Design, simulate, and build a simple electronic device that performs two actions. The device may serve a need at your home, or just fun to build!
Description
Think of an idea for a simple device that you can build. You may go through these sample project Ideas to be inspired with or to replicate: Operation toy - Buzz Wire - Coin Eater - Electrical Egg Beater - Drawing Bot
Simulate your circuit on Tinkercad and make sure it is functional
Build your circuit on a breadboard and test it
Integrate your circuit within the device enclosure, you may also use other craft or scrap materials at home to demo the non-electronic parts of your device
When you face a challenge or a problem that you can't understand, the Avometer is your FRIEND!
Technical Requirements
The device is designed to perform 2 outputs at least at the same time (contains two different types of output components): emits light, makes noise or sound, and/or makes movement.
The output components are optimally connected (in parallel NOT in series)
The electrical circuit is simulated using TinkerCad
The electrical circuit is prototyped on a breadboard
The device has an enclosure from cardboard and the non-electric parts are prototyped from cardboard or any scrap material (You are not required to use any CAD or digital fabrication)
The device contains a power ON/Off switch
The voltage source's voltage value is clearly defined and justified with consideration of the used output components
The device is functional and the final outcome is demonstrated
Inspiration Video of Foam Boat with DC Motor
InspirationI Video
I got inspired by the video shown and I decided to have some fun. My idea was to make a boat made of foam with a DC motor to control the direction of the boat in both ways (Forwards and Backward ) through the quadrable flanges. It will have a physical remote control with 4 switches (on/off) to represent the H-BRIDGE Connection and a LED connected in parrallel. The LED will turn Red once the boat is moving forward or backward.
Final simplified output of a Dc Motor Boat
The final output of DC Motor Boat
The body is a conceptual model made of foam (1 cm thickness). Carved in the center to let the rotational free movement of the motor flanges and move the boat in both directions ( forward and backward). The is a physical remote control with a Red LED output to indicate that the user has pushed the buttons and acts as an indication of the boat movement.
I used Tinker Cad to simulate the circuit design of the LED and Dc motor parallel connection in H bridge connection to control the movement of the boat
DC MOTOR to rotate the flanges and cause movement
The breadBoard to organize the H-bridge wires connection
Jumpers are the wires type used for connections
220 ohm Resistors are used to protect the LED from any excessive voltage
Red LED is used for indication of movement done by the boat
Autodesk TinkerCad : Screenshot of the H-BRIDGE connection of the DC motor and LED in parallel controlled by 4 switches to allow the exchange in polarity direction and moves the boat backward and forward direction
The Real connection shows the change in polarity direction of the DC MOTOR and the boat moves backward and forward direction with a LED lighten to indicate movement
The Tinker Cad Simulation
First :
The H-BRIDGE connection of the DC motor and LED in parallel is controlled by 4 switches to allow the exchange in polarity direction and move the boat backward and forward direction
power supply 5v (the minimum power needed to power the DC motor and at the same time it will not cause any harm to the LED when it is lighten while i use 220 ohm resistance to distribute the rest of the voltage)
The power supply Anode is connected to the 1st switch and Cathode to4th switch
both switches (1 and 3), (2 and 4) were connected
The LED is connected (the tallest pin is connected to the positive polarity and the short one is connected to the negative polarity) with a 220ohm resistor to protect the LED from burning up as it consumes only 2 V while the circuit has 5 V so the Ohm can withstand with the rest of the volts in the circuit.
The motor is connected in parallel connection to the LED. The positive is connected to the Anode and the negative to the Cathode.
The video is showing the simulation on Tinkercad when diagonal buttons are pressed and the current readings increased with Rpm values shown on the DC Motor which indicates the movement of the DC MOTOR.
Body of the boat
Second : The Body
Its size is 25x25 cm and the curvature is a freeform spline in symmetric
A Foam of 1 cm thickness was used as the body of the boat to be cut easily and it could float on the water.
The Dc Motor was engraved in the body of the model and fixed using avis.
The flanges is a plastic bottle lid connected to the motor with a stick and the flanges were the plastic cover of recycled transparent bottle stacked together
The wheel is a decorative element made of cardboard and sticked with AMIR glue to let it harden and not to absorb any water.
Implementation
The process :
I push switch 1 and 3 and the boat moves forward while 2 and 4 let the boat moves backward. Which acts as a controller to the DC Motor direction based on the change of polarity in the H- BRIDGE.
The Red LED is linked to the breadboard and to the motor in a parallel connection where it lights up when the dc motor is rotating the flanges and the boat is moving.
Test of the movement
Test of the LED lighten
The Led and the physical tactile switches
1) The motor was heavy and not in the center of mass so I thickened the foam in the direction of the heavy motor.
2) I connected the Led wrong at first to be directly connected to the battery. It didn't work because the circuit was open and it made a short circuit or just led to passing the dc motor without any voltage. So i used avometer to indicate where is the problem then i recognised that the DC motor has no voltage supply because the direction of the connection was open circuit and series not parallel so i managed to rearrange the wires and checked again with avometer and it worked (I checked again because i was afraid of the short circuit to damage the dc before power it on ).
Ideas to make other approaches and moving mechanism for boats
1) I have learnt how to design the parallel and series connection with multiple outputs.
2) I learnt how to make the H BRIDGE Connection and the LED and to control the DC motors
3) I learnt how overcome challenges through trials and errors and resolve the issue with some faith that i can do it.
I have learned the differences between series and parallel connections and how this would affect the current intensity for each output.
Manipulation of objects that could be connected to dc motors which will form a linear motion only.
I am eager to try two DC MOTORS to increase the speed of the movement, a larger fan should be used to protect the motor from being not efficient.