Local high school students have designed a musical staircase at the Springfield Center of Innovation: The Dome.
Using infrared sensors and homemade circuitry and a laptop, they are working to program a set of 15 stairs to play notes, lyrics or even sound effects.
Springfield High School senior Triston Rogers began the project while working with a mentor at the YouMedia center created inside the former South High School as part of the Greater Springfield ConnectED Consortium.
He was then joined by Global Impact STEM Academy sophomore Mustafa Haleem and SHS sophomore Jahcory Dixon in working out the kinks in the project.
“We all learned about trouble shooting and circuitry together,” Haleem said.
Rogers said he’s liked learning to make complicated stuff more simple through this collaboration with the other students. Dixon learned how to solder wires from Haleem.
They have the top five steps working as of Friday, with a goal of getting all 15 hooked up by the end of the month.