The Systems Innovation Brief

• Design and program a sequence of flashing

lights using PIC systems and control
technology to make a
Polymer based product which suits a
problem of your choice.
What is a system?
A system is a collection of
interconnecting parts which work
together to perform a particular
function. 
We can group systems under a number
of different headings:
Biological...digestive system
Structural...bridges etc.
Mechanical...cogs in a clock
Electronic...kettle program
All systems have an Input, Process &
Output and need to be controlled by a
feedback loop which checks the output
and feeds back results to the system.
 Input, Process and
Output of our Safety 1.
Lights
• 1. Light Dependent Resistor, abbreviated
to LDR. This is the INPUT of our safety
lights and in them the LDR detects
whether there is light or not. 3.
• 2. Peripheral Interface Controller,
abbreviated to PIC. This is the PROCESS
in our safety lights, which then gives out
an output depending on the input.
• 3. Light Emitting Diode, abbreviated to 2.
LED. This is the OUTPUT of our safety
lights and, as suggested by the name, it
gives off light.
Examples of different inputs, processes and outputs:
Number 1: An electronic
speaker

• Input: Play button

• Process: Play button
completes process 
• Output: Sound is emitted by
the speakers
 Number 2: An electronic fan
• Input: Switches on the side
• Process: Switch starts circuit and
ends it but a different circuit is
run depending on which button you
press
• Output: Air is projected and blown
out into the surrounding area
 Number 3: A digital
camera
Input: Camera clicker
Process: Camera
clicker completes the circuit by
sending a signal to the main
system
Output: Photo taken and saved
to the camera's memory
Programming: Learning how to and making our own
The process instructs the
amount of times the LED
will flash.
This process turns the LED on
and the colour of the LED
turned on is decided by this.
This process makes the LED
stay on the colour it was on
for a certain amount of time.

This process turns off the LED

and the colour of what LED is
turned off is decided by this.
This process ends the
loop so it stops.
Designing My Output
1) 2) 3)

G2

G1 G0

Repeats Repeats Repeats

4) 5) 6)
My Programming based
off of my model output
• On the diagram to the right, you can see
that next to the diamond labelled, "G3
Off?", there are two different paths
leading off of it.
• These are the night and day outputs,
differentiated by the small red and
green circles that are labelled either N
or Y. N is the night cycle and Y is the day
cycle.
My PCB: Printed Circuit Board
 Completed PCB: With
LEDs and LDRs
• The images to the left are pictures of
my completed PCB with all of the
components soldered in. I ran into
some difficulty regarding the LEDs
since when I bent them the solder
came off.
 Laser Cutting
• I decided to make a festive tie
made out of acrylic plastic and
then decided to add fabric to it
to make it wearable.
• Before creating our designs, we
also analysed some other
designs using ACCESS FM