BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN COMPUTER ENGINEERING

CPE317 – COMPUTER ENGINEERING

DRAFTING AND DESIGN

LESSON 2

Prepared by:
ENGR. SPRINZTSIE MAYE T. GARRUCHA
CPE317 Instructor
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of this topic, the students will be able:

1. Introduce Tinkercad and its features and uses.

2. Discuss the common electronic components in a circuit.
3. Give various examples of circuits using the electronic components.

OUTLINE OF THE TOPIC:

1. Logic Gates in Tinkercad

2. Electronic Circuit Basics with Tinkercad
3. Closed Circuit with an LED
4. The Tinkercad Pushbutton
5. An LED Circuit with A Push Button
6. Using A Slide Switch in Circuits
7. Circuits and Resistors
8. Project Properties
9. Circuit with An LED and Resistor
10. Circuits with A Potentiometer
11. Circuits with Capacitors
12. Circuits with Arduino
TOPIC 1: LOGIC GATES IN TINKERCAD
Logic Gates
Logic gates take binary inputs and produce binary outputs. Several logic gates combined makes
up a logic circuit, and these circuits are designed to execute a special function.

Logic gates are used in a computer to transform the 1s and 0s from input wires. It accepts inputs,
and then outputs are results based on their state. The logic gate is a small transistor circuit that
is part of different forms in an integrated circuit. Each type of gate has one or usually two inputs
and one output.

Truth Tables
Truth tables are used to trace the output from a logic gate or circuit. When we construct truth
tables, there can be only 1s and 0s, and all combinations of 1s and 0s can be input are considered.
It defines the function of a logic gate using a list that shows all the output states in tabular form
for each possible combination of the input variable.

A truth table is used in mathematical representation to represent all the combinations of values
for inputs and their corresponding outputs.

Logic Circuits
When Logic Gates are put together, they can carry out a function, and a truth table for it. Logic
Circuits in real life can be found in many devices that do not require an operating system and
devices which only have a certain set of instructions such as a microwave, air conditioner, TV
remote, etc.
Logic Gate Pins
Example:

𝑭 = ̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
(𝑨𝑩 ̅ ) + (𝑩 ̅ + 𝑪)

𝑨 𝑩 𝑪 ̅
𝑩 𝑨𝑩̅ ̅ +𝑪
𝑩 ̅ ) + (𝑩
(𝑨𝑩 ̅ + 𝑪) ̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
(𝑨𝑩 ̅ ) + (𝑩 ̅ + 𝑪)
1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0
1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0
0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0
0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0

Logic Diagram
TOPIC 2: ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT BASICS WITH TINKERCAD

Tinkercad is a free online service for

creating basic 3D shapes and developing
digital prototypes of electronic components.
These prototypes include basic circuits with
LED lights, buzzers, switches, and even light
sensors.

These prototypes can include a

microprocessor as part of the design.
Microprocessors are the simplest form of Go to the left side of the page after logging in
computer that can be programmed. They can and click the circuits menu option.
be programmed to manipulate electronic
components like LED lights and buzzers.
Microprocessors can be programmed to
gather information from sensors and interpret
that information. They are used in a variety of
devices all around us. They are in
microwaves, refrigerators, cars, computers
and many other electronic devices.

The process used in TinkerCAD is often used Click the create button to build a new circuit.
for rapid prototyping. Prototyping is a
process where we can develop components
in a flexible manner than can be quickly
updated and modified to test a variety of
options when developing a project or
product. We will use this process of
prototyping to learn how to create basic
electronic circuits.

Go over to https://TinkerCAD.com and create

a free account. TinkerCAD integrates with A circuit project is created and opened. A
Social Media services like Facebook. It also circuit project includes a variety of electronic
Integrates with services like Microsoft and components. Electronic components include
Google. Students can use their district LEDs, buttons, resistors, and a power
accounts to log into TinkerCAD if your district source. The components we can use are
uses active directory accounts with Google displayed in a panel at the bottom of the
page.
or Microsoft.
Components are commonly assembled The Breadboard has a grid of thirty by ten
using a Breadboard. A Breadboard is a holes in the main area. The rows are
piece of plastic that has several holes. These numbered 1 to 30 and the columns are
holes are used to hold different components. labeled with the letters A through J. The
Find the Breadboard component and click on columns A through E are separated from
it once. columns F through J by a piece of plastic.

The Breadboard will be selected and The edges of the board contain two columns
temporarily attached to the mouse pointer. with the same number of rows. These
Move the mouse pointer onto the workspace columns have negative and positive
and click the mouse button to place the
symbols. These columns and holes are used
Bread-board onto the workspace.
for the power supply. The components in the
center part of the board will tap into these
columns to draw electric current.

The Breadboard might appear too small or

too large in the work area. Click on the zoom
to fit button so the Breadboard is centered
and magnified.
Move your mouse pointer over one of the
holes in the center part of the board. The hole
beneath will be identified with a red square
and a black border. The other holes will be
identified with green circles. These green
circles indicate that each hole in the row is
connected to each other hole in the row.
There is a wire linking any connection within
the same row. We will use this linking to help
develop connect components.

Let’s jump in and build our first circuit.

TOPIC 3: CLOSED CIRCUIT WITH AN LED

Our first project will create a basic closed An LED has connections that make it
circuit with a light. Our light will be supplied different from a regular light bulb. An LED
by a Light Emitting Diode, LED. Click the has one connection called a Cathode and
Components button to open the components another called an Anode. The Anode lead is
drawer if it isn’t already open. usually longer than the cathode. This
distinction is important because the anode
must be connected to the positive end of an
electric circuit. Current flows in only one
direction through an LED.

Click the LED component. It will attach itself

to the mouse pointer.

The LED anode in our circuit is identified by

a bent lead. This is where the positive current
must connect.

Place the LED onto the board so that each

wire of the LED is in a hole. The wire coming
from a component is often called a lead. It is
pronounced like the word lead in leader and
not the soft metal lead.

We need a power source to power the LED.

