Continue to Site

Welcome to our site!

Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

  • Welcome to our site! Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

Application of Counters

Status
Not open for further replies.

mindhacker

New Member
Hey guys can you help me think of an application of counters. I need it to be a a little complex but not expensive. Digital clock came to my mind but i think it is very common. Can you help me? Thanks.
 
few weeks before i built a Mutiplication table quiz game for my daugther for her school exhibition, there will be 12 LEDs on left and another 12 on right, that light up by a slection micro switch (12 left , 12 right) its like you sleect one number between 1 and 12 on your right and another on your left (indicated by LED)

then press check button and it will display the answer multiplying both numbers. the idea is for example to multiply 4x5 the circuit counts from 1 to 4 for 5 times and holds, the total clcok count is displayed using a 4026 7segment driver.

its bit complicated but just suggesting if you have interest. i used around 30 ICs. for selector and conter i used 4017.

Edit: attached the picture
 

Attachments

  • mutiplication quiz-1.JPG
    mutiplication quiz-1.JPG
    382.7 KB · Views: 174
Last edited:
@mbarazeen That was cool sir. But we are only allowed to use basic gates. That will multiply the number of IC that will be used. =(.
 
@mbarazeen That was cool sir. But we are only allowed to use basic gates. That will multiply the number of IC that will be used. =(.

you can think of making an electronic lock, that will be unlocked when few buttons are prssed in sequence, if the sequence is not followed then it will remain reset.
 
A toy becomes a tool...

I'd build 4 separate blocks: a variable frequency oscillator as timebase, 2 counters (binary and/or decimal: tough choice) and an N X 7 segment display. The creative angle is in how flexible the interconnections are. It can serve a lot of functions based on how they're linked. Once built it'll be a handy tool from then on. I've retasked my blocks on a regular basis since built ~1987. G.H. <<<)))
 
A random number generator. Just run a counter very fast when a button is pressed. Then when the button is released again the number will be random.

Then that could easily be adapted into some type of prizes game etc.
 
A random number generator. Just run a counter very fast when a button is pressed. Then when the button is released again the number will be random.

Then that could easily be adapted into some type of prizes game etc.

To make that so, the clock source would need to be random as well, eg. noise.
 
Huh? :eek:

No, the clock just has to be sufficiently fast. The user provides sufficent randomness by having no control over how many microseconds their finger presses the button. This is a very standard technique that is used in everything from security systems (to re-scramble combination lock displays) to games toys.
 
Acceleration and deceleration times for motors under test. Unloaded how long does it take a motor to achieve a specific RPM? How long does it take under known loads? The same is true of deceleration. If I release an object held by an electro magnet how long does it take from the collapse of the magnetic field to fall a given (known) distance?

Hell, there must be thousands of applications for counter/timers.

Ron
 
Thank you very much everyone for your comments. I love this site. Anyway, I am planning to make now a Christmas light with different modes(fast blink, slow blink, alternate colors using bi-color LED) adjustable by 1 tap switch. The mode will defend on how many time you will tap the switch. How was that?
 
Thank you very much everyone for your comments. I love this site. Anyway, I am planning to make now a Christmas light with different modes(fast blink, slow blink, alternate colors using bi-color LED) adjustable by 1 tap switch. The mode will defend on how many time you will tap the switch. How was that?

you needed some idea that is bit complicated, Christmas light control i believe is a piece of cake. but it may be OK for your requirement.
 
Thank you very much everyone for your comments. I love this site. Anyway, I am planning to make now a Christmas light with different modes(fast blink, slow blink, alternate colors using bi-color LED) adjustable by 1 tap switch. The mode will defend on how many time you will tap the switch. How was that?

I think that sounds wonderfully simple and is both a great example of a counter application and a rewarding and fun project. Good luck!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest threads

New Articles From Microcontroller Tips

Back
Top