P1.2.

7 Printed Circuit Board Design

Metronome
Sasha Mittal
October 7, 2019 - October 25, 2019
Honors Digital Electronics, Period 5

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Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 1
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page 1

Table of Contents 2

Circuit Description 3-5

Fabrication Design 6 - 10

Final Circuit Design 11-12

References  13

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Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 2
 CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION

The circuit that I made is a

metronome. A metronome is a
device that provides a tempo for
musicians. The speed of the
metronome can be adjusted by the
user based on the speed of the
music. I got this circuit from a
website​ called 555 Timer Circuits.

The metronome works as a normal

555 Timer. The main difference is
that the first resistor is replaced with
a potentiometer. The potentiometer
acts as an adjustable voltage divider.
When the potentiometer is turned,
the resistance of the potentiometer
changes. Therefore, turning the
potentiometer increases or decreases
the time between the “toc” sound.

Sasha Mittal  10/26/2019 

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Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 3
 The circuit uses the 555 Timer in an
astable mode. The sketch to the left
shows a 555 Timer in astable mode.
Since the trigger and threshold pins
are connected to one another, there is
no need for any external trigger.
Initially, the voltage source charges
the capacitor through the
potentiometer and resistor. The
threshold comparator will output
zero and the trigger comparator will
output one. Therefore, the output of
the 555 Timer is one. When the
voltage across the capacitor reaches
⅓ of its capacity, the trigger
comparator will output zero.
However, this will not change the
output of the 555 Timer because both
comparators would have a low value.
When the voltage across the capacitor reaches ⅔ of its capacity, the threshold comparator
will output one. This will change the output of the 555 Timer to zero. The discharge transistor
will then be activated and the capacitor will lose voltage through the resistor. Once the voltage
across the capacitor drops to ⅓ of its capacity, the threshold comparator will output zero and the
trigger pin will output one. This makes the output of the 555 Timer one and the discharge
transistor is turned off.
This way, the 555 Timer continues to charge and discharge the capacitor on its own. In
the metronome circuit, this process allows the loudspeaker to continue a constant “toc” sound
output. When the resistance of the potentiometer is changed, the time high is altered, therefore,
changing the speed of the “toc” sound.

Sasha Mittal  10/26/2019 

© 2019 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 4
Original Circuit: Modified circuit built and tested on
breadboard:

(555 Timer Circuits, 2010)

To test the circuit, I built it on my breadboard.
When I built this circuit, the metronome was
working except for one flaw: the speed did
not go low or high enough for practical uses.
If the metronome does not have an adequate
range, its usage will be very limited. To solve
this issue, I replaced the 250K potentiometer
with a 500K potentiometer and replaced the
22uF capacitor at pin 3 with a 1uF capacitor.
With double the amount of possible
resistance, the speed of the “toc” sound will
be able to go much lower than before. The
lower capacitor value allowed the circuit to
reach higher speeds while maintaining a
smooth oscillation. Another modification I
made to the original circuit was adding a
0.01uF capacitor to pin 5, and then connecting
it to ground. Doing so allows the control pin
to level out any fluctuations in the supply
voltage that might affect the timer’s
operation.

Sasha Mittal  10/26/2019 

© 2019 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 5
 FABRICATION DESIGN
Fritzing:

First draft of PCB: Once I finalized my circuit design, I started

building my circuit on Fritzing. First, I sized
my board appropriately and placed all the
necessary components for my circuit onto the
PCB board. Then I made all necessary
connections. When doing so, I had to ensure
that there were no sharp turns and that all
angles were obtuse. In order to ensure that no
copper wires crossed over each other, I used a
jumper wire to connect my loudspeaker to
ground. I also used thick copper wires when
connecting components, which lowers the risk
of the connection breaking off at some point
in the fabrication process. Additionally, I
placed copper pads on all component legs
(except for the 555 Timer) as a precautionary
measure. The extra copper would help make
sure that all connections would be made
successfully, for if any copper burned off
when soldering there would be extra copper
that I could use to make the connection.