Open the components panel and find a
battery. We will use the AA battery with 1.5
volts for our first circuit.
 zoom in or the minus to zoom out. Tap the
plus or minus key a couple of times.

Zoom out of the project so you can see the

battery alongside the Breadboard.

Place the battery along the left side of the

Breadboard.

The terminals for the battery are at right

angles to the Breadboard connectors.
Battery terminals are the negative and
positive connections. The terminals in this
example, are pointing up.

I find it useful for the terminals to be directly

Click the active components button to close across from the connectors. We can rotate
the components panel. the battery so the connections are easier.
Click the battery once to make sure it is
selected. A blue border appears around
select-ed components.

We can zoom in and out of our project using

the scroll wheel on our mouse or touch
gestures on a track pad, but that can be
Click the rotate button in the button bar. This
difficult. It might be easier to use these short
will rotate the component clockwise in small
cut key combinations. If you are on a
Windows or Chromebook computer, hold the increments of about 30 degrees each. Click
Control key and press the Plus key to zoom the button three times to rotate the battery
in or the mi-nus key to zoom out. On a Mac, 90-degrees clockwise.
hold the Command key and use the Plus to
 Click once on the terminal and move the
mouse pointer to the first hole in the negative
column. Click once on the hole to complete
the connection. This is how we create jumper
wire connections. All the other holes in the
negative column are identified with a green
circle. This means that all these holes are
joined and can be used to connect the
negative end of wires or components.
The terminals should be facing the Bread-
board.

Repeat the process with the positive terminal

and place the jumper wire onto the positive
We need to connect the battery to the
Breadboard so it supplies voltage to our LED. hole on the breadboard. When a connection
We connect components to one another is completed the ends of the wire will be
when they are not on the same row with Lead identified with circles.
wires or Jumper wires. These are wires coat-
ed with a plastic and exposed end that can
be used to jump from one component to an-
other. This is one reason they are called
jumper wires.

Move your mouse pointer over the top

terminal. A square will appear over the
terminal and a label will appear identifying
the terminal as the negative battery terminal.
This is a simple circuit with only a few wires
but circuits can get complicated very quickly
with many wires jumping from one location to
another. It is usually a good idea to identify
these wires with colors. There are some
standard colors that are used in electronics.
Red is usually used for positive connections
and black for negative connections in DC
circuits. Sometimes green is used.
Make sure the positive terminal wire is still
selected. A Breadboard wire configuration
panel is located on the right side of the page.
Click the color selector.

The LED will light up when we have a closed

circuit. This circuit isn’t closed yet. We need
two wires to close the circuit. One wire for the
positive and one for negative. The positive
current must flow through the anode in our
Select the red color.
LED. Click on Row 4 Column J to begin a
jumper wire. Connect the other end of the
wire to the positive column.

Repeat the process for the negative terminal

wire and change the wire color to black.
Connect another wire from Row 3 Column J
to the negative terminal column.

One of the benefits of using a Breadboard is

that components can be easily moved
around to form new connections or to make
room for other components. Click and drag Our circuit is now complete. We should
the LED to column f. change the color or our wires, so they match
the polarities.
 simulator is very useful. In a real-world
application, we wouldn’t want to burn out our
LED.

Click the battery once.

In the simulation, nothing happens until we

run the simulation. Click the Start Simulation
button.

Go to the battery configuration panel and

click the battery count selector.

The LED on the Breadboard will change to a

lighter color to simulate that the LED has
turned on.

Select two batteries.

The LED doesn’t appear all that bright. That

isn’t because of the program but because of
the voltage being supplied to the LED. The Start the simulation and observe what
single battery we used in the circuit is happens to the LED. The star over the LED
supplying a low voltage. In this example, we indicates that the LED blew out. In the
want a low voltage because LEDs have a physical world, this would mean that our LED
is no longer good and needs to be replaced.
limit. Too much voltage and the LED will blow
LEDs are not very expensive but if you start
out and stop working. This is where a
blowing out several at a time it can get
expensive. In a future lesson, we will learn
how to use resistors, so the LED doesn’t get
damaged.

Click the battery component and return the

number of batteries to one.

In this topic, we created a circuit and used

the Simulate button to turn the LED ON or
OFF. In the physical world, we use switches
and in the next topic, we will use a switch to
turn the LED ON and OFF.
TOPIC 4: THE TINKERCAD PUSHBUTTON

In this topic, we will be using a pushbutton to Looking at the button from the side we see
complete a circuit with an LED. Before that the button floats above the two wires
creating the circuit with the pushbutton, let’s with a spring. The spring isn’t shown in the
take a look at how the pushbutton works. The image. When the button is above the wires
pushbutton is a temporary connection. as shown in the illustration, the electric
Clicking the mouse button on your computer current cannot flow through the circuit. The
over the pushbutton will simulate pushing a current is shown in the image uses a red
button and closing a circuit. The mechanism dashed arrow pointing up.
for doing this is not visible so I have created
illustrations to help explain.

The button has one large circle in the center

that is used to close the circuit. There are four
connectors on the pushbutton. There is one
connector on each corner of the button.

When the button is pressed, the circuit clos-

es. The arrow with the dashed lines in the im-
age represents current flowing from one end
of the switch to the other.

Looking inside the button just under the

cover, we see that the left and right
connectors are really two wires. One wire on
each side of the button.

If we connect a circuit from one side of the

switch to the same side of the switch on the
other end, then the wire within the switch will
allow current to flow through when the button
is not pressed.
When connecting components, we need to
make sure that the connections are made at
opposite ends of the switch. A connection
can be made to diagonally opposite ends as
shown in the image below.

Connections can also be made at the oppo-

site end from the other connection as shown
in the image below.

Connecting to the proper ends of the button

is important to make sure the circuit works as
intended.
TOPIC 5: AN LED CIRCUIT WITH A PUSH BUTTON

Circuits usually have a button that is used to terminal so it connects to the other side of the
open and close the circuit. We will be using but-ton. This will complete the circuit.
the same circuit constructed in the previous
topic and add a button.

