In my Systems and Control class I am designing a hand steady game. This is to teach people hand eye co-ordination. I am aiming to make it count every time the "wand" touches the wire. I have managed to get a circuit from the program "Crocodile Clips" (A picture of this circuit is attached). This works well but i do not know how to transfer this to a PCB. Can anyone help me or make a better suggestion of how to make this circuit successful?

Thanks,

Stevo2005

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To make a PCB you start by drawing a rough layout on paper and arrange the ICs so as to minimise the track lengths and the number of cross overs.

It is a trial and error process, so do it in pencil.

Draw it looking at the component side so the tracks are in "xray" view.

Then find a PCB layout software so you can lay it out & produce a print from which the PCB can be made.

There was a thread recently about making PCBs. See "My first PCB" in Electronics Chat.

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Len

 

I don't know the answer to your question, but I have a suggestion for your circuit. You might want to add a non-retriggerable one-shot or a debouncer between your wand/wire "switch" and the clock input. If you don't, you will almost certainly get multiple clock pulses every time they touch.

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Ron

 

I agree with ronh, debouncing is a very good idea.

I'm not sure you should create a PCB for it, especially if you've never done it before. Why not lay it out on perf board? It's a pretty simple design and shouldn't be too hard to wire up point-to-point.

If you insist on a PCB, I recommend you get eagle. cadsoftusa.com. it's free but will take some learning.

Phil