Section 3.2 Specific Final Project Requirements
The final project will utilize the Circuit Playground (or any other comparable or better microcontroller such as the Arduino or Raspberry Pi) and at least 3 other electrical components to move a mechanical system that helps people in some way. The specific requirements are shown below. Note that every group will have a few additional requirements specific to their project based on how creative they decide to be.
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System must incorporate 3 electrical components (accelerometer, lights, sound and microphone to name a few). Your power source, microcontroller, speaker amplifier or the Crikit does not count as a component. An interface is not considered a component
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System must be unique as well as built and designed by your team (Tutorials may be used but you must make the system unique in some way).
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System must have one of the three components as an external part to the main microcontroller and not be something already taught in a weekly project (buttons, servos or potentiometers to name a few).
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System must take some sort of measurement to be used in the code.
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System must utilize a data acquisition method so that data can be plotted on your computer as a function of time.
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System must help someone in some way.
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System must have some sort of mechanical component to it and cannot be purely software and electrical components.
Microcontroller Choice: Note, you have the choice to use any type of microcontroller (MCU) for your final project. In my experience teaching this course, many groups choose to use an Arduino UNO/Mega/Nano or ESP32 for their final project. Although the CPX/CPB is a cheap MCU that has many built-in sensors, it is severely lacking in stability, memory and power capabilities. The course is designed around CircuitPython and the CPX/CPB due to the simplicity of the programming language and versatility of the MCU. However, for your final project, using an Arduino will open your project up to a larger world of possibilities and your CPX/CPB programming/hardware skills will transfer very easily to Arduino. Combine that with GenAI and you’ll have an easy time getting code to work on the Arduino. I would say about half the class ends up using an Arduino so although you can absolutely make some very cool projects with the CPX/CPB, my experience is that about 50% of the class would benefit from using an Arduino. Why isn’t the entire class just built around Arduino? Because for $20 you get two push buttons, a slide switch, an accelerometer, a temperature sensor, 8 neopixels, PWM support, a light sensor, multiple 16 bit ADCs, a microphone, a speaker and a much simpler programming language. The CPX also has an IR sensor and the CPB supports bluetooth communication. I think students get more out of learning on a CPX/CPB and then they can take those skills to something more reliable like the Arduino MCU or even something more complex like a Raspberry Pi.
