A joule thief is a self-oscillating voltage booster that is small, low-cost, and easy to build, typically used for driving small loads. This circuit is also known by other names such as joule ringer or blocking oscillator.
It can use nearly all of the energy in a single-cell electric battery, even far below the voltage where other circuits consider the battery fully discharged (or "dead"); hence the name, which suggests the notion that the circuit is stealing energy or "joules" from the source. The term is a pun on the expression "jewel thief": one who steals jewelry or gemstones.
The circuit is a variant of theblocking oscillatorthat forms an unregulated voltage boost converter. The output voltage is increased at the expense of higher current draw on the input, but the integrated (average) current of the output is lowered and brightness of a luminescence decreased.
I have been playing around with this circuit for quite some time and I am very interested in it's applications, it is very simple to build and quite pleasant to watch the results.
Follow these instructions in order to build your own version, later on I will show you some cool experiments I have been working on, using a joule thief plus crystal radio, as well as a joule thief combined with another cool circuit that for the life of me I forget the name, but I came across it while researching Tesla cosmic energy collector. Basically this circuit allows current to be collected from an antenna and it runs forward using diodes and is ran into a capacitor which stores the charge. I have been quite successful in lighting leds.
This months project is a really cool and simple build distance sensor using leds as well as a buzzer, with of course Arduino. For me I appreciated getting the ping sensor mainly because I only have one and its in use now so having two is handy.
As you can see included in this months delivery were as follows:
Begin by placing leds into breadboard negative facing left, as well insert buzzer and sensor. This setup is quite simple and their isnt really much work making these connections. if you find your leds are not lighting up try flipping them.
Step#2: Now its time to place the resistors. Place each resistor to one end of each led. They are connected to each negative end to the resistor. Next complete by placing resistor on the negative end of the buzzer.
Step#3: Connecting to Arduino
Gather you jumper wires and connect one end from each led the leds are connected to the Arduino digital in pins. Pin 8-12. Next the Buzzer is connected to pin 3. The sensor is connected to 5v, ground, and trig is connected to pin 6 and echo is connected to pin 6. I shouldnt have to mention ground to ground on arduino and 5v to 5v....
Step#4: Load Up Code
// License: GNU General Public License
// Creation Crate Month 3 - Distance Detector
#define red2 13
#define red1 12
#define yellow2 11
#define yellow1 10
#define white2 9
#define white1 8
#define buzzer 3
#define trigPin 7
#define echoPin 6
int sound = 250;
long duration, distance;
void setup() {
// put your setup code here, to run once:
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);
pinMode(white1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(white2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(yellow1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(yellow2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(red1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(red2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(buzzer, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
// send out pulse waves for measuring the distance of an object
digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
delayMicroseconds(2);
digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);
delayMicroseconds(10);
digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
// the amount of time it took for the pulse to return
DIY: Arduino Uno 8x8 Led Chaser
So this weekend I was bored and I am still awaiting some led strips to hopefully be delivered anytime soon......... So I decided to play around with some odd leds I had laying around. As you can also tell the leds are entombed in pinpong balls. This was from a previous build. I do find that using the pingpong balls it does intensify the effect.What I did was cut off the leds at 8 and I did so 8 times. The beauty was these were dollar store leds and they already had resistors and everything done for me. So this was simple. Anyways I loaded up a led chaser sketch and connected each positive end from the leds and connected in the appropriate pins. Easy peasy. It is pretty cool to watch and it sure lights up my room.
If you are looking for a straight forward instruction on how to get this project up and going then keep reading, By the end of this walk through you will have your own Arduino Oscilloscope. Included will be the necessarylibraries as well as the sketch. A big big shout out goes to my new buddy Dani Ardianto.
STEP 1: Gather Materials
The hardware for this project is extremely simple to construct, you will only need an Arduino Uno, as well as a LCD shield. The shield I have used and finally had success with was obtained from ebay and was rather inexpensive. This shield is really cool and simple to use and as a bonus it comes with an SD slot which allows you to be able to display pictures. This is simple to plug into the Arduino and away you go.
As you can see from the picture on the left the pins are clearly defined which makes life a tad easier. As well as the pinouts you can see the website listed: http://www.mcufriend.com. I would recommend if you are have issues that you google that phrase and find your solutions there.
Next you will need your trusty old Arduino Uno, which I hope does not need an introduction. If so then refer to my Arduino posts which cover all aspect from buying to using.
STEP #2: Connect The Hardware
Well this step is super easy. simply connect the shield onto the Arduino by aligning the pins and squeezing it together. Easy peasy.
STEP #3: Software & Libraries
After you have connected your Arduino to your computer you now will need to access Arduino. For this Oscilloscope I had a hell of a time finding the correct library to work. Some worked halfway some libraries did not work at all. Not only did I create a mess downloading tons of libraries but the aftermath of all those files further made life difficult. So if your having issues first off check that your libraries are the right ones as well as placed correctly. ** This may apply to you** The LCD shields contain different ID chips which was why mine never was able to quickly work like those I seen on youtube and such. Believe you me I downloaded smoke and wires too many times to count. So follow this exactly and you will have success.
After you have successfully installed the library and compiled and upload the sketch unto the Arduino you are now on your way to some fun. To use the Oscilloscope you will now need to create a probe or for the time being you can do this.
Connect a RED jumper or wire to the A05 pin on the Arduino. This is used to test.
Connect a Black jumper or wire to the Ground to ground.
That's it. As always enjoy and look back for the next project: DIY Oscilloscope Probe
A joule thief is a self-oscillating voltage booster that is small, low-cost, and easy to build, typically used for driving small loads. This circuit is also known by other names such as joule ringer or blocking oscillator.
The circuit is a variant of the blocking oscillator that forms an unregulated voltage boost converter. The output voltage is increased at the expense of higher current draw on the input, but the integrated (average) current of the output is lowered and brightness of a luminescence decreased.
