On Saturday, May 4, we're taking part in the Morgridge Family Foundation's STEMosphere Share Fair, which will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ritchie Center on the University of Denver campus. Organized into circuits of DIY Electronics, Roots & Shoots, Colorado Lifestyle, and Technology, the STEMosphere will offer opportunities for anyone from pre-schoolers to octogenarians to experience creative and fun hands-on, minds-on activities. Experiences include soldering, making mini succulent planters out of bottle corks, watching robots made by kids battle each other (under water!), racing CO2-powered cars, and learning about anatomy by layering clay to create realistic models. Students from local schools will also showcase and celebrate some of the amazing STEM projects they have been working on throughout the year. Also, there will be a beer garden. SparkFun will be hosting a beginning soldering workshop all day using the Simon Says kit. Anyone interested in learning how to solder through-hole components and create your own game is encouraged to come by!
After you have successfully assembled the kit, you will have a greater knowledge of through-hole soldering and the tools, techniques, and terminology required to populate your own PCB prototype. You will have a development platform with 5 outputs (LEDs and buzzer), 5 inputs (buttons), and serial access for debugging. And, of course, you'll have your very own Simon game!
The fair should be a great time with a ton of awesome STEM-orific stuff going on all day long, so come by and say hey! Hope you can join us!
" You will have a development platform with 5 outputs (LEDs and buzzer), 5 inputs (buttons), and serial access for debugging."
Ummmm, am I blind? Where is the fifth button?
Maybe they're counting the sound on/off switch as a button, although that's a bit of a stretch since it's fixed to the buzzer (rather than setting a pin to a certain state and having the code deal with whether or not to use that buzzer). Otherwise.. yeah, not seeing the 5th either :)
Sorry guys, I didn't see this til today. There are a bunch of analog pins left broken out at the side of the simon. We'll be attaching photosensors to these pins for the fifth. Thanks for keeping us honest!
I really like the push for STEM. I think it is a worthwhile program. Best of luck to this event and all others like it.
Thanks! It's an initiative we're excited to be a part of. If you don't already know about it, check out our educational tour starting later this year.