#005 GAD BA1 P1: Board Game - Solar Dust and Static Charges.

After the meeting today I began my work on electronics for the board. From my experience in Product Design I already knew roughly what sort of components I needed to create the circuit board but to make sure it worked efficiently I started with the researching what type of circuit would be best for the board as well as what type of components I would need.

I found a very handy website, www.kpsec.freeuk.com, that explained the correct way to draw an electronic diagram. With this I drew up the basic circuit required to do what I intended. For usability and safety I will keep the circuit fairly simple, using only a 3v (2 x AAA batteries) for the power source.

Electronic Circuit Diagram

To explain my diagram above, I have isolated separate components and added an explanation alongside each one.

  

This is the symbol for a resister, it will regulate the flow of the power going through the circuit. I've added the voltage that the resister I plan on using regulates. It is typical to match the power regulated to the voltage of the LED's.

This is the symbol for a LED, specifically a low voltage LED.

This symbol represents a slide switch, as opposed to a push button or a pressure switch.

This symbol represents a multicell power source. I've added the voltage it will produce, similar to the resistors.

The blip along the wires or at intersections signify a join of two or more wires.

I had a choice to make with the circuit, to either use a parallel or series circuit. In a series circuit, the components have the same current running through them throughout the circuit, which would regulate the power a bit better. However, if one of the components in the circuit breaks then all of the components will not function. A series circuit is normally best when you need to control the circuit with just one switch, which for this circuit is not the case.

The other option, is a parallel circuit. In a parallel circuit each component has the same voltage drop going across it. This ensures that each component in the circuit receives the same voltage.

I will be using a mixture of the two type in a combination of the two. As you can see from my diagram, although the LED's are positioned in parallel to the power cell the slide switches are in series with the LED's. This allows the 4 separate series circuits to have identical currents but have the same voltage spread between them from the power cell.

Here are the specs for each of the components:
Slide Switch: 0.3A, 125V AC, 19mm fixing centres.
LED's: 5mm LED, .5mm overlap edge (No flat spot).
Resistor: 180Omh

Power Cell: 2 x 5 cell at 1.5v