General > General Technical Chat
are drawing normal schematics a dying art?
<< < (12/14) > >>
fourfathom:

--- Quote from: eti on November 29, 2021, 05:14:39 am ---I don't "care" how you blink one, but why go to all that silicon expense for such a trivial operation?
--- End quote ---

Because you can?  Because it's cheaper?  Or you want it to blink in morse code?  Does it matter?  Actually, I don't care either, but I don't think that's the point.
eti:

--- Quote from: fourfathom on November 29, 2021, 05:43:19 am ---
--- Quote from: eti on November 29, 2021, 05:14:39 am ---I don't "care" how you blink one, but why go to all that silicon expense for such a trivial operation?
--- End quote ---

Because you can?  Because it's cheaper?  Or you want it to blink in morse code?  Does it matter?  Actually, I don't care either, but I don't think that's the point.

--- End quote ---

We're talking about a simple cyclic flashing, not Morse code. Clearly it's "horses for courses", and would rather daft to design a discrete transistor solution for Morse code, although it would be a feat worthy of praise.

From a teaching *actual* electronics perspective, it teaches far more to impart the knowledge to make them self-sufficient, and learn how to use the bare essentials such as transistors, or failing that a relay and caps, (and not be tethered to a PC and some silly SDK to make it happen), and not dependant on a specific UC (or any).

If one is to learn electronics, then teach them it, not how to setup a PC & SDK just for that. Teach them how to make an LED flash with a few random transistors, and they'll always have a way of doing so.

Laziness is a modern epidemic. Any excuse to take the least.effort route and pull some nonsense off GitHub for such trivia. It's actually amusing that anyone would want to teach this way "just because you can". Find the most simple and efficient solution, not the one that "everyone else uses".

I can make a neon flash with a diode, a cap and a resistor, it's far more rewarding AND they simultaneously learn about the theory of operation.

https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/blinking-led-circuit/

K.I.S.S. 
Berni:

--- Quote from: eti on November 29, 2021, 05:14:39 am ---If I taught an electronics class, I'd teach them to blink an LED using an oscillator, but mention that a uc is a possibility, but wouldn't demonstrate it; that'd be moving from electronics into programming. I don't "care" how you blink one, but why go to all that silicon expense for such a trivial operation?

--- End quote ---

It's usually about the journey, not the destination.

You usually don't actually need the blinking LED for anything, its just a convenient indicator that whatever you connected it to is working. So if you are trying to learn how to use a microcontroller it is the best first goal to do. You have to learn how to walk before you learn how to run. Heck even i constantly make blinking LED programs as a hello world on the first prototype of a project. It gives me a nice indication that the processor is alive and running, that my MCUs clocks and PLLs and dividers and whatnot are set correctly for the blink speed, that my IDE is configured correctly to spit out working code that is placed in the correct spot in memory..etc. A lot of ducks had to get in a row for that LED to do its thing.

If you are learning about analog electronics then make it blink in using transistors instead.

That being said MCUs are often a sensible economical solution for a trivial problem. They can be bought for <0.50$ in small volume off DigiKey and often require 0 external components do to the job. So as long as you need anything more than just a constant frequency blink it will actually be cheaper to use a tiny 6 pin MCU, also its more compact. I went down the path of designing an analog circuit for a easy task, only to get half way there, realize this takes a lot of components to do properly, then throw it away and replace it with a MCU. Things like a delayed off for the light in my garage, turning on the driveway lights when it gets dark etc..
fourfathom:

--- Quote from: eti on November 29, 2021, 05:49:09 am ---I can make a neon flash with a diode, a cap and a resistor, it's far more rewarding AND they simultaneously learn about the theory of operation.
--- End quote ---

The neon bulb relaxation oscillator was my first blinking light! (about 55 years ago)  And I agree about learning by starting with the simple fundamentals.  But if someone starts by copying something more complicated, that's OK with me.  If it interests them they will eventually get around to the fundamentals.  In my early years I learned a lot by building something I didn't understand, then figuring out how to make it do something different.   We don't all start out on the same path.  And I doubt that we actually disagree on any of this very much, if at all.
SL4P:
A schematic / circuit diagram is part of the project DOCUMENTATION.

The PCB layout is a tool that assists with manufacturing.
You can still build the project without a PCB ( think old style point-point) wiring…
BUT you can’t build or repair a moderately complex circuit with any reliability - without a schematic.
Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod