Last month, CCNY FIRST Robotics held a workshop in Steinman Hall to give students a brief introduction to the 555 timer integrated circuit chip. The 555 timer IC is a very useful analog and digital IC that has thousands of applications. One of the most common uses of the 555 timer is to output a digital square wave, which can be used as a clock, or “timer” for other circuits. After one studies the 555 a bit, one can see other ways to modify this square wave to create oscillators, switches, or voltage regulators. There are tons of uses and one is only limited by his or her imagination.
The 555 was invented in 1972, and since then has become the most widely known IC. You can read about the history of the 555 as told from its inventor here:
http://semiconductormuseum.com/Transistors/LectureHall/Camenzind/Camenzind_Index.htm
At our workshop, students were given schematics to either use the 555 to alternate turning two LEDs on and off, or students could use the 555 to create a tone, amplified by a piezo speaker.
We even had a student use his 555 timer circuit as part of his Halloween costume, which is pictured below. This demonstrates how one can “wear” the 555 timer.