Over the years, readers have often commented that microcontrollers (or more specifically, the Arduino) are overkill for many of the projects they get used in. The admonition that the creator “Should ...

Sometimes the best inspiration is limitation. The 555 timer does “one thing” — compares a voltage to a couple thresholds and outputs a signal accordingly. It’s two comparators, a voltage ladder, and a ...

The device was designed to operate for ray gun project for better control of the effects using the 555 timer’s monostable mode multivibrator. The actual effects started once the timer pulsing an LED, ...