EZ LED 1

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EZ LED 1
A class on the beloved LED, instructions on it's
basic uses, and simple projects to get started
using them in your own art or projects.
Brought to you by TheHacktory.org of
Philadelphia, P.A.
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LED's all around....
Led Keychain light
LED bike lights Taillights
lights
Light Bulbs Computers, electronics, etc
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Electricity a 30 second history
Way way in the past Electricity exists. nobody
around to use it. 2200 BC Greeks play with
amber and wool, and figure out static
electricity. A great toy, not much use 1600 A.D.
Dr. William Gilbert picks up where the Greek left
off, figures electricity and magnetism are
linked 1729 Ben Franklin sees electricity as a
'fluid, makes a kite, and nearly electrocutes
himself. (5th and Arch is Ben's grave. Stop by
and tell him thanks if you go by on your way
out.)? 1781, Luigi Galvani (Frenchman) makes
flog legs twitch with electricity. Everyone tells
him Stop playing with your food! Also,
Alessandro Volta and Galvani fight. Watt invents
Horsepower, Andre Marie Ampere, George Simon
Ohm, all do their thing. Electric theory is
pretty much finished. 1870's to 1900 Tesla and
Edison fight, Rotogen and Marconi do their
thing. 1950's 1960's The first transistor is
created. First practical Light Emitting Diode.
Red, Green, Orange LED's follow 1993 First
practical blue LED created. White LED soon
follows. 2007 you are taking this lab 2110
Skynet takes over the world, Terminator 3
happens.
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What is an LED?
LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. A Diode
lets electricity flow one way. LED's are
Diodes, that give off light.
Important LED Specs Size in mm 3, 5, 8, 10,
etc Voltage in Volts. 1.5 to 8. Brightness
micro-Candle power (500 to 10000)? Color (aka
wavelegth)? OtherViewing Angle, Frosted vs
Clear, etc)? Power in milliamps. Usually
20milliamps.
LED's fall into a few categories 3mm LED -
3.3V - Cheaper, good for indoor or dark
5mm LED - 3 to 5V - Less cheap. Good for
indoor, some outdoor 8mm or 10mm LED - 5v-
Bright, Bright,Bright, great for outdoor
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Battery LED Magnet Throwie!
Throwies - LED's that stick to things..
Make it! Try many LED's, different colors, etc.
Floaties (in balloons) . All-Throwies (tape) Lots
of different versions. Also, DISPOSE OF
BATTERIES PROPERLY!
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Matching LED's and Batteries
Picking battery Voltage (simple)? Round
up. Use limiting resistors LED's are pretty
tolerant of voltage
Guessing Battery Life Batteries usually rated
in 'milliamp hours' (Battery mAh Rating)/(LED
Power Used) (Hours it will run)? Ex. 1500mAh/
20mA 75 hours calculating for more than one
battery is just as easy
LED's in Parallel and Series Batteries usually
rated in 'milliamp hours' (Battery mAh
Rating)/(LED Power Used) (Hours it will
run)? Ex. 1500mAh/ 20mA 75 hours calculating
for more than one battery is just as easy
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Blinky Bugs
Blinky Bugs are just like throwies, but with
Touch sensors
Wobbly antenna made from tube wire
Twist the long LED legs together
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Blinky Bugs
Make loops of the short legs
'eyes' on the positive, antenna on the negative
Hook up the antenna
Blinky Bug attack! Make it!
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Blinky Bugs
Blinky Bugs
Blinky Bugs
Blinky Bugs
Blinky Bugs
Blinky Bugs
There are a lot of ways to take these simple
ideas, and do cool stuff with them. Blinky
Throwies?? Blinky Balloons? LED, touch-switch,
battery can be used for a ton of simple nifty
things.... Other things that can be use with
blinky/throwie style contraptions Conductive
paint (available on-line)? Wire
(RadioShack,NTR)? Molding Plastic (here, online,
hobby stores)? Bigger, better LED's
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Diodes, Capacitors, Resistors, Oh My!
Electricity as a liquid (Ben Franklin Rules).
Voltage is like water pressure. How strong the
'push' is. Current is like the amount of water
that flows through a part. Resistance is the
'push back' on the system, also the amount of
leakage/loss. Ohms Law V IR Diodes
LED's Electricity flows one way Capacitors
stores electrical charge Resistors saps
electricity Transistors- Valves

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The ueberl33t 555 Timer
555 Timer is a cornerstone of Hobby
Electronics It does 'Fill and Dump' of
electricity, on external Capacitor using input
from a few other components. This is used to
make a clock, or to do a single 'shot' into a
circuit, and all sorts of crazy stuff. Blinking
Lights. Buzzing Sounds. Timing for other
electronics. Anything that repeats itself.
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Breadboard 555 Blinker
Breadboards are used for quickly testing things.
Here is how they look
Outside...
And inside
Make These!
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The End (or the beginning....)?
The Hacktory
The Hacktory is us Folks. Trying to establish a
world-class Hacker/Artist/DIY space and community
here in Philadelphia. Meeting the 1st Tuesday
of the month. E-mail Contact_at_TheHacktory.org to
sign up for the once-a-month meeting notice.
Independence Hall
Our gracious hosts, they are the way Philly does
co-working. www.IndependentsHall.org These guys
are working at the same 'big picture' thing we
are, trying to make Philly a cooler place for
geeks to live and work.
MakePhilly
A Monthly celebration of the Maker spirit,
inspired by Make Magazine. Brought to you
(mostly) by the same people behind The Hacktory.
Meets on Sundays afternoons, and is 100 awesome.
Check out MakePhilly.com
Nonprofit Technological Resources
A local nonprofit that has donated space, time,
and let us borrow equipment. A great place for
raw parts. They accept used computers/electronics
and get it back into use. A wonderland of
discarded tech. Old and new, useful and
not-so-useful.