China 高二 General Technology
Chapters: 6
1. Sel.1 Electronic control technology (engineering series)
Electronic control overview; components; soldering · Analog and digital circuits; diodes, transistors; logic gates · Sensors and relays · Designing electronic control systems
- Basic Electronics: Components and Circuits – Electronics uses small components to control electric current. A battery or power supply gives energy; a switch opens or closes the path. A resistor limits current (V = IR), a capacitor stores charge and can smooth or delay a signal, a diode lets current flow only one way, an LED is a diode that gives light, and a transistor uses a small base current to switch or amplify a much bigger current. Each part has a standard circuit symbol. Circuits are planned on paper or in a simulator, tried on a breadboard, and made permanent by soldering on a circuit board, using the right materials and safety steps. Analogue circuits handle smoothly changing signals; digital circuits handle on/off signals.
- Boolean Logic – Boolean logic works with only two values: 1 (true) and 0 (false). Logic gates act on them: NOT flips a value; AND gives 1 only if all inputs are 1; OR gives 1 if any input is 1; NAND and NOR are the opposites of AND and OR; XOR gives 1 when inputs differ. A truth table lists the output for every input combination (2ⁿ rows for n inputs). De Morgan's laws: (A·B)' = A' + B' and (A + B)' = A'·B'. Gates joined together form logic circuits that match Boolean expressions.
- Sensors: How Machines Sense the World – A sensor turns a physical quantity (light, temperature, distance, moisture, sound, pressure) into an electrical signal. Analogue sensors give a smooth voltage; an ADC turns it into a number the computer can use. A controller compares the number with a threshold and switches an actuator, often through a relay. Readings taken at regular times are data logging. Good sensors have the right range, sensitivity, accuracy and response time.
- Control Systems and Feedback – A control system makes a machine or process behave the way we want. Every system has input → process (controller) → output. In an open-loop system the controller does not check the result (a toaster on a timer). In a closed-loop system a sensor measures the output and feeds it back; the controller compares it with the set point and corrects the error (a thermostat, cruise control). Real systems are built from sensors, a controller (electronic circuit, microcontroller or PLC) and actuators (motors, heaters, valves, pneumatic cylinders). Many are now networked (IoT, SCADA) so they can be watched and controlled from far away.
2. Sel.2 Robot design and making (engineering)
Structure and transmission · Sensing · Controllers and programming · Path planning and motion control
- Robotics: How Robots Sense, Think and Act – A robot is a machine that senses the world, decides what to do with a program, and acts with motors. It has a body (structure), sensors, a controller, actuators, a transmission such as gears, and a power supply. Robots help in factories, hospitals, farms, homes and space.
- Sensors: How Machines Sense the World – A sensor turns a physical quantity (light, temperature, distance, moisture, sound, pressure) into an electrical signal. Analogue sensors give a smooth voltage; an ADC turns it into a number the computer can use. A controller compares the number with a threshold and switches an actuator, often through a relay. Readings taken at regular times are data logging. Good sensors have the right range, sensitivity, accuracy and response time.
- Robot Controllers and Programming – A controller is the small computer that is the brain of a robot. It reads inputs (sensors), runs a stored program again and again (read, decide, act), and sets outputs (motors, lights). Pins are weak, so a driver is used to power a motor.
- Path Planning and Motion Control – Path planning means choosing a safe, short route from start to goal around obstacles. Motion control means making the wheels follow that route: speed and turning come from the two wheel speeds. A line-following robot uses floor sensors and a steering rule to stay on a line.
3. Sel.3 Engineering design basics (engineering)
Science, technology and engineering · General process; DFX; sustainability · Modelling and simulation · Decisions and project management
- What Is Engineering? – Engineering is using science, maths and creativity to design and build useful things that solve real problems within limits of cost, safety, time and materials. Engineers follow a design process loop: identify the problem, research, generate ideas, build a prototype, test, and improve. From ancient irrigation and roads to today's chips and vaccines, engineering shaped civilisation. Its main branches are civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, computer and biomedical, and modern problems join many of them together (convergent or STEAM engineering).
- The Design Process: From Problem to Product – The design process is a loop of steps designers use to solve a real problem for real people: investigate the need, define it in a brief and a measurable specification, generate many ideas, build a prototype, then test and evaluate it against the specification. Whatever fails sends you back round the loop. This repeating is called iteration, and it is how almost every product, app, building and artwork is improved.
