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. TI has plenty of resources to help your team be competitive.

The Detector Building event combines coding, engineering, math and science into a working sensor that is calibrated and coded to collect data. The program students write will cause various LEDs to turn on or off based on the temperature readings. During the competition, students must adjust their code and calibration equation closely to match that of a store-bought digital thermometer.

Setup with TI Technology

What do you need

TI graphing calculator (TI-84 Plus CE or TI-Nspire™ CX,
TI-Nspire™ CX CAS or TI-Nspire™ CXII)
TI-Innovator™ Hub
TI-Innovator™ Breadboard Pack or Detector Builder Kit

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.)

Coaches, outfit your team with a free* Detector Building kit for the
TI-Innovator™ Hub

The Detector Building kit is a subset of the TI-Innovator™ Breadboard Pack. The kit includes a TI Analog Temperature Sensor, red LED, green LED, blue LED, three male/female jumper cables, three male/male jumper cables, three 100-ohm resistors and a breadboard.

*Detector Building kits are limited to one per team/school, while supplies last.

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-to's for the Detector Building event
Try other great STEM projects using TI technology

Questions?

Contact stem-team@ti.com

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