Submission Requirements
When you submit your work it needs be have the following features (you can get more details from NZQA here):
- Candidate’s NSN written correctly on the top right hand corner of the first page (you can put it in the document header)
- Fewer than 10 pages single sided
- A4 size
- Font size must be set at the rough equivalent of Arial 12
- Margins must be set at the rough equivalent of 2.5 cm all around (top and bottom, left and right)
- Reports must be securely stapled in the top left-hand corner
- All information from sources other than the candidate’s own work must be acknowledged at the place in the work that the information is used. It must be immediately apparent to the marker that the material is not the candidate’s own
List of Hardware Concepts
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List of Software Concepts
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Hardware Concepts
MicrocontrollersYou must talk about microcontrollers in your reports. How do they work? Watch the video below.
There are also lots of microcontrollers out there on the market. We tend to use Arduino Uno at Waimea but is that the most suitable for your project? Motor DriversYou have a couple of options when it comes to motor drivers.
For high current output you will need the L298N. You need a few more components to get the L298N running correctly, diodes to protect output pins from back-EMF being the main thing, but it has some other useful functionality like current sensing. This website clearly shows how to wire up the L298N and is where the following diagrams come from. Your other option for low current requirements is the humble L293D. The advantage of this IC is that it contains internal diodes, so less extra components needed. This website explains how to wire them up, as shown with the following diagram.
AccelerometerInfrared (IR) ThermometersIR thermometers can be used to measure temperature without making contact with an object. How they work is briefly described in this article.
Setting the distance from the sensor to the object being sensed is important for their correct functioning. The video below explains how this could be done. Peltier/Thermoelectric Devices/Coolers |
Shift RegistersHere is a tutorial for shifting out data with shift registers. What isn't good about controlling 8 or more digital outputs with just 3 digital pins?
Now you can control lots of digital outputs with three pins, how about 8 or more digital inputs? Well here is the tutorial. All you need to do for your report is describe how shift registers work in general terms i.e. what the control pins do and when data is shifted. Then discuss the advantages of using shift registers. IR Transmitters and RecieversHere is a good tutorial for getting IR receivers and transmitters working.
If you summarise the last 2 videos you have another point completed! Here is some simplified transmitting and receiving code to get you started: RF 433MHz Transmitter/Receiver ModuleFollow through this tutorial to get basic and cheap ($1 a pair) Radio Frequency (RF) modules sending and receiving data.
The video at the start of this Instructable is good at explaining how RF messages are transmitted. Summerise this and you have another one of your eight concepts done. Rotary EncodersThese devices are really useful as inputs, they can rotate continuously and sense which direction they are rotating in. Here is a useful tutorial explain how they work and how to connect them to an Arduino.
Liquid Crystal DisplayGreat for displaying lots of information to the user via hardware. Here is a basic tutorial for getting an LCD display working. The problem is it will use up lots of your Arduino pins as can be seen below.
There are a few alternatives that will greatly cut down on the number of pins you need to use. One option is using a shift register (here's another one), another is using an I2C expander chip.
Hall SensorMOSFETS |
Software Concepts
Structuring Programs LogicallyThings to talk about here and give examples of from your code:
CountersVariables that increase (or decrease) when certain events happen. Usually when they reach a certain number an event occurs and the counter is reset. Number of lives in a computer game is an example of a counter. Give an example from your code.
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Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog Conversion
Flags (State Variables)A variable that has two (flag) or more (state variable) possible values. The program will carry out different functions based on the state of the flag/state variable. Give an example from your code.
InterruptsInterrupts are functions that are automatically called when something happens on specific pins. This site is useful, it says things like this:
Interrupts are useful for making things happen automatically in microcontroller programs, and can help solve timing problems. Good tasks for using an interrupt may include reading a rotary encoder, or monitoring user input, times when you don't want a delay in response. |