- Sustainable Design: Products That Are Kind to People and Planet – Sustainable design means making products that meet our needs while harming nature and people as little as possible. Every product has a life cycle: materials, making, transport, use and end of life. A life cycle assessment adds up the ecological footprint (energy, CO₂, water, waste) at each stage. The social footprint is the effect on workers and communities: pay, safety, child labour, fair trade. Designers use the six Rs (rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle), design for maintenance, repair and disassembly, and avoid planned obsolescence. Ecodesign also weighs the economic side: a product must be affordable and profitable, so the best designs balance environment, society and economy.
- Modelling and Simulation in Engineering – Engineers test a design on a model before making it. A model can be physical (a scale model or prototype), mathematical (equations) or digital (a CAD model). Every model has effort variables (force, voltage, pressure) and flow variables (speed, current, flow rate); effort × flow = power. Simulation software cuts a part into small finite elements, writes equations for each and a solver finds the answer; moving systems are solved in small time steps. Results such as stress, bending and safety factor are read from colour maps and graphs. A finer mesh or smaller time step is more accurate but takes more computing time. Finally, results are checked against real tests with sensors, taking measurement errors into account.
- Project Management – A project is a one-time piece of work with a clear goal, a start and an end. Project management means planning and controlling it so it meets its scope on time and within cost. The life cycle runs initiate, plan, execute, monitor and close. Planners break the work into tasks (WBS), place them on a Gantt chart, find the critical path, manage risks and review lessons learned at the end.
4. Sel.4 Modern home-management technology (life series)
Home management; appliances; furniture · Family finance · Home health care and safety
- Home Economics: Making a Home Work Well – Home economics is about managing a home's resources (space, time, money, energy and skills) so that everyone living there is healthy, safe and happy. It includes planning and sharing home activities, organising a living space by simple design rules, choosing storage, keeping things in repair, knowing when to call a professional, and making a home that is both useful and pleasant.
- Family Budget: Household Income, Spending and Saving – A household is a group of people who live together and share income and spending. It has needs (food, housing, clothes, health, education) and wants (things that are nice but not necessary). Its income comes from work (wages, salary), from running a business, from property (rent, interest, dividends) and from transfers (pensions, grants, gifts). A family budget is a plan that lists expected income and spending for a period, usually a month. Spending can be fixed (rent, fees, loan instalments) or variable (food, electricity, travel). If income is more than spending the budget has a surplus, if equal it is balanced, and if less it has a deficit. Because money is limited, every choice has an opportunity cost: the next best thing you give up.
- Health Care Basics: Vital Signs, Medical Terms and Care Skills – Health care is the work of keeping people well and looking after them when they are ill. Health workers use a shared medical language built from roots, prefixes and suffixes. They check four vital signs: temperature (normal about 36.5–37.5 °C), pulse (adult 60–100 beats per minute), breathing rate (adult 12–20 breaths per minute) and blood pressure (healthy below 120/80 mmHg). They use instruments such as thermometers, stethoscopes and BP cuffs, stop infection with hand hygiene and PPE, record and pass on information clearly and confidentially, and help people make healthy lifestyle choices.
- Home Health Care and Safety – A healthy home needs two skills. First, use simple health devices (thermometer, blood-pressure monitor, pulse count) and know the normal range: body temperature about 36.1–37.2 °C, blood pressure about 120/80 mmHg, pulse 60–100 beats a minute. Second, find and fix hazards: wet floors, hot pans, bare sockets and medicines within a child's reach. Keep a first-aid box and emergency numbers ready.
5. Sel.5 Clothing and design (life)
Clothing and culture; materials; structure; sewing
- Clothing: Why We Wear It, What It Is Made Of and How to Choose It – Clothes protect us from sun, rain and cold, give modesty, show identity (uniforms, traditional dress such as the sari or hanbok) and let us express ourselves. They are made of fibres: natural ones from plants (cotton, linen) and animals (wool, silk), and synthetic ones from petroleum (polyester, nylon). Fibres are spun into yarn and made into fabric by weaving (over-under) or knitting (loops). Design uses line, colour, shape and texture. A smart buyer plans a wardrobe, checks fit, quality and the care label, compares shops, works out cost per wear, and chooses sustainable options: buy less, mend, swap and recycle.
6. Sel.6 Smart-home design (life)
Smart-home architecture; IoT communication; simple products; system design
- Internet of Things (IoT) – The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of everyday objects that have sensors, a small computer and a network connection, so they can collect data, share it over the internet and act on it. A sensor turns a physical change into data, a microcontroller processes it, the network (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, 4G/5G, LoRa) carries it to a cloud server or app, and an actuator turns commands into action. IoT is described in three layers: perception, network and application. It brings convenience and saves energy, but needs strong privacy and security.