| Page 231 | Electronics and Computer Science

The Boards

The Micro Arcana series of boards are designed to enable our students to gain experience with common processing elements and enable them to quickly prototype ideas.

Il Matto

This board features an 8-bit AVR embedded microcontroller. It can be programmed via JTAG, ISP or USB, and contains circuitry to recharge an attached LiPo battery. Our Electronic and Electrical Engineering students start using this board in the first few weeks of their degree, where they have a number of practical lab exercises to construct and test the board, learn how to use it, and write a range of interactive embedded programs for it.

Il Bagatto

This board features a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), which allows students to use a Hardware Description Language (HDL) to configure it to implement different logic circuits.

La Papessa

This board features a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a form of programmable logic that allows more complex designs than possible with a CPLD.

L’Imperatrice

This board features a 450 MHz ARM9 applications processor and 64 MB of RAM, and is capable of connecting to a mouse, keyboard, and display, and running the Linux operating system.

Accessories

2.2” TFT Display Module

This 240 x 320 pixel 18-bit RGB display board is designed to connect directly to any of the four Micro Arcana boards presented above.

Circuit Schematics

The Main Circuit

The Amplifier Circuit

The Power Supply Circuit

Kit Components

Construction

To build the circuit you will require some basic electronic tools. You can obtain a reasonable set of tools from any of the main Electronic suppliers. A couple of suitable kits would be the Rapid Electronics Tool Kit plus solder (£33), or if you are on a tight budget the CPC Soldering Kit (£10). Remember, in general you get what you pay for - more expensive tools from established companies will typically last longer and perform better.

If you haven’t done any soldering before, now is a perfect time to learn! This video provides a great tutorial on how to solder.

Print this PDF to identify all of the components

Resistors

Start by fitting the fifteen resistors labelled R1-R15. Start by laying them all out on a piece of paper and labelling them according to their value. Their value is indicated by coloured bands (or could be checked with a multimeter).

Capacitors, Inductor and Potentiometer

Next fit the capacitors, taking care to ensure that C1 is the 4.7nF capacitor. Then fit the inductor (L1). Finally fit the potentiometer (variable resistor) taking care to ensure that it is firmly pushed into the board before soldering.

IC socket, Battery holders, Switch, Speaker, Jack socket and IC

Next fit the IC socket, the battery holders (B1 and B2), the switch (S1). The speaker SP1 can now be fitted and it does not matter which way around it is fitted in this circuit. Finally fit the jack socket (X1). You have now finished the soldering aspect of the project. To finish up, fit the four plastic feet by pushing them into the holes from the underside of the board. Attach the potentiometer knob by inserting it from the top. Lastly, insert the IC taking care to ensure that the indent or dimple indicating pin 1 is in a NW orientation.

Audible Testing

Ensure S1 is in the off position and insert the two batteries with their positive terminals upper most. Turn on the switch S1 and rotate the potentiometer. If all goes well you should hear a range of noises as the potentiometer is varied which are centred around the main frequency of 4kHz. The sound is deliberately not too loud so as not to irritate. If you wish to hear it louder you can insert a pair of earphones into the 3.5mm jack socket or connect the system to a stereo amplifier.

Viewing the Chaotic Behaviour

To see the real beauty of the chaotic behaviour you need an oscilloscope. Most of you probably have one, even if you did not realise it. It is possible to use the sound input on your computer as a low frequency oscilloscope which is sufficient for this exercise. Download the Soundcard Oscilloscope. This is a free program which converts the left and right channel from line in, to a two channel oscilloscope. Unfortunately, it is only available for Windows, so you will need to run it in a virtual machine if you are using a Mac or Linux. The oscilloscope is a tool to plot the dynamic behaviour of a circuit and enables us to see how voltages vary over time. Additionally, this oscilloscope enables us to display two inputs against each other in an X-Y mode revealing the nature of the chaotic attractor. Finally, it is even possible to look at the frequency content of the signals.

You will need a cable to connect your oscillator to your computer. The cable you require has a 3.5mm stereo jack plug on both ends and is sometimes shipped with iPods or music players. If you do not have one you can buy one from Rapid.

The circuit is quite sensitive to the precise component values and hence you may get some variation from the examples shown here.

As you increase the potentiometer you should be able to hear the oscillator go through a period doubling sequence before entering chaotic behaviour.

Viewing the Chaotic Behaviour (view clockwise from top left)

As you further increase the potentiometer you may be able to get the oscillator to show both sides of its attractor.

Further increasing the potentiometer will tend to shrink the attractor and in the limit will produce a stable (louder) oscillation around the main frequency of 4kHz.

Contact Us

For any enquiries, please email us at kits@soton.ac.uk.

This initiative has been developed in partnership with the UK Electronics Skills Foundation (UKESF), and with the sponsorship of organisations including the Smallpeice Trust, and support and donations from a wide range of companies, charities and other organisations.

The Logic and Arithmetic kit incorporates core electronics concepts suitable for A-level Computer Science students, in particular covering aspects of Boolean operations, logic gates and base 2 (binary) number systems.

A-Level Computer Science Logic and Arithmetic Kit

The kit is split into two sections: 'Logic' and 'Arithmetic', with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) used to indicate logic states throughout.

The kit is currently not available to purchase, but limited numbers are being provided to schools for free. Schools/colleges interested in receiving kits, or organisations interested in sponsoring the scheme, can join our mailing list to find out more.

We are building teaching resources around these boards, for example our accompanying set of logic problems (and solutions) and online training video. If you would like to contribute resources, please contact us.

