Term project ideas -- into labs and demos

Force sensor
https://www.manylabs.org/docs/project/forceSensor/

Construct a force sensor using the above link as inspiration.  A simple spring will be used to move a variable resistor -- this then changes the voltage measured, which one can use to correlate with how much force one pushed on the spring.
Calibrate it.  Test it out.  What are the limits?  How sensitive is your force sensor (what is the smallest increment in force that it can detect)?



Pulley rotation sensor
https://www.manylabs.org/docs/project/pulley/

Ever wonder how an old-school mouse uses the motion of the ball to track where you are moving a cursor on a screen?  This is the same idea.  Two photo sensors are needed to determine which way the pulley is rotating.  This can be used to make precise measurements of the motion of things that are connected through the pulley, such as an Atwood's machine setup.
Once this has been constructed and the hardware works, make the device output (either to computer or LCD display) the rotational speed -- e.g., in RPMs, or rad/sec.


Egg drop
https://www.manylabs.org/docs/project/eggDrop/
(Not required to make this wireless -- can be designed so that the data is read out later)
Here you'll put an accelerometer inside with an egg in a box and measure the acceleration as the egg is dropped from a tall height (such as a second story building).  What is the max acceleration?  What acceleration breaks the egg?  How does this compare with the force needed to break a similar egg (tested, e.g., by putting weights on top of the egg)?


Sound for measuring position / speed of sound
Speaker and microphone combo allow you to measure the time that it takes for a sound wave to bounce off a surface.  Using this device along with a cart can help you measure the position of the cart at several times, ultimately letting you plot its trajectory.


light source / photosensor for detecting when something goes by

Here you will set up an LED (or laser) and send it onto a photosensor.  If something blocks the path between the laser and the photosensor, then the time should be recorded. We can use this for example to measure the oscillation period of a pendulum.