Really nice "flip flap" pendulum kicker - with schematic
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2023
- While attempting to clean this vintage solar flapping leaf ornament I found that the plastic had degraded to the point where one of the leaves broke off unexpectedly. This turned out to be a good thing, as I did a full reverse engineer of the circuitry and being older than the mass produced variants it is made with discrete components as opposed to the modern "blob" chips.
The circuitry is based on a two transistor stage that will self trigger at a threshold as the solar panel charges a capacitor, but can also be pre-triggered before that threshold by the current induced in the pulse coil. This arrangement lets it self-start, and then pulse the magnetic pendulum as it passes over the coil to keep it swinging at its resonant frequency.
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#ElectronicsCreators - Věda a technologie
I built a solar pendulum using the book, "JunkBots, Bugbots, and Bots on Wheels" that we used in our Electronics class in college. I modified it to use sunlight or battery. The main cap is 4700μF and the coil is a 1H "Major Henry" you used to be able to buy at "Solarbotics." It's 12 years old and still "kicking."
The blue "happy flower" one was really high quality. Brass bushings? Wow.
They've certainly figured out how to cheapen these down.
My advise, never make bushings or bearing from brass. It's a terrible bearing material. Use bronze.
A thing worthy of note; these little solar cells are Amorphous type, like those found in garden lights...
However, unlike the garden light, the solars in calculators and the like are a specific low-light or indoor type!
They are only capable of handling light levels up to 100K LUX; basically putting them in direct sunlight degrades their performance; ruining the low-light performance.
Thanks for that explanation @Vilvaran. I got one about 3 months ago and put it at my south window. A few days ago I realized that it was now less sensitive at dawn.... :(
One of the things I love about Clive is he has become a jack of all trades by just being curious (and I am sure through professional experience and age). I have run into him on electronic podcasts and HVACR podcasts. Its something all men should strive for as I think it genuinely helps our mental health and keeps our minds healthy. I just watched something about how young men are struggling, and stuff like this can really help keep you sane. Women too, if you are into this stuff. 👍
I've always been fascinated by these little solar guys. Very happy to see a breakdown on how they actually work.
How beautifully built, lovely & simple. When you are back home it would make a nice oscilloscope version video, showing the waveforms as light levels increase up to full operation. Thank you for sharing!
Definitely would like to see that waveform. We need to chip in for Clive to get a pocket scope he can have at all times.
I have pocket scopes but tend to travel with just my real work tools.
That 100nF cap across the inductor is a very interesting use of a tank circuit.
If the colour code is red red yellow gold as pictured, then the coil is 220mH, which will make the resonance frequency with the 0.1uF cap, at about 1KHz.
I built a Bedini pendulum decades ago. It used a single transistor but had a base winding. Then got board and converted it to a Bedini SSG motor with my son for his school science project.
We both learned a lot about pulse motors and their efficiencies. It even fools people into thinking they found free energy!!!
The cap is for noise dampening.
I made one of those and put a small speaker in series with the battery. Made an odd beepy/squawking noise every time the transistor fired. Fun stuff.
Causing a bit of a flap there Clive
At what point does a flap, become a flop.....😅
@@chrisprobert6 after it flips too far
So THAT'S how those thingies work.
Always good. Thanks Clive!
love the amount of work you do to bring thee vids to us, even cropping the printer photos with a guillotine to make it look neater, an extra step not required but appreciated!
That is wonderfully built, though that coil would've been a kicker if I had to wind it myself! Nice one Clive, and I love how that neatly that pendulum swings in. ❤
Wow, what with the many push-pull flip-flops I've seen, I never met a PNP/NPN one!
Thank you, keep the good work. Always nice to watch your videos.
Good to see an actual circuit of one of these instead of just the "black blob" in a circuit.
Now we know....... 8-).
Half the battle right there.
Rather ingenious to think something like that up. Thanks for sharing Big Clive.
The puzzle "top secret" spinning top puzzle is also very clever for its purpose. 9v battery, one coil with tap and one transistor. Thanks for sharing.
i pulled one of these things out of a rubbish bin. it was broken. i reassembled it many times before i got it right and i'm glad i did. its much simpler in construction than the ones shown here. a wonderful office desk toy. very glad these things got the big clive treatment
I remember building a similar circuit some time as a thing that drives a small electric motor from a small solar cell that didn't have enough current to power it. Also had a big capacitor to store the energy and then two transistors for switching. I never thought it could be used in the solar pendulum toys, but I guess they are essentially a motor anyway.
Brass bushings on something simple. Those were the days.
Using the pendulum to send a pulse back to first transistor results in the mechanical and electrical circuits going into resonance very clever. ❤ some principles remind me of electromagnetic rail launchers
So much fun. Thanks Clive!
Interesting circuit. Thanks.
If I had to guess, the inductor and the 100n cap form a parallel LC oscillator. If you were able to measure the impedance of the inductor you would be able to calculate the frequency. The moving permanent magnet is then pushed in opposite directions in an alternate fashion.
The capacitor is for noise dampening.
Was thinking about this circuit recently. Thanks Clive 👍
Ooh, I love these. Thanks for this.
I am considering using this to build my own. Would be funny to make a waving bigclive in a flowerpot hehe.
"That's a Win" said the little plastic cat waving its forepaw rhythmically where it sat on the counter to the left of the massage parlor mama-san.
