This is a somewhat living document and will continue to be updated as new ideas come to mind or new items are included with the starter pack.
- Lesson One – Using a Breadboard
- Lesson Two – Resistors
- Lesson Three – 555 timer
- Lesson Four – Photo Resistor
- Lesson Five – Ideas for your Puppet
Lesson One – Using a Breadboard
We’ll learn what all of the components are and use the breadboard to light some LEDs.
Materials:
- 2 coin cell batteries or 4 AA or AAA batteries and a battery holder
- 400 hole solderless breadboard
- 2 Alligator to male jumper wires
- 2 male to male jumper wires
- Some LEDs in different colors and sizes
- IMPORTANT: 5mm ones only. 6volts will blow out the 3mm ones. Or use single coin cell or 2 AAs. I’ll be adding that note to the video in a week or so
Lesson Two – Resistors
We’ll find out what resistors do and also make some sound.
Materials
- 2 coin cell batteries or 4 AA or AAA batteries and a battery holder
- 400 hole solderless breadboard
- 2 Alligator to male jumper wires
- 2 male to male jumper wires
- Some LEDs in different colors and sizes
- Some resistors ranging from 100ohm to 2.2k ohm
- A buzzer with built in driver circuit
Lesson Three – 555 Timer
We’ll use a 555 timer to make our lights blink and use a speaker without a driver circuit.
Materials
- 2 coin cell batteries or 4 AA or AAA batteries and a battery holder
- 400 hole solderless breadboard
- 555 Timer
- 6 male to male jumper wires
- One LED
- Speaker[s] (for part 2)
- One piezo speaker with an overridable driver circuit.
— OR —
- One piezo speaker with built in driver circuit.
- One piezo speaker without built in driver circuit.
- One piezo speaker with an overridable driver circuit.
- Resistors
- 2x 2.2 kΩ
- 470 Ω
- 220 Ω
- 2x 100 Ω
- Capacitors
- 2200 μF
- 220 μF
- 33 μF
- 0.1 μF
555 Timer – Part 1 – LEDs
Ideas for Expansion
- Switch out the resistors and capacitors.
- Use the 2200μF capacitor to see how two resistors work in combination.
- Add a stopwatch into the mix to time how long the LED stays on and off.
- How fast can you make the light blink? How slow?
- How “lopsided” can you make it in each direction? Can you get it to blink on real quick before shutting off for a longer time?
555 Timer – Part 2 – Sound
The speakers I found are circuit driven but can be overridden by an AC current. That changes the way they behave a bit. This video is still accurate, but I’ll probably redo it in the next month with the updated speakers.
Ideas for Expansion
- Switch out the resistors and capacitors.
- How high can you make the sound? How low?
- Does making the resistors “lopsided” change the sound?
Learn More
https://learn.adafruit.com/getting-to-know-the-555/overview
https://makezine.com/2017/12/08/555-timer-intro/
Lesson Four – Photo Resistors
A photo resistor can be used to change the pace of the 555 timer and make your speaker change its frequency.
Materials
- Everything for your 555 timer
- Photo resistor
Ideas for Expansion
- Switch out the resistors and capacitors.
- Use the 2200μF capacitor and and LED to see how the photo resistor works differently based on which resistor you replace and which resistors you pair it with.
Lesson Five – Ideas for your Puppet
Your puppet can run on a coin cell battery or you can plug it into your breadboard to make it blink.
Materials
- 1 coin cell battery
- 2 3mm LEDs
- Wooden puppet
- Popsicle stick
- 12″ copper tape
Plus - 4 AA or AAA batteries and a battery holder
- 400 hole solderless breadboard
- 1 male to male jumper wires
- 2 alligator clip to male jumper wire
- 220 Ω resistors
Ideas for Expansion
- Use your 555 Timer to make the bot blink!
- Add a resistor to the popsicle stick to save the LEDs from too much battery power.
- Swap the LEDs with different colors from your starter pack.