Doing Big Boy Stuff

After deciding that I would use microswitches in my project I encountered an immediate problem that wouldn't let me use them without altering them. They didn't have any wire that would allow me to connect them to the breadboard or the Arduino. This forced me to ask Mr. Shappell how it would be possible for me to connect the microswitches if they didn't have wires.

Without a pause, he already had the answer, which was soldering. Another student of his was also using microswitches on a similar project and so Mr. Shappell prescribed the same solution to me as he did to his other student. The great solution soldering was something I had never done before since I never owned a soldering iron, but that didn't squeeze the excitement I had to learn how to solder. Now of course because soldering can be quite dangerous if done by an inexperienced person Mr. Shappel went first and demonstrated how to solder the wires onto the microswitch. He started out by first 'cleaning' the soldering iron by putting on a bit of solder, which made it look like new. He then dabbed the soldering iron on a special wax made to increase the conductivity of heat. After he hooked the wire in the correct microswitch connector he soldered them together in a split of a second. It was so quick and easy I thought at least the way that he would make it look. Then after he soldered both the ground and power onto the microswitch he showed me this cool piece rubber that would shrink after being exposed to heat. It's called shrink rubber and it's used to make sure that nothing interrupts the new connection made between the microswitch and the wires.

Then it was my turn to solder a microswitch and wire by myself. I can't believe that after one simple demonstration there was so much trust put on me to handle something I had never used before. At first, I was a bit confused trying to remember all the steps that Mr. Shappell had undergone in order to solder the wires to the microswitch. But as I slowly began to traces back my thoughts I recalled everything Mr. Shappell had done and began to do it myself. For some reason without encountering any problem, I had finished soldering the wire. This achievement not only shocked due to how easy and simple it was but also gave me a further sense of motivation to keep working with the Arduino so that I can continue to learn new things such as this.

Throughout this experience, I've been able to continue to grow as a collaborator and as a communicator. I now know for sure that if I need to be taught a new skill that I require to work on my project that I can go to Mr, Shappell and ask him to teach me. I always try to make sure that if I know for certain that can't do something that I go to Mr. Shappell to help redirect me. I was also a collaborator throughout this process because I worked with Mr. Shappell to progress forward with my project. Through patiently sitting and learning from him I was able to solder a wire and microswitch together by my self. For the future, I would like to look at possibly working on getting some speakers for my project and perhaps learning how to use the speakers with an Arduino. Also finishing to soldering the rest of the wires and microswitches will be necessary by next class to continue progressing.