# Electron Lab

> Electron Lab teaches electronics, circuits, microcontrollers and robotics to children aged about 10 to 15, in the browser. 17 levels and 106 missions take a learner from a first circuit to programming a robot, with nothing to install.

Learners build real circuits on a simulated breadboard, program an Arduino, a BBC micro:bit, an ESP32 and a Raspberry Pi Pico with blocks, wire sensors and motors, then build a robot and program it to drive and to fight in a sumo arena. There are 17 levels and 106 missions, with hints, “Why?” help and quizzes, plus 13 free labs, and 5 everyday machines to open up in 3D (a DC motor, speaker, doorbell, electric toothbrush and solar garden light). Nothing to install, and no hardware needed; a parts list helps anyone who wants the real parts on a desk.

For children (about 10 to 15), parents, schools, and robotics and coding centres. Teachers make a school, add classes and learners, and see their progress. Learners in a class sign in with a class code and a picture password, with no email; at home, a parent can give each child a family code and a picture password for their own device.

The labs and Level 1 are free with no account, and Levels 2 and 3 and the micro:bit side quest with a free account, which also saves work across devices. The Family plan, or a school or centre’s plan, opens every level. Made by Version2 Apps.

## Pages

- [The curriculum](https://theelectronlab.com/curriculum/): every level and mission, as plain text
- [Overview](https://theelectronlab.com/overview/): what it is, for parents, teachers and schools
- [Open the app](https://theelectronlab.com/): the app itself (it needs JavaScript)
- [Privacy](https://theelectronlab.com/privacy/) and [terms](https://theelectronlab.com/terms/)

## Levels

### Main path

Start here and follow it in order: circuits by hand, then a brain to program, then motors and a robot of your own.

- Level 1, Electricity basics: Build real circuits: loops, LEDs, motors, conductors and insulators, series and parallel, battery packs, and keeping them safe. (9 missions)
- Level 2, Measure it: Read and build from circuit diagrams, then measure your circuits with a multimeter: voltage, current, and Ohm’s law, worked out from your own readings. (6 missions)
- Level 3, Circuits that sense: Two resistors share the push: voltage dividers, a light sensor, dimmers and paths side by side, diodes and capacitors. Circuits that react, with no code. (7 missions)
- Level 4, Switches that think: Switches that make decisions: AND and OR, then the transistor, a switch worked by electricity, and a peek at the chip built from millions of them. (7 missions)
- Level 5, Program an Arduino: Give your circuits a brain: meet the Arduino Uno, write your first program from blocks, then wire lights of your own and program them. (7 missions)
- Level 6, Inputs and decisions: Buttons and sensors: read a pin, let the program decide with if and else, fade a light, see it on the scope and build a night-light. (6 missions)
- Level 7, Arduino sensors: Servos, knobs, temperature, motion, distance and colour: real modules wired to an Arduino. (8 missions)
- Level 8, Motors and drivers: Why a pin can’t run a motor, the H-bridge motor driver, speed with PWM, and two motors steering like a robot. (4 missions)
- Level 9, Build a robot: Put your circuit in a robot body, then drive it: straight, round a corner, pushing a box, and finding things with sensors. (6 missions)
- Level 10, Robot arena: Sumo matches against five practice robots, from easy to champion. Tune your body and your program to win. (4 missions)

### Code a micro:bit

Programs with no wiring, on the board many schools use. Good after Level 1, or as a first taste of code.

- Level 11, BBC micro:bit: Write your first programs on the micro:bit schools use: its lights, buttons, tilt, temperature and sounds. (7 missions)

### Inside the chip

Memory, the clock, all 28 pins and interrupts: what really happens inside an Arduino. Good after Level 5.

- Level 12, Inside a microcontroller: The ATmega328P, the chip on an Arduino Uno: memory that forgets, its heartbeat, its 28 legs and interrupts. (5 missions)

### Mission robots

Program a two-wheel hub robot to run missions on a mat, the way school robot competition teams do. No wiring. Good after Level 5.

- Level 13, Drive a mission robot: A robot with a hub for a brain: its lights and beeps, driving exact distances, turning, and turning by the gyro. (4 missions)
- Level 14, Robots that sense: Stop before a wall, read colours on the mat, follow a line, then run a whole mission against the clock. (4 missions)

### Uniko EKAM kit

For learners who have the Uniko EKAM robot board. Good after Level 7.

- Level 15, Meet your EKAM: Tour the Uniko EKAM in 3D, program its lights, buttons and light sensor, upload to the real board, and build a night-light for your room. (6 missions)
- Level 16, EKAM add-ons: Plug a servo and a knob into the headers, program them, the microphone and the TV remote, charge the battery safely, and build a remote-controlled servo. (8 missions)

### Energy and power

Watts, power from the sun, magnets made by electricity, a generator, AC and DC, and how much power becomes light. Good after Level 2.

- Level 17, Energy and power: Power in watts, electricity from sunlight, electromagnets, a generator you crank, AC and DC, and why an LED wastes less than a bulb. (8 missions)

## Labs

- Circuit Lab: Build any circuit you like, flat or in 3D.
- Arduino Lab: Wire an Arduino Uno to your circuit and run mBlock programs on it.
- micro:bit Lab: Program a BBC micro:bit with blocks, like in MakeCode: its lights, buttons and sensors.
- Sensor Library: Every sensor and module: what it does, how to wire it, and how a program reads it.
- Uniko EKAM Lab: Program a Uniko EKAM robot board and plug servos and sensors into its headers.
- Garage: Put your Arduino Lab circuit into a robot body: chassis, shell, wheels and add-ons.
- Robot lab: Drive your robot on test tracks, then fight practice robots in the sumo arena.
- How things work: Open up everyday machines in 3D: turn them on, cut them open, take them apart.
- Nano Lab: The Uno’s chip on a board small enough for a breadboard or a robot.
- Mega Lab: The big Arduino: 70 pins, for projects that run out of room on an Uno.
- Robot Hub Lab: Program a two-wheel robot with word blocks and run missions on a competition-style mat.
- ESP32 Lab: Program an ESP32 with blocks: a 3.3 V board with Wi-Fi built in.
- Pico Lab: Program a Raspberry Pi Pico with blocks, and see the program as MicroPython.

## Good to know

- Boards: Arduino Uno, Nano and Mega, BBC micro:bit, ESP32, Raspberry Pi Pico, the Uniko EKAM robot board, and a two-wheel robot hub that works like a LEGO Education SPIKE Prime hub.
- Programs are written with blocks, like mBlock and MakeCode. Programs can be opened and saved as mBlock files, and shown as Arduino C++ or Python.
- The main path has 10 levels; the other levels are optional tracks.
- Made by Version2 Apps: https://version2apps.com