GreenFab Leson Plan: Switches
Prepared by: Susan Ngo and Macaulay Campbell
Class description and objectives:
The aim of this tutorial is to identify simple switches in everyday products and explain how they work. Students will break apart toys/electronics to identify the switches and discuss how they work. In groups, the students will make their own switches to create a game controller to play old NES games online.
Material needed:
• Demonstration
– Found electronics
• Materials for Making Switches
- Copper foil
- Steel Wool
- Conductive foam
- brass tubes / exposed wire (whisker switches)
• Switch construction
- LEDs
- Wire
- breadboard
- Batteries
- Solder
• Tools
- Wirestrippers
- Wirecutters
- Soldering iron
• Displaying game
- IPAC (Interface for PC to Arcade Controls) console
- laptop
- 1 projector
INTRODUCTION (5-10 minutes)
Introduce the activity plan and discuss what needs to happen over the course of the workshop. Present students with a timeline (with times written on board) so they know what needs to happen in the allotted time. Depending on class size, break student into smaller groups so that all participants have access to all electronics and tools.
Discuss the Concepts of Electricity and Circuits
ACTIVITY 1: Explaining switches (20 minutes)
For the first part of this workshop we will review the basic function of a switch.
Activity & discussion
• Introduction: What is a switch? An electrical switch is any device used to interrupt the flow of electrons in a circuit. Switches are essentially binary devices: they are either completely on (“closed”) or completely off (“open”).
• Different types of electronic switches (slide show): (https://wiki.sfu.ca/public/images/5/59/Lab_week3.pdf)
– Toggle switch
– Pushbutton switch
– Selector switch
– Joystick switches
– Rocker switches
– Slider switches
– Switches for handicap users (button, finger, grip, string)
• Describe basic functions of a switch
• Have students identify different types of switches around them in the classroom.
(Good lead-in to next activity)
ACTIVITY 2: Electronics break down (20 minutes)
Students will be given a few electronics to break open and identify switches. Possible items could be keyboards, games, old phones, etc. To help the groups along instructors will walk around to the different groups to help the get the electronics open and/or offer some insight as to which components are switches. Instructors can also help identify other components. (Resistors, capacitors, etc.)
Activity & discussion
- Introduce activity, time check
- Present previously dismantled electronics and identify switches
- Pass out electronics and tools to students
- Safety: suggest best ways of dismantling electronics
- Identify switches and discuss their function
- Identify other components
- Discuss concepts of resistance, current, voltage, capacitance, inductance, electrical power
ACTIVITY 3: DIY switches (40 minutes)
For this part of the tutorial we will begin making our very own switches. With the basic knowledge of the circuitry we will encourage the students to think creatively when making their own switches using non-traditional materials and exploring non-traditional means of interacting with them.
Activity and discussion
- Introduce activity, time check
- Pass out materials
- Explain prototyping device.
Device is a simple, pre-assembled (by instructors) prototyping tool made up of a battery and an LED that will give students an easy way to test their switches. Description to come.
- Encourage students to come up with clever ways to create switches (hand clapping, tapping shoes, books, jumping up and down, etc).
- Test circuits at designated station.
ACTIVITY 4: Let’s play! (60 minutes / remainder of class)
Using the students’ switches we will create a game controller using a keyboard emulator (IPAC) plugged into a computer to play old NES games.
Activity and discussion
- Introduce activity, time check (make sure computer and projector are running properly)
- Introduce/explain the IPAC
- Demonstrate how to plug switches into IPAC using device.
To streamline the process, instructors will have already built a “device” similar to prototyping tool that will all students to easily plug switches into IPAC without having to acces the IPAC terminals.
- Have class decide on a game from tested set of games online
- Chose the correct number of students to control the corresponding buttons on an NES game controller (Up, down, left, right, A, B)
- Plug in student switches
- Play!
- Rotate students so that all have a chance to play with remaining time.
