RESEARCH SUMMER HIGH SCHOOL MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
www.drexel.edu/coe/special/summer/mentor
This goal of this program was to provide exceptional high school students with an oppurtunity to work on university level research. This experience helps guide their future studies and gives them a competitive edge when applying to colleges.
Kevin Chang, then a junior at the Illinois Math & Science Academy, flew in from Chicago to join our lab for a hectic 2 weeks. I filled in as Kevin's advisor during his stay. To get him familiar with real world control, Kevin was tasked with completing the PIC tutorials I wrote. This provided him with invaluable circuit construction and programming experience.
After completing the tutorials, Kevin pulled out some old GPS hardware and software we had in the lab. At the time we were just beginning the near space balloon project. This would be part of the tracking system for this project. Kevin worked independently to figure out how to use the GPS receiver, and created a webpage tutorial on using the system (linked below).
Trimble GPS Unit
Kevin completed all his official work early and was eager to experiment with real robotics. For the last few days of his stay in Philly, I guided him in the design, construction and programming of a basic robot. Kevin wired up the 16F84 based control circuitry, hacked servos for use as drive motors, constructed a frame and programmed a VB interface to control his robot.