Welcome to the AXE092 project page for Year 9 Electronics. This page provides all the background information, examples, and guides you’ll need as you assemble, solder, and program your AXE092 Picaxe experimenter’s board. Your main challenge is to create a traffic light system for a railway crossing.
Traffic lights are everywhere in our city. They use a combination of red, amber, and green lights to safely manage traffic flow. Modern systems now use LED bulbs, which save huge amounts of power compared to older incandescent bulbs.
Did you know?
Old-style traffic light bulbs used ~100W each.
A busy intersection could have dozens of bulbs lit at once.
LED replacements often use under 20W, saving both money and energy.
Christchurch has converted most intersections to LED lights.
A PICAXE is a type of programmable microcontroller. You can write simple programs in PICAXE BASIC to:
Turn outputs on and off (LEDs, buzzers, motors)
Read inputs (switches, sensors like LDRs)
Control systems (like traffic lights!)
The AXE092 board is a training kit that lets you solder your own circuit and then bring it to life with programming.