I am looking to make what I believe should be a simple circuit, but unfortunately I am really struggling to understand the process of how I go about figuring it out!
I often have ideas for circuits, but my lack of understanding with regards to the process of working out what I need, and the best way to go about it really holds me back. I have a keen interest in electronics and I feel now is the time to start doing something about it - hence my first post here!
As a bit of background information I took electronics at A level where I received a B grade, quite how I managed that I do not know since I seem to lack the understanding of how many components work in detail. I have no problem physically creating circuits from schematics, but I do not always understand exactly how/why they work.
So, on to the specifics of my little starter project.
I have two 3.3v outputs (I will call them A and B), in this case they will be from a Raspberry Pi. Depending on the state of these two outputs I want a single LED to be in one of three states; on, off, or flashing.
The states should be determined as such
If A = 0, B = 0 Then LED Off
If A = 0, B = 1 Then LED Off
If A = 1, B = 0 Then LED Flashing
If A = 1, B = 1 Then LED On
When I say flashing I mean fading in and out, which I believe can be accomplished using a 555 timer circuit such as this one.
Since the Raspberry Pi is powered by 5v I think this would be a sensible choice to use as my source voltage.
Giving it some thought I believe it could be broken down into two "switches". By this I mean output A decides whether the LED is on or off, then output B decides whether the LED is solid on, or flashing.
And to be honest that is as far as I have really got. I don't know *how* to go about designing these "switches" using components.
Maybe my idea is completely wrong and there is a better way to achieve my desired result?
Basically any help would be very much appreciated, but rather than just being given a circuit diagram, some kind of guidance in the right direct would be great, then hopefully I can draw the diagram myself.
I often have ideas for circuits, but my lack of understanding with regards to the process of working out what I need, and the best way to go about it really holds me back. I have a keen interest in electronics and I feel now is the time to start doing something about it - hence my first post here!
As a bit of background information I took electronics at A level where I received a B grade, quite how I managed that I do not know since I seem to lack the understanding of how many components work in detail. I have no problem physically creating circuits from schematics, but I do not always understand exactly how/why they work.
So, on to the specifics of my little starter project.
I have two 3.3v outputs (I will call them A and B), in this case they will be from a Raspberry Pi. Depending on the state of these two outputs I want a single LED to be in one of three states; on, off, or flashing.
The states should be determined as such
If A = 0, B = 0 Then LED Off
If A = 0, B = 1 Then LED Off
If A = 1, B = 0 Then LED Flashing
If A = 1, B = 1 Then LED On
When I say flashing I mean fading in and out, which I believe can be accomplished using a 555 timer circuit such as this one.
Since the Raspberry Pi is powered by 5v I think this would be a sensible choice to use as my source voltage.
Giving it some thought I believe it could be broken down into two "switches". By this I mean output A decides whether the LED is on or off, then output B decides whether the LED is solid on, or flashing.
And to be honest that is as far as I have really got. I don't know *how* to go about designing these "switches" using components.
Maybe my idea is completely wrong and there is a better way to achieve my desired result?
Basically any help would be very much appreciated, but rather than just being given a circuit diagram, some kind of guidance in the right direct would be great, then hopefully I can draw the diagram myself.