Chapter 6 Challenges

Phototransistor Voltage Output Circuit

Phototransistor voltage output circuit with 2 k-ohm resistor in series with the
phototransistor

Questions
What does a transistor regulate?
The amount of current it allows to pass into its collector and out through its base.

Which phototransistor terminals have leads?

The phototransistors collector and emitter terminals are connected to leads.

How can you use the flat spot on the phototransistors plastic case to identify its
terminals?
The lead thats closer to the flat spot is the emitter. The lead thats further away
from the flat spot is the collector.

Which color would the phototransistor be more sensitive to: red or green?
The wavelength of red is closer to the wavelength of infrared, so it should be more
sensitive to red.

How does VA3 in the circuit above respond if the light gets brighter?
VA3 increases with more light.

What does the phototransistor in the circuit above do that causes VA3 to increase or
decrease?
The phototransistor supplies the resistor with more or less current.

How can the circuit above be modified to make it more sensitive to light?
Change the 2 k resistor to a higher value.

What happens when the voltage applied to an I/O pin that has been set to input is
above or below the threshold voltage?
If the applied voltage is above the threshold voltage, the input register bit for that
pin stores a 1. If its below threshold voltage, the input register bit stores a 0.

If the amount of charge a capacitor stores decreases, what happens to the voltage
at its terminals?
The voltage decreases.

Exercises
Solve for VA3 if I = 1 mA in the circuit above.
V = I R = 0.001 A 2000 = 2 V.

Calculate the current through the resistor if VA3 in the circuit above is 4.5 V.
V = I R I = V R = 4.5 2000 = 0.00225 A = 2.25 mA.

Calculate the value of a capacitor that has been stamped 105.

105 10 with 5 zeros appended and multiplied by 1 pF. 1,000,000 1 pF = (1
106) (1 1012) F = 1 106 F = 1 F.

Write an rcTime statement that measures decay time with pin 7 and stores the
result in a variable named tDecay.
It would be long tDecay = rcTime(7);

Calculate what the ndShade measurement would be if the Arduino measures decay
values of 1001 on both sides.
ndShade = tRight / (tLeft+Right) - 0.5 = 1001 (1001 + 1001) 0.5 = 0.5 0.5 =
0.

Write a for loop that displays fifty equal sign characters in the Serial Monitor.
Solution:

for(int i = 1; i<=50; i++) // Repeat 50 times

{
Serial.print('='); // one = char each time through
}

Projects
In Activity 1, the circuit, along with the HaltUnderBrightLight sketch, made the BOE
Shield-Bot stop under a light at the end of the course. What if you will only have a
limited time at a course before a competition, and you dont know the lighting
conditions in advance? You might need to calibrate your BOE Shield-Bot on site. A
sketch that makes the piezospeaker beep repeatedly when the BOE Shield-Bot
detects bright light and stay quiet when it detects ambient light could be useful for
this task. Write and test a sketch to do this with the circuit in Activity 1.
This is a modified version of HaltUnderBrightLight

/*
* Robotics with the BOE Shield - Chapter 6, Project 1
* Chirp when light is above threshold. Will require updating value of
* threshold & retesting under bright light to get to the right value.
*/

void setup() // Built-in initialization block

{
tone(4, 3000, 1000); // Play tone for 1 second
delay(1000); // Delay to finish tone
}

void loop() // Main loop auto-repeats

{
if(volts(A3) > 3.5) // If A3 voltage greater than 3.5
{
tone(4, 4000, 50); // Start chirping
delay(100);
}
}

float volts(int adPin) // Measures volts at adPin

{ // Returns floating point voltage
return float(analogRead(adPin)) * 5.0 / 1024.0;
}

Develop an application that makes the BOE Shield-Bot roam and search for darkness
instead of light. This application should utilize the charge transfer circuits from
Building the Photosensitive Eyes.

The solution for this one is to make a copy of LightSeekingShieldBot, and add one
command to the loop function: ndShade = -ndShade.

Develop an application that makes the BOE Shield-Bot roam toward a bright
incandescent desk lamp in a room where the only other light sources are fluorescent
ceiling lights. The BOE Shield-Bot should be able to roam toward the desk lamp and
play a tone when its under it. This application should use the charge transfer
circuits from Building the Photosensitive Eyes.

Use LightSensorValues to determine a threshold. Its best to take tLeft + tRight.

You can use the LightSensorValues to test this.