Electronic lamp control

Abstract

The object of this project was to design a system which enables a series of lamps to light sequentially. No two lamps are simultaneously lit. Hence the sequential switching gives the illusion of a moving dot of light. In the actual lay-out the lamps were arranges on the perimeter of a square. This project is an extension to 'Electronic Lamp Display System' and as such much of the work involved has already been covered in the latter report. The project was not primarily concerned with the theoretical aspect of the system but was more concentrated on the practical side. The four modifications that were to be applied to the already-designed system were: 1. The design of the simplest pulse generator to be used as a square-wave generator. 2. The design of a simple power supply suitable for the operation of the logic circuitry. This supply was to be as basic as possible. 3. A facility that would enable the sequential switching to be performed in either of two opposite directions. 4. A second facility to afford a choice of two frequencies at which the switching occurs. This facility, as opposed to a similar one adopted in the system designed before, was not to be operated manually but was to operate electronically i.e. the frequency of switching was to alternate between two present values every, say, n seconds [...].