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Term 4 · Weeks 25–32

Creating smart automated systems with complex rules, capstone projects and a final expo. Each lesson includes its full classroom material, activity and challenge.

Capstone Project Design & Troubleshooting

Week 31 Term 4 45-60 minutes

Learning Objective

Begin planning your final MakerBuddy Expo project using Design Thinking. Learn a professional 4-step troubleshooting process to isolate and fix bugs in wiring, sensors, and Rule Engine logic.

Theory: Design Thinking + Debugging

The Capstone Project

This is it — your masterpiece! The Capstone Project is your chance to combine everything you have learned this year into one amazing automated system. But great engineers don't just start building randomly. They follow a process called Design Thinking:

🤔

1. Empathize

Who are you building this for? What problem do they have?
"My grandma forgets to water her plants."

💡

2. Ideate

Brainstorm solutions. What could the MakerBuddy do to help?
"Alert her when soil is too dry!"

📋

3. Plan

Draw a State Diagram. List the sensors and actuators you need. Write out every Rule Engine rule.

🔧

4. Prototype

Wire it up and build the rules in the Rule Engine. Test, fix, repeat!

The Art of Troubleshooting

When you build a complex project, it will probably fail on the first try. That is completely normal!Professional engineers don't panic — they isolate the problem step by step. Always start from the bottom (power) and work your way up to the logic:

1
Check Power — Are the lights on the MakerBuddy board? Is the USB plugged in? No power = nothing works.
2
Check the Inputs (Sensors) — Open the Dashboard. Do the sensor values change when you touch or cover them? If not, the wiring is the problem — check your connections.
3
Check the Outputs (Actuators) — Can you manually trigger the LED, Servo, or Buzzer from the Dashboard? If not, check their wiring before touching the Rule Engine.
4
Check the Logic (Rule Engine) — If everything works manually, the bug is in your rules. Are your thresholds correct? Is the operator > when it should be <? Are the action names exactly right (e.g. Relay On, not just Relay)?

For Teachers

Encourage students to help each other troubleshoot. Explaining a bug to someone else — often called "Rubber Duck Debugging" — is one of the most effective techniques in software engineering. Just describing the problem out loud forces the brain to look at it differently and often reveals the solution!

Activity: Project Planning Phase

Today is a planning day. You must get your project approved before you start building. Use this template:

Project Proposal Template:

  1. Pick a Theme: Will your project be a Smart Home device, a Security System, an Environmental Monitor, or something creative like a game or art piece?
  2. Write the Problem Statement: "My [user] has a problem with [problem]. My MakerBuddy will [solution]."
  3. List the Components: Which sensors will you use? Which outputs? (e.g., Soil Moisture sensor → Buzzer On + LCD display)
  4. List Every Rule: Write each Condition rule you plan to create in this format:
    "If [Sensor] [Operator] [Threshold] → Action: [exact action name], Delay: [X] ms"
  5. Draw the State Diagram: Sketch the logic on paper using circles and arrows.
  6. Get Teacher Approval: Show your plan. Once approved, you can start building next week!

Challenge: The Bug Hunt

Find the Missing Link

Your friend comes to you for help. They say: "My fan is supposed to turn on when it gets hot, but it's not working!"

You open the Dashboard: Temperature reads 35°C. You click the Relay toggle manually — the fan turns on! So power and wiring are fine.

You look at their Rule Engine. Their rule says:

If Temperature (DHT11) < 30 → Relay On, Delay: 100 ms
  • Which troubleshooting step (1–4) told you the bug was in the Rule Engine, not the wiring?
  • What is the exact bug in the rule above?
  • Write the corrected rule using the proper operator and exact action names.

Coming Up Next Week:

Week 32: The MakerBuddy Expo — Presentation day! Showcase everything you've built.