Mindful Messages: Engineering Communication Solutions
Two students working together to code their micro:bit to be able to send and receive the custom code they created.Copyright Jessica White
Students explore how the brain enables communication through spoken and written language and how communication is essential for solving problems. Working in groups, students define a problem related to communication, design a solution using a micro:bit, build a prototype, and then test their designs. Possible communication challenges they might tackle are hearing loss, language barriers, or noisy environments. Students follow specific criteria and constraints as they design and build their prototype. After testing their designs and prototypes, students improve their designs as needed. To wrap up, students exchange prototypes with other groups and test each other’s solutions.
Biomedical engineers develop medical devices, such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, to improve health by restoring or enhancing hearing and communication abilities, particularly for those with hearing loss. They focus on creating advanced, user-friendly devices, often integrating microcontrollers to manage sound amplification, noise filtering, and frequency adjustments. By enabling real-time audio processing, microcontrollers enhance the clarity and customization of sound, significantly improving the user experience for individuals with hearing impairments.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Understand the role of the brain in communication.
- Define a design challenge or problem related to communication.
- Generate and compare multiple solutions.
- Plan and conduct tests to improve a prototype.
- Use a micro:bit to create a communication tool.