Electronics came to life for Scouts BSA girls and boys at an Electronics Merit Badge seminar where they learned about transistors, LEDs, and printed circuit board soldering on November 19 at the Bartlesville Scout Service Center.
The scouts included two groups: eight new to electronics; and four who had earned the Electronics Merit Badge earlier.
The first group set about learning and practicing soldering safety and techniques. Then they each completed a printed circuit board assembly while studying circuit operation. Each project had 32 soldering points involving transistors, capacitors, resistors, batteries, and LEDs. Students learned how transistors are used as switches in electronic control circuits. The parts formed a blinking LED light circuit with a robot design on a printed circuit board, then mounted in a clear plastic case.
The second, advanced group of scouts assembled a line following, robocar that included soldering integrated circuits and other components to a PC board, mounting dc motors, and gear-driven wheels.
All of the students completed the project.
The seminar was sponsored by Siemens, who furnished practice, project materials, and a pizza lunch.
A special grant from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Tulsa Section provided each youth a soldering tool kit with a multimeter to use in the classroom and then take home for further experimenting.
This electronics seminar was conducted by volunteer Scouters Jerry Wells and Carl Reichert; and IEEE student member Devin Garcia.
Scouts BSA members attending were from the Cherokee Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. The council is a United Way agency and serves Osage, Washington, Nowata, Craig, Ottawa, and Delaware counties.
The Scouts BSA youth are grateful to Siemens for sponsorship of this STEM activity, and to the IEEE-Tulsa for furnishing the soldering tool kits and multimeters.
