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projects:snap_circuits [2013/12/20 09:43]
rifkinni
projects:snap_circuits [2013/12/20 09:43] (current)
rifkinni
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  As you can see, if the input is zero, the output will always be zero. If the input is one, the selector determines which output is also one. This is useful for sending information only to the specific place that it is needed. You build it by creating two And gates, with a Not gate in front of one of them. The selector input should get wired to both the first Not gate and the And gate. The data input should be wired to both And gates. The diagram below shows this visually. See if you can predict which red LED will light up!  As you can see, if the input is zero, the output will always be zero. If the input is one, the selector determines which output is also one. This is useful for sending information only to the specific place that it is needed. You build it by creating two And gates, with a Not gate in front of one of them. The selector input should get wired to both the first Not gate and the And gate. The data input should be wired to both And gates. The diagram below shows this visually. See if you can predict which red LED will light up!
  
-**Personal Reflections:**+**PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:**
  
 One of the biggest challenges of this project was thinking about ways to make it user friendly and accessible to others. I think in a lot of ways we succeeded in making a toy that is tangible and can visually show the behavior of logic circuits. However, they are not safe for children to use because there are so many exposed wires, even though it would be a great resource for them. In addition, there is a bit of a learning curve that goes along with them; it requires knowledge of how a breadboard works, and is only intuitive if you are familiar with electrical conventions,​ such as red wires getting power and black wires getting grounded. It was also very difficult to put together a manual that contained enough information to be useful but not so much to become a textbook. For example, currently, it puts a black box around the binary number system. It is still possible to use and enjoy the Snap circuits without knowledge of binary, but the user will not understand the adder as well. I could imagine that it would be intimidating or turn the user off to the user if they did not understand large parts of it, but at the same time, it would not be helpful to have 20 pages of documentation. We would really appreciate feedback on what parts of the manual were clear and intuitive and what parts were confusing or intimidating,​ because this was a part that we definitely struggled with.  One of the biggest challenges of this project was thinking about ways to make it user friendly and accessible to others. I think in a lot of ways we succeeded in making a toy that is tangible and can visually show the behavior of logic circuits. However, they are not safe for children to use because there are so many exposed wires, even though it would be a great resource for them. In addition, there is a bit of a learning curve that goes along with them; it requires knowledge of how a breadboard works, and is only intuitive if you are familiar with electrical conventions,​ such as red wires getting power and black wires getting grounded. It was also very difficult to put together a manual that contained enough information to be useful but not so much to become a textbook. For example, currently, it puts a black box around the binary number system. It is still possible to use and enjoy the Snap circuits without knowledge of binary, but the user will not understand the adder as well. I could imagine that it would be intimidating or turn the user off to the user if they did not understand large parts of it, but at the same time, it would not be helpful to have 20 pages of documentation. We would really appreciate feedback on what parts of the manual were clear and intuitive and what parts were confusing or intimidating,​ because this was a part that we definitely struggled with. 
projects/snap_circuits.1387550591.txt.gz ยท Last modified: 2013/12/20 09:43 by rifkinni