STEM Education of Kinematics and Dynamics Using Arduino

Abstract

Ever increasing technological progress opens novel opportunities concerning educational activities, and the ability to use the technology effectively is one of the 21st century’s most demanding skills. The Partnership Forum for 21st-Century Skills (P21) states that no organization can achieve satisfying results without using technology and therefore the use of technology particularly in schools should be at the highest level. Some novel teaching methods have recently emerged based on technological developments, such as STEM education, which is based on the integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In this study, the motion of a body connected to a pulley system is analyzed by using an Arduino microprocessor and also related mathematical equations. Arduino is a programming platform on which various electronic elements can be connected. There are various Arduino compatible sensors (sound, light, distance, temperature, etc.) that can be coded for their intended use. Due to its cost effectiveness, this technological instrument can be used as a measurement tool in many physics experiments. In this work, the time-varying data of the position of the moving object is determined using the HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance sensor (see Fig. 1). The HC-SR04 distance sensor can determine the distance of the obstacle from the sensor when the transmitted signal is reflected from an obstacle and returned to the sensor, and the Arduino IDE computer program is used to load the corresponding codes into the Arduino and to retrieve the incoming data.