Download documentation Having trouble? Join our mailing list

This is normally a very abstract area to teach. My students were able to solve problems through experimentation and discussion, which they completely loved. The only problem now is getting them to leave at break and lunch!

Sean Vernall, Teacher at The Deepings School

It made a dry, but very useful, topic come to life

Liz Brown - A Level Computer Science Teacher, Bolton School Girls' Division

Students were very engaged with the kit and really enjoyed working their way through the booklet

Kirsty Lawrence, Teacher at Chellaston Academy, Derby

Students learn better when they are able to visualise and put theory into practice

Chris Atkinson, Teacher at Thornleigh Salesian College, Bolton

These provided a fun, hands-on, engaging activity that brought the topic to life for my students.

Geraldine Spelman, Teacher of Computer Science at WMG Academy for Young Engineers, Coventry

Fantastic resource, brilliant to support the a level as there is not many resources to engage physically.

Claire Gryspeerdt, Teacher at Wrenn School

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Logic Section

This can be used to explore Boolean operations and logic gates, and to implement simple logic functions and circuits. The board has three switchable logic inputs, a range of different logic gates (AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XOR, NOT), and three logic outputs. Orange LEDs indicate the state (logic 0 or 1) of the individual inputs and outputs of every gate.

Video Tutorial

This tutorial video walks viewers through the typical use of the Logic Section of the kit, and demonstrates how you can use it to connect inputs, logic gates and outputs together in order to implement and explore a logic problem.

Arithmetic Section

This provides an 8-bit two’s complement adder/subtractor circuit, offering the ability to perform A+B or A-B (where A and B are 8-bit binary numbers). This can be used to experiment with unsigned and signed binary arithmetic, as well as offering a different way to observe and understand binary number systems. This can even be extended to a 9-bit adder circuit, by using the Logic Section of the kit to implement a Full Adder.

Video Tutorial

This tutorial video walks viewers through the typical use of the Arithmetic Section of the kit, demonstrating how you can use it to add two 8-bit unsigned binary numbers, and add or subtract two 8-bit signed two's-complement binary numbers.

The students loved seeing full adders being created practically and we managed to link the boards together. It really bought my lesson to life.

Morné Hoffman - St Helen’s, Northwood, London

It was interesting to see the different approaches the students took to exploring the kits. Some followed the activities, others setting themselves more stretching challenges and others working in a team and getting the kits to work together.

Geraldine Spelman - Teacher of Computer Science at WMG Academy for Young Engineers, Coventry

These are wonderful: my students loved the challenges and it really helped them to understand logic gates and adders

Head of CS Department, Frome College

They really liked the physical nature of using the boards compared to online simulations

Nick Frost, Teacher at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls

These are an absolutely fantastic resource that make teaching computation and logic so much fun

Sean Vernall, Teacher at The Deepings School

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Online Training

Training Video — Video Walkthrough of Training Handbook

To provide training to teachers who were not able to travel to the University to attend one of our CPD workshops, we have recorded a video which walks through the Logic and Arithmetic Electronic Engineering Kit's Training Handbook.

We are keen to receive any feedback that you might have about this video. If there are parts that are unclear, or additional things that you would like demonstrated, please contact us.

Watch training video

Electronics Everywhere Android Companion App

The Electronics Everywhere companion app

In conjunction with the UKESF, a team of undergraduate students at the University of Southampton developed an Android companion app to support teaching with the Logic and Arithmetic kit.

The app, available via the Google Play Store, supports teaching in a classroom environment by augmenting board functionality with an interactive board layout and logic design problems (with password protected answers).

Download from Play Store

_{The University cannot accept responsibility for external websites or software.}

Logic Problems (and Solutions)

This set of Logic Problems, based on real engineering examples, is specifically designed to accompany our Logic and Arithmetic Kit.

The logic problems were created by Kiran Patel, a UKESF Scholar, while he was a student at the University of Southampton studying Electronic Engineering with Computer Systems. There are a total of 10 different problems, of increasing difficulty, with accompanying worked solutions.

Download logic problems

Troubleshooting

If the Logic and Arithmetic board does not work, first of all:

Check the power is switched on; the power LED will be lit. If the power LED does not light, replace the battery (rechargeable batteries are fine) and remove all wires and jumpers from the board.
Ensure you do not directly connect "logic 0" to "logic 1".

If the kit still does not work then please email us.

Useful downloads

Need the software? PDF Reader Word Doc

It is essential that we maintain student engagement in Physics and Computer Science at A-Level as these are the gateway to engineering, hence our interest in working with UKESF and the University of Southampton to support teachers to inspire students’ interest in these subjects.

Our Sponsors, Supporters and Donors

VivaMOS

Donor

Electronics and technology play a vital role in tackling society’s biggest challenges, but at the moment, not enough young people have the opportunity to experience these subjects in an engaging way, or consider what career opportunities they could lead to.

About The Team

The A-Level Computer Science Logic and Arithmetic Kit has been created by the following team from the University of Southampton and UK Electronics Skills Foundation:

Prof Geoff Merrett

Geoff is a Professor and Director of Outreach and Recruitment in ECS, and has led on the development of the A-Level Computer Science kit.

Dr Alex Weddell

Alex is a Lecturer in ECS, and is leading on professional development activities using the A-Level Computer Science kit.

Dr Daniel Spencer

Daniel is a Lecturer in ECS, and part of the team developing the A-Level Computer Science kit.