Science Olympiad Detector Building Event

The Science Olympiad’s newest Div. C event, Detector Building, is now one of the 23 approved events for this year’s competition. This year’s competition has students building, testing and coding a working mass scale. TI has plenty of resources to help your team be competitive.

Students will need to know how to write a program that will accurately and precisely weigh the mass of different objects.

Setup with TI technology

TI handheld (TI-84 Plus CE, TI-Nspire™ CX,
TI-Nspire™ CX CAS or TI-Nspire™ CX II graphing calculator)
TI-Innovator™ Hub or BBC micro:bit
TI-Innovator™ Breadboard Pack as well as other additional materials and supplies depending on design requirements

Note: If you already have access to a TI-84 Plus CE, TI-Nspire™ CX graphing calculator or the TI-Innovator™ Hub, make sure to update to the latest operating system and sketch versions. (See links below.)

10 Minutes of Code

New to coding? Start here to learn how to code with your calculator and
TI-Innovator™ Hub.

Learn to code

Path to STEM Projects

Develop skills to do the Detector Building Event using TI’s free how-to resource Path to STEM Projects. Units include Skill Builders, Projects and Extra for Expert challenges.

Building an LED breadboard

Use TI’s Path to STEM Projects Unit 1 – Setting Digital Output (Skill Builder)

TI-Nspire™ CX
Watch unit 1 video Download all files (.zip)
TI-84 Plus CE
Watch unit 1 video Download all files (.zip)

Building a sensor

Use TI’s Path to STEM Projects Unit 4 – Getting Analog Input (Project)

TI-Nspire™ CX
Watch unit 4 video Download all files (.zip)
TI-84 Plus CE
Watch Unit 4 video Download all files (.zip)

Calibrating a sensor

Use TI’s Path to STEM Projects
Unit 5 – Calibration (Project)

TI-Nspire™ CX
Watch unit 5 video Download all files (.zip)
TI-84 Plus CE
Watch Unit 5 video Download all files (.zip)

Making output work with input

Use TI’s Path to STEM Projects Unit 6 – Feedback and Control (Skill Builder and Extra for Expert)

TI-Nspire™ CX
Watch unit 6 video Download all files (.zip)
TI-84 Plus CE
Watch Unit 6 video Download all files (.zip)

Additional helpful resources

Official rules for the Detector Building events
Where to buy TI resources for Detector Building and Path to STEM Projects
Update TI-Nspire™ family products and TI-Innovator™ Hub to latest versions
Update TI-84 Plus CE and TI-Innovator™ Hub to latest versions
Check out the webinar on resources and how-tos for the Detector Building event
Try other great STEM projects using TI technology

Questions?

Contact stem-team@ti.com

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