Build the capstone you scoped in week 13. Record the demo video. Write the 2-3 page report. Sit through the closing-bridge lecture that maps the skills you built into CSA-101 and CON-101.
Reading (~30 min)
- Re-read CAPSTONE.md one more time; verify your deliverable matches the spec exactly
- Skim the capstones rubric in worksheets/TEMPLATE-capstone-rubric.md to know what the grader is looking for
Lecture
Two lectures this week: build kickoff (~30 min) and the closing bridge (~90 min).
Part 1: Build kickoff (week start, ~30 min)
- Block out your build time. ~6 hours circuit + sketch; ~2 hours testing; ~1 hour demo video; ~2 hours write-up. Plus buffer
- The "halfway" check. By day 3 of build week, you should have a circuit that does at least one of the things you scoped. If you don't, simplify. The capstone grade does not favor ambition; it favors a working artifact and an honest write-up
- Pitfalls of capstone week. Trying to add features beyond what you scoped (don't). Switching projects mid-week (don't; the new project will not be ready). Skipping the schematic drawing (don't; the rubric requires it)
Part 2: Closing bridge (week end, ~90 min)
The bridge talk maps HW-101 skills forward.
Skill: "I can build a circuit on a breadboard" → CSA-101 module: "I can wire a Tang Primer 25K FPGA dev kit and probe its pins."
- HW-101 built the breadboard intuition. CSA-101 takes you from breadboard to FPGA dev kit; the same instruments (multimeter, logic probe) work the same way; the underlying signals are the same digital HIGH/LOW
Skill: "I can write an Arduino sketch that reads a sensor and drives an output" → CON-101 module: "I can write Virtus Console firmware that reads a controller and drives a sprite."
- The compile-and-flash cycle is the same. The Virtus Console runs Virtus OS plus your program; the program reads inputs and drives outputs, just like your Arduino sketch did. The platform changes; the loop pattern is identical
Skill: "I can read a datasheet" → Every downstream course assumes this.
- HW-101 had you read the HC-SR04 datasheet in week 12. CSA-101 has you read the Renesas RA4M1 datasheet (or the Gowin GW5A datasheet for the FPGA). CON-101 has you read the academy's Virtus Console hardware reference. RE-101 has you read the Motorola SB6141 datasheet (or what little of it is public). The skill transfers
Skill: "I can debug via Serial Monitor" → CSA-101: "I can debug via gdb on the running CPU."
- The Serial Monitor was your first debugging fixture. CSA-101 introduces gdb (a much more powerful debugger; lets you set breakpoints, inspect memory, step through code instruction-by-instruction). Same instinct (look at what the device is thinking) at a deeper level
The throughline. HW-101 was 115 hours of "build things with electricity and small computers." CSA-101 is 155 hours of "build the small computer from scratch." CON-101 is 100 hours of "build games on the small computer." Each course's hardware feels less mysterious because you started here.
Labs (~6 hours; capstone build)
Lab 14.1: Capstone Build. Walk-through of the build + record + write-up + ship process. ~6 hours over days 1-5 of the week.
Independent practice (~0 hours)
This week the independent-practice budget folds into the capstone delivery.
Reflection prompts
- Week 1 you held a multimeter and measured a battery. Week 14 you shipped an applied project. Name the moment in the course when the work first started to feel like something you could actually do
- The capstone rubric values working hardware over ambitious hardware. Do you agree with this grading approach? When would you reverse the priorities?
- Which next course are you leaning toward (CSA-101? CON-101? Some other lane)? What in HW-101 made you lean that direction?
What's next
After the capstone is shipped, HW-101 is done. Save your kit; save your write-up; save your demo video. The skills will still be there in three months; the kit will still work in three years. The academy welcomes you in whichever lane you pick next.
Week 14 v0.1. The closing week. The artifacts you ship are real work.