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How to Make a Control Board for a Traffic Light

A traffic light controller is a classic microprocessor electronic control experiment that is perfect for use in a model railroads. By making your own traffic light controller, you will be able to have greater control over the traffic light timings compared to the standard controllers that are sold in model shops.

The easiest and most reliable method of achieving model traffic light control is to use a ready to assemble, AXE092 school experimenter printed circuit board. These printed circuit board kits use the PICAXE 08 microprocessor and are ready supplied with red, amber and green LEDs.

Things You'll Need

PICAXE AXE092 school experimenter board kit
Soldering iron and solder
Side cutters
Small pair of pliers
3 AA cells
PICAXE AXE026 download cable
Computer with PICAXE software

Instructions

Assemble the Circuit Board
- 1
  Solder the resistors in position on the circuit board. You will need to refer to the data sheet to check the correct position.
- 2
  Solder the IC sockets and capacitors in position. Refer to the data sheet to ensure correct polarity and positioning.
- 3
  Solder the remaining LEDs, LDR and switches in place.
- 4
  Thread the piezo speaker and battery clips that were supplied with the kit through the strain hole on the PCB. Solder these wires in place according to the data sheet, ensuring that the red wires are located in the positive holes.
Configure the Microprocessor
- 5
  Download and install the PICAXE software to your computer.
- 6
  Insert the PICAXE 08 IC into the chip holder.
- 7
  Connect the AA batteries to the battery clip.
- 8
  Connect the school experimenter board to the computer via the PICAXE download cable.
- 9
  Input the source code from the data sheet into the PICAXE software. Press the upload button and disconnect from the computer to test operation.

Model Railroads