{"id":26066,"date":"2023-06-02T14:18:22","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T18:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=26066"},"modified":"2023-06-05T06:45:47","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T10:45:47","slug":"mayx-electronic-arts-and-crafts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/mayx-electronic-arts-and-crafts\/","title":{"rendered":"MayX Snapshot: Student inventors blend tech and imagination"},"content":{"rendered":"

May Experience 2023<\/a>
\nRead more stories >><\/a><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Course:<\/h4>\n

Electronic Arts and Crafts<\/em><\/p>\n

Instructor:<\/h4>\n

Bryan Catron, computer science instructor<\/em><\/p>\n

Description:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exploring interactive projects that artists, designers and crafters have made using technology while designing original projects with an easy-to-use platform \u2013 no computer programming experience required.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They called it the Motorskee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to launch projectiles into these cups,\u201d said co-inventor Jack Mikell \u201925, indicating a catapult mounted atop a small radio-controlled car and a board holding three red plastic tumblers. \u201cThere\u2019ll be sensors connected to the back of the cups, and the projectile will come through, initiate the sensor, and it\u2019ll register on a scoreboard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The name Motorskee, explained Mikell\u2019s partner, Tony Song \u201926, combines the word \u201cmotor\u201d with the arcade game Skee-Ball, where players toss balls up a ramp, aiming for the center ring of a bullseye.<\/p>\n

The pair was one of several teams in the Electronic Arts and Crafts May Experience course who conceptualized, designed and built interactive electronic projects despite having little experience in electronics or computer programming. It was their introduction to maker culture<\/a>, a worldwide movement of DIY tech enthusiasts creating new inventions or tinkering with existing ones, said instructor Bryan Catron<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a feeling of, \u2018Isn\u2019t this cool? I built this thing that you never knew you needed,\u2019\u201d said Catron, a computer science instructor.<\/p>\n

For example, one might not have known that one needed a modern jukebox that uses an RFID scanner to select a vinyl LP to play on a turntable. Or a machine that can sort M&Ms by color. Catron encouraged his class to use their imaginations in their innovations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell them, \u2018The sky\u2019s the limit,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI do want them to aim high. The work is more fun if they think big.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018What\u2019s plan B?\u2019<\/h3>\n

The MayX<\/a> students also learned how to adapt if an idea turned out to be unworkable, said Catron.<\/p>\n

\u201cFailure and success go hand in hand,\u201d he said. \u201cYou say, \u2018OK, what\u2019s Plan B? Can we achieve the same thing using a different technique?\u2019 You have to be nimble and able to pivot quickly when something doesn\u2019t work. Those are skills that can be applied to a lot of fields.\u201d<\/p>\n

The class included a few computer science majors, but many are focusing on disciplines like the arts and humanities, said Catron.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they have in common is curiosity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Theatre arts major Liam Daniels \u201924 teamed with Amitabh Chakravorty \u201924, an information technology and business administration double major, to build a robotic arm.<\/p>\n

Playing with purpose<\/h3>\n

No prior programming experience was required, since the students used Arduino<\/a>, a user-friendly open-source platform designed to help artists and hobbyists craft their own interactive electronic projects. A supply of gadgets like motors, sensors, LED lights and conductive thread and paint were available to hook up to the preprogrammed Arduino microprocessors, Catron said. Online makers\u2019 communities like Thingiverse<\/a> and Instructables<\/a> provided further inspiration and guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in being creative,\u201d said Mikell, a business administration major and member of the ROTC Paladin Battalion<\/a>. \u201cI have very little knowledge of coding, and I just wanted a chance to learn more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catron hoped his students will continue to \u201cplay with purpose\u201d and engage with maker culture, perhaps even some day sharing their finished projects on Thingiverse or Instructables.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time they finish this, they should be able to do most of what they want,\u201d said Catron. \u201cAnd even if they only achieve a piece of it, they can see how far they can take it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Building gadgets in the Electronic Arts and Crafts course, students learned the value of thinking big and the necessity of having a Plan B.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":26070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,33,54,61],"tags":[2104],"class_list":["post-26066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-and-accounting","category-computer-science","category-may-experience","category-the-furman-advantage","tag-mayx-2023"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}