Click once on the positive terminal jump wire.

Open the components panel and find the This will select the wire so we can remove it
Pushbutton component. from the circuit. We don’t need the wire here
and it’s a good idea to keep things organized
and free of extra wiring. Press the delete key
on your keyboard after selecting the wire.

Place the Pushbutton component so that one

end is on column F and the other end is on
column E. In this switch, the diagonal
terminals represent the opposite ends of the
We need the positive connection to be made
switch. This means that the current will flow
on the other side of the button. The bread-
from E5 to F3, as represented in the diagram
below. board has positive and negative rails on both
ends. We will reconnect the positive end of
The closed circuit will include the button. our battery pack to the other end of the
Placing the button where one end of the but- breadboard. Click the positive terminal wire.
ton’s connector is on f3 forms part of our
closed circuit. Remember that everything in
a numbered row is connected. This means
that the button is connected to one end of the
LED, and the jumper wire running from j3 is
connected to the negative rail. We need to
move the jumper wire from the positive
Move the mouse pointer to the end of the Troubleshooting the Switch
wire that is connected to the breadboard. The
I don’t like to solve problems for my audience
connection point of the wire will highlight, and
during presentations and I won’t solve the
a white dot will appear where the wire
problem for you here either. Run the
connects to the breadboard. Click on this
simulation and press the button. Does the
white dot to detach and drag the wire to
LED turn on? What do you think is the reason
another location.
for the LED not working as we intended? I’ll
give you a hint. The anode on the LED must
be connected to the positive connection of
the electric current flow.
I really did make this mistake and it took me a
couple of minutes to realize what I had done. I
was going to start all over again but I realized this
is a good teachable moment. You are likely to
make this mistake yourself and leaving it in
seemed like a great teaching opportunity.

Click and drag the end of the wire to the other

Stop the simulation before proceeding to the
side of the breadboard and connect it to the
solution. We cannot move components while
positive side of the rail.
the simulation is running. Just like you should
not move components when electric current
is flowing through them in a real circuit.

Teachers might want to relate this to a real-world

situation. For example, turning off the electricity
to a section of their home if they ever intend on
working on electric circuits and discuss the
dangers of electrocution.

Connect a jumper wire from the positive rail

to the row that matches the opposite side of
the button.

The Switch Solution

Move the LED so the anode is connected to
the push button terminal. This means moving
the LED one row up to row 2.
 This is the completed circuit.

After moving the LED, the negative jumper

wire is no longer connected to the cathode
end of the LED. We don’t need to delete the Buttons are a common way of controlling the
jumper wire. Existing jumper wires can be flow of electricity through a circuit. In future
moved. Click once on the jumper wire and lessons, we will explore other switch options
move one end so it connects the cathode of
that are controlled by physical switches and
the LED.
computers.

Run the simulation and press the push button

with the mouse pointer. The LED will remain
lit while the button is pressed. Release the
but-ton and the LED will turn OFF.
TOPIC 6: USING A SLIDE SWITCH IN CIRCUITS

In the previous topic, we used a Pushbutton Find the Slide switch component and place it
to pass voltage to the LED. The Pushbutton on the breadboard.
is a temporary button. When the button is
released, so is the connection that closes the
circuit. A Slide Switch is more permanent
because it will continue to maintain either an
open or close circuit without the user having
to keep a finger on the switch.

To create a new project for this circuit we

need to return to the main TinkerCAD page.
Click the TinkerCAD icon located in the top
left side of the web page. Place the switch in the bottom half of the
breadboard. Leave at least one column
above and below the switch for jumper wires.

Create a new circuit.

Get an LED to place on the breadboard.

Find the small breadboard component in the

components panel. Click on it once and
place it on the workspace.
Place the LED in the upper half of the bread-
board and leave space for jumper wires.
 Let’s talk a little about the switch. The switch
has three wires that connect to the
breadboard. Only two of the wires are used
to create a closed circuit. The center wire is
always part of the circuit. The left or right wire
coming from the switch is used to complete
the circuit. The wires coming from the switch
are called leads. The part of the switch that
slides have lines or ridges like a real switch.
Get a 1.5-volt battery and place it near the
lower half of the breadboard on the left side.

Connect a jumper wire from the positive rail

to the center lead on the switch.

Rotate the battery so the terminals are

facing the breadboard near the negative
and positive rails.

Connect a jumper wire from the negative rail

to the left lead on the switch.

Connect the negative and positive battery

terminals to the corresponding holes on the
breadboard. Don’t forget to change the
jumper wire colors.
Connect jumper wires to connect the positive
row of the button to the row that connects the
LED Anode. Remember that the Anode of an Stop the simulation so we can rewire the
LED must be connected to the positive wire. switch
Connect the Cathode side of the LED to the
.
negative row of the switch.

Click once on the jumper wire coming from

the negative rail. Press the Delete button on
Click the “Start Simulation” button. your keyboard to delete the wire.

The LED is not lit because the switch is in the Connect the right side of the switch to the
OFF position. Click the switch once to move negative rail with a jumper wire.
it to the ON position.

The LED will light and remain lit until we click The Cathode side of the LED needs to be
the switch again to move the Slide switch or connected to the negative side of the switch
stop the simulation. Click the switch to open to close the circuit when the switch is flipped.
Click once on the jumper wire for the LED
the circuit and turn the LED OFF.
Cathode.
 moved in order for the circuit to be closed.
Click the Switch once to open the circuit.

Move your mouse pointer over the bottom

end of the wire. The end of the wire will
change to a white dot. Click and drag this dot The circuit is open and the light is not
to move this end of the wire to a new location.
receiving current or voltage.

