Expanding the toolbox 2015

Project

* Find or design a project / circuit to build
* build it
* modify / adapt it
* document

There are a few requirements

* The project needs to have a relation to your own practice.
* The circuit is part of the entire aesthetics and concept.
* For the final project there is no breadboarding allowed (you can use a breadboard for prototyping though)
* Remember your focus is to expand your toolbox, experiment and process is important. Document!
* Don't overcomplicate, you need to be able to explain what is going on. 
* A written reflection document including documentation of your circuit.

Inspiration

* Stan Wannet, Logica / 0
* Tristan Perich, 1-Bit Symphony
* Tristan Perich, Drawing Machine
* Peter Vogel, The sound of shadows
* Tom Verbruggen, Crackle Canvas
* Tom Verbruggen, Module #2
* Jerobeam Fenderson, Oscilloscope Music
* Jerobeam Fenderson, Khrang
* Aram Bartholl, On

Techniques

* Circuits, dead bug style
* Volumetric circuits (related to the dead bug style)
* Wire wrapping
* Parallax breadboard tutorial
* PCB making, Toner transfer method
* PCB making, etching
* PCB making, fab house

Week 1 homework

Although this homework may be a bit boring, it is fundamental to your understanding of electronic circuits. Look at it as a material study. You can use a resistor calculator to help you with the resistor color code (See resources below)

* Create a personal wiki page and link to it here. You will need to keep your progress and document your results on this page. See for an howto: http://opensource.wdka.nl/wiki/Wiki_Writing_Workshop

Circuit with one resistor

* Make a circuit with one battery and a resistor. Note the voltage of the battery and the resistance of the resistor.
 * What is the voltage across the resistor
 * What is the current through the resistor
 * What happens to the current and voltage if you double the resistor value
 * What happens to the current and voltage if you half the resistor value

Circuit with two series resistors

* Make a circuit with one battery and two resistors in series. Note the voltage of the battery and the resistances of the resistors.
 * What is the voltage across each resistor
 * What is the current through each resistor
 * What happens to the current and voltage if you double the resistor value of one resistor
 * What happens to the current and voltage if you half the resistor value of one resistor

Circuit with three or more series resistors

* Do the same for three or more resistors in series

Circuit with two parallel resistors

* Make a circuit with one battery and two resistors in parallel. Note the voltage of the battery and the resistances of the resistors.
 * What is the voltage across each resistor
 * What is the current through each resistor
 * What happens to the current and voltage if you double the resistor value of one resistor
 * What happens to the current and voltage if you half the resistor value of one resistor

Circuit with three or more parallel resistors

* Do the same for three or more resistors in parallel

Extra: Circuit with resistor and LED

* Make a circuit with a 9V battery, a 470 Ohm resistor and an LED.
 * What happens when you use a higher value resistor, how high can you go, what happens?
 * What happens when you use a lower value resistor, how low can you go, what happens?

Week 2 homework

For this week you need to find and build a (small) circuit using the 555 timer.

* For this weeks homework it is fine to build the circuit on a breadboard and make sure it works.
* For bonus points use one of the other techniques we discussed, e.g. the dead bug style or the volumetric style.

A good primer on the 555 timer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX01x1z7fTY 555 timer circuits:

* http://www.555-timer-circuits.com/
* http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/50%20-%20555%20Circuits/50%20-%20555%20Circuits.html
* http://electronicsclub.info/555timer.htm
* https://duckduckgo.com/?q=555+circuits

Choose a simple circuit of which you understand what it is supposed to do and you think you can build. This most likely will be something with sound or blinking LEDs.

Week 3 homework

* Draw your chosen circuit in Cadsoft Eagle or a similar program 

Resources

Circuit elements and theory

* Resistors in Series
* Resistors in parallel

Handy tools

* Resistor color code
* Resistor color code calculator

Tutorials and informational resources

* Ladyada on Multimeters
* 555 monostable and astable modes explained
* SparkFun EAGLE Schematic tutorial
* SparkFun EAGLE PCB Layout tutorial

Circuit collections

555

* 555 timer circuits
* http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/50%20-%20555%20Circuits/50%20-%20555%20Circuits.html
* http://electronicsclub.info/555timer.htm

Programs

electronics CAD packages

* Cadsoft Eagle
* KiCAD
* gEDA

circuit simulation

* online java circuit simulator with many examples
* quite good online circuit simulator (timed trial)

Buy electronic components

Shops

* DIL electronics components shop in Rotterdam
* Radio Centrum electronics components shop in Utrecht

Online dutch

* http://www.conrad.nl
* http://www.floris.cc
* http://www.eztronics.nl
* http://www.antratek.nl
* http://www.sossolutions.nl

Online international

* http://www.sparkfun.com
* http://www.adafruit.com

Wholesale (need VAT for most of them)

* http://www.farnell.nl
* http://www.rs-components.nl
* http://www.mouser.com
* http://www.digikey.nl