1 | <?php |
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2 | $seiten_id = 'lernprojekte'; |
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3 | $version = '$Id'; |
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4 | $titel = 'Study projects'; |
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5 | |
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6 | require '../lib/technikum29.php'; |
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7 | ?> |
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8 | |
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9 | <h2>Study projects</h2> |
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10 | |
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11 | <h3 id="Q1"> technikum29 supports school projects</h3> |
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12 | |
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13 | <p>Microcontrollers revolutionize |
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14 | and influence next to everything. How can schools participate on these |
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15 | developments and perform successful and interesting projects?<br> |
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16 | Six pupils of Q1 (12th year in school) of the Albert-Einstein secondary |
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17 | school were looking for a suitable idea for their so called "project |
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18 | week". This project should be connected to mathematics, physics and/or |
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19 | computer science. This is where the technikum29 got involved. The idea |
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20 | the pupils came up with was to connect technology from the 1950s with |
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21 | modern equipment of 2012. Communication spanning time and technology.<br> |
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22 | <div class="box left"> |
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23 | <img src="/shared/photos/kommunikationstechnik/arduino1.jpg" width="606" height="335" /> |
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24 | </div> |
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25 | <p>Traditionally such projects required knowledge only accessible to |
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26 | computer scientists, engineers and the like. Often they had to spend |
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27 | weeks of reading data sheets, writing cryptic assembly code etc. How |
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28 | things have changed! Since 2009 a cheap and versatile module named |
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29 | "Arduino" is available - a controller based on the well known ATmega |
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30 | 328 chip featuring 32 kB of memory. Arduino boards are designed not |
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31 | for the expert but for the layman and are the perfect base for |
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32 | creative people, artists, designers etc. |
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33 | <br> |
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34 | This project focuses on connecting computers to the "real world". The |
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35 | small Arduino board can be programmed to be used as an interface for |
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36 | nearly everything. The pupils decided to connect an early fax machine |
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37 | (a Siemens KF108 made in 1958) to a modern PC. <br> |
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38 | This fax machine is based on a rotating drum which holds the sheet of |
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39 | paper to be transmitted to the receiving station. The picture is |
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40 | scanned in a spiral movement by a photodetector that slowly moves in |
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41 | parallel to the axis of the drum. Of course, this is incompatible with |
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42 | more recent fax machines. |
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43 | |
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44 | The Arduino was planned to act as the interface between this historic |
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45 | device and a modern PC. Thus the pupils first had to learn how to |
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46 | program such a micro controller which turned out to be quite difficult |
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47 | for non-programmers. Nevertheless the software approach has its |
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48 | advantages: It is more easily debugged compared with a traditional |
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49 | hardware based interface. Thus it only took a single week to program |
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50 | and interface the Arduino board to the Siemens fax. |
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51 | |
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52 | <div class="box left"> |
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53 | <img src="/shared/photos/kommunikationstechnik/arduino2.jpg" width="606" height="354" /> |
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54 | </div> |
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55 | |
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56 | <p>The fax machine generates an auido signal with a frequency of 1.5 kHz |
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57 | denoting black pixels to be transmitted. To convert this into a binary |
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58 | signal with a 5V level an amplifier circuit is needed that is followed |
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59 | by an RC-combination. In addition to that a synchronization signal is |
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60 | necessary to signal the start of a new line being scanned. This is |
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61 | generated utilizing a reed-contact that is triggered by a so called |
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62 | "super magnet" that has been glued onto the axis of the scanner drum. |
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63 | The reed-contact thus generates a signal for every revolution of the |
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64 | drum which corresponds to a single line being scanned.<br> |
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65 | |
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66 | The control program for the Arduino was developed by the pupils (and is |
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67 | <a href="/de/lernprojekte/arduino-projekt-programme/" class="go">online avaliable |
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68 | in our repository</a>). It allows the picture being scanned, a historic Mickey-Mouse drawing, to be transferred to the PC |
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69 | where it is displayed slowly line by line with good resolution. |
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70 | |
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71 | The experiment was a full success and will inspire future projects. |
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72 | |
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73 | <p class="small">*) Arduino: The name of this board derives from King "Arduino of |
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74 | Ivrea" who lived in medieval times in northern Italy where the |
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75 | controller was developed.</small> <br> |
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76 | |
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77 | |
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