Connect the wire to the row that connects the We can use one side or the other of the
right side of the switch lead. Switch to complete a circuit. We cannot use
both sides of this switch at the same time. Try
connecting a jumper wire to both sides of the
switch and see what happens.

ss the “Start Simulation” button. Notice the

position of the switch in our circuit and the
status of the LED light. Changing the side
that the wires connect to the Switch also You will find that the LED will not light at all.
changes the side that the Switch must be
TOPIC 7: CIRCUITS AND RESISTORS

In the previous topics, we created a circuit

that lit an LED. In one of the topics, we added
two batteries to the circuit and the LED was
damaged. The LED was damaged because
it received too much voltage. LEDs are low
voltage or low wattage components and don’t
need much electricity to get them to emit
light. This is one of the reasons they are so
useful for lighting homes, businesses, and
even cities. Their low power consumption The formula can be manipulated to find the
makes them ideal when conserving energy. current in a circuit. To find the current in a
Power sources like batteries are designed to circuit we divide the Voltage by the
produce large voltages and generate current Resistance.
to power energy hungry components. In the
past, one of these energy hungry
components was the Incandescent Light
Bulb, which requires more voltage than an
LED.

When constructing circuits, we have a variety

of components that require different voltages
and current. We will learn how resistors are
used to restrict the flow of current to electrical
components. Electrical current is measured
in Amps. In this lesson, we will learn about We can use the formula to find the resistance
Ohm’s Law and how we use it to understand in a circuit. To solve for resistance, we divide
what is going on when we use resistors in a voltage by the current.
circuit.

Ohm’s Law states that we can calculate the

amount of voltage in a circuit by multiplying
the electrical current by the resistance in the
circuit. In the formula, we use the letter “I” for
Current. The letter “I” is used in honor of the
man who formulated Ampère's force law by
which we measure current and made electric
motors possible from electromagnets.
André-Marie Ampère, who was French, used
it in a French phrase, “intensité de courant,
(current intensity)”. So, the letter “I” actually Create a new circuit. Return to the main
stands for Intensity. TinkerCAD Circuit page by clicking the
TinkerCAD logo. Click the “Create new Scroll to the bottom of the components list
Circuit” button. and find the Multimeter component.

Find the small Breadboard component and Place the Multi-meter near the center of the
place it on the canvas. breadboard in the upper half. Make sure to
leave columns f and g available so we can
make jumper wire connections.

Find the battery component and place it on

the canvas to the left of the breadboard.

Click on the battery pack so it is selected and

click the rotate button so the terminals on the
battery pack are facing the breadboard.

Go to the battery options panel and change

the battery count from one to four.
Move the battery pack so the terminals are Add a jumper wire that connects the negative
near the positive and negative rails at the end of the Multimeter across the gap to the
bot-tom of the breadboard. other side of the breadboard.

Connect jumper wires from the negative Connect two more jumper wires. One wire
battery terminal to the negative rail on the will connect the positive terminal of the
bread-board and connect a jumper wire from Multimeter to the lower half of the bread
the positive battery terminal to the positive board. The other jumper wire will connect the
rail on the breadboard. negative rail to the multi-meter along one of
the rows. In the image below that would be
along row 14.

Change the color of the wires so they are

black for negative and red for positive.

Click the Components button to open the

components panel.
Find the resistor. Click the symbol selector to see other
measurement symbols for Ohms. There is a
total of eight. We won’t be using most of
these measurement symbols. I want to point
out a few that will be used in this and other
chapters.

The Omega symbol by itself represents one

Ohm. The symbol above the Omega with the
lower case “m” before it is a measurement in
milli-ohms. The Symbol before milli-ohms
Place the resistor on the breadboard so that with the “u” before it is micro-ohms. In our
one end connects to the positive rail and the circuits, we will be using Ohms, milli-ohms
other end is opposite the positive terminal and kilo-ohms.
for the Multimeter.

We will be using this setup to learn about cur-

Make sure the resistance unit of measure is
rent flow across a resistor. While the resistor
is still selected we can see that the set to kilo-ohms and click the Start
resistance of this resistor is measured at 1 Simulation button.
Kilo-Ohm. The symbol next to the letter k is
the Greek letter Omega(Ω). The Omega
symbol is used because the “Om” in Omega
sounds similar to Ohm. One Kilo-Ohm is
1000 Ohms.
The meter measures that there is 5.99 There are other ways of knowing the
miliamps flowing through the circuit. The resistance of a resistor. Each resistor comes
Multi-meter has three measurement options. with a set of color bands. These color bands
The “A” is selected on the meter. This means
tell us the resistance value of the resistor. To
it is set to measure Amps or Current.
know the value, we need to know what the
color bands mean. In this example, we know
that the colors brown, black, and red
designate a resistor with 1 kilo-ohm.

There is another color that is as close to the

other colors. This color is used to inform us
of the tolerance of the resistor. Resistors are
made out of a variety of materials. These
materials include carbon and metal. The
Click on the letter “V” on the meter. The materials are not perfect and the amount of
meter indicates that there is 6 volts going
resistance in these materials can vary. A gold
through the circuit.
band informs us that the resistor has a
tolerance of plus or minus 5 percent. This
means that the resistance can be five-
percent more or less than the value
designated by the color bands.

This color band is not so important when we

are working with TinkerCAD because in a
simulation the values are mathematically
precise. In real world applications, this
Click on the letter “R” on the meter. The
meter displays an error message. We are tolerance may be very important. It all
getting this error because the connection to depends on the circuit or component we are
measure resistance across a resistor is designing.
different from the one we are currently using.

The error message doesn’t mean much in To understand the meaning of the colors of
this example because we know that the these bands we need to have access to a
resistance value is 1 kilo-ohm. We know this table that lists the hundreds of possible
because we set the value on the resistor resistors. There are web pages that have
configuration panel. down-loadable tables. There are web pages
that al-low us to select the color bands and it
pro-vides the necessary information. There
are also apps that can be used on mobile de-
vices
Another way to find the resistance value of Click on the letter “V” on the meter to read
the resistor is to use Ohms Law. To find the the voltage. The voltage is 4.50. Dividing
resistance we divide voltage by the current. these two numbers will give us 1 kilo-ohm.
The meter provides this information for us.
The voltage is 6 and the current is 5.99 Teachable Moment: This example is very simple,
amps. Dividing 6 by 5.99 comes very close to try changing the value of the resistor to other
1, and 1 kilo-ohm is the value of our resistor. values like 1.5 or 1.75 and verify these values
with the meter and Ohm’s Law.

