Jan Marc S.

Karganilla 10- Newton

555 Timer Integrated Circuit (IC)

The 555 timer integrated circuit (IC) has become a
mainstay in electronics design. A 555 timer will produce a pulse
when a trigger signal is applied to it. The pulse length is
determined by the amount of time it takes to charge and discharge
a capacitor connected to a 555 timer. A 555 timer can be used to
debounce switches, modulate signals, create accurate clock
signals, create pulse width modulated (PWM) signals, etc. A 555 timer can be obtained from
various manufacturers including Fairchild Semiconductor and National Semiconductor. A 555
timer is shown below.

Description of the 555 timer pins

Pin 1 GND Ground Connection
Pin 2 Trigger 555 timer triggers when this pin transitions from voltage at VCC to 33% v
voltage at VCC. Output pin goes high when triggered
Pin 3 Output Output pin of 555 timer
Pin 4 Reset Resets 555 timer when low
Pin 5 Control Voltage Used to change Threshold and Trigger set point voltages and is
rarely used
Pin 6 Threshold Used to detect when the capacitor has charged. The Output pin goes low
when the capacitor has charged to 66.6% of VCC.
Pin 7 Discharge Used to discharge the capacitor
Pin 8 VCC 5V to 15V supply input
 Simple Wig-Wag Lamp Flasher

The astable mode, which is basically formed by joining pin #2 and 6 of the IC together.
This attributes the circuit with the property of running freely as a multivibrator through self-
triggering. The charging of the external timing capacitor takes place with the help of the
resistors Ra/Rb, and the discharging process completes through Rb. Therefore the duty cycle of
the circuit can be accurately confirmed by adjusting the ratio of resistors Ra/Rb.
The IC 555 runs freely, setting and resetting itself or simply switches an external
load (LEDs) alternately to produce a flashing or a wig-wag effect. If a 12 volt supply is
used, then each channel can be connected with 4 LEDs each, making the illuminations
more interesting starts oscillating at a frequency fixed, set externally through R1 and C1.
In this design the circuit exploits this feature and dazzling.
PCB DESIGN