Mini ORMaC

James Stana and I designed this in Google Sketchup.

ORMaC is our 4 foot robotic mascot featured at Orlando Maker Faire 2015 and soon to be joined by his companion CaMRO at Maker Faire Orlando 2016. The project is designed to work without any soldering.

Join us in other projects like this at the Orlando Robotics and Makers Club: http://www.meetup.com/Orlando-Robotics/

An electrical circuit that powers a Light Emitting Diode (LED) is a lot like water being channeled over a water wheel.

The battery potential, or voltage, is represented by a tank of water high above a reservoir. The higher the tank the greater the water pressure, or voltage, and the larger the tank the longer the battery will last.

If you cut a large hole in the tank, all the water will rush out quickly. To slow the water and make it last longer, you might install a valve or run the water through a hose. A resistor acts like a valve or hose to keep the electrical current from flowing out too fast, or your light from going out too quickly.

The Light Emitting Diode (LED) is like a water wheel that turns the energy of the flowing water into motion, or in this case light. It will only work in one direction. If you put it in backwards no energy will flow and nothing happens.

The switch is like a dam or faucet valve, cutting off the flow of water and keeping the wheel from spinning, or LED from lighting.