This process works even if we change the

value of the voltage. Select the battery pack The value of the resistor can be changed in
and change the number of batteries from 4 to the configuration panel. Click once on the
resistor and change the value from 1 to 2 kilo-
3.
ohms

Click the letter “A” on the meter to read the

value for the amount of current going through
the meter. The image below shows we have
a current of 4.49 milliamps.
Click on the letter “A” in the meter to measure
the current. The current measures 2.25 milli-
ohms. Dividing the voltage, 4.5 volts, by 2.25
amps gives us 2 kilo-ohms resistance.

We will be using resistors in most of our

circuits. In the next lesson, we will use the
same circuit to power an LED with a resistor.

Save this project and call it Circuits and

Resistors. We will return to this project in the
future to test the current, voltage and
resistance across other components.

Return to the TinkerCAD main page to create

a new project
TOPIC 8: PROJECT PROPERTIES

It is a good idea to keep track of our projects A properties configuration box will open. In
in TinkerCAD. Throughout these lessons we this box, we can change the name of the
will be creating a variety of projects and project. We can also provide a description for
many of them will look very similar. The
the design. Providing a description here is
preview im-age in the main page doesn’t
always help. This is why it is important to very important as designs get more
provide a descriptive name to each project. elaborate. A good description can distinguish
Go to the TinkerCAD circuit main page by one of your designs from another.
clicking the TinkerCAD logo at the top of the
page.

In the properties box, we can choose to

include Tags. Tags in TinkerCAD are like
Move your mouse cursor over the last project categories. These categories can be useful
we created. A button that reads “Tinker This”
when organizing and searching projects. The
will appear. Clicking this button will open the
project and we can begin working on the other options include privacy settings.
project. On the right corner of the preview Projects are private, meaning they can only
box is a gear icon. Click once on this icon. be viewed by the creator unless made public.
When they are public then anyone can view
the project. The license option provides
several license options that fall under the
Creative Commons license. One includes the
option to make the project part of the public
domain.

A menu will open with several options. The

menu options include Properties, Duplicate,
Move to Project…, and Delete. Click the
Properties option.

Click on the button to save changes to the

project properties.
TOPIC 9: CIRCUIT WITH AN LED AND RESISTOR

We know that an LED will stop working and

can be damaged if we apply too much volt-
age. In the previous topic, we learned that
resistors are used to limit the flow of current
through a circuit. Resistors like these are of-
ten called “limiting resistors”. We will use the
same circuit from the previous lesson to
explore how a resistor works in an LED
circuit to assure the LED doesn’t get Move your mouse over the project and click
damaged. the gear icon. Click the properties option
Hover your mouse over the preview of the when the menu appears.
previous project and click on the gear icon.

Name the design “Resistor and LED circuit”.

Select the option to duplicate the design. Click the Save Changes button.

Move your mouse over the design preview

A duplicate of the project will be created and
box and click the button that reads “Tinker
placed in the TinkerCAD main page. The
This”.
word “Copy” will be attached to the beginning
of the project.
Click the Components button when the de-
sign opens.

Take a look at the LED in the circuit. The LED

isn’t lit. We didn’t make a mistake this time.
This time we introduced a Multimeter into the
Find the LED component and click it once. circuit. A multi-meter usually doesn’t interfere
with the voltage and current flowing through
the circuit. In this simulator, the meter is
shorting out the circuit and the LED doesn’t
light.

Place the LED above the resistor so the An-

ode of the LED is in the same row as the
resistor. Remember that the Anode must be
connected to the positive voltage. The Click on the letter “V” in the meter to measure
Anode is the one with the bent wire. the voltage. The meter will read that the volt-
age going through the circuit is 1.88 volts.
The circuit is powered by three 1.5 volt
batteries in a battery pack. This provides a
total of 4.5 volts to the circuit. The meter is
telling us that we have dropped 2.62 volts
across the circuit. To get this measurement
in dropped voltage all we need to do is
subtract the supplied voltage of 4.5 from the
metered voltage of 1.84.
Click the Start Simulation button. The meter
will read 2.25 mA(milliamps). This is the The current we read is the same as it was be-
same current we measured in the last lesson fore we applied the LED from the previous
with the same project. The project is using a lesson. The voltage, however dropped. This
2 kilo-ohm resistor. is because current is not affected by the LED
but it does affect the voltage in a circuit. the brightest LED display nor the dimmest,
Resistors affect current and components like but it will give us a place to start and we can
LEDs affect voltage or the power consumed adjust the resistance from there.
in a circuit. Most components in a circuit will
To determine the resistor, we need to know
affect either voltage or current. In most in-
the voltage being applied to the LED and the
stances, the current or voltage will drop
tolerances for the LED. These tolerances are
across a component. These are known as
usually supplied when LEDs are purchased.
voltage or current drops. Voltage and current TinkerCAD does not provide this information
drops are very important with more in a direct way but we can get their tolerances
complicated circuits. from standards used in real LEDs. We know
the voltage applied is 4.5 volts.

Calculating the resistor, we need requires the

LED voltage tolerance and the current
tolerance. Most LEDs have a voltage
tolerance of 2.62 volts. This just so happens
to be the voltage drop in our circuit. The
forward voltage is how much voltage the LED
needs to light. Voltage tolerances in LED
Take a look at the LED. The LED is lit information sheets usually provides a range
of voltages known as forward voltage. We
because we opened a switch in the meter
also need to know the forward current. This
that allowed voltage to pass through.
is the current tolerance for the LED, or how
much current the LED can tolerate before it
is damaged. This is also the manufacturer’s
forward cur-rent recommendation. Most
LEDs have a forward current of 20mA to
30mA. The forward current for this LED is
20mA.

