Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
555 timer project — Parallax Forums

555 timer project

silverbacksilverback Posts: 40
edited 2010-03-09 14:05 in General Discussion
I picked up a 555 timer and now need to figure out how to use the thing.
Anyone know of any introductory project·using a 555.

thanks

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
If you convince yourself that something is impossible before you even try; you are sure to prove yourself right.

Comments

  • FranklinFranklin Posts: 4,747
    edited 2010-03-07 02:23
    Don't know why you couldn't have done this. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_timer_IC

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    - Stephen
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2010-03-07 02:34
    silverback,

    Take a look at this - http://roboticsunderthestole.blogspot.com/2008/05/555-flashing-circuit.html

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Whit+


    "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
    555.jpg
    801 x 768 - 50K
    555.jpg 50.3K
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2010-03-07 03:00
    You should also download the data sheet. They also have some application circuits on them. This is my all time favorite chip due to it's simplicity and the number of possible uses. I have used it for more applications than I can possibly recall.

    Cassette tape data encoder/decoder, motor stopped detector, clock for serial data transmission, driver (stepper, line, coil, anything <300mA), threshold detector, clock for parallel to serial and serial to parallel converter, code conversion (bcd, single line, hex, octal, 7 segment, ebcdiic ascii ebcdiic to bcd, single line, hex, octal, 7 segment, ebcdiic ascii ebcdiic), intrusion detection, high voltage generation, +- 12v power supply, etc, etc, etc.

    That is only a partial list, and I am sure I have forgotten far more than I recall. The 555 was not the only chip involved, but it was the only one that was in all of them. Based on the number of applications per transistor I would guess that this was the most versatile chip ever produced.
  • bill190bill190 Posts: 769
    edited 2010-03-07 03:11
    The 555 timer has been around *forever*. Actually before the Internet was even invented! (FYI before it was called the Internet, it was called ARPAnet.)

    Search google.com for the words...

    555 timer projects

    ...and you will find all sorts of stuff!
  • davejamesdavejames Posts: 4,047
    edited 2010-03-07 03:52
    Silver - did a search and found this...

    ···· http://www.bobblick.com/techref/projects/a2d555/a2d555.html

    It uses a 555, an A/D, and a Basic Stamp to measure voltage.

    Also, there are numerous 555 projects at this link:

    ···· http://www.discovercircuits.com/T/timers.htm (this is where I found "a2d555.html")


    Later,

    DJ

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
  • Roger LeeRoger Lee Posts: 339
    edited 2010-03-07 04:08
    555 the uses for that chip are nearly endless.

    one more to look at.

    The Electronics Club
    www.kpsec.freeuk.com/index.htm

    Roger
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2010-03-07 06:10
    Track down ANY 1980's Forest Mimms books from Radio Shack that you can find. Amazon occasionally has the "Engineer's Notebook II", my all-time favorite. Incredibly useful, even today.

    Meanwhile, get yourself two photocells (STOP calling these·LDRs, people!) and have fun with this theremin-type circuit from http://www.baragon.8m.com/555.jpg

    Cut & paste that·recalcitrant link into a new browser if it doesn't work for you.




    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    ·"If you build it, they will come."

    Post Edited (erco) : 3/7/2010 6:28:14 AM GMT
    555timer.jpg
    733 x 576 - 101K
  • PrettybirdPrettybird Posts: 269
    edited 2010-03-07 13:17
    Google 555 timer projects. They have 1,000s Like the pictoral schematic listed above.
  • logan996logan996 Posts: 281
    edited 2010-03-07 17:57
    hey but are photocells like not sold beacause of the ROHS? i mean what is wrong with them though that they have to be banned?

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    "When the government is afraid of the people there is liberty, when the people are afraid of the government, there is tryanny"

    · Thomas Jefferson
    ·
  • VIRANDVIRAND Posts: 656
    edited 2010-03-08 22:39
    logan996 said...
    hey but are photocells like not sold beacause of the ROHS? i mean what is wrong with them though that they have to be banned?

    I have not heard of the CdS photocells being banned, but Cadmium Sulfide .. Cadmium is the new "Lead",
    and nobody knows doody about chemistry so they are even afraid of water if you call it H-2-O or worse yet
    google/wiki DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE (DHMO). Eternally ROFLMAO!

    BTW: Water and Carbon Dioxide are "greenhouse gases". The greenhouse effect is awesome.
    There's water and carbon dioxide in these warm clear "green" houses, and tons of green plants and flowers and stuff
    grow in there. Go see one sometime. Methinks the "greenhouse effect" turns the earth into Paradise.
    According to ancient maps and globes, Antarctica and Greenland are supposed to be GREEN! smile.gif (more LOL)
    THE ICE AGE IS OVER!!!

    Post Edited (VIRAND) : 3/8/2010 10:46:20 PM GMT
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2010-03-08 23:37
    @VIRAND and logan996:

    Cadmium is a heavy metal like lead, and it is toxic just like lead is. If low concentrations end up in the soil it can be taken up by growing plants as well as ending up in our drinking water. Personally I prefer my water and veggies without lead or cadmium.

    As for carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect turning earth into paradise, it may, or it may not. It may make some parts of earth that are now frigid warm and green, but it may also turn areas that are now fertile and green into deserts. Are you willing to gamble that the net result will be better for us or much worse? I would prefer not to gamble. I do not think the odds are in our favor.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2010-03-09 03:21
    Certain metals like lead still work best in solder.·Tin whiskers grow faster in alternative lead-free types, so NASA & satellite mfrs are still using lead.·Cadmium, used in photocells, is similarly a bad material as kwinn noted,·but it really should be phased out, since there are better alternatives. You can still buy all the cadmium sulphide photocells you want (even in bulk packs at Radio Shack, http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062590),·and some people have already started stockpiling these since they are on the way out. Yes, for real. Truth is, you can use a phototransistor·as a direct replacement (just get the polarity right) and it is vastly superior·in every way: sensitivity, wider spectrum (incl. IR, very useful), and·tighter tolerances. See· http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~robo2005/Electronics%20Lab%202%20v6.doc··about halfway down for a phototransistor application.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    ·"If you build it, they will come."
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2010-03-09 14:05
    erco said...

    Track down ANY 1980's Forest Mimms books from Radio Shack that you can find. Amazon occasionally has the "Engineer's Notebook II", my all-time favorite. Incredibly useful, even today.

    I use to have a 75 in One electronic kit by Science Fair sold by Radio Shack.

    I would love to see some projects that link the Propeller with Elenco's Electronic Lab 130-in-one Project.

    http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Sports-Cards-MX-906-Electronic/dp/B00005K2SY/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

    300 in One project Kit:
    http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-300-in-1-Electronic-Project-Lab/dp/B000IXKR2U/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1268143623&sr=1-4

    500 in One project kit:
    http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Electronics-MX-909-500-in-One-Project/dp/B00008BFZI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1268143539&sr=1-1
Sign In or Register to comment.