MARISA DIZONNO
ENGINEERING
My First Circuit
Our first project in Digital Electronics was just to construct a basic circuit and then the bread board that goes along with that circuit. We used the software called Multisim 14.0. We started off by designing a simple circuit using some of the basic components that you need to create one. After that, we opened up the breadboard function in the software and created that circuit on the bread board. This fucntion is cool because it allows us to practice our bread board work and how to set it up without actually using the equipment for it. It is very beneficial and practical for us when it comes to learning new things. Overall, this project was mainly just an introduction to the software and helping us become familiar with it before we dive in to the more complicated projects.
Cicuit drawing of my first circuit design in Multisim 14.0
Bread board version of my first circuit design in Multisim 14.0
ANALOG ELECTRONICS
Activity 1.1.5a Circuit Theory
For this activity, I was given a few different series and parallel circuits. I had to first solve for the variables such as voltage, total resistance, and amperage by hand. Once I mastered that, I had to recreate the circuits in Multi-Sim. I then added in meters and checked my work for the variables that I solved for in my hand calculations. After the circuits were recreated, I then had to use the virtual breadboarding feature and make the circuits on the breadboard. This activity was overall a good way for me to become familiar with the basics of analog and build me a strong foundation for the remainder of the class.
Slideshow of the circuits and virtual breadboards I created.
Activity 1.2.6 The 555 Timer
In this activity, I had to build a 555 Timer in Multi-Sim and simulate it. When varying the resistor and capacitor levels, I observed the change in value that it had on the oscillation frequency and duty cycle. This activity taught me how to use an oscillator and know what it's function is. I then filled in a table with the different values based on the different changes made and was able to see a visual representation of the differences made.
Chart of the values
Circuit Testing
This project consisted of me breadboarding the 3 different kinds of circuits that we had learned about already. Those circuits are series, parallel, and combinational. I was able to choose the values of the resistors and the amount of resistors that I wanted to use. The goal here was to calculate the total resistance of the circuit. I first had to do these calculations by hand. After solving I then hooked up a meter to my circuits and checked total resistance that way to check my hand calculations. It was nice to be able to move away from the computers at this point and try applying what we learned to real situations.
The 555 Timer
The 555 Timer is a small, black, 8-pin piece that is capable of creating accurate time delays. For example, a flashing light. In this assignment, I had to correctly create a circuit using a 555 timer that would cause an LED light to flash and have a frequency of 1 Hz or as close to 1 Hz as possible. I first constructed my circuit in Multi-Sim using the 555 Timer circuit wizard and plugged in the values that I needed. After completing that, I started looking for my pieces such as the resistors and capacitor. Once all my pieces were collected, I used a diagram converter for the 555 timer because the channels on the Multi-Sim 555 timer were different than the channels on my actual piece. With the converter I was able to correcrtly set up my circuit and wire it. After a few troubleshoots, my circuit was up and working and I was able to reach a final frequency of .98 Hz which is less than 5% off of the goal and resulted in a very high grade on the project.
Video of 555 Timer circuit.