The scooter starting problem just gets curiouser. It still cranks hard despite a new starter. There is something electrical wrong and I’ve always suspected the solenoid. We’ll check that on Monday. All the previous staff at the scooter store are gone. Just not producing. The business owns the building, but they still have to sell one scooter a day to make money. One thing important is that shop must have a mechanic with an outgoing personality. It’s the way things are set up. The position is still open. For the third day, rainy overcast weather keeps me indoors, usually at my favorite pastime of reading. The seeming slowdown of progress has an explanation: integrated circuits. If I was going 50 mph with transistors and such, slow down to 1 mph when it comes to ICs. No wonder I was swamped back in college when the professors tried to teach these components as rapidly as the basics. It don’t work that way.
Take the ubiquitous 555 timer chip. A plethora of authors tell you it is astable or monostable, but a lot of good that does you. I explained a few days back that this chip can either send a predictable series of pulses, or can send a one-time signal for a precise length of time, then stop. That’s what astable and monostable mean.
Think of a motion detector with two actions, a buzzer and a light. The buzzer needs an astable signal to buzz. The light needs a monostable signal to stay on for ten minutes and then automatically go out. Such a circuit would require the use of two 555 timers, each configured differently. If you follow that, you had an easier time of it than I did from the available on-line tutorials.
Now think of the shoemaker shop. The BRC (Broward Robotics Club) may have its first revenue. A lady dancer brought in some sexy boots (I like that phrase “sexy boots”) that flash when she dances. One foot stopped flashing. Upon performing surgery, I recognized it is an ordinary mercury switch with an astable vibrator set to count five flashes per trigger event. Alfredo paid another shop $60 and it doesn’t work. I will make it work good as new if not better.
Is there a better mousetrap? Yep, take a look at this unit by the PIC Corporation . You won’t find this model on their website. It is ingenious and reusable since it kills instantly and you never have to touch the mouse for disposal. Sorry, but the little brown mouse living here was too smart and able to take bait off regular traps without tripping the spring. I had to send him to that great cheese factory in the sky. The robotics club has also acquired a sonar ultrasound sensor. Expensive as hell, but a giant step for mankind. I’ve moaned about the difficult of ICs, but once learned the result is circuits that seem stunningly complicated. While it is possible to make anything with passive components, let’s get realistic about time and effort. These ICs may be the reason there is so little intermediate electronics out there. Once you grasp ICs, why bother with material that’s already been done?
