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Electronic Dice Kit -- The Learning Circuit 49

 

 

In the previous episode, Karen did an overview of integrated circuits or ICs. This week, Karen chose an electronics kit that contains two ICs, a phase locked loop, and a ripple binary counter. A phase locked loop takes one external input and one internal input, comparing the frequencies of their signal and turns that difference into a voltage that goes back to adjust the internal signal. This process continues until both external and internal signals are equal. This process generates an output signal that slowly changes then stabilizes. In today’s kit, an electronic dice kit, that signal from the phase locked loop IC is used as the clock input signal of the second IC, the binary counter.

 

The binary counter IC is a 7-stage ripple counter, with each stage generating a binary digit.

 

Once you understand how to count in binary, you can see that each digit is created as a square wave signal. In the end, the ripple counter IC outputs a signal that randomly flashes the 7 LEDs ending in a die roll of a typically 6-sided die.

 

Bill of Material:

 

Part

Hobby Project Kit, Electronic Dice, Single, Simulated Random Dice Roll

Velleman1Buy NowBuy Now
9V BatteryEnergizer1Buy NowBuy Now
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  • It's fun trying to think of ways to implement dice : )

    Here's my attempt (as a teenager), it was published in some magazine at a time of less scrutiny. IC1 is 40106, and IC2 is 4029.

    The LEDs are in this orientation:

    D3            D4

    D1    D7    D2

    D5            D6

     

    It's not a great circuit (one current limiting resistor across the entire circuit, to save on parts : )

    So there will be some dimming of LEDs slightly depending on the dice value.

    Also a less crude circuit would add decoupling capacitors across both ICs.

    On the other hand this circuit uses a lot less parts than the Velleman kit! That has a surprising amount of diodes in the video.

    image

  • in reply to shabaz

    So there will be some dimming of LEDs slightly depending on the dice value.

    You might find it messing up the randomness, too, if you did a statistical analysis. The changing of the supply voltage to the two chips, as the display changes, probably affects the timing of the RC oscillator on a cycle-by-cycle basis as well.

     

    On the other hand this circuit uses a lot less parts than the Velleman kit! That has a surprising amount of diodes in the video.

    It gives them the normal diagonal two or three symbol. Your teenage self cheated and had the two or three horizontally across the middle!

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  • in reply to shabaz

    So there will be some dimming of LEDs slightly depending on the dice value.

    You might find it messing up the randomness, too, if you did a statistical analysis. The changing of the supply voltage to the two chips, as the display changes, probably affects the timing of the RC oscillator on a cycle-by-cycle basis as well.

     

    On the other hand this circuit uses a lot less parts than the Velleman kit! That has a surprising amount of diodes in the video.

    It gives them the normal diagonal two or three symbol. Your teenage self cheated and had the two or three horizontally across the middle!

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