Introduction to Design (theme 2) development kit parts list

1. Variable resistors (trimmers). They have three pins. The “outer” pins are two ends of a 10k resistor. The “middle” pin moves between the two ends as you rotate the knob.

2. Loudspeaker. Should not be connected directly to the microcontroller. Use at least a 150Ω series resistor on one of the loudspeaker leads to limit the current.

3. Monochrome (single-colour) LED bar graphs. Pin number 1 is indicated by the slightly “rounded” corner. Pins 1-10 are anodes (positive terminals) to the ten LEDs. Pins 11-20 are the cathodes (negative terminals). Corresponding anodes and cathodes are on opposite sides of the device. So the first LED is between pins 1 and 20. The next LED is between pins 2 and 19. The last LED is between pins 10 and 11.

WARNING: You cannot connect these LEDs directly to the microcontroller output. Use a series resistor of at least 330Ω to limit the current that will flow through the LED.

4. RGB (multi-colour) LED bar graph. See the lecture notes for information about the pin connections.

WARNING: You cannot connect these LEDs directly to the microcontroller output. Use a series resistor of at least 330Ω to limit the current that will flow through the LED.

5. Red LEDs. The longer lead is the anode (positive) connection. The shorter lead (also indicated by a flat spot on the body of the LED) is the cathode (negative) connection. LEDs drop 2v from anode to cathode.

WARNING: You cannot connect these LEDs directly to the microcontroller output. Use a series resistor of at least 330Ω to limit the current that will flow through the LED. This current should be less than 20mA. 10mA is both safer and plenty bright enough.

6. Green LEDs. The same as RED LEDs (5) but green in colour.

7. Yellow LEDs. The same as RED LEDs (5) but yellow in colour.

8. 7-segment LED displays. A package containing 8 LEDs the same as the red LEDs (5) above except they are arranged in a pattern to display digits. Each display has 10 pins. Pin 1 is furthest from the dot; pin 6 is next to the dot. Pins 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 are anodes (positive) terminals to the seven segments and decimal point. Pins 3 and 8 are common cathodes (negative) terminals connected to all the segments. Each segment is an LED and drops 2v from anode to cathode. You must use a series current-limiting resistor of at least 330Ω to ensure that only 10mA of current flows through each segment when it is lit.

Resistor values are marked with colour bands on the body of the device. Refer to this online tutorial for more information.

9. 4 × 150Ω resistors. Colour coded: brown green black black.

10. 4 × 180Ω resistors. Colour coded: brown grey black black.

11. 10 × 330Ω resistors. Colour coded: orange orange black black.

12. 1 × 10kΩ resistors. Colour coded: brown black black red.

13. 5 × 47kΩ resistors. Colour coded: yellow violet black red.

14. 2 × 4.7MΩ resistors. Colour coded: yellow violet green.

15. 3 × 470Ω 10-pole resistor network.

16. LM35 centigrade temperature sensor.

WARNING: These devices are completely different to the BC548 transistors (27) even though they look identical. Before using either in a circuit, verify the code printed on the device to make sure it is the one you intend to use. Using the wrong device in the circuit could destroy it.

17. 5 × momentary-action push-button switches.

Ceramic capacitors are marked like resistors except using digits instead of colours. The first two digits give the value in pF (pico Farads) and the third digit is a power-of-ten multiplier. A capacitor marked XYZ therefore has a value of XY×10Z pF.

18. 10pF ceramic capacitor. Marked: 100.

19. 100pF ceramic capacitor. Marked: 101.

22. 1nF ceramic capacitor. Marked: 102.

20. 10nF ceramic capacitor. Marked: 103.

21. 100nF ceramic capacitor. Marked: 104.

23. 2 × 74HC164 octal serial-in parallel-out shift register. With the U-shaped notch on the left, pin 1 is bottom-left, pin 7 is bottom-right, pin 8 is top-right and pin 14 is top-left.

24. 2 × 74HC595 octal serial-in parallel-out shift register with tri-state output register. With the U-shaped notch on the left, pin 1 is bottom-left, pin 8 is bottom-right, pin 9 is top-right and pin 16 is top-left.

25. MCP3204 4-channel 12-bit analogue-to-digital converter with SPI interface. The dot indicates pin 1. Pins are numbered anti-clockwise.

26. MCP4822 2-channel 12-bit digital-to-analogue converter with SPI interface. The dot indicates pin 1. Pins are numbered anti-clockwise.

WARNING: integrated circuits (23-26) are very sensitive to static electricity. They are delivered to you in a piece of black, conductive foam. Keep them in this foam whenever they are not being used on the breadboard.

(Just walking across your room can cause many thousands of volts of static electricity to accumulate on you. In dry weather you can sometimes feel a jolt as this electricity discharges from you when you touch a metal object such as a door handle. This static electric charge that accumulates on you can also instantly destroy an integrated circuit.)

Note: there are extra markings on these integrated circuits. The maker is shown in front of the device number (SN = Texas Instruments, MCP = Microchip) and the package type is sometimes shown after the device number (N = plastic).

27. BC548 general-purpose NPN silicon bipolar junction transistor.

WARNING: These devices are completely different to the LM35 temperature sensors (16) even though they look identical. Before using either in a circuit, verify the code printed on the device to make sure it is the one you intend to use. Using the wrong device in the circuit could destroy it.

28. USB cable type A to type B.

29. Arduino Uno R3 development board using an Atmel ATmega328P microcontroller.

30. 3 × SAD-101 solderless breadboards for prototyping electronic circuits. The holes are arranged in a 2.54mm grid and are compatible with all the components provided in this kit. The electrical connections between the holes are obvious if you turn the board over and look at the bottom.

31. AD-5526 digital multimeter. Useful for checking voltages at microcontroller inputs or outputs, the voltage drop across a resistor or diode, or the current being drawn by a LED. Most importantly, use it to double-check the value of a resistor whose colour code is difficult to read.

32. Wire links for connecting components on the solderless breadboard.

33. 20 × 10cm jumper wires. Useful for making short connections between parts of the breadboard. Individual wires can be separated by (carefully!) pulling them away from the others. (When doing this, grip the wire and not the connector at the end of the wire.)

34. 20 × 20cm jumper wires. Useful for connecting the microcontroller to the breadboard. Individual wires can be separated by (carefully!) pulling them away from the others. (When doing this, grip the wire and not the connector at the end of the wire.) Recommended: leave three or four sets of these wires connected in groups of 4, to make multiple microcontroller pin connections much tidier and more convenient.

35. Storage box. With some careful arrangement, most of the kit components and tools will fit into this container (without the original packaging). The wire links (32) unfortunately will not fit into this container.

36. Tweezers. Use these to help insert wire jumpers into, and remove them from, the breadboard. They are also useful for moving the integrated circuits (23-26) between the protective foam and the breadboard.

37. Needle-nosed pliers. Use these to cut component leads if necessary and to help remove integrated circuits when moving them from the breadboard back to the protective foam.