Lights
Flashers, fades, chasers and lamps built around LEDs.
20 builds
VideoThe Stranger Things light wall, from two chips
Six coloured LEDs light one at a time in a loop, like the Christmas light wall in Stranger Things. A 555 timer and a counter.
13 parts · 28 wires
LightsTimers and logic
VideoA traffic light that counts to five
Red, yellow and green LEDs that cycle like a traffic light on their own. A 555 timer, a decade counter and four diodes.
15 parts · 27 wires
LightsTimers and logic
VideoThe Clapper, recreated: lights that turn on when you clap
Clap once and an LED turns on, clap again and it turns off. A microphone, two transistors and one flip-flop chip.
14 parts · 24 wires
SensorsLights
VideoThis lights an LED from a dead battery
One transistor and a hand wound coil that light a white LED from a nearly dead 1V cell. Six parts.
6 parts · 9 wires
LightsPower
VideoThe most famous chip in electronics
The 555 timer doing its classic job: blinking an LED about once a second. A good first build.
9 parts · 14 wires
Timers and logicLights
VideoA roulette wheel that spins and slows to a stop
Press the button and a ring of ten LEDs spins, slows down and stops on one. A 555 timer, a decade counter and one capacitor.
20 parts · 40 wires
Games and toysLights
VideoEvery LED needs this resistor. Here's the math
Three red LEDs on 5V, each behind a different resistor, so you can see how the resistor value sets the brightness.
7 parts · 9 wires
Lights
VideoKITT's scanner from two chips
The sweeping eye from KITT in Knight Rider, from a 555 timer, a decade counter and two steering diodes.
12 parts · 25 wires
LightsTimers and logic
VideoI replaced three chips with one
The chaos lamp again, but one CD4093B chip replaces three 555s, blinking an RGB LED's colours at rates that never line up.
12 parts · 21 wires
LightsTimers and logic
VideoOne knob dims a 12V LED strip. No code.
One knob dims a 12V LED strip. A 555 timer makes the PWM and a MOSFET switches the strip. No microcontroller, no code.
12 parts · 22 wires
LightsPower
VideoThree chips, three clocks, a color that never repeats
Three 555 timers blink the red, green and blue of one LED at unrelated rates, so the colour drifts for ages before it repeats.
12 parts · 27 wires
LightsTimers and logic
Premieres Oct 11A lamp you turn on by touching it
Tap a metal pad and two white LEDs turn on, tap again and they turn off. One flip-flop chip and a MOSFET.
13 parts · 13 wires
LightsSensors
Premieres Oct 13This LED turns red when the room gets hot
An RGB LED that shows the room temperature: red when it's hot, blue when it's cold, green in between. Two knobs set the limits.
13 parts · 23 wires
SensorsLights
Premieres Oct 18Why your car's dome light fades out slowly
Press a button and three warm white LEDs stay on, then fade out slowly, like a car's dome light. One MOSFET, no code.
10 parts · 8 wires
Lights
Premieres Oct 26How does a night light know it's dark?
A night light that switches two LEDs on when the room goes dark. A photoresistor, a trim knob and two transistors.
11 parts · 8 wires
SensorsLights
Premieres Oct 28Jack-o'-lantern eyes that flicker, from one 555
Two orange LEDs that flutter like jack-o'-lantern eyes, one brightening as the other dims. One 555 timer.
12 parts · 18 wires
Lights
Premieres Nov 2A railroad crossing light, from two transistors
Two red LEDs that take turns flashing like a railroad crossing signal, about fifty times a minute. Two transistors, no chip.
11 parts · 14 wires
Lights
Premieres Nov 7Remember the MacBook breathing sleep light?
The slow breathing sleep light from older MacBooks, recreated with one 555 timer and two transistors. About twelve breaths a minute.
11 parts · 19 wires
Lights
Premieres Nov 25The emergency light that turns on when the power dies
Three white LEDs that switch on from a battery the moment the wall adapter loses power, and charge it while it's plugged in.
14 parts · 5 wires
LightsPower
Premieres Nov 27The clock every computer runs on, slow enough to see
A 555 timer ticking about once a second, one LED on the high half and one on the low half. A computer clock you can watch.
11 parts · 17 wires
Timers and logicLights
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