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MODULAR ELECTRONICS SOFTWARE - 3
 
V. Ryan © 2004
 
1. The diagram below shows a modular circuit and a conveyor belt system. The circuit has a push switch which, when pressed, causes a solenoid to punch a hole in a piece of card. The card travels across the conveyor belt, is punched and then falls into a basket at the end of the belt.
 
 
When the push switch is pressed, the sensor unit outputs current to the comparator. The comparator detects this change and outputs current to the darlington pair. The darlington pair amplifies the current driving the solenoid.
 
 
 
2. Below is a system designed to monitor the temperature of a car radiator. When the radiator temperature becomes too high the voltage from the temperature sensor and sensor unit changes. The comparator detects this change in voltage and activates the transducer. The transducer driver provides enough power for the motor to operate, cooling the car radiator.
 
 
The modular circuit below is almost the same as the one above. However, this time the transducer driver has been replaced with a darlington pair module. The effect is the same. The darlington pair module amplifies the current so that the motor can be powered.
 
 
If the darlington pair is replaced with a transistor module (composed of one transistor) - what would you expect to happen?
 
 
 
 
The single transistor does not amplify the current to the motor. As a result the motor does not ‘spin’. Control Studio software allows experimentation, without the need to build a real circuit using actual components. It saves time and money as components are not wasted.
 
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