Pick a project. Sketch a schematic. List the parts you will use. Get instructor sign-off (or, for self-paced students, complete a self-review checklist) before you start building.
Reading (~30 min)
- Re-read CAPSTONE.md. Carefully. This week scopes work that next week ships
- Skim the example capstones in the back of CAPSTONE.md; pick the one closest to what you have in mind, or invent your own
Lecture (~1.5 hr)
- The capstone in scope. One applied project. Sensors + actuators + Arduino R4 + a clear use case. Buildable in ~12 hours of work spread over week 14
- What "applied" means. The project solves a problem (or simulates solving one) that a non-electronics person could appreciate. "An alarm that beeps when the door opens" is applied. "A circuit that demonstrates Ohm's law" is not (it is a lab)
- Schematic discipline. Hand-drawn is fine. Use the standard symbols (resistor as zigzag or rectangle; LED as a triangle with arrows; capacitor as two parallel lines; transistor as a circle with three pins). Label every part with its value. Label every wire with what it carries
- Component list. Every part used in the schematic, named, with its value and where you got it (kit; supplement; rummaged from a previous lab). If something is not in your kit, find it before week 14 or pick a different project
- The five canonical capstone shapes. (1) alarm: sensor triggers warning. (2) mood lamp: sensor or button controls colors. (3) sensor logger: read a sensor over time; print to Serial; optionally save to SD card. (4) reaction game: LED lights, button responds, time the response. (5) something else entirely. All five are real capstones from prior cohorts; the academy welcomes the fifth as much as the first four
Lab exercises (~2 hr)
Lab 13.1: Capstone Scaffold. Write a one-paragraph project proposal. Draw a block diagram (boxes for sensor, brain, output; lines for what flows between). Draw a schematic. List components. Estimate build time. ~120 minutes.
Independent practice (~3 hr)
- Prototype the riskiest part of your capstone in week 13, not week 14. If you have never used the SD-card module, get it reading and writing now. If your motor needs a flyback diode, build the transistor-switch + motor + diode now. The point of week 13 is to surface unknowns
- Find one capstone-grade project from a previous Arduino cohort online (Instructables, Hackster.io). Read their write-up. Notice what they cover, what they skip, and what you would do differently
- Re-read the parts of the course that touch your capstone. If you are using PWM, re-skim week 10. If you are using the ultrasonic sensor, re-skim week 12. The capstone is a re-integration; the skills are already yours
Reflection prompts
- Why did you pick this project specifically? What about it appeals to you that a different project would not?
- What is the part of the project you are least sure how to do? Naming it now lets you ask for help in time
- Looking back over weeks 1-12, which week's content is most relevant to your capstone? Which week's is least relevant? (Both have value as answers)
What's next
Week 14 is build, demo, and ship. The work culminates. The closing-bridge lecture maps everything you learned forward to CSA-101 (FPGA design) and CON-101 (Virtus Console gaming).