The Ultimate Machine - part 4

Still feeling peeved at being sent the wrong components, I started soldering the circuit board for the machine. This was refreshing and pleasant work which, accompanied by a couple of glasses of red wine, was highly satisfying. The chance to wield my soldering iron again felt quite exhilarating.

The circuit consists of:

• 1 220k resistor
• 1 27k resistor
• 1 15k resistor
• 1 1N4148 diode
• 1 0.1uf capacitor
• 1 NE555P timer chip
• 1 4xAA battery holder
• 1 Futaba 4.2kg servo
• 1 DPDT on-on switch (current setup uses an on-off-on switch)
• 1 microswitch
• 8 three pin connectors (four he, four she)
• A few feet of wire - red, yellow, black and blue
• 1 project board

And after putting it all together, this is the result:

Now all that remains is mounting the board in the box, fitting the servo and the switches and fabricating and fitting the arm. With a little luck I just might get it finished this weekend, but as the arm will have to be stained the drying time might make this impossible. Also, as I am using an on-off-on switch instead of an on-on switch, the result might not be practical. I have registered an order for a couple of replacement on-on switches, and these will hopefully be delivered during next week. So, if my vain hope of making it work with an inappropriate switch fails, there are replacements coming. I aim to have it completed by next weekend.