Furman Physics STEM Initiative

I am pleased to announce that my manuscript “Sphero Mini Sensor Board for First-Year Physics Labs” has just been published in June, 2024 issue of The Physics Teacher (Volume 62, Issue 5). It may be accessed via the link https://pubs.aip.org/aapt/pte/article/62/5/335/3285583/Sphero-Mini-Sensor-Board-for-First-Year-Physics.

Sincere thanks to all who contributed to this project. This effort would not have been possible without Sphero’s generous donation and technical staff support. Thanks also to my colleagues and teaching assistants in the Furman Physics department, the Lab Kit recipients, and—most of all—my students in Physics 111 during the pandemic.

I have been spending considerable time this summer looking at the sensor board of the Sphero Mini as a tool for doing at home physics labs. A first cut is shown in my YouTube video “At Home Physics Labs with Sphero Sensor Board”

Dear reader,

This is the first post I have made here since 2014. Six years ago. Much has changed.

A team of Furman students, faculty and staff has been selected as one the the three finalists for the 2014 AUVSI Drone Prize. The prize was created by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International to encourage enthusiasts and non-profit organizations to demonstrate beneficial applications for hobby-level Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS), commonly known as “drones.” The Furman team will be traveling to Bend, Oregon on August 22, 23 & 24 to participate in a series of competitions that will determine the overall winner of the prize.

Here’s a video summary of the autonomous missions flown with the DJI iPad Ground Station:

We’ve been working with Mike Winiski and his students in their GIS studies:

So here it is the middle of March 2014 and I find myself running at least six months behind in keeping this website current.   The biggest Furman Physics STEM news of these last six months has been the acquisition of two quadcopter drones by the Physics Department.  In September 2013 we purchased a DJI Phantom version 1.1.1 with a GoPro Hero3+ camera mounted on a Zenmuse H3 D2 gyrostabilized gimbal.   Just a few weeks ago we added a Phantom 2 which much greater flight times; we are awaiting delivery of a FLIR Tau 2 – 336 infrared camera to be used with the Phantom 2.

Why this activity?
• Teaching enrichment/enhancement in lecture/laboratory settings
• Student research projects in Physics
• Research collaboration with Earth and Environmental Sciences Dept. (and other departments)
• Recruiting tool for Physics Dept.
• Public Relations tool for Furman University

Here’s a public relations type video that we posted back in November 2013:

I’m sitting here in the Physics 112 lab room where I’m teaching a new course PHY 433 Introduction to Embedded Systems.

Here’s the advertising blurb for the course:

On March 26, 2013 Furman hosted a workshop “Introduction to Microcontrollers.” This half-day introduction to Atmel microcontrollers was conducted by Mr. Bob Martin, who is the manager of the MCU Central Applications group at Atmel Corporation, San Jose, California. Atmel is a leading manufacturer of semiconductors and microcontrollers for consumer, communications, computer networking, industrial, medical, automotive, aerospace and military markets. The workshop was attended by faculty, staff and students from departments of physics, chemistry, mathematics, and computer science. Approximately 40 participants gained hands-on experience with state-of-the-art microcontroller programming and applications, as taught by an industry leader in the field. The workshop was organized by Prof. John Conrad of the Furman Physics Department.

The purpose of the workshop was to introduce members of the Furman community to current industrial practices in embedded systems technology. Embedded systems are involved in almost every facet of modern life. Cell phones, pagers, answering machines, microwave ovens, televisions, VCRs, CD/DVD players, video game consoles, GPS devices, network routers, fax machines, cameras, music synthesizers, planes, spacecraft, boats, and cars all contain embedded processors. Late model cars may contain as many as 65 embedded microprocessors, controlling such tasks as antilock braking, climate control, engine control, audio system control, airbag deployment, etc. Logic analyzers and digital storage oscilloscopes utilize embedded processors to support real-time operation. The tremendous number of applications for embedded computing has given rise to high demand for scientists and engineers with experience in designing and implementing embedded systems. The Atmel Workshop on Microcontrollers gave students, faculty and staff hands-on experience and opportunities for experimentation in this exciting field.