In our second week of Physcomp we (the class) learned more about analog circuits and how they are analyzed. It was a good refresher for me since it has been a while since I’ve worked or calculated circuits in physics class. That being said, it was a mad dash for me to acquire the components needed for class.
Since I already owned an Arduino I decided to not purchase any kits and hunt for various components independently. That was a lot of work but I think it was worth it in the end because I am a little more intimate with the parts. I had to have a basic understanding of why I am selecting one model over another and did quite a bit a research to make sure I am buying the right thing.
I looked over the labs we covered in class and decided to do a variation of an LED switch circuit. Since we recently read about design and intuitive controls I decided to create a circuit with a RGB LED and 3 corresponding button switches. After some troubleshooting and physics of electronics review I was able to get the circuit working.
Here are some images of the circuit’s progression:
Some gotchas for me were: The polarity of the dc jack, I had to switch the wires to the Regulator. I also had to figure out the button design by trial and error.
And here we have the RGB LED momentary controller!
