Dave, Here is a link to a project I did for a 1 week summer camp last year: http://www.instructables.com/id/Autonomous-Control-of-RC-Car-Using-Arduino/ It was quite inexpensive and the kids (middle school, 6 boys, 6 girls) learned the "gist" of programming using an Arduino. They got real excited when their cars traveled the pattern they programmed into it - figure 8s, big circles then small circles, back up circles and then go forward. Nearl= y anything they wanted to make the cars do they could do. The cars were about $5 at Walmart and I spent a couple hours beforehand modifying them - bringing the control wires out etc. The kids got to keep the Arduinos and a few have actually gotten into programming. We also set the Arduinos up to play single tone music. I taught the kids how to translate musical notes to periods and then to loop values. They learned to program Happy Birthday and several other songs. It was really cool when one of the kids said - "hey, this is the same as a musical greeting card!"... They didn't have to do any soldering, just plug in the wires, write and loa= d a program and they're off to the races. Carey Fisher Chief Technical Officer New Communications Solutions, LLC 678-999-3956 careyfisher@ncsradio.com On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 1:03 PM, Daddy Dave wrote: > > Thanks for putting me onto that Maker Faire! I don't know when I can eve= r > get involved, but was _this_ _close_ to designing a little PIC board for = a > one-week Jr High science camp last year. I'd design a very small PIC boa= rd > with an 4x4 LED array on it and CR2032 battery and give the kids a workin= g > project to start from. They'd solder SMT components under a microscope > then > customize the LED patterns to their own preferences using for() loops and > end up with something they could show their friends. They might pin it t= o > a > hat or wear it on a string. They'd get experience with SMT components an= d > C > programming - all in a week! > > So many of the project-in-a-bag kits use thru-hole components and 555 > timers. It just kills me to see the ancient technology in those kits. > -- > View this message in context: > http://old.nabble.com/Join-me-in-kindling-a-fire-in-the-hearts-of-young-m= akers-tp32047652p32148853.html > Sent from the PIC - [AD] mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .