Project: Night Rider

Thread Starter

Louie101086

Joined Feb 17, 2008
24
i am beginner to electronics the most i have ever done was wire up some leds to light up off a 9v battery. i want to take it to the next level and try making a led chaser i have brought some resistors, 555 chip, 4017 chip, blue leds and capicitators. thought maybe you guys could point me in the right direction and tell me what else i may need. found these two websites but dont understand neither

http://www.electronics-lab.com/projects/games/004/index.html
http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/chaser.asp
 

Audioguru

Joined Dec 20, 2007
11,248
Hi Louie,
A Knight Rider circuit fades lights and they light back and forth. These projects don't fade their LEDs and they don't light them back and forth.

I designed the first one. Its LEDs light very brightly but they blink very briefly. The LEDs light one after the other for a few rotations then there is a pause before the circuit chases again. The circuit uses a 74HC4017 IC for high brightness. A brightness and a speed control are provided.
Because the LEDs are turned off for most of the time, the battery lasts a long time. I have made many of them.

The second circuit uses an ordinary CD4017 that dimly lights the LEDs one after the other. An LED is always on so the battery does not last long. It keeps the LEDs rotating around and around.
The circuit is missing an important supply bypass capacitor and it does not show how to disable the two unused gates.

Here is a simple circuit that uses the parts you have. Its oscillator can be an ordinary 555 or a Cmos 555. it will dimly light the LEDs one after the other around and around. There is no time when no LED is lighted so the battery will not last long.
 

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hgmjr

Joined Jan 28, 2005
9,027
The project that you have chosen sounds like a fun one. Though it is a bit advanced for someone with the level of experience that you have indicated; it should be reasonably straightforward and thus worth giving it a shot.

Do let us know if you encounter any snags in putting your project together.

Take pictures of your effort along the way and post them here for us to gawk at.

Good Luck,
hgmjr
 

Thread Starter

Louie101086

Joined Feb 17, 2008
24
i am confident i will be able to learn how to do it i love to learn new things i build and mod computers but this is a whole new ball park i will be using a 5v source and mounting this inside an xbox 360 and thanks for all the quick responses once i get my things in the mail i will start my mod and post many pics

if i learned how to do all this without being taught i think i can figure out something this small

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150108&page=3
 

hgmjr

Joined Jan 28, 2005
9,027
I hope you don't live too near an airport. Sounds like you would have small aircraft landing in your front yard.

hgmjr
 

hgmjr

Joined Jan 28, 2005
9,027
i am confident i will be able to learn how to do it i love to learn new things i build and mod computers but this is a whole new ball park i will be using a 5v source and mounting this inside an xbox 360 and thanks for all the quick responses once i get my things in the mail i will start my mod and post many pics

if i learned how to do all this without being taught i think i can figure out something this small

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150108&page=3
Once you have been bitten by the bug you will need to get comfortable with the basics.

If you have not already discovered the AAC forum's ebook, I recommend you give it a read. There is a wealth of information that is written at a level that makes it very easy to absorb. You can always go back from time to time until you internalize the material.

hgmjr
 

Audioguru

Joined Dec 20, 2007
11,248
I hope you don't live too near an airport. Sounds like you would have small aircraft landing in your front yard.

hgmjr
I was afraid of that so I put my 24 solar garden lights in my backyard. I got most of them for free (government incentive).
I also got most of my LED Christmas lights for free by trading in my power hungry incandescent ones.
 

Thread Starter

Louie101086

Joined Feb 17, 2008
24
i download a circuit schematic symbol chart and then read your schematic again and noticed i dont have any diode's which would be best to use and keep in mind i am using 5v power supply would a couple of 1N914 do the trick
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
Audioguru,
In the schematic you attached, there are no values for Ra, Rb or C.

It would be most helpful to Louie101086 if you could suggest values for clock rates somewhere between 1 pulse/sec and 5 pulses/sec.

In the meantime, I threw together the attached circuit that will roughly simulate the "Knight Rider" effect. It would require the use of the 74HC4017 to drive higher-intensity LEDs. The 220 Ohm resistor will probably need adjustment, depending upon the ratings of the LEDs you have. The effect would be greatly enhanced by using 100uF or so capacitors across each LED. I don't have a 74HC4017 around here to test the circuit, but it works in simulation.
 

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SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
i download a circuit schematic symbol chart and then read your schematic again and noticed i dont have any diode's which would be best to use and keep in mind i am using 5v power supply would a couple of 1N914 do the trick
Louie, it appears that Audioguru has signed out for the moment.

The only diodes he's using in his circuit are LEDs, which you do have.

I'm afraid that he didn't supply resistor or capacitor values to use in the 555 timer circuit.

However, if you indicate how rapidly you would like for the LEDs to change to the next position, I'm sure we can come up with reasonable values for you to use.

What values of capacitors do you have on hand? Or will you need to purchase some?
 

Thread Starter

Louie101086

Joined Feb 17, 2008
24
currently i oreder .1uf 16v cermaic disk capacitors and i would like the leds to switch back and forth at a steady pace half a second maybe and i have 10 blue leds 20ma 3.6v
 

Audioguru

Joined Dec 20, 2007
11,248
My 6V Ultra-bright Chaser project works fine when its battery has dropped to 4V.
The chaser with the 555 and the 4017 will work fine when it uses a Cmos 555 and a 74HC4017 when its battery drops to about 4.4V with your 3.6V blue LEDs.
The Knight Rider circuit with all the diodes might not work with your 3.6V LEDs and all those diodes in series with the LEDs when the supply is 5.0V.
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
Ok, if you're going to be using an 0.1uF capacitor for the 555 timer, using 4M Ohms for Ra and 1.6M Ohms for Rb will give you a 2Hz output. Ceramic caps are usually lower in value than they are marked, so yours might flash more quickly.

Yes, my "Knight Rider" emulator circuit will drop about an extra 0.63V across the diodes. They were necessary to keep the 74HC4017 outputs from "fighting" each other. So, if Audioguru's circuit works at 4.4v, the "Knight Rider" emulator circuit I threw together should work at 5.03V
 

Thread Starter

Louie101086

Joined Feb 17, 2008
24
My 6V Ultra-bright Chaser project works fine when its battery has dropped to 4V.
The chaser with the 555 and the 4017 will work fine when it uses a Cmos 555 and a 74HC4017 when its battery drops to about 4.4V with your 3.6V blue LEDs.
The Knight Rider circuit with all the diodes might not work with your 3.6V LEDs and all those diodes in series with the LEDs when the supply is 5.0V.
the voltage will not drop its a constant 5v source from power supply not batteries also in your schematic you didnt have the values for some things what are they and 3.6v is max for leds min is 2.8v
 

Thread Starter

Louie101086

Joined Feb 17, 2008
24
Ok, if you're going to be using an 0.1uF capacitor for the 555 timer, using 4M Ohms for Ra and 1.6M Ohms for Rb will give you a 2Hz output. Ceramic caps are usually lower in value than they are marked, so yours might flash more quickly.

Yes, my "Knight Rider" emulator circuit will drop about an extra 0.63V across the diodes. They were necessary to keep the 4017 outputs from "fighting" each other. So, if Audioguru's circuit works at 4.4v, the "Knight Rider" emulator circuit I threw together should work at 5.03V
is 1/4 1.6m ohm and 1/4 3.9m ohm going to work just asking because you didnt give me the size
 
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