What Internet of Things projects are Stanford students developing? Stanford ME220 "Introduction to Sensors" is an introduction to the variety of sensors that are used in engineering practice. Students in this class get a comprehensive overview of common practices with sensors and learn the direction in which sensor technologies are heading.
Carts constructed with the LEGO® Simple & Powered Machines Set are great for studying motion kinematics, as the resultant motion is fairly smooth, resulting in less noisy data. While you can use the range finder and PocketLab app, it has been found by the author that using Voyager and the VelocityLab app is less noisy as well. The problem that one immediately confronts when considering this approach, however, is that both the small wheels and the large wheels in the LEGO® set are too small for attaching Voyager.
This lesson combines LEGO®’s capability for building powered machines having gears with PocketLab Voyager’s ability to make detailed measurements of the resulting motion. This lesson uses parts from LEGO®’s Simple & Powered Machines Set.
A novel activity that demonstrates one of the effects of a microgravity environment. In this exercise, the structure of a flame is filmed while simultaneously plotting the acceleration of the system as it is released and experiences freefall. The apparatus is low-cost, possibly using only scrap materials found in the classroom. A PocketLab One is paired with a smartphone and used to collect the data. Conceptually, the exercise is straightforward, though considering noise in the data, limits of the system, and chemistry applications could easily enrich the content.
PocketLab sensors can measure the pressure in a fluid line easily, by putting the PocketLab into a plastic wash bottle. (For protection, put the sensor in a ziplock bag with a paper towel.) The wash bottle nozzle inserts easily into 1/4" ID tubing, and can be used as a pressure tap to measure fluid pressure in two different T junctions.
A thermoelectric generator (TEG) is a device that converts temperature differences directly into electrical energy. In the past several years, there has been a great deal of research in the use of TEGs to recover electrical energy from waste heat produced in a variety of systems. As a result of this research, the study of thermoelectric generators in physics and engineering curricula is well worth including in NGSS-based coursework.
The physics of the sounds produced by music boxes is definitely worth studying in curricula based upon NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). The prongs of a metal music box comb and an oscillating meter stick that overhangs a table are both examples of cantilevers--long projecting beams that are supported only at one end. Other common examples include many suspension bridges, beams that support balconies on high rises, diving boards, airplane wings, and flagpoles mounted to the side of a building.
This lesson can be used to provide a demonstration of forced oscillations and resonance in a small model structure. This lesson is possible by teaming Vernier Software & Technology with PocketLab.
Ozobot (ozobot.com) is a tiny one inch diameter line-traveling robot that can be used in conjunction with PocketLab to easily study the physics concepts of position, velocity, and acceleration and their time graphs. PocketLab is simply taped to the top of an Ozobot using double-sided mounting tape. In other words, Ozobot gives Pocket lab a ride. The photo below shows this setup, with Ozobot following a 1/4" heavy black line drawn with a chisel tip marking pen.
With gas prices as high as they are and having a growing concern for the environment, Americans today are becoming conscious about things they can do to improve fuel efficiency. Many realize that driving at the posted speed limits promotes both safety and reduces the rate at which fuel is consumed. With these things in mind, some have purchased hybrid vehicles including the Toyota Prius, all-electric vehicles such as the Nissan LEAF, or range-extending vehicles such as the Chevy Volt. Those with EV's soon realize that they get more miles per charge if they avoid driving at excessively hi
