Holiday Ornament Kit Tutorial
Happy Holidays from Cyber City Circuits! We wanted to do something a tad different this month, so we designed an ornament for your Christmas tree! This kit comes with microcontroller pre-assembled on the PCB. You finish building the rest, and enjoy some jingles once you're done!
First, you should refresh yourself on soldering safety!
WARNING: SOLDERING IRONS ARE HOT. SOLDERING IRONS ARE NOT TOYS. ALWAYS WEAR EYE PROTECTION WHILE USING A SOLDERING IRON.
LEDs → A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photons) is determined by the energy required for electrons to cross the band gap of the semiconductor.
Speaker → Speakers convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. A current is sent through the voice coil which produces an electric field that interacts with an existing magnetic field of a magnet attached to the speaker. This gives the motion which produces audio.
Preparation
Count all of your parts and verify everything is in your kit.
Step 1
Locate the battery holder. This needs to be the first thing that is installed. This will be installed on the BACK of the PCB. Follow the outline on the PCB to install in the correct orientation. Clip the pins as close to the PCB as you can. The speaker will cover these later.
Step 2
The speaker will be the next component to go in. On the speaker, make sure you match the positive (+) and negative (-) pins to the correct holes on the PCB. This will install from the front of the PCB.
Step 3
Locate the Green and Red LEDs. Install the GREEN led into position D1, and the RED led into position D2. Be sure that the long leg of the LED goes into the round marked hole, while the shorter leg goes into the square marked hole.
Step 4
Next up is the two buttons. These install at locations SW1 and SW2.
Step 5
Last but not least is the ON/OFF slide switch. Orientation does not matter. We recommend soldering the center pin first. This way you can adjust it and make sure it installs straight. You want to be sure not to overheat the pins on the switch. If you are not able to get solder to go on right away, let it cool down before attempting again.
Step 6
Open up the CR2032 battery and install into the battery holder on the back side of the PCB.
Step 7
Flip the switch to the ON position. The default firmware will 'twinkle' the LEDs to let you know it is on. We consider this 'idle' mode. When you press one of the buttons, a jingle will play and the lights will blink to the beat. Each button plays a different jingle, and will only play if the unit is idling.