Teachable Moment: Why we are using the terms

forward voltage and forward current. Does this
relate to the path taken by electricity through a
The resistor prevented damage to the LED. circuit? Does this relate to the anode and cathode
In real applications, the use of resistors in an orientation of the LED?
LED circuit can either shorten or lengthen With this information, we can calculate the
their lives. The goal is to lengthen the life of resistor value needed. To determine the
any LED in a circuit while maintaining LED resistor value, we subtract the voltage supply
brightness. There is a way to figure out the and the forward voltage requirement. This
value is then divided by the forward current.
optimal resistor to use for an LED. There is a
The formula is shown in the image below.
formula to help us determine the resistor that
will prevent damage to the LED. This formula
will not give us the resistor that will provide
 The LED on the breadboard is lit without
exceeding the voltage tolerance.

In this example, we will subtract 2.62 from

4.5 volts to get 1.9 volts. This answer is then
divided by 20mA to get “.095”. This gives us
the answer for a resistor of 95 Ohms. Multiply
the answer by 1,000 to get the Ohms value. The image below was taken from a kit of
The resistor requirement is close to 1 Kilo- LEDs I purchased. The LEDs come in a
Ohm. variety of colors and each has a voltage
tolerance range. The yellow LED in the
image has a voltage tolerance between
1.8 to 2.2 volts. The White LED has a
tolerance between 2.8 and 3.2 volts.
Different LEDs have different voltage
tolerances. Another way to think of voltage
tolerances is to think of these volt-ages as
the minimum and maximum voltages
required to light the LED properly. We
should stay away from the maximum
Click once on the resistor and change the voltage so the LED lasts longer.
value from 2 to 1.
TOPIC 10: CIRCUITS WITH A POTENTIOMETER

A potentiometer is a dial with three Find the 9 Volt battery in the components
connectors. The dial is used to vary the panel and place it to the right of the bread-
amount of voltage that flows through the board.
potentiometer and sent to a circuit or
component. Potentiometers are used as
volume controls on audio equipment and
usually don’t handle a lot of voltage.

Inside the potentiometer is a resistive

material where one end of the circuit
connects. The amount of resistance applied
to the current changes as the dial is turned.
Find the potentiometer in the components
We will use a potentiometer to control the
panel and place it on the top half of the
amount of voltage applied to and LED. We
breadboard.
will use the potentiometer instead of a
resistor, but we can also use it with a resistor
to prevent the LED from being damaged if
the potentiometer cannot limit enough of the
voltage being supplied to the LED.

Click the TinkerCAD icon to return to the

main page if you are not already there.
Create a new project by clicking the “Create
New Circuit” button.

Make sure to leave one or two columns be-

low the potentiometer for jumper wires.

Place a small breadboard onto the work

area.

Get an LED and place it in the lower half of

the breadboard. Align the Anode of the LED
with the center connector of the
potentiometer. This will make things easier
when connecting jumper wires.
Find the 9-volt battery in the components Connect jumper wires from the negative and
panel and place the battery near the upper positive rails to the matching wires that
half of the breadboard and connect the connect to the left and right ends of the
battery terminals to the breadboard positive potentiometer. Move the potentiometer back
and negative rails. into place.

Connect jumper wires from the center and Click the “Start Simulation” button. The dial
left potentiometer to the LED. The center on the potentiometer is all the way to the left
connector on the potentiometer will be used and no voltage is being sent to the LED.
for the positive flow. Move the dial slowly to the right until the LED
lights.

The potentiometer is large and connecting

the jumper wires from the railing to the
potentiometer rows is difficult. Move the
The LED will light a little after the dial passes
potentiometer module to the left or right so
the connector rows are visible. the first marker on the dial.
 Potentiometer Resistance Value
The potentiometer has a level of resistance
like the resistor we used in an earlier lesson.
Stop the simulation and click once on the
potentiometer. A configuration box for the
potentiometer will open. The maximum
resistance for the potentiometer is 250 kilo-
ohms. That is a lot. We used a 1 kilo-ohm
resistor with the push button and LED.
Turn the dial half way and the LED might look
a little brighter.

Change the resistance value to 1 kilo-ohms

and start the simulation again.
Turn the dial until it reaches the second to the
last mark on the dial. It might look a little
brighter.

Turn the dial gradually to the left and watch

as the light dims.

Turn the dial all the way. This time we send

too much voltage and the LED has been
damaged.
Turn the dial back to the right until an
exclamation mark appears to the right of the
LED. Move the mouse pointer over the LED.
An information box will display the warming
information related the LED. The message is
in-forming us that the current through the
LED is currently 44.8 mA (milliamps) and that
the maximum recommended current is 20
mA. The maximum recommended current for
the LED is useful when we are looking for a We are done with this project. Return to the
resistor to limit the amount of voltage send to main page and use the properties box to give
the LED. We figured this out in a previous this project a name. Call it Potentiometer
lesson. Circuit.

If we turn the dial all the way to the right, we

still run the risk of damaging the LED. We
could raise the resistance of the
potentiometer but this will reduce its
efficiency and still not prevent the LED from
being damaged. It is always a good idea to
place a resistor between a power source and
LED to prevent damage.

Stop the simulation and replace the jumper

wire for the LED Anode with a 1 kilo-ohm
resistor. Start the simulation again and turn
the dial all the way to the right. The LED will
gradually illuminate and it will not be dam-
aged when the dial is all the way to the right.
Placing a resistor to limit the amount of volt-
age being applied to an LED is known as a
voltage limiting resistor.
TOPIC 11: CIRCUITS WITH CAPACITORS

A capacitor is a component that stores Place a small breadboard onto the work
electrostatic energy. This is a form of area. Place a 9-volt battery on the right side
potential energy. Capacitors contain two of the breadboard and place a push button
electrical conductors and are separated by switch to connect the top half of the
an insulator. The conductors are thin films of breadboard with the lower half.
metal. The insulators can be glass, ceramic,
plastic, or air. When a capacitor is connected
to battery positive charges collect on one
plate and negative charges collect on the
other plate. When the capacitor is filled with
an electric charge it will not allow current to
flow through the capacitor. The electric
charge can be released by the capacitor into
a circuit. Capacitors store electrical energy
as potential energy and release it into a
Click the All Components section to search
circuit as voltage and current.
for the capacitor. The capacitor we will use in
Teachable Moment: Take a look at the various this circuit is not part of the basic
materials used as insulators and think about components.
which material might provide the best resistance.
What makes a good resistor? Most capacitors
use air for the capacitor because air is a much
better resistor. Why is air a much better resistor?
Think about the properties of air and the other
resistor materials.

