Awesome cube 3x3 LED CUBE

The Awesome Cube™ was created by Jeff LeSueur, an electronics instructor in Kent, Ohio. This project is unique among electronic and tech ed project kits, because it is a captivating way for students to learn computer programming. The heart of the cube is a PIC microcontroller to control a five sided, 45 super bright LED cube. The control board is equipped with an ICSP header that allows students to write and rewrite program code to the PIC when the cube is constructed. This unique configuration makes the Awesome Cube an ideal way to learning programming one step at a time. We recommend PIC BASIC PRO software and a USB interface from MicroEngineering Labs (both available from Awesome Cube). We include a video tutorial that guides students through a series of programming lessons. When the students write their first code to the PIC it is a simple one LED at a time pattern. Each lesson teaches the students another programming tool – subroutines, for..next loops, lookup tables, random variables, case select and more. After every video guided lesson, the students add more and more program to the PIC. When the students are done with the last lesson they begin creating their own unique LED pattern subroutines. This is when the student’s creativity and enthusiasm really show. “Students create patterns and ideas that I would never come up with. They challenge each other and share ideas,” says LeSueur. When their final program is complete, students have written programs that are several pages, contain 12 or more subroutines, and up to 4000 words.

www.awesomecube.com