Creative-Embedded-Systems-Portfolio
House With A Light On
This is my submission for the first real project of the semester, which focused on making PCBs and getting some hardware experience. It is a printed circuit board with a 555 timer chip, three resisters, two capacitors, a yellow LED, and a holder for a 3.7V coin cell battery soldered to it. When the battery is inserted into the holder, the components and the circuit allow the LED to flash on and off. The edge of the PCB has been cut into the shape of a house.
For this project, the suggested shape was a heart; but since I made a heart for the last project, I thought I would try something new. My vision for the project was a home with a light on inside. I tried to envoke a cozy and comforting feeling with it, like looking into a warm home with people spending time together inside would. I spent last spring in Copenhagen, Denmark, studying abroad, and the cold weather in New York has really reminded me of that time. My family there, as well as the Danes I lived with, taught me about their cultural value of hygge; a cozy togetherness. I wanted to pay homage to that with this project.
This informed my design of the circuit, since I wanted the light to be near the bottom, where a first floor would be. I also thought that the chip might look like a window, and that the battery holder would kind of look like a chimney because of its shape and size, and the fact that I put it right under the chimney part of the outline.
Here is a video of the light flashing.
Here is the PCB on my windowsill, with the other decorations I keep there.
For technical documentation, click here.
Hopefully it brings you some coziness to look at!