Friday, January 13, 2017

Lab 5 - Switches and Relays

Description:

I learned that switches and relays are two different things.  Switches turn on or off by manually flipping or activating a switch.  A relay is a switch that is turned on or off by an electric signal or electricity.  A programmable micro controller is something that can use a relay to turn on and off a motor.  A switch usually is very simple and has three or two leads depending on its function.  There are a wide variety of switches that are available for purchase such as knife switches, Mini Slide switches, toggle switches and push button momentary switches.  It is always a good idea to connect an LED, so that you know your switch is providing power.  Relay switches often have coil or solenoid that turns it on or off.  In order for the coil to activate it needs a certain operating current and voltage.  The relay we used had a ten pins.  The first two pins energize the coil and the others a series of switches that are either in a connected state when activated or in a not connected state.  Relays are very important to activate other relays, components, and motors for the robot we will build in the coming days. 

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