tts Crumble Blog 5 Nightlight Making Instructions
- June 3, 2024
- tts
Table of Contents
tts Crumble Blog 5 Nightlight Making
Follow this step-by-step guide on how to make a nightlight.
Associated resources:
- Crumble lesson plan
- Crumble PowerPoint – nightlight
- Crumble blog 1 – set up the controller
- Crumble workbook 5 – nightlight
You will need
Parts included in class kit
- 1 Crumble controller unit (see Crumble blog 1)
- 1 square of corrugated plastic 12.5cm x 12.5cm
- 1 cardboard craft roll
- 1 strip of corrugated plastic 1.5cm x 39cm (the corrugations must be across the strip, not along it)
- 4 crocodile leads
- 1 light sensor (this can be either an LDR [older kits] or a phototransistor [newer kits])
- 1 lamp
- 1 lamp holder
- 3 card discs
- Coloured gems
Other parts, tools and consumables
- Paint & paintbrush (optional)
- Pair of compasses
- Large scissors
- Double sided tape
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Cool melt glue gun & glue sticks
- Computer (see Crumble blog 1)
INSTALLATION
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Step 1
Paint your craft roll and/or card discs and leave them to dry (optional). -
Step 2
To make the candle holder, use the protractor to mark out a circular base on the square of corrugated plastic and cut it out. To make the handle, cut a slot in two of the card discs and slot them onto the edge of the base, gluing them firmly in place. Glue the strip of corrugated plastic around the edge of the base, starting with one end butted up against the handle. Trim the other end so that it also butts up against the handle. -
Step 3
Take the third card disc and use the nose of the scissors to enlarge the hole in the middle until the nose of the bulb holder can just be pushed in (it should be a tight fit). To do this, push the nose of the scissors into the hole and rotate the scissors to make a smooth round hole. Trim off any rough edges. -
Step 4
Glue the bulb holder to the card disc. Clip two crocodile leads firmly to the lamp terminals (screws) from underneath. Cut a vee 0.8cm long in the bottom of the craft roll. Feed the crocodile leads down through the craft roll and glue the card disc to the top of the craft roll. -
Step 5
Tuck the crocodile leads into the vee and glue the bottom of the craft roll firmly down onto the base, with the crocodile leads sticking out. -
Step 6
Cut a 1.2cm x 1.5cm rectangle from corrugated plastic offcuts. Use the double- sided tape to stick it onto the bottom of the light sensor (the side without the components – see the photos in Step 8). Glue the other side of the plastic firmly down onto the base. Clip the two remaining crocodile leads onto the terminals on either side of the light sensor. Cut notches in the side of the candle holder and feed the crocodile leads out through them. -
Step 7
Connect the two crocodile leads from the lamp terminals to the Motor 1 terminals on the Crumble. It doesn’t matter which way round these are connected. If you have the 2xAA battery holder, clip the battery snap onto the battery holder terminals. If you have the 3xAA battery holder, switch it on. -
Step 8
Identify whether your light sensor is an LDR or a phototransistor. The components are labelled, and photos of each are given below.
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Step 9
Connect the two crocodile leads from the light sensor to terminals C and D on the Crumble. If you have a phototransistor then it is labelled + and -. Connect the + side to D and – side to C. If you have an LDR then it doesn’t matter which way round it is connected.
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Step 10
Construct and run the following program. This program sets the output D to high. It then checks if the signal received at C is low and if so, it switches on the lamp. Cover the light sensor with your hand and check the lamp lights up. Take your hand away, and the lamp should go off.
(The light sensor is a component whose characteristics change with the light level. When light falls on it, it will conduct more easily, so if D is set to high then C will also be high. If the light sensor is in the dark then it becomes less conductive, and so C becomes low and the lamp comes on.) -
Step 11
Decorate your candle and candle holder.
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Step 12
Switch off (if you have the 3xAA battery holder) or unclip the battery snap from the battery holder (if you have the 2xAA battery holder) when not in use to avoid draining the battery
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