Determining the efficiency of a Stirling engine using Arduino: a proposal for teaching thermodynamics in introductory courses

During the last few years, research in physics education has highlighted the interest of the Arduino platform and its associated sensors in improving teaching. In this paper we present a proposal for the study of thermodynamics in introductory courses. We have built a home-made Stirling engine with low-cost materials. From a theoretical study of the thermodynamic cycle associated to the engine, we propose several strategies to measure its efficiency. Next, we describe the experimental setup, based on Arduino sensors, that allows us to record the necessary measurements to develop the proposed strategies. The results obtained show the low efficiency of thermal engines and the differences between the theoretical and experimental thermodynamic cycles.