Hi! Welcome to Mission Control! My name is Spacey and we need your help.
❯

If it's all right, you've received alien technology called BYOR!
❮❯

BYOR comes from aliens, aliens. Some of them are now stuck in orbit around our earth 🌎 ❮❯

They'd like to communicate with us to see how they can get home.
❮❯

First we need to understand the technology they sent.
❮❯

Follow the steps on this site to find out how that technology works.
❮❯

In the meantime, I'm going to feed my robot monkey and I'll come back later!
❮

The lights with the package (LEDs) do besides just light give something special! 💡
❮❮❮❯

They emit a special frequency light that can reach all the way into space. Fortunately we cannot see it, otherwise we would be blinded all the time! 😵
❮❯

We are going to build a flashlight to send signals to the aliens! 🔦 You can easily do that with the blueprint the aliens sent along.
❮❯

I wonder if it all works out! Let us know via the form below!
❮

Mission 1

HELP THE ALIENS

Building an extraterrestrial torch Scroll down for the steps

The Basics: Energy

To see if the technology survived the journey through space, we check the parts, we start with the battery.

Battery / Power bank 🔋

The power cable 🔌

The battery can store energy, this battery is a Lithium-Ion battery. We can put electricity in it and store it until we need it.

The "Easyboard"

The Easyboard is the brain of the BYOR technology. The Easyboard has 4 different connections, input-connections, output-connections, a power-connection and a connection for the micro:bit. This last one will be discussed later. Connect the round connector of the power-cable to the power-connection (at the bottom of the Easyboard). Connect the other side of the power-cable to the battery/powerbank. Just above the connection there is a light that lights up when the Easyboard has power.

Easyboard

Power bank charging

If the light does not come on, the battery may be flat, use the charging cable to charge it.

Battery / Power bank 🔋

The charging cable 🔌

Create a simple light module

To test all parts we make a simple light module. Grab 2 signal cables, the LED and the Button. On the backside of the parts it says which ones they are.

LED

2x Signal cable

Knob

Take the button and the Easyboard. Connect the end of a signal cable to the button (push the plug all the way in) and connect the other end to a connector on the Easyboard on the blue side. Now take the LED and connect another signal cable to it, connect the other end of this cable to the Easyboard at the green side and directly opposite the previously connected cable to which your button is connected.

Make sure your Easyboard has power (connect the powerbank) and turn the button, what happens? Does nothing happen? Are all cables properly connected? And is the powerbank charged?

Building with BYOR

Fixing BYOR parts to cardboard is best done with cotter pins. It is handy to first prick a hole with a pricker.

1.
Hold the part where you want it and puncture a hole through the cardboard through the holes of the part.
2.
Push a linchpin through that hole.
3.
Fold open the split pin on the other side.
4.
Repeat for at least 1 more hole and the part is stuck!

Build an alien flashlight

Use the blueprint the aliens sent along with the BYOR electronics to create a flashlight. If you don't have the blueprint, you can order it here.

This is how you use a blueprint

Stick the blueprint on cardboard and then cut along the dotted lines. Sometimes it is more convenient to first cut out the shapes, then stick them on cardboard and then cut out the shape in the cardboard again. Fold lines and the locations of split pins are also indicated.

To build the flashlight, you will need the blueprint and BYOR parts in addition to the blueprint:
-Carton
-A pair of scissors
-Glue
-A prick (or a prick pin)
-Split pens
-Tape (for securing power bank)
-Aluminum foil (for a nice effect around the LED)

Mission Control EN