Engineering Club

Engineering Club pROGRAM

The Middle School Engineering Club is a program for a dozen middle school students that is a year-long. They meet once a week for 3 hours. They are taught a wide range of engineering skills including programming robots and microcontrollers, 3D printer design & construction, basic electronics, computer-aided design, and fabrication using plastic, metal, and wood. These skills will ultimately be used towards a single large-scale team project.

Programming

Students learn how to program beyond drag-and-drop programming, including with Java, Python, and C-style languages. They also learn how to design an algorithm for solving a maze, and then turn that algorithm into code in these various languages.

Robots

In addition to Mindstorm EV3 and NXT, the students get to use the Scribbler, Pololu, Arduino-based mBot, and Sphero.

Fabrication

Students learn how to design using CAD software, and manufacture their parts with a 3-D printer, as well as other fabrication techniques.

Microcontrollers

Students learn how to program Arduinos, reading various analog and digital sensors, control LEDs, servos, and motors using simple electronics like transistors and resistors. Multimeters, logic probes, and oscilloscopes are used to understand and diagnose circuits.