Touchless Kitchen Lighting with Arduino and Phototransistor

Here’s a cool Arduino project I did to bring a bit of high-tech magic to my daughter’s toy kitchen. She can now turn on the lights in her toy kitchen with a simple wave of her hand! My daughter has been excited about the thought of getting lights in her kitchen. And I was excited

The Basics Of Microcontroller Programming

A microcontroller does not know what to do by itself. It’s your job to tell it what you want it to do. Microcontroller programming boils down to three steps: Write your program code At the most basic level, a microcontroller understands only zeroes and ones (binary code). A program is a set of instructions written

Tool for Drawing Circuits: Circuit Canvas

Need to draw a circuit that looks good, quickly? Circuit Canvas is a free, web-based tool for drawing schematics and planning how to connect the circuit in real life. It was designed to make it fast and easy to draw good-looking schematics and connection diagrams for electronics. It was made by Øyvind Nydal Dahl, the

Arduino Libraries and How To Install Them

Arduino libraries are like cheat sheets for building cool projects. They let you borrow code someone else made, so you don’t have to start from zero but can make your things quickly with your Arduino. Also, because lots of people use them, it’s easier to get help and tips. In this guide, you’ll learn how

Arduino PIR Sensor Circuit and Code Example

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create an Arduino PIR Sensor. PIR stands for Passive InfraRed. The PIR sensor is widely used in motion detection applications and this project will show you how to use it to control an LED. When the sensor detects motion, the LED will turn on and the event will

Arduino IR Receiver Circuit and Code Example

In this tutorial, you will learn how to set up an infrared (IR) receiver with an Arduino UNO. An IR receiver is a module that will help you decode signals from an IR remote control. In this tutorial, we’ve used the TSOP312, but many others will work. The Arduino will process these signals and print

555 Timer Police Lights

This 555 Timer Police Lights circuit is an interesting electronics project that simulates the alternating flash of police vehicle lights using LEDs.

The circuit uses a 555 timer IC and a CD4017 decade counter to create the flashing effect. By adjusting the frequency of the 555 timer, you can control how quickly the LEDs flash, mimicking the strobe light effect found on emergency vehicles.

555 Timer Continuity Tester

A continuity tester is an indispensable tool when working with electronic circuits. This 555 Timer Continuity Tester uses a 555 Timer IC to generate an audible tone when a continuous path (continuity) is detected between the two probes. This tester will work with resistances up to 200 kΩ. Additionally, it has an automatic turn-off feature

How a Relay Works and How to Use It in Circuits

Electrical relays are switches that you turn on and off with electrical signals. In this guide, you’ll learn how a relay works and how to use relays in your own electronics projects!

Photo of relay pins and top view

Relays are very important in electronics because you can use them to turn on/off high-power devices like lamps or garage door motors with just a small DC voltage signal.

You can use a microcontroller, such as Arduino, to create the logic for when to turn your lamp on and off, then use an electrical relay to do the switching of the lamp.

This makes it easy to make lights that activate only at night, control your garage door motor with a signal generated by your phone, or control other home appliances.

555 Timer Reaction Game

The 555 Timer Reaction Game is a simple and fun project that tests your reflexes. Using the classic 555 timer IC in conjunction with a CD4026 decade counter with 7-segment output, you can create a game that challenges players to press a button as quickly as possible after a signal starts. Player 1 uses the

Understanding Basic Electronics is Easy

Yes, basic electronics is easy. As long as you don’t make it complicated (which many unfortunately do).

An electrical current is the flow of electrons in a wire. Electrons flow when you have a “closed loop” – a path from the negative to the positive terminal of a battery.

Basic electronics - current flow

For example, if you connect a small light bulb to the positive and the negative side of a battery, you will get a closed loop where electrons can flow and make the lamp shine.

“Electronics” control electrical currents by combining different components.

What is Basic Electronics?

Many think that basic electronics has to do with the physics of how electrons move. But that’s particle physics, not electronics!

You can learn the basics of electronics by learning this:

  • The basics of current and voltage
  • How the most common basic components work
  • How electronic schematics work
  • How to build circuits from schematics
Ohms law cartoon

555 Timer TV Remote Jammer – Complete Instructions

Here is a nifty little circuit that’s designed to make sure nobody messes with your TV settings while you are watching your favorite show – a 555 timer TV remote jammer! This sneaky device sends out an invisible signal at a frequency that the TV thinks is coming from a remote control. But instead of

555 Timer Music Box – a Synthesizer with 10-Tone Sequencer

This is a fun project to build – a 555 Timer music box! It’s based on two 555 timers, one that sets the tempo of the music, and one that creates the different tones. The sequence of which tones to play is managed by a decade counter IC and some resistors. The Circuit You can

555 Timer Railroad Lights

This is a 555 Timer railroad lights project where two lights are alternating, similar to a railroad crossing signal. The 555 timer is set up in astable mode so that it keeps switching its output between HIGH and LOW, thereby turning on and off the two LEDs connected to the output. The Circuit To build

555 Timer Machine Gun Sound Effect

This 555 Timer machine gun circuit generates a sound that mimics the sound of a machine gun. It is based on a 555 timer IC, which is a popular chip used for creating pulses and timing circuits. The Circuit To build this circuit you’ll need a 555 timer, a speaker, a few capacitors, and a