Debug like an engineer lesson plan
The multimeter, the oscilloscope, the logic probe and analyzer, Serial done right, and a method that finds any fault. Ends with a boss: three bugs in one circuit.
Objectives and materials
By the end, students can
- Volts across, amps in line, and the checks you make with the power off.
- A scope for shapes and edges, a probe and an analyzer for ones and zeros.
- Print debugging done well, then reproduce, isolate, measure and fix on a real fault.
Materials for the whole unit
- Arduino Uno R3
- Capacitor
- Full-size breadboard
- LED
- Logic analyzer, four channels
- Logic probe x 2
- Multimeter x 3
- Oscilloscope
- Potentiometer
- Pushbutton
- Resistor
- Slide switch
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.
The multimeter
Volts across, amps in line, and the checks you make with the power off.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| The multimeter: volts across, amps throughTwo meters on one LED circuit: a voltmeter across the LED and an ammeter in the loop. Why one goes across and the other goes in line, and how to check Ohm's law against real readings. | 20 min |
|
| The power-off checks: ohms, continuity and diodesThree meters on a circuit with no supply at all: one reading a resistor, one beeping across a switch, one testing an LED. Why these checks need the power off, and what each one tells you. | 20 min |
|
Materials
- Full-size breadboard
- LED
- Multimeter x 3
- Resistor
- Slide switch
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "The power-off checks: ohms, continuity and diodes" 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: "Quick check".
Seeing signals
A scope for shapes and edges, a probe and an analyzer for ones and zeros.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| What a scope sees: PWM, rise time and a bouncing buttonA meter gives you one number; an oscilloscope gives you the shape. Measure a PWM pin's frequency and duty, watch an RC slow its edges down, and catch a button bouncing a dozen times in one press. | 20 min |
|
| Logic probe and logic analyzerA logic probe says high, low or nothing; a logic analyzer records the ones and zeros and decodes them into bytes. Find a floating pin, fix it with a pull-up, and read serial straight off the wire. | 15 min |
|
Materials
- Arduino Uno R3
- Capacitor
- Full-size breadboard
- Logic analyzer, four channels
- Logic probe x 2
- Multimeter
- Oscilloscope
- Pushbutton
- Resistor
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "Logic probe and logic analyzer" 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: "Which tool when".
The method
Print debugging done well, then reproduce, isolate, measure and fix on a real fault.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Serial like a proPrint debugging done well: labeled and timestamped lines, a warning word you can search for, and a verbose switch you flip from the Serial Monitor without rebuilding. | 15 min |
|
| Boss: one circuit, three bugsA button and an LED that do nothing, with three faults planted at once. Use the method engineers use (reproduce, isolate, measure, fix) and a meter to find all three. | 25 min |
|
Materials
- Arduino Uno R3
- Full-size breadboard
- LED
- Multimeter
- Potentiometer
- Pushbutton
- Resistor
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "Boss: one circuit, three bugs" 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: "What it was".
Teach this unit as a class
Start a class from this course and its 6 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.