Ultrasonic ranging module plugged into a wee test board.

Last week, one of the Students, you could say, had hit a wall at the end of the day with his project, or perhaps wanted to! It uses a pair of ultrasonic range modules, and I wasn't sure if they were still working okay or not, so after a little research, I built a wee tester circuit for them... noting a couple of errors that were in one shown on a YouTube video, as the chip/IC/integrated circuit used is a very well known device that most folk will have in something in their homes. Anyway, the tester proved that the modules both worked fine, so that cuts down the possible sources of the Student's issues to his wiring or programming. Will show him how to establish which it is later.

When things don't work first time, there's a lot to be learned about how to tackle the problem(s), that often require you to look closer and understand more fully how it, whatever "it" is, is supposed to work, figure out how you can locate the problem, and how you can fix it or tackle the overall purpose differently. All of that is to your benefit in the long run, though it won't seem like it at the time. If it works first time, great, but the chances are that you won't learn as much.

That said, my adapted circuit that I built did work first time, possibly because I learned the usual problems from similar circuits in the past, and did checks on it before plugging in a module to test. Or was it luck?

On the cycle to work this morning, heard my first Summer migrant singing in the Manse plantation, a lovely little Chiffchaff.