HELP! Dimming lights with Stamp!

Ersatzzz

Hi all,
I'm new to the Stamp module and I'm trying to find a way that I can program a flashlight battery to flicker in and out as well as dim in and out using the Stamp.· I can do the flickering in and out with the stamp, but I can't seem to dim the bulb unless it is a LED (which are too directional and not bright enough for my purposes).· I was also hoping to run the system off of a battery source-Does anyone know how I can dim incandescent bulbs electronically?· Or must I use a potentiometer?· If I use a potentiometer, how can I program it electroncially as opposed to a mechanical sequence?
Thanks!

Zoot

Depending on the voltage and wattage of the bulb, the easiest thing is probably to have a Stamp PIN drive a transistor (or several transistors) which in turn light your light bulb. Do a search at the forums for things like "driving a relay", "driving a lightbulb" and you will turn up many examples of one and two transistor circuits for doing just that.

Once you have a lightbulb that can be turned on and off with a Stamp PIN, then you need to write a program that will dim it. There are a number of ways to do this, but the one easy way to start would be to use the PWM command to send a rapid series of "on/off's" to the PIN -- the ratio of "off" to "on" time will give you different light intensities.

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When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. -- HST

Chris Savage

This is a duplicate/cross post, please refer to the original at the link below.

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=611887

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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support