Invention Stimulator®

minimum teaching – maximum learning

inventionstimulator® isn’t rocket

science…

…but it may inspire a rocket scientist

What is inventionstimulator®?

• science that’s fun and challenging– a seven stage learning programme– designed to develop computer skills… – … and to nurture individual creativity

• seven purpose-built kits– special micro control unit circuit boards– intuitive ‘drag and drop’ programming– accessories that measure and interact

• each kit gives thousands of options– finding solutions to everyday problems– defining the process and logic on a computer– …before building your very own invention

fire protection by Jack, age 9. His invention detects the heat from a burning spill, raises the alarm and extinguishes the flame with a fan

ignition sequence started !

Fun to learn, simple to teach• a classroom in a box

– a Quick Start guide and an instant lesson– worked examples on the page and in film– share ideas through our on-line forum & FAQs

• programming made easy– pick and mix routines (e.g. ‘beep’, ‘flash light’)– students set their own runtime parameters– quick and easy prototyping using USB

• relevant for the real world– many household appliances have MCUs– they are programmed in just the same way– advanced students can create viable inventions

the discovery moment when “it works!” helps to cement the learning

… we have lift-off !

What are Micro Control Units?What are Micro Control Units?They are small computers with their own memory and processor - the ‘brain’ inside many household gadgets.

By writing computer programs you can tell the special InventionStimulator® MCU what to do.

Here’s the science bit.....

On-off switch

Battery input

USB cable input

General output

Run program switch

Sound output General input

Output 0

Output 1

On-board LED

The actual MCU

So what can I do with it?

just add imagination !

• A world of possibilities– write simple instructions on a PC– choose the accessories you need– … and you can invent all kinds of things!

• The MCU interacts with the real world– sensors to monitor outside events– you design controls to respond to them…– … to activate lights, fans, sounds and more

• Real sensors are provided– to measure changes in temperature– to respond to light– to detect movement

an MCU can control anything, from a light to a jumbo jet!

The level one kit includes all of these different sensors, which you attach to eitherthe ‘Sensor input’ or the ‘Motor’ or ‘Output’ sockets of the MCU card

Interacting with the environment

Light Orientation (which way up)Heat

Infrared Bi-directional LED Fan

Let’s invent!• The problem

– an elderly lady sometimes forgets to turn the oven off after cooking

– this wastes fuel– … and could be dangerous

• Our solution– place a sensor by the oven door– after meal time check the temperature– if it’s OK do nothing, but if it’s too high – … sound an alarm and flash a light!

what will you invent ?

Let’s tell the MCU to do something A red light flashes in a smoke alarm to show it’s working.

It’s an MCU that’s telling it to flash!

Here’s how.....

Here’s the way to talk to the MCU

It’s very easy to use

Here’s where the MCU starts to work

And here’s where it stops

And you just drag instructions from here

And drop them here

Let’s make the light come on

Not hard – was it?

Let’s learn about LOOPSA loop is like a big circle which you run around as many times as you want

LOOPStart here

And ru

n this

way

Pick up a sweet

And

keep

runn

ing

Pick up anothersweet

End here

Keep runn

ing If you want more than 2 sweets just

run around the loop again

This is how we tell the MCUto do things more than once

MCU - LOOP

Some more about LOOPSAnd

run t

his w

ay

Start hereTurn on the

light

And

keep

runn

ing

Turn offthe light

End here

Keep runn

ing

Run around once and the light flashes once

Run around ten times and the light flashes10 times!

And here’s how we tell the MCU to loop

Set how many times the loop should run

It’s so easy!

Back to the flashing light….

Start Loop - ten times

Turn light on (LED=Light emitting diode)

Wait for half a second with the light on

Turn light off

Wait for half a second with the light off

End the loop and go back to the beginning

Stop altogether when the loop has run ten times

Change the timings here

Finally, we have to tell the MCU where the loop starts and ends

We do this with the ‘Draw Line’ instruction

Click ‘Draw Line’ and then click on the start and end of the loop

Looping the loop

Send the instructions to the MCU

Attach USB cable (supplied) between the computer and MCU card

And click ‘Download’

Send the instructions to the MCU

The computer translates yourinstructions into MCU language

Can you believe thatyou wrote this?!

Click ‘Download’ to send the instructions

Let’s see if it works

Disconnect the USB cable and connect a9 volt battery

Now you’re ready!

You’ve done it!

Inputs and outputsAn ‘Input’ is an event that a sensor tells the MCU about.

For example, the heat sensor tells the MCU that it has detected heat.