Sasha Mittal  10/26/2019 

© 2019 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 6
Final draft of PCB:

Sasha Mittal  10/26/2019 

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Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 7
Masking and Etching:

The next step was masking. The purpose of

masking is to transfer your circuit design onto
the copper board so that the copper does not
erode in the areas where the design has been
masked.

Once my fritzing was complete, I printed my

design on glossy paper and cut it out. Then, I
prepared my copper board by scrubbing it
with sandpaper and wiping it with acetone. I
then taped the corners of the design onto the
copper board and started ironing my board.
After ironing for 25 minutes, I carefully wet
my board, peeled the paper off of my board
and scrubbed off any paper residue. None of
the copper connections were broken or
incomplete, so I had completed masking.

Sasha Mittal  10/26/2019 

© 2019 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 8
 I then moved on to the etching portion. I
submerged my board in a solution of ferric
chloride and agitated it every 5 minutes while
checking to ensure that my mask did not
erode. After etching for 60 minutes, I took out
my PCB board and cleaned it. Afterwards, I
scrubbed my board with sandpaper to make
the circuit connections shiny by removing any
excess toner (reveal the copper). The result is
shown on the left.

Sasha Mittal  10/26/2019 

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Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 9
Soldering and Testing:

The next step was to drill holes in my board. I

used a rotary tool and drilled a hole for each
component leg. The result is shown to the left.

Sasha Mittal  10/26/2019 

Once all the holes were drilled, I gathered all

components necessary and taped them onto to
the board in preparation for soldering. When
soldering, I used the thin solder wire and
precise movements to ensure that all
components were secured without an excess
of solder or burning the board.

Sasha Mittal  10/26/2019 

© 2019 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 10
 FINAL CIRCUIT DESIGN

Summary
I started by doing research and finding a circuit that I was interested in building. I found
the metronome circuit interesting because I play piano and use a metronome quite often.
Therefore, I felt that building a metronome would have both a practical and educational use. I
testing the schematic provided on my breadboard and made changes to three components in
order to increase the speed range of the circuit, as well as level out fluctuations by adding a
capacitor to the control pin. After I finalized my circuit design, I began to work on fritzing. This
step took the most time for me since it was my first time using the fritzing software. Once I was
sure that my PCB did not have any sharp turns or anything that would inhibit the functionality of
my circuit, I printed my board on glossy paper and transferred it to my copper board through
ironing. Then I removed all copper on my board except for the areas with the circuit printed on it
through etching. Afterwards, I drilled the holes in my board and soldered on my components.
The final product is a metronome that produces a “toc” sound based on the potentiometer
value. The speed of the toc sound can be adjusted by turning the potentiometer. The metronome
can be used to help users keep tempo when playing music.
In the future, some changes I would like to make to my circuit include putting a knob on
my potentiometer so that it can be rotated easily. Currently, the potentiometer is difficult to
rotate because the part that rotates is quite small. Additionally, from now on I plan to be more
mindful of how much time I spend on fritzing. During this project, I struggled with fritzing
because it was my first time using it. But I eventually learned my way around it and believe that
the next time I use fritzing will be much more efficient.

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Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 11
Top view of final metronome circuit. Bottom view of final metronome circuit.

From the top view of the metronome, one can From the bottom view of the circuit, one can
see what components are concluded in the see the copper connections between
circuit, as well as faintly see the copper components, as well as the solder that
connections in between components. connected components to the board.

Video of metronome circuit (going from fast Video of metronome circuit (going from slow
to slow tempo) to fast tempo)

This video shows that the metronome is able This video shows that the metronome is able
to change its speech from fast to slow by to change its speech from slow to fast by
turning the potentiometer clockwise. turning the potentiometer counterclockwise.

Sasha Mittal  10/26/2019 

© 2019 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 12
 REFERENCES

[How to Mechatronics]. (2018, February 6). ​How a 555 Timer IC Works.​ [Video File]. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0SNb__dkYI

Metronome Circuit. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.555-timer-circuits.com/metronome.html.

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Honors Digital Electronics 1.2.7 – Page 13