Overview of EE kits

The Electrical Engineering class(es) are built upon a foundation of kits.  Each lesson utilizes one or more of the kits.  One lesson might need both Snap-A and Snap-B.  Another might utilities tools, supplies, and short-term consumables for a take-home project.

Longevity

For maintainability reasons, it can be useful to think of the kits in terms of the longevity.  Basically, how often then need care and feeding

• Long-Term – should last for years.  We just need to replace broken or missing parts.
• Medium-Term – should last a whole season.  We’ll likely need to replenish some of the stuff in here at the end of each class
• Short-Term – this are mainly single-use take-home kits

The long-term kits are meant to last for years. The medium-term kits should last for several projects, but need to be replenished somewhat regularly.  The short-term kits are generally meant to only last for a single project.  

List of Kits

Here is an overview of each kit:

• Class-Wide Power (long-term)
• Power (long-term)
• Snap-A (long-term)
• Snap-B (long-term)
• Tools (long-term)
• Supplies (medium-term)
• Squishy Circuits w/ Lightning Dough (medium-term)
• Finger LEDs (short-term)
• Bristle-bot (short-term)
• Clip Alarm (short-term)
• LED Art (short-term)

 

Class-Wide Power

• 1 GFCI Power Strip with on/off switch 
• 3 Long Extension cords 
• 2 Medium Extension cords
• 5 Power cord splitters 

The philosophy here to provide a single place where the instructor can easily turn off all power to the students, given them a control over the environment.  The above setup would allow for at least 20 students.  Everything above is heavy duty, even though we won’t draw much current, these should stand up to the rigors of the class and last for years.

Power Kit

• Wall Wart – Wall Adapter Power Supply 5V DC 1A
• Switch – Inline switch for 2.1 mm barrel-jack 
• Rat Tail – 2.1mm DC Power Jack w/6′ Cable
• Storage Box:

The Power Kit is used for the squishy circuit/ Lightning Dough lesson and will probably be used in the advanced EE classes to power solder circuit boards.  The kit provides a power supply, a switch, and a rat tail.  This particular power supply was decided upon based upon this discussion on the Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange site.

Snap-A Kit

• 1 small baseplate 
• 2 AA Batteries 
• 1 B1 Battery Pack 
• 1 R3 resistor 
• 2 (2) bar 
• 1 S1 Off On Switch 
• 1 S2 Press Switch 
• 1 S5 Single Pull, Double Throw switch (AKA – two way switch) 
• 2 D1 Red LEDs 
• 1 M1 Motor 
• 1 Fan Blade
• 2 gray wires
• 2 purple wires 
• 2 green wires 
• 2 yellow wires
• 1 Box 

Snap-B Kit

• 1 small baseplate
• 2 AA Batteries 
• 1 D7 7 Segment Display
• 1 S3 Relay 
• 1 B1 Battery Pack 
• 2 gray wires
• 2 purple wires
• 2 green wires 
• 1 Box

Tools

• 1 Wire Strippers
• 1 Needle Nosed Plyers
• 1 Scissors
• Safety Glasses
• 1 box 

Supplies 

• 5 x 8 pad of paper (or any blank paper)
• 1 roll electrical tape
• 1 22 gauge spool of hookup wire
• 1 Pencil
• 1 storage box
• Just so you know, we’re having an ongoing discussion as to whether to include wire nut connectors

Squishy Circuits w/ Lightning Dough

• 8 oz conductive play dough aka Lightning Dough, 
• The Squishy Circuit Store suggested that commercial Play Doh would be conductive-enough.  We should test this!
• 5 LEDs
• 1 mini zippy for LEDs 
• 1 dough container

Finger LEDs  Take-home Kit

• 1 battery 
• 4 LEDs
• 1 zippy
• 1 descriptive insert 

Bristle-bot Take-home Kit

• 2 batteries
• 1 LEDs
• 2 Vibrating Motor (we are actively working on finding an alternative that is easier to work with – warning very long lead time on these)
• 2 Toothbrushes 
• 1 zippy 
• 1 descriptive insert

Clip Alarm Take-home Kit

This project relies upon the Tools and Supplies kits

• 1 battery 
• 4 LEDs
• 1 clothes pin
• 1 buzzer
• 1 zippy  
• 1 descriptive insert

LED Art Eyes Take-home Kit

This project relies upon the Tools and Supplies kits

• 1 battery
• 4 LEDs
• 1 Foam Core 11×14 poster board 
• 1 zippy  
• 1 descriptive insert