Science Olympiad Detector Building Event

Science Olympiad’s Div. C event, Detector Building, combines coding, engineering, math and science into a functional sensor that is calibrated and coded to collect data. This year’s competition has students building, testing and coding a working conductivity sensor. Texas Instruments (TI) has plenty of resources to help your team be competitive.

Students will need to know how to write a program that will turn different LEDs on or off based on the conductivity of the water. During the competition, teams may adjust their code and calibration equation.

Image showing how to connect a TI-Nspire calculator with the TI-Innovator hub, TI-Innovator Breadboard Pack or Detector Builder kit to the conductivity sensor.

Setup with TI technology

What you need:

TI-84 Plus CE, TI-84 Plus CE Python (enables coding in Python or TI Basic), TI-Nspire™ CX, TI-Nspire™ CX CAS or TI-Nspire™ CX II (enables coding in Python or TI Basic) graphing calculator
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 breadboard, assorted resistors, several jumper wires, metal electrodes and various LEDs.

*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-tos for the Detector Building event
Try other great STEM projects using TI technology

Questions?

Contact stem-team@ti.com

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