cover pulse-width modulation (PWM) and other digital signal techniques for controlling motor speed, LED brightness, and other actuators.
  4. Servo Motors and Motor Control
    1. Explore servos and their control using PWM, covering applications in joint control for robotic arms or wheeled robots.
    2. Learn about H-bridge circuits for bidirectional motor control and understand their importance in mobile robotics.
Hands-on activities reinforce theoretical concepts and give students practical experience in building, testing, and troubleshooting circuits. Each activity prepares students for real-world applications in robotics and embedded systems.
  1. Hands-On Circuit Building
    1. Build basic circuits, such as LED control with buttons and switches, and experiment with different resistor and capacitor configurations.
    2. Construct a 555 timer circuit for simple timing applications and understand its use as a clock source in robotics.
  2. Soldering and Prototyping Techniques
    1. Learn basic soldering skills for creating durable electronic connections.
    2. Assemble small circuit boards for robotic applications, such as motor drivers and sensor interfaces.
  3. Testing and Debugging with Multimeters
    1. Practice troubleshooting circuits by measuring voltage, current, and resistance.
    2. Use debugging skills to identify issues in power distribution and connectivity, essential for robotic reliability.
  4. Advanced Project: Servo Hacking and Continuous Rotation
    1. Modify standard servos for continuous rotation, enabling them to be used as motors for mobile robots.
    2. Experiment with variable resistors to control servo rotation, creating a basic steering mechanism.
These additional topics provide students with deeper insights into advanced electronics applications that are crucial for more sophisticated robotic systems.
  1. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
    1. Explore PWM in depth, with applications in motor speed control, LED dimming, and creating smooth movement in servos.
    2. Apply PWM in real-world scenarios like controlling fan speeds or adjusting lighting.
  2. Voltage Dividers and Voltage-Controlled Oscillators
    1. Learn to build and use voltage dividers in circuits to manage sensor inputs and control signal voltages.
    2. Understand voltage-controlled oscillators for generating variable frequencies, useful in sound generation or sensor simulation.
  3. Inductors and Transformers
    1. Introduction to inductors in power regulation and signal filtering.
    2. Study transformers for power conversion and learn about center-tapped transformers for dual power supply circuits.
  4. Power Supplies: Building and Hacking
    1. Construct simple power supplies for different voltage levels, such as +5V and +12V, which are commonly needed in robotics.
    2. Explore AC-to-DC conversion and build regulated power sources to safely power robot components.
  5. High Power Transmission and Motor Control
    1. Understand concepts of RMS power, efficiency, and loss in power transmission, which are critical in high-power robotics applications.
    2. Learn about high-power motor control, including MOSFET-based power switches, for use in larger robotic systems.
  6. RGB LEDs, Color Sensing, and Optoelectronics
    1. Experiment with RGB LEDs for color-based signaling and feedback in robots.
    2. Introduce color sensors and use optoelectronics to create robots that can follow colored lines or respond to colored objects.
  7. Transistor Amplifiers and Signal Processing
    1. Build transistor amplifiers for audio and other signal processing applications, using components like the LM386 audio amplifier.
    2. Explore biofeedback sensors and differential amplifiers to create simple muscle-controlled mechanisms or responsive sensor circuits.
  8. Advanced 555 Timer Applications
    1. Delve deeper into the 555 timer, exploring its use in siren circuits and frequency control for robotic sound and signal processing.
    2. Apply the 555 timer in frequency-based signaling or feedback systems for interactive robot designs.


Program Expectations

The Beginner Course in Electronics & Digital Electronics is designed to equip students with foundational knowledge and practical skills in electronics, enabling them to design and build simple electronic devices and systems. The program will set the following expectations for the students:

  1. Understanding Basic Electronics Concepts
    • Knowledge of Electrical Properties: Students should understand key electrical concepts such as current, voltage, resistance, and power, and how they relate to the behavior of electronic circuits.
    • Component Identification: Students will be expected to identify and understand the function of basic electronic components, including resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, and more.
    • Circuit Building: Students will be able to build simple circuits using breadboards and jumper wires and will understand how to use basic components to create functional circuits.
  2. Hands-on Experience with Tools and Equipment
    • Use of Multimeters: Students will be expected to use a multimeter to measure voltage, current, resistance, and perform other basic electrical tests to troubleshoot circuits.
    • Prototyping with Breadboards: Students should be able to wire components on a breadboard to test and modify circuits in real-time.
    • Basic Soldering Skills: By the end of the course, students will have basic soldering skills to create more permanent connections between components.
  3. Mastery of Analog Electronics
    • Analog Circuit Design: Students should be able to design and build basic analog circuits, such as amplifiers, voltage dividers, and filters, to control and manipulate electrical signals.
    • Understanding Power Management: Students will learn how to manage power within circuits to ensure efficient and safe operation, especially when designing devices like the bicycle conversion kit.
  4. Introduction to Digital Electronics
    • Logic Gates and Binary Systems: Students will learn how to create digital systems using logic gates and binary arithmetic and understand how these systems are the foundation of modern electronics.
    • Using Microcontrollers: Students will learn how to use basic microcontrollers (like Arduino) to automate electronic circuits, making devices interactive and programmable.
    • Control Systems for Motors: Students will apply digital electronics principles to design systems that control motors, which is crucial in applications like electric bicycles.
  5. Design and Troubleshooting Skills
    • Designing Functional Circuits: Students should be able to design circuits that fulfill specific functions (e.g., controlling a motor, regulating power) and test them to ensure they work as intended.
    • Troubleshooting: Students will develop the ability to identify issues within their circuits and apply systematic approaches to solving electrical problems.
  6. Application of Electronics in Real-World Projects
    • Prototyping a Bicycle Kit: Students will work on building real-world applications of electronics, like the affordable bicycle conversion kit, by combining components like motors, controllers, and batteries.
    • Project Completion: At the end of the course, students should be able to complete a functional project (such as the electric bicycle kit) that demonstrates their understanding of both analog and digital electronics.
    • Project Documentation: Students will be expected to document their work, including schematics, circuit diagrams, and written explanations of how their projects work.
  7. Practical Application of Electronics
    • Integration of Concepts: Students will be expected to integrate the knowledge of analog and digital electronics to solve practical problems, such as designing cost-effective solutions for transportation or other real-world applications.
    • Hands-on Experience: The course places emphasis on building working prototypes, and students will be expected to work with components and tools to create tangible, working devices.
  8. Collaboration and Communication
    • Collaboration on Projects: Students will have opportunities to collaborate with peers, especially on more complex projects, and will be expected to share knowledge and help others troubleshoot problems.
    • Clear Communication of Ideas: Students will be encouraged to communicate their designs and solutions clearly, both through written documentation and presentations to demonstrate their understanding.
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