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Electronics Projects for Students and Hobbyists

by Lewis Loflin

  » My Homepage   » Bristol VA/TN   » E-Mail   » Hobby Electronics   » Arduino Microcontroller

Introduction - The purpose of these pages is to introduce the student and hobbyist to electronics projects. My hope is generate interest for those thinking about entering a high tech field, or simply to have fun. I've done this since the 1960s and having to overcome a low income household means we have to work smart and use what is available.

This is not about buying some kit that's either expensive or limited in function. I'm talking about being creative and learning to use salvaged parts and assemblies (a great idea in the age of recycling) and for those of limited means as a way to learn self reliance.

First and foremost read this safety warning. Unless one wants to use batteries, the only practical solution is a plug in the wall power supply.

• Added June 27, 2012:
• New You Tube Videos: Picaxe and Traffic Lights
• Introduction to Constant Current Circuits
• AC Power Control with PICAXE and a Dallas DS18B20 1-Wire Digital Thermometer
• Connecting the Dallas DS18B20 1-Wire Digital Thermometer to the PICAXE
• Connecting the Picaxe to a H-Bridge DC Motor Control

Added May 4, 2012:

• How to use SIDACs and their operation
• How a Voltage Doubler Works
• Neon (NE-2) Circuits You Can Build
• Understanding Xenon Flashtubes and Circuits
• Useful Resources and Links for Electronics Hobbyists

Added February 13, 2012

• Solar Panel Charge Controller Using Arduino Microcontroller
• Solar Panel Charge Controller Using PICAXE Microcontroller

Added April 4, 2012:

• Using Hall Effect Sensors with Alternating Current
• Looking at Window Comparator Circuits

Added January 2012: PICAXE Microcontroller Projects!

The PICAXE series of micro-controllers rank as the easiest and most cost effective way to use Microchip processors. I wanted an easier and less expensive way to introduce my students to the "PIC" micro-controller. Here I hope to get those starting out past poorly written literature and lack of simple working code examples.

• Connecting the Picaxe to a H-Bridge DC Motor Control
• Exploring the PICAXE Micro-Controller
• PICAXE and a Dallas DS18B20 1-Wire Digital Thermometer
• Connecting the Dallas DS18B20 1-Wire Digital Thermometer to the PICAXE
• Understanding Micro-Controller Input/Output Ports
• Using the 74HC165 Shift Register with the PICAXE Micro-Controller
• Connecting the 74HC595 Shift Register to PICAXE Micro-controller
• Using 7-Segment Displays with the PICAXE Micro-Controller
• Potentiometers and Analog-to-Digital Conversion with the PICAXE
• PWM Motor Speed Control and the PICAXE Micro-Controller
• Connecting the PICAXE to the Ds1307 Real Time Clock
• Connecting the PICAXE to an External EEPROM (24LC08)
• Connecting a Servo to a PICAXE
• Connecting the TLC548 ADC to the PICAXE
• Connecting the Ad5220 Digital Potentiometer to the PICAXE

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• Safely Trouble Shoot with a Load Lamp
• L298N Motor Controller Theory and Projects
• Connecting the Arduino to a L298N H-Bridge

• Build a 12AV6 Vacuum Tube AM Radio
• Coils for Highly Selective Crystal Radio
• Adding a Push-Pull Output Stage to a Lm386 Audio Amplifier

Added October 22, 2011

• Simple 12-14 Volt DC to 120 Volt AC Inverter
• Open and Close a Greenhouse Window Automatically
• La4224 1 Watt Audio Amplifier
• H-Bridge Motor Control with Power MOSFETS Updated

Added July 31, 2011

• Using Hall Effect Sensors with Alternating Current
• Using Hall Effect Switches and Sensors
• Using Ratiometric Hall Effect Sensors
• Using Hall Effect Sensors with the Arduino-ATMEGA168

Listed below are pages on power supplies one can build and test. At minimum go buy a digital volt-ohm meter. They are cheap and can be found everywhere from Radio Shack to Lowes. In the You tube video I show how to use what I call a load lamp. This is simply a light bulb wired in series with the project. If one connects something wrong or shorts anything out, the lamp will light instead of blowing fuses or burning things out. It will also give one a quick visual indication something is wrong in order to disconnect the power.

