Craft to Career: Engineering With Circuits: DIY Motor and Robotics Projects
HISTORY OF CIRCUITS Humans have been aware of electricity and its power for thousands of years Ancient cultures were awed by the power of lightning to generate immense light and heat But they didn't understand the force behind this energy It wasn't until the 1600s that scientists began seriously studying electricity and how it could be used In 1800 Italian physicist Alessandro Volta invented the first electrical circuit using a simple battery made from stacks of metal Soon after British scientist Michael Faraday invented the first electric motor In 1879 American inventor Thomas Edison developed the first light bulb for common use As technology continued to improve 8 so did circuits By the mid 1900s most homes in the United States had electric power and circuits were powering computers rockets and other machines and devices With the invention of the personal computer in the 1970s technology became more accessible Students began learning computer science and robotics in school Computer companies started making products for beginners Much of this material was open source meaning anyone could use the computer code and hardware design freely This allowed many developers and creators to make and improve computer products
C11 D1 C8 C16 R13 L1 L2 R1 c2 p1 12011.12 spberry CIRCUITS TIMELINE 1800 Italian physicist Alessandro Volta invents the first electrical circuit and battery out of a stack of zinc and silver discs and salt water 1821 British scientist Michael Faraday invents the first electric motor 1882 Serbian American inventor Nikola Tesla discovers alternating current and builds the first AC motor a year later 1961 The first industrial robot called Unimate begins work at a General Motors factory 2012 The Raspberry Pi Foundation releases the first Raspberry Pi single board computer for commercial use 9 1802 British chemist Humphry Davy invents the first electric battery and light 1879 American inventor Thomas Edison invents and patents the first electric light bulb for common use 1945 A team of US Army engineers builds the first electronic programmable general purpose digital computer 1974 American company MITS creates the first personal computer 2018 A Florida man receives the first modular prosthetic limb a robotic arm he can control with his mind
CIRCUITS 101 There are different types of circuits Two common types are series circuits and parallel circuits SERIES CIRCUIT In a series circuit the current flows from one element to the next in a series These circuits can be straightforward to set up However if one element of the circuit doesn't work the entire circuit is broken Holiday light strings are often set up this way If one bulb burns out the entire string fails 10 PARALLEL CIRCUIT In a parallel circuit all the positive components of the circuit are connected to one another and all the negative components of the circuit are connected to one another This means the current can continue to flow even if one component fails Parallel circuits can be complex to design But they are also reliable For example in a string of holiday lights that uses parallel circuits one light can burn out and the rest will continue to shine
SHORT CIRCUIT Sometimes something goes wrong and electricity doesn't follow the full path of a circuit This is called a short circuit It can happen when wires that aren't supposed to touch do creating an additional path for the electricity Short circuits can be dangerous They can overload parts of the circuit draining the battery or causing components to get very hot Short Circuit No Current BATTERY 11 AC DC Circuits are either powered by alternating current AC or direct current DC In an AC circuit the flow of electrons constantly switches directions Wall outlets in homes and buildings are a common example of AC circuits An AC circuit typically uses three wires hot neutral and ground The hot wire carries the live current to the load The neutral wire offers a way for the current to return to the outlet The ground wire directly connects the load to the neutral wire The ground wire helps prevent electric shock or fire in case of a short circuit In a DC circuit the electrical current flows along a single wire in one direction from negative to positive Batteries are common sources of power in DC circuits
