How do you get people up to speed on circuitry in a way that’s particularly relevant to these times? Teach them to build a social-distancing robot. With a motor, distance sensor, LED, and a buzzer, attendees at a recent workshop of the Center for Engineering Innovation & Design (CEID) could make a device to guard their personal space.
“That was a fun thing we were building to put the circuitry we were learning into context,” said CEID Design Fellow Antonio Medina, who led the workshop over Zoom. “The second something gets within six feet, a light could blink red, a buzzer could beep very loudly, and then the LCD screen could say ‘Please stay back – you’re less than six feet away!’ and a little motor could put up a stop sign that says ‘Stop.’”
It’s one of the creative ways the CEID staff has been working to keep its popular workshops and other activities…