How-to Tuesday: tinyCylon kit

This week I made the tinyCylon kit from the Maker Shed. It’s a fun little project that has a lot of cool light patterns programmed onto the chip. You can purchase a tinyCylon kit in the Maker Shed.

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What you need:

• tinyCylon kit – Available in the Maker Shed
• Rosin core solder
• (3) AAA batteries

Tools you need:

• Soldering Iron
• Wire cutters
• Arms of Assistance – Make you own
• Fume extractor – Make your own

Step 1: Take inventory

Step 2: Add the resistor, button and IC

You can easily add all 3 of these components in one step. Make sure to insert the integrated circuit (IC) is inserted the correct way.

The top of the IC has a small “dot” on it, this indicates the “top” of the IC. In fact, it shows you where pin 1 is located on the IC.

Pin 1 is inserted into the hole on the circuit board that is marked by having a square box printed around it. It is also the only square solder pad in the area labeled “U1”

Now all you have to do is solder up all the connections. Make sure not to heat up the IC too much, they don’t like heat!

Step 3: Add the 5 LEDs

Now you can add the 5 LEDs. The circuit board has 5 pairs of holes for the LEDs. In each pair there is a round solder pad and a square one. The long lead (+) of the LED is inserted into the hole with the square solder pad on the circuit board. You should be able to add all 5 LEDs and solder them up in one step.

Step 4: Add the battery pack

Feed the red and black battery wires thought the circuit board from underneath. Next, put the ends of the wires into the holes marked “- BAT +” on the board. The red wire goes into the hole marked “+” and the black into the holes marked “-“. Finally, solder the wires into the circuit board from other side. This adds some strain relief to the wires and they will not break as easily when being handled.

Step 5: Enjoy!

Add (3) AA batteries and turn on the battery pack. That’s it! See you next week.

In the Maker Shed:

tinyCylon kit in the Maker Shed