• Power Supply Rectification
• Basic Power Transformers
• Transistor-Zener Diode Regulator Circuits
• Tricks and Tips for the LM78XX Series Voltage Regulators
• Bi-Polar Power Supplies
• Build an Adjustable 0-34 volt power supply with the Lm317

Understand some terms right now: a short is an unwanted connection, while an open is a broken connection. For example a blown fuse is called an open because the electrical path is broken; a short is an unwanted connection such as connecting the positive post to the negative post on a car battery and watching it explode. Yes even low voltage circuits can explode.

You Tube Videos

• Arduino stepper motor control
• Arduino Power Inverter added Jan. 2012
• Hall Effect Sensors
• Power Supplies Part 1
• Power Supplies Part 2
• Power Supplies Part 3
• Using a Load Lamp
• AC Power Lab on Series Circuits Part 1
• AC Power Lab on Series Circuits Part 2

The next groups of links below go to specific electronic/electrical devices on how to use and test them.

• L298N Motor Controller Theory and Projects
• Build a Thermocouple Amplifier
• Build a Potato battery
• Testing a Diac
• Basic Triacs and SCRs
• Solid State AC Relays with Triacs
• Light Activated Silicon Controlled Rectifier (LASCR)
• Basic Transistor Driver Circuits for Micro-Controllers
• Opto-Isolated Transistor Drivers for Micro-Controllers
• Build a H-Bridge Motor Control with Power MOSFETS
• Series/Parallel Batteries
• Using a CdS Photocells
• Voltage Comparator Information And Circuits
• Resistive Humidity Sensors
• Reed Switches
• Diodes and Rectifiers
• Transformers and misc. topics

Finally at the bottom are projects using the ATMEGA168/Arduino series micro-controller with many of the other solid state parts we learned earlier. For example we can interface the thermocouple amplifier and an LCD display to the micro-controller to display the temperature in say the flue of a wood stove. Again the idea is modular, small projects that can be built into bigger projects. For more technical details on the Arduino see ATMEGA168 Arduino Micro Controller Projects.

At 3 inches long the Arduino does ten times what the KIM-1 will do.
Cost is under $15 in 2009.

• Introduction to Arduino
• Part 1: Programming Arduino Outputs
• Part 2: Programming Arduino Inputs
• Part 3: Programming Arduino Analog to Digital Conversion
• Part 4: Programming Arduino Pulse Width Modulation
• Arduino stepper motor control

• ATMEGA168 Arduino Micro Controller Projects
• Connecting the Arduino to a L298N H-Bridge
• ATMEGA168/Arduino Power Inverter Power Circuits
• Solar Panel Charge Controller Using Arduino Microcontroller
• Using Hall Effect Sensors with the Arduino-ATMEGA168
• Connecting the Arduino to the TMP37 Centigrade Temperature Sensor
• Connecting the ATMEGA168/Arduino to MCP23016 and LCD Display
• Display Time/Date with Arduino, LCD Display, and Ds1307 RTC
• Controlling Low-Voltage Driveway Lights with the ATMEGA168/Arduino
• Hatching Chicken Eggs with ATMEGA168/Arduino
• The TSL230R Light to Frequency Converter and Arduino/ATMEGA168
• Interfacing the ATMEGA168/Arduino to the MCP23016 I/O Expander
• Using the ATMEGA168/Arduino with a Ds1307 Real Time Clock
• Using a Unipolar Stepper Motor with a Arduino
• Using the ATMEGA168/Arduino with the Ta8050 Motor Controller
• Using the ATMEGA168/Arduino with a 24LC08 Serial EEPROM
• Hardware Interrupts Demo and Tutorial for ATMEGA168/Arduino
• Micro-controller AC Power Control Using Interrupts

My E-Mail lewis@sullivan-county.com Phone: 276-669-0565 if anyone has any questions.

• KIM-1 my first computer in 1977 versus the Arduino
• Basic Magnetics and Analog Volt and Amp Meters (pdf)
• Basic DC and Ohms Law (pdf)
• Basic Light Emitting Diodes (pdf)
• Zener Diodes (pdf)