Foundations
Touch-controlled lighting
Wire a touch input to a lighting output, then trace the event from physical contact through a visible rule to a controlled response.
- Build
- A working physical prototype
- Show
- Decisions, tests, and revision
Projects
Build systems that sense, decide, and act.
Sample projects move from a visible physical event to useful behavior, then ask students to document design choices, test failure cases, and connect the work to a classroom or community need.
A shared project method
Different inventions. The same visible engineering loop.
Students can move between automation, environment, access, vision, interaction, and robotics without losing the habits that make a system understandable.
- Question
Choose a need the physical system can address.
- Input
Select what the system must sense or recognize.
- Logic
Define state, rules, timing, or permission.
- Output
Make the system respond in a useful way.
- Evidence
Document, test failure cases, and revise.
Project gallery
Eleven starting points for physical invention.
Use the filters to focus on an invention area. Every project remains a starting point for testing, adaptation, and student decisions.
Showing all 11 projects.
Automation
Temperature-controlled ventilation
Read temperature, choose a control condition, operate ventilation, and debug how timing and thresholds change the result.
- Build
- A working physical prototype
- Show
- Decisions, tests, and revision
Environment
Wireless classroom environmental monitor
Link distributed ESP32 stations to the classroom hub and compare environmental readings across physical locations.
- Build
- A working physical prototype
- Show
- Decisions, tests, and revision
Access
RFID tool cabinet
Model a credential, a permission decision, a cabinet output, and an event record while discussing responsible authorization.
- Build
- A working physical prototype
- Show
- Decisions, tests, and revision
Human interaction
QR-controlled interactive exhibit
Turn a visible QR event into coordinated exhibit lighting or audio, then test how camera position and room conditions affect reliability.
- Build
- A working physical prototype
- Show
- Decisions, tests, and revision
Automation
Automated greenhouse
Combine growing-environment inputs with irrigation or ventilation behavior and document why each automation condition exists.
- Build
- A working physical prototype
- Show
- Decisions, tests, and revision
Environment
Leak and water-level monitor
Detect water and changing level conditions, produce a local alert, inspect logs, and test failure and recovery cases.
- Build
- A working physical prototype
- Show
- Decisions, tests, and revision
Human interaction
Accessible voice-operated room controller
Explore voice input, clear feedback, and room-control outputs around an accessibility need while keeping alternate controls in view.
- Build
- A working physical prototype
- Show
- Decisions, tests, and revision
Vision
Visual inventory station
Use QR, ArUco, or barcode events to model inventory movement and test the effect of lighting, framing, and marker placement.
- Build
- A working physical prototype
- Show
- Decisions, tests, and revision
Robotics
Small mobile machine
Prototype controlled motion with a small mechanism, sensor feedback, and a defined route under instructor-guided constraints.
- Build
- A working physical prototype
- Show
- Decisions, tests, and revision
Capstones
Student-designed capstone
Define a classroom or community need, choose inputs and outputs, build the system, document decisions, test it, and revise it.
- Build
- A working physical prototype
- Show
- Decisions, tests, and revision
From pattern to original system
A sample project teaches a method. A capstone puts the method to work.
Guided projects establish safe wiring, visible behavior, documentation, and troubleshooting practices. Students can then define a need, select the right inputs and outputs, justify design choices, and present evidence from the system they created.
See how projects progress through the curriculumStart a conversation
Give student ideas a physical place to become real.
Tell us what kinds of systems your students want to investigate and how your program is structured.