Week #5 - Journal 

The 5th-week assignment of the Maker Diploma is about powering things using electrons by creating electrical circuits containing adequately powered and functional components. The end goal is to design, simulate, and build a simple electronic device that performs two actions. 

I searched on Google to find inspiration to create my circuit and cardboard design. I knew I wanted to use a DC motor "Hobby", so I included it in my search keywords. I liked the idea of making a table fan and putting it on my desk, so I decided to make it. 

To design and simulate the electrical circuit for the table fan, I used Tinkercad to make sure it was functional before wiring it on a breadboard.

Then, I used the following components and materials to build my actual circuit and wire it:

• Breadboard

• Jumper wires

• Crocodile clips wire 

• 5V regulator

• Red LED

• 220Ω resistor

• On/Off switch

• DC barrel jack adapter - female

• 9V-2A power source adapter

• DC motor - hobby

Finally, I integrated my circuit within a physical enclosure for the table fan made of the following materials and tools:

• Cardboard

• Glue gun

• Cutter and scissors

• Pencil and ruler

• Bottle cap (for the DC motor)

I started by designing and simulating the electrical circuit for the fan using Tinkercad. My goal was to design it to perform two outputs simultaneously and connect them parallel to the 9V power source with an ON/Off switch. The two outputs are the red LED to emit light and the DC motor to rotate in one direction.

The power source that I chose was 9V because the DC motor voltage range is 4.5V to 9V. It worked fine with 5V but I wanted it to rotate fast enough for the fan to produce a strong airflow. 

As for the red LED, its voltage range is around 1.7V to 2V. The 9V power source is too much for the red LED and it would burn if connected directly. So I used a 5V regulator to drop the voltage to 5 and connected its output pin to the red LED's anode. 5V was still too much voltage for the red LED, so I also used a 220Ω resistor to keep the extra voltage without burning the LED. 

I connected the two components, the red LED and the DC motor, in a parallel circuit to ensure optimum current efficiency of speed/brightness for each component with a 9 steady voltage for both.

Finally, I started the simulation to make sure the circuit was functional when I pushed the button. 

While building my circuit on the breadboard, it didn't work when I turned on the switch. I double-checked the wiring and components' polarity and measured the circuit voltage with Avometer. Nothing seemed wrong; everything was in place. 

Luckily, after several trials, I used the Avometer continuity test from the tutorials to ensure connectivity in the circuit. It turned out that the pointy end of one of the male-to-male jumper wires was shaky and broke from the wire. I replaced it and the circuit worked smoothly.