555 IC Tutorial & Circuits

The 555 timer IC has been around now for quite some time and the list of potential uses for this
device appears to be endless. This article contains a few examples of circuits that you might
incorporate in your next design.

OPERATION
Before we review the circuits though, lets take a look at the basic anatomy of the timer. A
diagram shows that the circuit consists of two comparators, which share a common voltage
divider. Voltage derived from the divider sets two reference points. A low voltage, equal to 1/3
the supply voltage, is applied to comparator 2 and establishes the turn on voltage, which is
anything below 1/3 of the supply voltage. Comparator 1 is biased at 2/3 the supply voltage and
will respond only to a signal that exceeds this level. This enables the 555 to operate as a window
detector.

The conventional 8 pin DIP package is the most common, but a T metal can type is also
available. Supply voltage requirements range from 3 to 18 volts, making the 555 one of the most
versatile integrated circuits available.
Another mode of operation requires only a few millivolts to trigger the device on or off, making
it ideally suited to touch plate circuits.

TOUCH PLATES
An example of a dual plate controller can be seen in the first circuit illustration. Resistor R1 acts
as a pull-up resistor to keep pin 2 biased off. Touching the on plate applies the AC voltage
present on the surface of your skin, to the circuit and the LED glows. Power can be taken from
pin 3 to operate a low current device. To turn the circuit off, touch the off plate and the power at
pin three goes to zero and the LED as well as anything connected to pin three, turns off.

A second touch plate design automatically turns off after a period of time which is determined by
the value of capacitor C1 and is adjustable through potentiometer R3. This type of circuit is well
suited for car alarms if you substitute a piezo buzzer for the LED.

ALARM
Alarms are very popular circuits today and the 555 timer is ideally suited to the task, so I would
be remiss if I did include at least one in this article. Light provides the perfect trigger source for
alarms and the circuit shown here is among the easiest to construct.

A cadmium sulfide photo-resistor is used to trigger the 555 and a potentiometer, R2, adjusts
sensitivity. Switch S1 resets the alarm and a piezo-buzzer serves as the sound-producing element.
All of this and a 9-volt battery can be enclosed in a small project box. Small units like this can be
used by a business man as a brief case alarm or hotel room alarm.

SCR AND RELAY

The 555 with the use of SCRs or relays can control robotic systems that require more voltage or
current. An example of this kind of interface is shown the next illustration. Resistor R1 provides
biasing to stabilize the input which is sensitive to low level triggering. Triggering requires a
negative pulse and the output stays high until the reset is engaged. Coupling capacitor C1 passes
the quick positive pulse required by the SCR. Once the SCR is turned on, it provides power to
the load until the reset input is triggered.
If you need to control a heavy-duty power source, you might consider using a relay to substitute
for the SCR. The relay requires a constant DC current to remain on so the capacitor is omitted
and two diodes are used to prevent false triggering.

POSITIVE TRIGGER

As you can see, the 555 needs a negative trigger to turn on. If you need a positive trigger
response, take a look at the positive trigger circuit. Resistor R1 serves as a pull-up resistor while
transistor Q1 takes positive pulse input and presents a negative pulse to pin 2.

The input is in phase with the output and resistor R2 and capacitor C1 determine the pulse width.

MIDI PROCESSOR

Pulse processing is an important function that the 555 is uniquely qualified to perform. Missing
pulse detectors for production line monitoring is a very popular circuit. We have here though, a
circuit that responds only to pre-selected pulses. Electronic music synthesizers produce a pulse
train that triggers percussive events. This pulse is useless without a way to select the pulses you
need for a given rhythmic pattern. The MIDI pulse processor enables you to select the pulses you
want while ignoring all others.
A MIDI pulse is taken from a digital synthesizer through J1, a 5-pin DIN connector and fed to an
optocoupler, IC1. All rhythm pulses appear at the out of IC1 and passed to input pin 2 of the 555
timer. When triggered, the timer stays on until capacitor C2 charges to 2/3 the supply voltage
through resistor R3 and two potentiometers, R4 and R5. One of the potentiometers is tune and
the other is fine tune. As they are manipulated, the time between pulses is changed from original
frequency to about one beat every 15 seconds. The output can be fed to either analog or MIDI
inputs.

OSCILLATOR
Wave generating is another function that the 555 can perform with ease. In the oscillator
schematic we see resistor R1 and potentiometer R2 provide an adjustable charging voltage to
capacitor C1. When the voltage rises to 2/3 of the supply voltage, pin 6 is triggered and enables
pin seven to ground the capacitor and pin two, starting the charge all over again. The output at
pin 3 is a short duration pulse fed to Jack 2. This shape is not particularly useful as a test shape or
a musical shape.

A ramp wave is an ideal shape for both test purposes and music production because it contains a
full complement of harmonics and can be converted to any other wave shape. The high input
impedance of the FET also eliminates any circuit loading problems. Resistor R3 isolates a
sensitive FET from the heavy 10-volt wave differential while resistor R4 limits the current
through the transistor. Volume of both outputs is controlled by potentiometers R5 and R6, while
R7 limits current through capacitor C3 and on to output jack J2.

ABOUT PIN 3
The output pin is taken from a buffer to prevent interaction with other functions of the IC. An
output of full power or dead ground is the only option at pin 3, so an appropriate protection
resistor should chosen for interface.

ABOUT PIN 4
In almost all circuits with the 555 timer, pin 4 is connected to positive end of the power supply.
This is because it resets the internal flip-flop when an operating cycle is complete. You may
choose to use pin 4 as an enable control. You can see what circuit modification is necessary to
use pin 4 as an enable control in the pin treatment illustration.

ABOUT PIN 5

In all of the circuits you have seen in this article, not one of them has a use for pin five; however,
pin five should not be overlooked. Access to the voltage divider high reference point is found at
pin 5 and a capacitor from pin 5 to ground can stabilize a battery-operated circuit.

Another use for pin 5 is to change the reference voltage window from 2/3 to of the supply
voltage. This will effectively change the operating frequency of an oscillator and serve as a
modulating control. An illustration of both techniques can be seen under the heading, pin
treatments.

ABOUT PIN 7
If you have ever seen a circuit with pin seven connected to the power supplies positive terminal
through a potentiometer. This is not a good idea, for if the pot is ever turned to its point of
minimum resistance, the pot will be damaged or the timer. The purpose of pin seven is to ground
the charging capacitor at pin 6. This completes the cycle and pin 7 will remain at ground
potential until pin 2 is triggered It is therefore imperative that at least one fixed resistor put in
series with any potentiometer connected to pin seven, to prevent accidental damage.

CONCLUSION
If you need timing circuit for your next project, you might try the 555 timer. Considering the
voltage requirements, the various modes of operation, and the cost of the device, it would be
difficult to find anything that would compare to the 555 timer.

A dual version of the timer is also available. The 556 is two independent timers on a single 14pin DIP chip. Pin placement is shown in the illustration.