Most awful hack job REDUX

[Ignoramus23281]

I made another traffic light, this time of LEDs, resistors, and a 9v
battery. It is better than the first light, because now all wires are
openly visible and the kid can see how electricity goes, how the
switch works etc.

i

 

[AL]

This sounds like a job well done--fostering curiosity while being safe.

 

[Vaughn]

I made another traffic light, this time of LEDs, resistors, and a 9v
battery. It is better than the first light, because now all wires are
openly visible and the kid can see how electricity goes, how the
switch works etc.

Good job! Now get yourself some 555 timer chips and build yourself a
traffic signal controller. Hint: The red is controlled by a simple gate, if the
green and amber lights are both out, then the red is on.

Vaughn

 

[Ignoramus23281]

Good job! Now get yourself some 555 timer chips and build yourself a
traffic signal controller. Hint: The red is controlled by a simple gate, if the
green and amber lights are both out, then the red is on.

That's a clever idea... I am definitely thinking about making a
traffic controller along these lines, as I have 555 timers, as well as
comparators etc. Now now, but maybe in a couple of months.

i

 

[Jon Danniken]

I made another traffic light, this time of LEDs, resistors, and a 9v
battery. It is better than the first light, because now all wires are
openly visible and the kid can see how electricity goes, how the
switch works etc.

My first electrical project was two D cells, a bulb, and a piece of wire. I
had flashlights containing those items, but putting the parts together
outside of the metal case is what really mede the gears start spinning.

Good job Iggy.

Jon

 

[Ignoramus23281]

My first electrical project was two D cells, a bulb, and a piece of wire. I
had flashlights containing those items, but putting the parts together
outside of the metal case is what really mede the gears start spinning.

Thanks Jon. Yes, I do think that having all the wires out and in the
open would help him get interested. It is no longer a toy, but
instead, a project.

i

 

[Jon Danniken]

Thanks Jon. Yes, I do think that having all the wires out and in the
open would help him get interested. It is no longer a toy, but
instead, a project.

You might also consider building something with alligator clip test leads,
so that he would be able on his own to change things around; maybe a
two-color LED or something like that. Heck, even different types of
lightbulbs are fascinating at that age.

Jon

 

[Ignoramus23281]

You might also consider building something with alligator clip test leads,
so that he would be able on his own to change things around; maybe a
two-color LED or something like that. Heck, even different types of
lightbulbs are fascinating at that age.

I did something along the lines, yes, with some alligator clips.

i

 

[ehsjr]

I made another traffic light, this time of LEDs, resistors, and a 9v
battery. It is better than the first light, because now all wires are
openly visible and the kid can see how electricity goes, how the
switch works etc.

i

Great! That is very good news!

Ed

 

[Martin H. Eastburn]

Cool.

Now for advanced versions - add series switches - add parallel ones - e.g. add logic.
And & or gates...

And a diode here or there and switches to route around...

In other words - Kick it up a little now and then...

Martin
Martin Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

 

[Ignoramus23281]

Cool.

Now for advanced versions - add series switches - add parallel ones - e.g. add logic.
And & or gates...

And a diode here or there and switches to route around...

In other words - Kick it up a little now and then...

Yep... I want first to mount it on something, and then I will do as
you suggest, add some logic, timers etc.

i

 

[steamer]

--For a little fun with AC try messing with electroluminescent
wire. Input can be from about 3v to 12v, then drivers can pump it up
to AC at anything from 50 to 400hz. Hard to solder, but fun to make
stuff with it. I get mine from coolneon.com but there are other
sources. Here's a link to some of the finest work I've seen with this
stuff: http://www.lennyjones.net/kimono page/subkimonos.html

 

[Bruce L. Bergman]

Yep... I want first to mount it on something, and then I will do as
you suggest, add some logic, timers etc.

Then for the finishing touch you need to add a Conflict Monitor
circuit, so if it sees Green signals in both directions it kicks off
the signal controller power and defaults to 4-way flashing Red... ;-)

--<< Bruce >>--

 

[AL]

Do real traffic light circuits have this? Just curious.

 

[Ignoramus28489]

Then for the finishing touch you need to add a Conflict Monitor
circuit, so if it sees Green signals in both directions it kicks off
the signal controller power and defaults to 4-way flashing Red... ;-)

What I am really thikning about is somehow making an array of relays
that are controllable from a computer (say, USB or RS-232). So that I
coudl write programs and say things like (in perl)

$relays[5]->close;
$relays[7]->open;

and that would close relay 5 and open relay 7. I do not want to start
talking much about it, because I want to finish my tig DC-Squarewave
AC inverter project.

i

 

[Vaughn]

Do real traffic light circuits have this? Just curious.

Yes.

Vaughn

 

[Rich, Under the Affluence]

Thanks Jon. Yes, I do think that having all the wires out and in the
open would help him get interested. It is no longer a toy, but
instead, a project.

See if you can poke a copper wire and a steel nail into a lemon and
make a bulb light. ;-)

For extra credit, report which is positive and which is negative. ;-P

For extra extra credit, use a compass to do so. ;-D ;-D

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Rich The Philosopher]

Yep... I want first to mount it on something, and then I will do as
you suggest, add some logic, timers etc.

Well, don't neglect the rest of his physics and mathematics education,
while making up edjamacaishunnal toys. Do stuff with weights and levers
and pulleys and water and friction and motion and stuff.

Play ball with him. That teaches a surprising amount of physics.

Don't forget, "Play" is kids' most important function - it's preliminary
to all of education.

Good Luck!
Rich
[prerequisite?]

 

[Rich Grise]

Yep... I want first to mount it on something, and then I will do as
you suggest, add some logic, timers etc.

If he's not ready for protoboard, a piece of soft pine and a box of
thumbtacks can go a long way...

Have Fun!
Rich

 

[Rich Grise]

Do real traffic light circuits have this? Just curious.

I don't know about this alleged "conflict monitor" - I'd have written
the controller such that no such of a thing ever happened in the first
place. There are arbitrations, of course, between the various traffic
sensors (and there can be more than one per lane, to detect multiple
cars backups), and pedestrian button requests, but one thing I _do_
know that existing stop-lights have - when one pole gets knocked down,
the rest of them pause a second, as if to consider the situation, and
then revert to flashing red, 4way stop mode. And they do alternate the
red between the crossing streets. (IOW, when the N-S are red, the E-W
are off, and they switch.)

I know, because I saw a guy take out one of the poles, and that's
what happened.

Thanks,
Rich