Electronics and Logic of Inputs and Outputs

So the universe is not quite as you thought it was. You'd better rearrange your beliefs, then. Because you certainly can't rearrange the universe. -- Isaac Asimov, quote taken from azquotes.com


|| Electronics comprises the physics, engineering, technology and applications that deal with the emission, flow and control of electrons in vacuum and matter.

It uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification and rectification, which distinguishes it from classical electrical engineering which uses passive effects such as resistance, capacitance and inductance to control current flow. Electronics has had a major effect on the development of modern society. The identification of the electron in 1897, along with the subsequent invention of the vacuum tube which could amplify and rectify small electrical signals, inaugurated the field of electronics and the electron age.[2] This distinction started around 1906 with the invention by Lee De Forest of the triode, which made electrical amplification of weak radio signals and audio signals possible with a non-mechanical device. Until 1950, this field was called "radio technology" because its principal application was the design and theory of radio transmitters, receivers, and vacuum tubes.

The term "solid-state electronics" emerged after the first working transistor was invented by William Shockley, Walter Houser Brattain and John Bardeen at Bell Labs in 1947. The MOSFET (MOS transistor) was later invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in 1959. The MOSFET was the first truly compact transistor that could be miniaturised and mass-produced for a wide range of uses, revolutionizing the electronics industry, and playing a central role in the microelectronics revolution and Digital Revolution. The MOSFET has since become the basic element in most modern electronic equipment, and is the most widely used electronic device in the world. || --Wikipedia page on electronics, taken on 7/24/2020

Fab Academy:

These are in-depth discussions of topics related to this unit, borrowed with love from the Fab Academy archives. The videos linked here (and on the rest of the webpage) are intended to deepen your knowledge on the topics. They are not required for the Foundations of Fabrication course, but they are often good to watch for more perspectives on the same ideas. We love 🎧 listening to videos while doing the repetitive tasks of making; 👀peeking over whenever they've got something good on screen.

  • Fab Academy 2020:

  • Fab Academy 2019:

  • Fab Academy 2017:

This will cover in detail several of the essential circuits, and then introduce the more abstracted sensors, shields, hats and extensions available for the big electronics platforms

https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Arduino_Nano_Experimenter_s_Board.html

Unit 12.1 =====

Slides on Inputs

Inputs

  • Neil’s most up-to-date list of Inputs

  • The humble voltage divider circuit covered in detail

  • Deep Dive into the core inputs:

    • Seem like they should be simple:

      • Buttons/ Switches

      • Knobs (just potentiometers)

      • IR trip sensors

      • PIR sensors (motion sensors)

      • NTC & RTD thermistors

      • Light sensors

        • Infrared (TV remotes)

        • Visible (CdS Photocells vs Phototransistors)

    • Look a little more complicated

      • Capacitive touch

      • Ultrasonic distance

      • Continuous knobs (rotary encoders)

      • Hall Effect sensors (magnetic field sensors)

      • RGB color sensors

      • Accelerometers & 6 DOF sensors

      • Sound (MEMS and Electret Microphones)

      • Doppler radar

      • IR time-of-flight sensors & LiDAR

    • There are even more!!

Assignment [Unit 12.1]

Design and solder-together one or more circuits that uses an Arduino and a 1) button 2) potentiometer 3) some other input sensor



Lecture

Unit 12.2 =====

Slides on Outputs

Outputs

  • Neil’s most up-to-date list of outputs

  • Electrical power - especially for parallel circuit branches

  • Deep dive into the core outputs:

    • Barely Digital (or really just analog)

      • LEDs / RGB LEDs (not quite Neopixels)

      • Transistors/ MOSFETs - with LEDs/ Motors

      • Buzzers (not speakers)

      • Motors (DC brushed)

      • Solenoids

      • Relays

      • air/ water pump (and soft robots)

    • Digitally controlled

      • BLDC motors

      • Stepper Motors

      • Servos

      • Screens: LCD, OLED, TFT, VGA

      • Speakers

Assignment [Unit 12.2]

    • Make 3 types of outputs work on soldered-together circuits that can attach to an Arduino

      • Perfboard soldered solutions are recommended

      • (this can be 3 separate circuits or one complex circuit).

    • *Bonus: Then measure the power use of these outputs.


Lecture