| Outcome/accomplishment:
The Mobile Studio Platform, conceived and developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute (RPI), puts the learning power of an expensive engineering lab
into a portable, affordable, configurable package that can be used by students
at all levels.
Impact/benefits:
RPI's Mobile Studio Platform combines a USB circuit board with PC-based
software to affordably bring science and engineering experiences to students
who otherwise might not have the opportunity. For about the cost
of a college textbook, students can plug the USB Mobile Studio device into
a laptop and duplicate tools including an oscilloscope, volt meter, function
generator, spectrum analyzer, and digital input/output.
Explanation/ background:
Equipping an engineering lab can easily cost several thousand dollars.
The Mobile Studio Platform reproduces the experience of tinkering with
such equipment by using the capability of modern PCs to run special software
and power an inexpensive device. The tool has proven an effective
vehicle for education and outreach for students ranging from pre-K to those
engaged in advanced graduate studies. Experiments and demonstrations
originally applied in an upper-level undergrad course are now utilized
in elementary, middle, and high school outreach.
Because of Mobile Studio's
flexibility, students can start out learning basic concepts and build on
their knowledge to the point of conducting complex experiments.
Funding, hardware, and support
for developing Mobile Studio came from NSF (Rensselaer is the headquarters
of NSF's Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center [ERC]) and corporate
sponsors.
The tool is being developed
with a host of age-appropriate LED lighting educational modules useful
for engineering educational modules. |
