Friday, March 21, 2008
Cyclical AC on/off device
I just completed this little device and it's working pretty well.
It switches incoming AC power on and off in a cyclical pattern, about 1.5 times per second.
A battery powers a small worm-gear motor, which pushes a levered switch with its' eccentric cylinder. The switch completes the AC circuit.
Simple, I know, but I get kind of nervous when working with AC and I wanted this to be safe and effective. The whole thing is contained in a plastic box, so no chance of accidental contact. This will be a key part in a project for the upcoming Deadline Projects show, Bigger Than Your Life. ¶ 2:19 PM
It switches incoming AC power on and off in a cyclical pattern, about 1.5 times per second.
A battery powers a small worm-gear motor, which pushes a levered switch with its' eccentric cylinder. The switch completes the AC circuit.
Simple, I know, but I get kind of nervous when working with AC and I wanted this to be safe and effective. The whole thing is contained in a plastic box, so no chance of accidental contact. This will be a key part in a project for the upcoming Deadline Projects show, Bigger Than Your Life. ¶ 2:19 PM
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Cool device.
Have you considered using a relay and a purely electronic circuit instead? It would reduce the chance of the device failing from a mechanical fault.
You could use a simple transistor-capacitor oscillator, or you could connect up a wee PIC or AVR micrcontroller (which would allow you to do a lot more stuff, if you wanted).
Have you considered using a relay and a purely electronic circuit instead? It would reduce the chance of the device failing from a mechanical fault.
You could use a simple transistor-capacitor oscillator, or you could connect up a wee PIC or AVR micrcontroller (which would allow you to do a lot more stuff, if you wanted).
Ah, yes, these are all more durable solutions. But, I had all these materials laying around already in my studio.
Plus, the whole thing took like 20 minutes from start to finish.
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Plus, the whole thing took like 20 minutes from start to finish.
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