In this circuit, we will create a circuit that uses

a capacitor to store the energy from a battery
and then discharge that energy into an LED.
To do this we will need two buttons to control
the flow of voltage to the capacitor and to the
LED. One button will allow us to send Look for the Polarized Capacitor.
electricity to the capacitor while the other will
pre-vent the electricity from going to the
component until we are ready.

Create a new circuit project.

Place the Polarized capacitor in the top half We need to connect the negative connector
of the breadboard. Leave three columns to of the capacitor to the negative rail but it is
connect jumper wires. This capacitor is too large to see the connector row.
polarized, so that means that it has a positive
and a negative terminal. The negative
terminal is the one that has a strip above the
terminal wire. Align the positive side of the
capacitor to the left side of the switch.

Move the capacitor to the left or right and

connect a jumper wire to the row where the
negative connector for the capacitor would
be.

Connect the negative part of the battery to

the top of the breadboard and the positive
part of the battery to the bottom of the
breadboard rails.

Move the capacitor back into place. Make

sure to leave two columns between the
switch and the capacitor for jumper wires.

The capacitor is not connected into a circuit.

Pressing the button will send current to the
Connect a jumper wire from the positive rail capacitor. The capacitor will collect this cur-
to the push button. Remember, the opposite rent until it is full. It is possible to overfill a
end of the switch is used to connect circuits. capacitor and that would damage the
capacitor and could be dangerous.
Capacitors store lots of energy like a battery.
To discharge the capacitor, we need a com- Shorten the positive jumper wire so it
ponent. We will use the trusty LED to help us connects with the first push button
see the capacitor’s discharge. Place an LED connector.
in the lower half of the breadboard. You
might need to go back to the Basic
Components section to get the LED.

Use a jumper wire to connect the negative

voltage from the capacitor to the cathode of
the LED.

Connect jumper wires to other rows on the

left side of the capacitor. We will use these
rows to connect to the LED on the lower half
of the breadboard with more jumper wires.
Align the wires to the Anode and Cathode
rows on the LED.

The circuit is complete. Start the simulation

then click the button on the right. This part of
the circuit sends electricity to the capacitor.
The other button is not pressed so that part
of the circuit is open and does not allow
electricity to flow.

Charging and Discharging the Capacitor

Hold the button down for a few seconds. Two
Go to the components panel and find another
to three seconds would be good. This
push button switch. Place the switch so that
simulates voltage being passed to the
the left side of the switch aligns with the LED
capacitor. We don’t actually see the
anode.
capacitor charging. Capacitors charge very
quickly so in a real-world capacitor the
capacitor would be charged as soon as the
button was pressed. The capacitor is now
charged and will hold the electrostatic
charge. Release the button to open the
circuit to the capacitor.
 Capacitors have a capacitance. Without get-
Press the other button and you will see the
ting very technical, this is amount of charge
LED light for a few seconds and then dim
the capacitor can hold. The amount of
away. The LED dims away because the
electrostatic discharge from the capacitor capacitance is measured in Farads in honor
drains away. If we could maintain the button of Michael Faraday. We won’t go into the
pressed on the right side then the LED would complexities related to calculating the
remain lit. The capacitor will receive a capacitance of a capacitor. This information
continuous charge which it would then is provided on capacitors or on an
release to the LED. Capacitors are used to information sheet when capacitors are
store large amounts of electricity to feed the purchased.
needs of large components.
To demonstrate capacitance, change the
capacitance to 2 in the capacitor
configuration panel. The “u” in front of the
letter “F” represents micro. A micro
represents one millionth. This capacitor has
a capacitance of 2 micro-farads or 2
millionths of a farad. This is a very tiny
amount but more than enough for our circuit.

Start the simulation and charge the

capacitor. Press the button to release the
Capacitors are used with devices like
charge into the LED. Not that the LED
amplifiers so that they can supply large
voltage when needed. They are used to start remains lit longer. The LED will remain lit for
equipment that requires large amounts of about five seconds.
current.

Stop the simulation and click on the

capacitor. Look at the capacitor information
panel. The capacitor is rated to store 16
volts. Different capacitors are constructed to
handle different voltages.
The image below is an example of an
information sheet that comes when
capacitors are ordered. The capacitor
outlined in red has a capacitance of 46 micro-
farads with a tolerance of 10 volts.
TOPIC 12: CIRCUITS WITH ARDUINO

The Arduino board is a micro controller. A Place the micro controller to the left of the
microcontroller is a very simple computer Breadboard. There are several components
that accepts basic code and translates that that are part of the Arduino board. Let’s look
code into instructions that interact with the at a couple of these components.
physical world. In this lesson, we will use a
micro con-troller to take the place of a switch.
The micro controller will do more than take
the place of the switch. We will use the micro
controller to augment what can be done with
the circuit and a push button.

Create a new circuit and place a breadboard

onto the canvas. Place one LED on the
Breadboard and place two jump wires. Make The holes along both sides of the board are
sure to connect the anode wire to the positive called GPIO pins. This stands for General
Purpose Input/Output. Each is a connector
lead and the cathode wire to the negative
that can be linked to our Breadboard with a
lead.
jumper wire. Most of these are marked with a
number. These numbers are used to identify
the pins in the code we will write to control
the LED. Code we develop on the board can
reference these pins as either input or output.
There is one connector labeled GND. This is
the ground connector or the negative
terminal in our circuit. The GND is the same
as the negative terminal on a battery. The
other connectors marked with a number are
the same as the positive terminal on a
Click the Components button and find the battery. An Arduino is different from a battery
Arduino Uno R3 micro controller. You will find in that it does not produce electricity but
passes along electricity from a power source.
it next to the small breadboard.
The Arduino can only output between 3 and
5 volts to a circuit. If we need to power a
component that needs more than this voltage
we will need to use a transistor or capacitor.

