Saturday, February 25, 2012

Seven Segment Countdown Timer [Proof of Concept]

Project description: This is a proof of concept device I built to test out different features of my future projects that will involve this type of seven segment. It was to not only prove that  I can in fact drive this seven segment display with no need for other IC's, but also a practice in power conservation techniques. I wanted to be able to drive this display with the least amount of components needed and still get full functionality. For this project I made my goal to build a prop for one of my upcoming video projects. It would be a device that the actor places on a door near a lock and it would look as if it's decoding the lock and, when done, a beep would be heard. Because this is just going to be a proof of concept, I wont bother laying out a PCB and sending the designs to a fab house.

Project goals:
  • Least amount of components
  • Use as little power as possible
  • Be easily programmable for the future
  • Be quick and dirty to build
  • Take up as little room possible

Technical notes:
  • The device is programmed using the Arduino IDE with changes I made to the fuse bits to make it more power efficient.
  • Its running at 3.3 volts and uses the I/O's for the common anode display which eliminates the need for resistors placed in series with the LED's.
  • The processor used is an Atmega328 flashed with the ATK500 Arduino boot loader.
  • The original power source was a 3.3v coin cell, but was later changed out to use the lithium backpack module from Liquidware.com. 















Sunday, December 18, 2011

Hello World

Hi, my name's Roy, and I'm starting this blog as a junior in high school.  I enjoy building and programming, and I made this blog to share and explain my different projects.