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Note: The name Dice kit sounds a great deal better than ‘Die Kit’, so the maker bent
the English grammar rules just a little in the name of making a marketable
product. There is only one die per kit (you do have your choice of your choice red or green LED's)Designed for beginners, the Dice Kit comes with everything you need to make one ‘Electronic Die’. What does it do?
Tap the completed Dice kit on the table and the LEDs light up and show a number from 1 through 6. After a short while, the LED dice goes into sleep mode, until the next time it is tapped.
The Dice kit is easy to solder together, making it a great kit for anyone wanting to jump into the kit making arena.
Note: Some easy soldering is required.
How does it work?
The principle is rather simple.
The Dice kit ‘reads’ the impact using the piezo sensor that you will be gluing to the bottom acrylic base.
This sensor reading enters the PCB as analog voltage. A short burst of energy that passes through a voltage limiting, and direction setting Diode (D1). The Diode protects the somewhat sensitive PIC chip from an over voltage.
This reading, or we can call it a ‘Signal’ is read by the PIC on one of the 8 Legs. The reading is analog, the chip converts this analog information into a decimal value.
For Example, : If the piezo sends 1.22348 volts into the PIC, it is interpreted as ‘1.22348’ volts. In order to obtain a random result between 1 and 6, we have developed a way of converting results to 1-6 by a reading from the least significant decimal place, we use that information to generate the associated number on the face of the Dice kit.
The 10mm chunky LEDs are connected through resistors to the PIC chip, and light up the result. In fact the LEDs are actually flashing on and off. The PIC found on the Dice kit, has a limited number of pins, so the seven LEDs are controlled by four pins. After a pause of about 15 seconds, the PIC enters sleep mode, and turns off the LEDs.
In sleep mode, the PIC is in a very low power mode. The instant the Dice kit is struck, the piezo sends a pulse that immediately wakes up the PIC, and starts running the program once again.
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