BlinkBoard is an augmented breadboard designed to help and monitor students assembling electronic circuits in both in-person and remote classes. It uses LEDs with four blinking patterns to guide component and wire placement and includes Input/Output pins for voltage sensing or generation. Controlled via an open JSON protocol through command line or graphical interface, it enables real-time communication between instructors and students. BlinkBoard is affordable, simple, and efficiently manages LED patterns with minimal microcontroller load. Its effectiveness was proven in workshops with high-school and undergraduate students.
Andrea Bianchi, Kongpyung Justin Moon, Artem Dementyev, Seungwoo Je. 2024. BlinkBoard: Guiding and monitoring circuit assembly for synchronous and remote physical computing education. In HardwareX 2024, e00511, ISSN 2468-0672, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00511.