iJ) MINI-PROJECT Willy Dhooge he auth ‘ountered pr th the mechanical indicator on his Hark javidson hike and came up vith an a Qa motor vehicles like scooters, ‘mopeds, motor ‘mechanically con (historically also tor’) arranges for lamps to flash at the sido, front and back of the vehicle when the driver intends to make major turn. For decades, the circuit controling the tum indicator lights has been based on a relay or a bimetallic sitip, which are both subject to wear and tear and hence breakdown. I fail: lure occurs, an original control unit is ‘often difficult to get and one soon start to think about an electronic version with eternal life. is month's Mini Project demon strates that an all-clectronic replace ‘ment is easy to build from just stan- dard components. The key element is ‘8 power MOSFET capable of passing Ccurtents up to 26 A (Figure 1) series with the turn indicator lamps, 70 FET replaces relay BG beets 11/2005When the FET (field effect transistor) conducts, components Di and Ci ensure the supply voltage remains present for the drive electronics, dur- ing the omperiods. Moreover, as a result of the on/off switching, the cath- ode of Di is ‘lifted’ some 11 V above the battery voltage, allowing the gate of the MOSFET to switch the device {nto full conduction When the supply voltage is ewitched on, C2 is initially discharged, causing "73 to be kept off. The base of T2 is held low by R4, causing T2 to conduct and ‘the emitter of TS to be pulled down to about 2 V. The gate of T1 being con- ‘nected to the emitter of T2 via Ri, 12 ‘wil not conduct. Once C2 is almas fully ‘charged (via R3, D3 and T2), 73 starts to conduct, switching off 2, Next, FET ‘T1 is driven into conduction via RB and ‘RI and the lamps will light. While 73 ‘conducts, C2 is discharged via RS, 73 ‘and R2 causing 3 to block after a while ‘and 72 to be driven into conduction again. Tl then no longer receives a gate voltage and switches of. Amini board Although the circuit diagram seems to contain a good number of components, actually building the circuit on a PCB is neither a difficult nor a long-winded affair. Looking at the PCB artwork in Figure 2, the whole circuit is accom- ‘modated on a 3 x 3 cm square PCB. ‘Mounting the parts is not expected to cause difficulty — the FET may bbe mounted upright and does not require @ heatsink, ‘The wiring diagram in Figure 3 is intencled as a guide to installing the circuit in or on the vehicle. In fact, there is little change with respect to the original configuration, but do note that connection TI is wired to the | +12 V line, and T2, to the turn indica- tor switches. | 1/05 eis | COMPONENTS LIST Resistors: Ratko, 22.83 = 150k. 1 Rd= 100k. 1 R586 = 10k 1 1 Capacitors: Cl» 100pF oF 150uF, 16V, redial 270nF Semiconductors: D1 = IN4001 DI,D2 = IN4148 1 = IRFZ3AN 1273 =BC558 Miscellaneous: PCB, ref. 05012041 fom The PCBShop ‘gp. Conecton dora ofthe tn nico norpoating he lls stte ive ca. n