Circuit design capstone lesson plan
Expert: take one product from a written requirement to a tested board: blocks, a schematic worked out on paper, part choice, simulating the corners, PCB layout, a test plan, and a revision that fixes what the tests found.
Objectives and materials
By the end, students can
- From a sentence to blocks, a schematic and real parts.
- Simulate the corners and lay out the board.
- Run the test plan, then fix what it found.
Materials for the whole unit
- Filament lamp
- Full-size breadboard
- Light sensor
- LM393 dual comparator
- Multimeter x 2
- Potentiometer
- Resistor x 2
- ULN2003A Darlington array
Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too.
Design it
From a sentence to blocks, a schematic and real parts.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| From a requirement to a planEvery product starts as a sentence. Turn one into numbers you can test: a 12 V lamp that comes on when a room drops below about 20 lux, with no microcontroller. | 30 min |
|
| From blocks to a schematicWork out each block with the numbers on paper: the divider, the threshold and the trip point, then why the LM393 needs its pull-up, all checked on the running circuit. | 30 min |
|
| Choosing the partsRead each part against the job: the ULN2003A's ratings and its 1 V Darlington drop, an LDR's numbers that move the trip point, and the lamp a supply can really carry. | 30 min |
|
Materials
- Filament lamp
- Full-size breadboard
- Light sensor
- LM393 dual comparator
- Multimeter x 2
- Potentiometer
- Resistor x 2
- ULN2003A Darlington array
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "Choosing the parts" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 5 of its 5 steps as they go.
Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "The bill of materials".
Prove it
Simulate the corners and lay out the board.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Simulate the cornersA design that works at the typical numbers is half done. Push the supplies to their limits, see why a ratio-based design shrugs off a sagging 5 V, and what a low 12 V costs the lamp. | 30 min |
|
| Lay out the boardCheck the nets before the copper, then take the night light into the PCB view: seven footprints, seven nets, placement, routing and the design rule check, with no export needed. | 35 min |
|
Materials
- Filament lamp
- Full-size breadboard
- Light sensor
- LM393 dual comparator
- Multimeter x 2
- Potentiometer
- Resistor x 2
- ULN2003A Darlington array
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "Lay out the board" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go.
Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Ground and the lamp current".
Ship it
Run the test plan, then fix what it found.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Run the test planThe acceptance tests from lesson 1, run one by one with a pass or fail written next to each: bright, dark, the trip point both sides, and the supply corner. | 35 min |
|
| Final build: revision BClose the loop on the test report: find why the light would chatter at dusk, stiffen the pull-up, add hysteresis, prove it with the tests, and sign off revision B. | 45 min |
|
Materials
- Filament lamp
- Full-size breadboard
- Light sensor
- LM393 dual comparator
- Multimeter x 2
- Potentiometer
- Resistor x 2
- ULN2003A Darlington array
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "Final build: revision B" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 7 of its 7 steps as they go.
Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Sign off revision B".
Teach this unit as a class
Start a class from this course and its 7 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you.
The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way.