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I am a EE and would like to get my 10 y.o. nephew familiar with the fun side of electrical projects. I'd like to start with basic principles and projects to re-enforce the basics. The goal is to build a repertoire of small projects (fundamentals) that will enable and position the child to perform more advanced projects (simple robot level of complexity). The end goal is to build confidence in the child.

I am trying to introduce binary addition and translation to and from binary, with limited success.

If you have experience with STEM (particularly as a volunteer or teacher) please state this in your reply. I am interested in links to curriculum that list these fundamentals. Any projects that re-enforce a particular skill is also appreciated.

Is there a a generally accepted project equivalent to "hello world"?

Null
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gatorback
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    There are some great inexpensive off-the-shelf hobby kits out there. I'd start there and see if it sparks any interest in him first. If it does, the rest will probably be easy. – Trevor_G Mar 04 '17 at 15:23
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    I think you need to start with something other than fundamentals to get him interested. Once he has built something interesting and gotten it to work, it will be easier to get him to back track to fundamentals. Fundamentals are important, but they don't grab a kid's attention. – JRE Mar 04 '17 at 15:37
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    When I was that age I was more interested in building car kits. Do have a bunch of old dead HDD's? or know where to get them? https://www.visualnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/1.jpg search for instructables on Toy HDD – Tony Stewart EE75 Mar 04 '17 at 15:39
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    I personally only got interested in binary after dealing with lower-ish level stuff in digital electronics. Up until then I didn't really care for it. It was only when I needed to better understand the operations to get the performance I wanted that I started to put some effort into it. So I reiterate the comments above, get him to build something he is interested in. – Wesley Lee Mar 04 '17 at 15:57
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    Another simple project uses HDD "voice coil motor" then drive the coil with bass music. Then use Audacity with mic to slow down voice and drive VCM. sounding like Darth Vader and vibrating the VCM then show how HDD moves like a speaker but has very precise position feedback instead of just springs to centre the cone. – Tony Stewart EE75 Mar 04 '17 at 15:58
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    When I was 10, it was lights, meters, oscilloscopes, crystal radios, etc. If I would have started with math and studying theory, I'd have been completely turned off. Try and find what makes him say "WOW!" and take it from there. – Mike Waters Mar 04 '17 at 17:48
  • While your goals are admirable, your edit doesn't really change any of the reasons why this question is outside the mission of this particular site. Consider various breadboard + Arduino type projects (substitute a different development methodology if you find that offensive) especially something mobile with wheels. Also Elenco has rescued the idea of the old Radio Shack spring-contact kits, noted while examining one there's technical content in there I skipped over as a kid. – Chris Stratton Aug 17 '19 at 00:31

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