Circuits

Electronic circuit diagram

Your lamp will work using an electronic circuit and you must design around the components of the circuit to ensure your product will work. In this lesson you will learn how to draw out the Lamp Circuit Diagram.

All wires should be drawn as straight lines and you should ‘label’ the components to show the positive / negative connections.

Components of the circuit

These are photographs of the components that you will select and use to make your lamp:

Cell (Battery)

This battery has 2 cables red and black. The red cable is the positive connection and the black is the negative.

Toggle Switch

The switch connections have no polarization - positive or negative

Potentiometer

Variable resistor. This changes the resistance of the circuit when you turn it and changes the brightness of the LED. It has no polarization but you must use the middle leg and one of the outer ones when you solder it.

LED

Light emitting diode. This has two legs that are the connection points. They are marked to show the positive and negative connection.

Triangle LED

3 LED's mounted on a board. The positive and negative connections are marked. This can be combined with a switch and batteries or with the black USB connector below.

Strip LED

5 LED's mounted on a board. There are no positive and negative connections visible as it already has a micro USB cable mounted on it. You use this with the white USB cable.

USB Cable for Triangle LED

USB power cable

USB cable for Strip LED

USB power cable

Circuit symbols

Electrical diagrams are presented in a very different style to the way we communicate our ideas as designers. These are the individual symbols that represent each component in a circuit diagram. Striaight lines are used to show how the components are connected. This can be in series or parallel. A circuit must be a closed loop for electricity to flow. This loop can be arranged in series or in parallel.