Electric Bodies 1

Some Rules of Thumb when Hacking (condensed from Nicolas Collins -Handmade Electronic Music)

Fear Not.

Dont take anything apart that plugs in to the wall!

Avoid Connecting battery backwards.

In general try and avoid short circuits (A short circuit is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path, often where essentially no (or a very low) electrical impedance is encountered i.e. if you connect two battery terminals together.

Hacks like a butterfly are sometimes beautiful but short-lived..

It is easier to take something apart..than to put it back together again

When working with electronics if there is heat or smoke (STOP!)

SOME COMPONENTS INVOLVED USED :

INPUT:

OUTPUT:

LED Throwies

instructables stepby step guide see also Grafitti Research Lab videos on throwies .

We used 3 volt batteries for the LEDS & pager motors and 9 volt for dc motor and buzzers, different elements have different power requirements,, it is a good idea to check these on packaging if possible. If you use higher power sources LEDS may burn out, if making things that need to be more durable it is worth adding a resistor.

Resistors act to reduce current flow, and, at the same time, act to lower voltage levels within circuits.

See details here: LED +resistor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdLQd2iaDy0&feature=related

You can make up custom circuits +calculate resistors etc here: http://ledcalculator.net/voltage drop (V) or forward voltage is usually supplied on specification sheet with led when you buy it or available online. Details of adding switch to LED : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlUtQt0fVbM

For more circuits and inspiration have a look at these circuits http://www.grumpyoldgeek.net/fullcircuits.html

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