JCM EDUCATION SERVICES
The Excitement is Building!
Flitterbug Fabrication
You're about to fabricate a electronic-based product, just as a technologist may in a manufacturing company. The quality of your product is directly dependent on the time and care you take with the product assembly!
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It's exciting to start, but take your time, and enjoy the creation process and READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. If you have any questions of comments to improve them, please feel free to connect with me with your idea's
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I hope you enjoy the build and HAVE FUN!!
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-Craig
Optional Pre-Assembly Experiments
Before your build session, learn more about Solar Power Harvesting by using the parts in your kit in our free workshop.
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You will:
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Measure PV power generation vs light colour
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Measure PV power vs angle of incident
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Demonstrate traditional “generator” induced power using your DC motor
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Discuss wind power, water power, nuclear power, natural gas power using steam-generators
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Test power storage devices to consolidate electron charge storage
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Describe accumulated work done in PV over time
Flitterbug Variants
Decide:
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Your Flitterbug can be built to be either PLANT or ANIMAL. There is a small difference in the circuit board assembly depending on your choice. All plant variants have motors facing up, and all animal variants have them facing down.
Plant Variants:
These versions of the flitterbug are built with the motor shaft facing up!
Animal Variants:
These versions of the flitterbug are built with the motor facing down. These instructions below are only for PLANT MODE
TOOLS
You will need these tools to assemble your kit:
Needle-nose pliers
Safety Glasses
Quality Soldering Iron
Used toothbrush
(Optional)
Solder Wick
(Optional)
Side-cutters
60/40 Lead-free Solder
99% Isopropyl Alcohol
(Optional)
Helping Hands or Small Vise (Optional)
Damp Sponge
SOLDERING
How do you solder?? Here's a great video to get you up to speed on making a workable solderjoint.
Here's a couple notes not mentioned in this video:
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When pulling your iron away from the solderjoint, drag it up the shaft of the wire. This will stop the solder from "spiking" toward your iron.
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To clean the flux off after you've finished soldering, scrub the board with a toothbrush and 90% isopropyl alcohol. This will remove the flux from the board.
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Professionals prefer to "snip" the excess wire off BEFORE soldering, leaving just a couple mm above the board. Snipping AFTER soldering can cause micro-fractures in the solder joint which can cause degradation of the joint after a while.
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Avoid breathing solder fumes, and wash your hands well afterwards to remove the solder and flux residue.
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If you do burn your finger, place it quickly on your wet sponge to cool it down. ( Not your mouth! )
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Hold the wires as you clip them to avoid them shooting across the room.
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ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!!
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As you remove your parts and check inventory, you should place them in a suitable storage device such as egg-tray or muffin-tin. Most parts are small and can easily roll away! Feel free to check the checkboxes as you locate them.
PARTS LIST
Check your parts!
Building Instructions Video
Step 1: Populate the PCB
SAFETY WARNING: To avoid eye injury when you clip off excess leads, wear safety glasses and hold end of wire when clipping!
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NOTE: No lead should extend more than 1/8” above the circuit board after it has been soldered and cut off.
Step 1-1
Bend Resistors
Carefully remove the resistors from the tape, and bend the leads downward to fit the circuit board pads
Step 1-2
Install Resistors
Place the resistors in the locations R1 and R2. Mount them flush to the board and solder
Step 1-3
"Plant" jumpers
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Solder the jumper-pads so solder bridges the pads as shown.
Step 1-4
Install MC34164 Voltage Trigger
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Insert MC34164 Voltage Trigger in the three holes as shown and solder from the bottom side.
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Make sure the flat side of the package lines up with the silkscreen, and the component stands about 5mm above the circuit board ( not flush )
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Don't mix it up with the MPSA12... they look a lot the same!
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Step 1-5
Install MPSA12 Transistor
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Insert MPSA12 Transistor in the three holes as shown and solder from the bottom side.
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Make sure the flat side of the package lines up with the silkscreen, and the component stands about 5mm above the circuit board ( not flush )
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Don't mix it up with the MC34164... they look a lot the same!
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Step 1-6
Install Four Capacitors
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Install the four capacitor in the holes C1, C2, C3, and C4.
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WATCH POLARITY!
The capacitors are polarized and the negative side is marked on the plastic with a large white band.
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The circuit board silkscreen clearly shows where the positive (not negative ) lead goes.
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White bar marks Negative
Step 2: Final Assembly
Watch polarity! The black and red wire need to be connected as shown here:
Strip the red/black power wires
You'll need to melt through the plastic coating on the solar cell before the solder contacts the metal strip beneath. You'll know when the solder flows in an even pool and doesn't "blob up"
Solder the red/black wires to the circuit board as shown here. Watch the polarity!!
Classic Flitterbug Variant
Press the circuit board into the base and attach solar cell mount and solar cell.
Wind the steel spring-wire onto the spin-arm back and forth through the small holes and pull tight. The small bug should be attached to the other end. Hot glue is an effective way to secure the bug.
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If you have an artificial flower, you can mount it in the hole on the solar cell mount.
Bug-in-jar variant
Alternately, if you have a jar such as a mason jar, you can create a weatherproof bug-in-a-jar display by mounting the PCB on the bottom of the jar lid with double sided foam tape or hot glue ( take care not to short the board out on metal lids ).
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Tape the solar cell on the inside of the jar, facing outwards, as shown here.
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The spring-steel wire would face downwards into the jar and could be bent to create a realistic looking bug-action!
Construction Complete!
Theory and Troubleshooting
Check your soldering carefully, making sure that two pads on the bottom of the board are not shorted together with a solder blob, and that pads have the correct ( volcano ) amount of solder.
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Make certain that the "plant jumpers" on the top side of the board are shorted together with a large blob of solder.
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Check that the wires to the solar cell are actually soldered to the metal bus on the solar cells ( and that you have melted through the plastic coating correctly )
Check the four capacitors to assure the polarity on those are correct.
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Check the MPSA12 and MC34164 to verify they are in the correct spots, and the polarity is correct
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Make sure that the negative side of the solar cell it connected to the correct side of the cell.
Make certain that the light levels on the solar cell are sufficient. Room lights may not be powerful enough. A bright light brought up to the cell, sunlight, or projector light should be more than adequate.
If you have access to a digital voltmeter, make these checks:
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- When brightly lit, make sure there is voltage at the output of the solar cell. The solar cell should produce read maximum 4.7V, then discharge to 3.6V
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- Check the voltage across each capacitor to verify it is following the solar cell voltage.
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- Check the voltage across the motor terminals.
If you SunFLower is still not working, please contact us and we will be pleased to help.