The Aquaponics Project is taking shape. Met today with Professor Ian Wallace and students from the Theater Arts program to talk about the requirements for installation.
The tentative plan has TA students welding the base, and then skinning it with wood, resplendent with infographics carved using their ShopBot setup. Amy Brinkley (Librarian) moved some furniture this morning to make room for the installation, so we all went out and talked through the project in its natural habitat, kicking around ideas about lighting, associated displays of library materials, and design elements. Students Cameron and Carlos will be working on some conceptual drawings and models so we can move forward in January!
The Innovation Center hosted its first Circuit Bending workshop today. Following a short introduction, folks tore apart electronic toys and made joyful noise! Gallery of photos:
Faculty from biology, chemistry, and FLC’s library are working with the Innovation Center to design an aquaponics system. In its simplest form, an aquaponics system is fish on the bottom, plants on the top. We’d like ours to be networked, with remote monitoring and control. Here’s a conceptual diagram:
Max Mahoney (Professor of Chemistry) had an idea about using the Innovation Center’s 3D printer to create some manipulatives to help demonstrate to chemistry students concepts of atomic bonding. Something like this:
Here’s what Max has to say about it:
The nature of chemical bonds is rooted in complex physical forces. These forces result in atoms being both attracted and held apart at a specific distance. We hope to develop a hands-on model for students, which conveys this important chemical information. Currently available designs of molecular model kits allow the construction of complex molecules in 3 dimensions, but do a poor job of representing the exact nature of each chemical bond. Our goal is to create a model that will allow students to feel the chemical bond and see the bond lengths. The recently discovered ‘inverter magnets’ have the property of both repelling and attracting each other, so that the atoms seem to hold each other in a ‘tractor beam.’ The distance they are separated represents the bond length.
Initial designs will focus on demonstrating the principle of bond length and bond vibration between two atoms. Enclosures for the inverter magnets are currently being 3D printed and their shapes optimized. These models use strong neodymium magnets so that students can feel the significant push and pull of the two ‘atoms.’ Magnets of different strengths will result in varying degrees of bond strengths (and vibrational rates), which can be measured by the student using force gauges.
Subsequent designs of these models will demonstrate each atom’s unique bonding pattern. Specialized cases for the inverter magnets will be 3D printed to mimic an atom’s ability to form multiple bonds.
The key aspect of these models is that the magnets do not touch and can be made to vibrate at a specific frequency so that the model is dynamic. Currently, students are taught these concepts with either static models, or with video animation. The strength of our model lies in the ability for students see and feel tangible objects displaying atomic principles on a macro scale.
We did some design talking/drawing:
Max went home, bought some magnets, taught himself SketchUp, and has printed a few different prototypes.
Sean Fannon (Professor of Psychology and we think coiner of the phrase “arduineuron”) and I have been kicking around ideas for a project consisting of 3D printed neurons and LEDs, all controlled by Arduino. It’s early stage, but I was able to get a little prototype up, using this model of a neuron (CC BY-NC-SA by speborde) and this Arduino sketch/schematic from spikee.io. The neuron starts firing (indicated by the pulsing of the LED) as the potentiometer is rolled up.
The general idea is to create an interactive network of these for use in the Psychology classroom.
Using the prototype above as a starting point, Sean and I sat down to further define the project.
Next steps include securing some electronics, and designing and printing some snap-together dendrite interfaces. I’m also in conversations with Jennifer Kraemer (Professor of Early Childhood Education) to see if we can find a way to also demonstrate the concept of myelination, which Jennifer talks about in her Child Development courses. This neuron project might also come into play. Interdisciplinary goodness!
Spent the evening or May 7th at a recognition event for donors to the college. The Innovation Center has been a direct recipient of Falcon Grant monies – that’s how we got the Printrbot – and an indirect recipient in partnership with Geosciences, enabling us to upgrade to a better quadcopter for dolookdown.org. I had the opportunity to explain the various projects, and to talk to Foundation members and donors about our plans to remake the IC as a makerspace. Several seem very excited about the idea!
Replace the x’s with your id number, and it’s always best to be logged in to apps.losrios.edu prior to clicking the link. Personally, I use Chrome for apps.losrios.edu and Firefox for all Google things linked to other GMail accounts. Once you start the Hangout, you will be able to invite individual users, or share the link in D2L. Students won’t need to use a private Gmail and you will be under the umbrella of Los Rios.
A few months ago, I wrote a proposal to equip three faculty members – myself, and professors Fowler (CIS) and Pittman (Geosciences) with Glass for the purposes of instructional R&D. After a bunch of budget and purchasing contortions, the units were ordered and arrived just yesterday.
Here’s what we’ve learned so far:
Google Wallet is the only way to pay for the devices, and this made purchasing relatively difficult. With the help of folks in Business Services locally and Purchasing at the DO, we were able to make it happen.
Glass won’t work with our college wireless networks. To use WiFi, glass needs a simple network + passcode, and our networks around here require much more than that. We’re working to see if IT can get some easier-to-access R&D wireless network going.
It seems to be way more difficult for folks who wear glasses to find the visual sweet spot. Not so for those without glasses, or for those with contacts. I’m a glasses wearer, so I need to make an appointment to get prescription lenses for my Glass frames.
I’m stymied by the network issue, and have only been able to use the device at home. As such, I’ve only done basic things – “Okay, Glass – Google such and such,” and “Okay Glass – send a message to so and so.” That sort of thing.
People are excited about it, as it’s something many have seen or heard about in the news.
On Friday, November 4th from 9am – 4pm, the FLC Online Educators will host our 3rd annual FLC Innovation in Ed Tech Unconference. This is an informal, unconference-style, lunch-on-your-own, collaborative, grassroots, on-the-fly, bring-your-own-mobile-device event – basically a supportive atmosphere in which to nerd out and talk about teaching and technology. All Los Rios faculty are invited to attend – beginners and experts, adjunct and full-time.
