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Control Studio
2 |
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Educational
edition |
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| Control
Studio 1 Review |
| IEE Electronics Education
Magazine, Spring 2000 |
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Every now and then a product comes onto the market
and you wonder why no one had thought of it before. In my opinion,
Control Studio, the new electronics teaching software from New
Wave Concepts, falls right into this category. |
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| Control Studio is a
multimedia-based electronic systems simulator in which students
can create electronic circuits by joining sub-system blocks
together. In addition, Control Studio enables users to combine
system circuit diagrams with text (with spell checking), graphics,
tables and charts with the ability to connect pages together
to create 'live' multimedia books. Control Studio also comes
supplied with a comprehensive range of ready-to-go printed resource
material and on-line interactive worksheets. |
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| As you can already tell,
Control Studio is a very innovative product. I can see it deployed
by teachers in a variety of different ways. Firstly, as a systems
based simulator alongside real systems boards - in the same
spirit as Crocodile Clips. Secondly, I can see it used as an
interactive worksheet generator for teaching problem solving
with Years 8, 9 and onwards, as well as a DTP package for pupils
to support their portfolio work. |
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| The final way in which
I can imagine Control Studio being used is for designing and
manufacturing PCBs, and in this way, it is a real gem which
will revolutionise GCSE project work. I have had the pleasure
of testing the software with my present Year 11 GCSE Technology
Systems & Control groups. The student's verdict on Control Studio
has been a unanimous 'thumbs up'. Circuits that used to be made
using Crocodile Clips and PCB Wizard are now produced in a fraction
of the time using Control Studio and PCB Wizard (v2.6). My problem
now is how to slow the students down! PCBs which utilise multi-sensing
inputs, comparators, pulse generators, inverters and all forms
of logic gates which control a wide variety of electro-mechanical
outputs, are now within every students grasp regardless of ability. |
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| The use of Control Studio
has inspired my students to experiment with different types
of circuit design to use in their GCSE Major Project work. How
many technology teachers have been left to pick up the pieces
of an over ambitious PCB design? With Control Studio this will
now be a thing of the past. Students have found that prototyping
of their circuits, no matter how complex, is relatively easy.
After the circuits have been tested and proved it is just a
simple matter of using the Design & Make Wizard to export the
completed circuit over to PCB Wizard. Because the two programs
are completely compatible, fast and efficient transfer is completed
within minutes. The result is a very professional set of print-outs.
Included in this are a 'real-world' view, a silk screen showing
the layout of the components with all the relevant information
on component identification and values, including resistor colour
codes. But, most importantly for overworked teachers, a full
written list of instructions and guidance is printed alongside
the circuit instructing the students on how to assemble and
solder their PCBs. Plus of course the 'Bill of Materials' which
gives the cost and stock code of every component used in the
circuit is also supplied. |
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I would like to take
this opportunity to wish New Wave Concepts deserved success
with Control Studio and to thank them for making my job of teaching
electronics that bit easier!
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| Philip Smout |
| Technology, Lymm High
School |
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