A physical Arduino board is connected to a

five-volt power supply from a computer USB
port or from a battery pack. The Arduino itself
can supply the same 5 volts to our
components. For some components, this is
too many volts or more accurately too much
current. In our example, the 5 volts will
destroy the LED on the Breadboard. We will This isn’t enough to turn on the LED. We
be adding a resistor to limit the amount of need to do a few more things. Click on the
current going to the LED. Code Editor button.

A coding panel will open at the bottom of the

The solid rectangle on the board with
page. This coding panel uses puzzle blocks
connectors coming out of the sides is the
to develop code. This is very similar to blocks
actual micro controller. This is the
used in Code.org or Scratch. This the
component that handles all of our
instructions and sends them to other standard block of code included each time
components. we place an Arduino board onto the work
space. This block of code will cause the LED
on the Arduino board to blink. But this is not
the LED on our Breadboard. The Arduino has
a small LED on the board itself. Click the
Start Simulation button to see the LED blink
on the board.

Connect a jumper wire from the GND

connector to the negative column. Take
another jumper wire and connect it from the
number 3 connector to the positive column.
There is nothing special about the number 3
in this example. We could have selected any
of the other numbered connector on the The blinking LED can be seen on the left side
board. I moved the board slightly so you of the Arduino logo. Stop the simulation.
could see the connections. I also color coded
the wires.
We don’t need this code because we want to Most code blocks have options that can be
use the LED located on the Breadboard. changed. This code block includes a pin
Click and drag the code onto the trash can number and a state. The PIN number
icon. Click the first code block and drag it to references the connector we used to send
the trash can icon. current to the Breadboard. This is the
positive jumper wire we connected earlier.
We connected the wire to pin 3. The options
in the code block are called arguments. The
term argument comes from mathematics.
The argument of a function is a specific input
to the function. It is an independent variable
like the pin in our code block. This code block
has two arguments.

We need a little more room to code. Move

your mouse pointer to the top edge of the
coding panel until you see the arrow change.
Click and drag up to expand the coding pan-
el.

Change the pin argument to 3. The second

argument has two states. A state has one of
two options. A state can be on or off. In this
code block, the state is set to high. A high
state is the same as an ON state. The other
option is a low state. This is the same as
OFF. Computers read everything as either
ON or OFF or ones and zeros. Binary
The coding panel has different sections of numbers like one and zero are at the heart of
code. We will be using code blocks in the all computers.
Output section. Drag the set pin code onto
the coding canvas.

That’s all we need to get started. Click the

Start Simulation button. Resize the code
block panel to see the LED.
Stop the simulation and close the code Open the components panel and find the
editor. We need to make room of the resistor. resistor.
Move the LED to the other side of the board
and place it in column A.

The LED will change color to indicate that it

is on. There is an exclamation mark next to
the LED. This exclamation mark is a warning.
The current going through the LED is too
high. In the simulation, we get a warning. In
a physical board with a real LED the LED
might be damaged and will not work again.
This is why testing or prototyping on digital Place the resistor so it bridges the gap be-
breadboards can be very useful. LEDs aren’t tween the two halves of the board. Make sure
expensive but expensive enough that you the resistor is in the same row as the anode
don’t want to be burning them out regularly. and the positive jumper wire.
To avoid burning out LEDs we need to use
resistors. Resistors restrict the flow of current
to components. Every circuit includes
voltage, resistance, and current. Current is
the part of the equation that does all the
work. Think of current like water flowing
through a river or stream. Resistance is the
width of the river or stream. Narrow streams
have more resistance than wide streams.
You might have already figured it out but I
want to test your understanding anyway. Run
the simulation. Why didn’t the LED turn on?
Hint, is there a complete circuit?

The row connections do not span across the

board between E and F. We can either place
a jumper wire from F to E or place a jumper
wire directly from the negative terminal
We need to leave room for the jumper wire column to row E. I added another jumper wire
to complete the circuit.
and to see the connection in our illustration.
Run the simulation and the LED should light Set the pin argument value to 3 and the state
without a warning. to low. Low will turn the light OFF. Run the
simulation. The LED will turn on and off but
the OFF state is too short. Arduino is a very
simple computer but it is still very fast and
processes our instructions in fractions of a
second. We need to instruct the code to slow
things down so we have time to see the
changes.

Blinking LED

The code we used in the previous example

turned the Arduino into a glorified switch. We
can do so much more with Arduino and in this
lesson, we will take a closer look at what can
be done with code and the same LED.
Go to the scripts panel and find a wait code
Click the code editor button to open the
block. Add a wait code block after the last pin
coding panel. Click the Control code block
code blocks. Leave the wait argument at the
category and look for the wait code block. value of 1. Run the simulation again. This
time the LED in the simulation will turn on and
off repeatedly. The code we write does not
include a loop function but the Arduino
repeats the code anyway. Arduino is built to
repeat coded instructions until it is turned
OFF.

Place the wait code block below the set pin

code block. The wait argument is set to one
second. Leave the argument at this value.
Go back to the Output code block category
and place another set pin code block onto the
canvas below the wait code block.
The code blocks we use are representations
of written code. The written code is shown on
the right side. The code has two main
sections or functions. The void setup function
is used to set pin 3 as the output pin for the
instructions. The void loop function is where
we write the main part of our code. The void
loop repeats the code within the function until
the simulation stops or until the power is
turned off in a physical Arduino board.

The void loop instructs the board to set the

power to pin 3 to high or ON then wait one
second. After one second the power to pin 3
is set to low or turned off and then wait one
second. The instructions repeat all over
again until we stop it by removing power from
the Arduino board.

Reference:
• Digital Maestro Magazine URL: digitalmaestro.org