Electronics​​​​​​​

Senior Electronics (Year 12 and Year 13)

The technological world develops at an astonishing rate, but one constant is the microcontroller. The microcontroller is the brain buried within many devices that we interact with on a daily basis.  Microcontrollers are seen in areas such as clean energy production, electric cars/smart vehicles, telecommunications, medical and healthcare applications, and industrial and consumer electronics.

In 2010, approximately 4 billion microcontrollers were produced and embedded inside these everyday devices. In 2020, worldwide production is expected to near the 30 billion mark. Future production numbers look even greater as we move into the IoT era (Internet of Things) where more and more devices such as smartphones, televisions, tablets, home appliances, gaming consoles, smart meters, and security systems become connected to the internet.

Therefore, the understanding of how these amazing devices work will provide an avenue to participate in this huge area of future growth.

At Cashmere High, students start their journey by looking at basic electronic components and circuit construction. From there, we develop CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) skills to allow students to produce high quality electronic circuitry.

Next, students start working directly with microcontrollers such as the Arduino Uno, Mega or Nano, the ESP32/8266, and the Raspberry Pi. A key component of this stage is the development of programming in C/C++ specifically in relation towards managing electronic devices.

While there is a strong theory content, most learning and assessment is done via practical projects which students often proudly take home. As the student gains confidence and can work independently, the projects become more student influenced and more complex.

The study of Electronics will provide invaluable skills to succeed in a variety of ways such as further tertiary study in fields like Electronic, Electrical, Software or Mechatronic Engineering and Computer Science.

Additionally, these skills would be highly adaptable to Trades roles such as Auto Electrician, Instrument Technician, residential/commercial/industrial Electrician, Electrical repair and servicing or any Electrotechnology based role.