An ‘Output’ is how the MCU instructs a device to do something. For example, turn on the fan.

We instruct the MCU to look for Inputs through the Sensor command

And we instruct the MCU to control devices using the Moto Forward, Moto Backward and Output commands

Let’s invent!We’ll tell the MCU to use a light sensor to see if it’s light or dark.

If it’s dark, the MCU will turn on a light.

First, push a light into‘MOTOR0’

And then the Light Sensor into ‘SENSOR 0’ at the negative (‘-’) end

Let’s Invent!

This time, we want the loop to run for ever,so, it’s an ‘Unlimited Loop’

Next, tell the MCU to check the sensorwith the ‘Sensor0’ command

If the sensor is Off (not sensing darkness)then Stop the Motor (if it’s on) and Jumpback to the start of the Loop

If the sensor is on (is sensing that it’s dark),then turn on the Motor

End the loop and go back to the beginning

Moto Forward and Backward

This light is called a ‘Bi-directional LED’

It sounds complicated, but it’s easy to understand

It just means that if the electric current goes into the lightfrom one direction, it lights up Green and from the other

direction it lights up Red

If you use the ‘Moto Forward’ command it will light up Redand the ‘Moto Backward’ command will light up Green

Send the instructions to the MCU

Make sure that you’ve used the Draw Line command to join the loops

Note that the Jump command can be used instead of Loop End

And Download the instructions to the MCU

Here’s the MCU language!

Let’s see if it works

Hold your hand over the light sensor

And the Green Light Comes On!

You’ve done it!

SUBs (sub-routines)

When you want to send the MCUlots of instructions, the computer

screen gets a bit full and looks complicated

A ‘Sub’ is a programme within a programme, which can be added to the command line using a single instruction

We use the New Sub command from the top menu

SUBsClick on ‘New Sub’

And give the Sub a name

A red programme line appears

And you drag and drop commands here as normal

Click ‘OK’

SUBsDrag and drop commands to tell the

onboard LED to flash 10 times

Note that you can drag the commandIcons anywhere on the screen

Draw the line to connect the loop

Double click the Sub command

And it will shrink the Sub to a single command icon

SUBs

Drag and drop the Sub icon

Choose the Sub from the drop down list

And that’s it!

If you download this to the MCU, the LED willflash 10 times, with a single ‘Sub’ command

You can have as many ‘Subs’ as you want

Standard commands

All Commands are simple to understand

‘Delay 1 Second’ is a pre-determined delay

‘Delay’ is user definable

‘Output on’ and ‘Output off’ control the Output 1 connector

‘Music 1’, ‘Music 2’ and ‘Music 3’ play pre-determined music

Tone is user definable and can play any music that the user requires

Tones and musicThe tone command tells the MCU to play single tones, or a string of tones

Tones are chosen in Bass, Mediant or Alto, with 7 notes available for each and 6 tone lengths

Think ‘Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti’ for each of the 7 notes

DO RE MI

SOFALA TI

This will play a musical scale, with each note lasting one second

Let’s invent!In schools, the ringing of the lesson bell is often automatic

But although the bell might be automatic, the classroom lights and ventilation systems are not

We can tell the MCU to:

• Ring the bell for the beginning and end of class

• Turn on the lights and air conditioning at the start of class

• Turn off the lights and air-conditioning at the end of class

This will save money and

help the environment

Let’s invent!

This sub will:

• Ring the bell

• Turn on the light (Motor 0)

• Turn on the fan (Motor 1)

• Wait for the lesson (3 seconds)

• Ring the bell

• Turn off the light

• Turn off the fan

We can significantly simplify our Command Line, by creating a Sub

Let’s invent!Start at midnight

Let’s say 1 hour = 2 seconds therefore 9 hours = 18 seconds

Start the lesson at 9am, for 1.5 hours (3 seconds for this example)

Break time. 1 second = 30 minutes

Start next lesson

Lunch Break

Start next lesson

End of day

7 Invention Stimulator KitsThe kits are available in 7 levels, which you will progress through as you learn new techniques

Kit 2, with 5 sensor inputs, 9 outputsand lots more sensors

Inventions change the way we live for the better

What will YOU invent?

Contact Us

You can find us on the Internet: www.inventionstimulator.com

You can email us: info@inventionstimulator.com

You can call us: UK +44 (0)208 123 9806

CANADA +1 (0)403 668 9911

UAE +971 (0) 56 102 6710

CHINA +86 (0) 756 860 3529

We look forward to hearing from you!