"Yes, Yes indeed" she replied quietly in Cantonese, a slight smile touching her lips as she slowly sorted the banknotes into the cash drawer beneath the counter. "Perhaps I will leave the light on for you tonight."
are u mixing japanese aith chinese?
"...are you SURE I stop beckoning if you don't though...?" the little maneki-neko added quietly - "after all, you can't see what I'm doing when it's dark..."
Thanks Clive great explanation as always
You can keep these going all night by soldering a 4.7 Farad super capacitor directly across the solar cell, a discharge protection diode is not required. It will take a few minutes to charge initially but from then on never appears to stop! I've had one going for over a year non stop.
I got mine a few months ago and I put it at the south window. Sometimes I am sleepless at night. So I defined: When the Flower thing is flapping, then it's day ;-)
This would be ruined by that super cap.
I've had a Doraemon version of one of these sitting on my Jeep dash for 9 years now. Still rockin' strong!
Thank you. Keep working, good luck.
Have fun up there Clive. 😀👍
I think the tricky part of a DIY version is the coil, very thin wire and a lot of it to get to 1500 ohms!
You can easily make thousands of winding on a coil with a normal battery drill. You spin the coil with the drill and spool the wire onto the coil. I did that for a guitar pickup some time ago, worked first try and took like 30 minutes for 1000 windings.
Pretty cool, simple solution!
I like it when clive time travels on his videos👍🏻🇬🇧😀
in
ONE MOMENT PLEASE😊
Old electro-mechanical pendulum clocks had a similar very simple arrangement, with magnet, coil, and one or two transistors.
Pendulum version video already made and coming soon. (single transistor version).
Very similar to early electric car clocks. The balance wheel and hairspring set the frequency and the electronics just provided the energy.
Nice one buddy. I have to admit i don't fancy winding that coil by hand😉
Unlike some calculator solar panels, this one seems to be real!
This is a relaxation oscillator. I found a very similar circuit in a flasher lamp off a safety barricade.
Very cool. Reminds me of the little cat with waving had at a Japanese restaurant!
Usually the blob chip these days.
For some reason that reminded me of your Joule thief videos. I was wondering if anyone had a more efficient design for those.
Very cool man! I love your vids.. Best to your brother.. Peace man Rolfie
Love simple circuits like these, very refreshing compared to some of the more complicated PCB designs you have reverse engineered in the past (flashback from the Ferrex drill!).
Standard SCR configured pnp-npn combo. for the regenerative latch effect.
( b-c of npn to c-b of pnp). Because the b-e of the npn has a dc blocking cap, It requires that trickle bias current from the 2M2+ 1M series resistance resistance
divider to tickle it to flip-flap around
I'd like to see the current from the battery powering it, as it's getting up to speed, and when it's at speed. Great analysis.
Neat idea
Thanks!
Thanks. Much appreciated.
Very clever circuit, always more interesting to see something done with a couple BJTs than some black box. Looks easy enough to copy, inductor is the only question, can you buy a coil like that or would it need to be hand wound?
It would be better to buy a spool of wires and wind it with an improvised winding aid like a cordless drill.
Fantastic. Defiantly going to have a go at making something with this circuit.
It's just finding the right coil, don't fancy winding my own. Hard part is what phrase to use in the search engine ha-ha.
An old battery clock has nice coils in them. You should get oscillations going with one of them. You could try it.
@@keithking1985ha-ha It just so happens I have just replaced one of those cheap quarts mechanisms in my wife's kitchen wall clock she got free with Tetley teabags decades ago. Haven't thrown the old one out yet.
I suspect value is not terribly critical, I'd try some small solenoid/relay coils with the core removed. I think jumble/solenoid winding will do here, so the only winding difficulty would be working with such fine wire, probably #30 or thinner.
Seems so very unusual to see actual machined sleeve bearings used on such a thing, versus every one else's plastic-on-plastic friction points... :P
They feel more like pressed eyelets.
Random lady at the office: “Anybody seen my big happy dancing flower? It has been on my desk for almost 10 years since my daughter got it for me and now gone missing.”
I hope you will repair the broken plastics and get the gizmo back in service. (for the good of humanity) 8^) It's a neat circuit. Cheers!
4:08 I thought we’d finally flipped to fluorescent pink paper for schematics until you stopped down the camera!
At first I thought "Ew, terrible white balance!" Then I thought, "Oh, wait, it's Clive. He's probably using pinkish-purplish paper." And then I thought, "Boooo, it was just a white balance problem."
It's very similar to the BEAM Robots version with a few components swap around, but both work in the same way.
Oooo, an outside broadcast Almost live video from Edinburgh. 🤣
Interesting wee thing 2x👍
Nice new table#
Temporary accommodation.
Self resonance!!!❤🎉
Massive cool
Nice!
There is also a single transistor version with no other components needed.
But that does need an seperate trigger winding.
Coming soon. (Video made.)
Sounds just like the wiggle pots that we have
I had the hula girl and I saw the Mr bean at the weekend 🤣
The first time I came across them was wirh a hideous bright purple, chromed, dolphin, also from the pound shop in maybe the very late 90s,and three guesses as to whether it ever worked 🤣
OOH!! pink paper look 🙂
My niece collects these things. I bet she has over 30 now in several windows 😁
Flappy Hour - Happy Flower
@1:34 - "That is very stiff with age." Alas, if it only worked out that way in real life...
Oh, I like this. I have to wonder how precisely tuned any of those components are, or if you just need to get vaguely close for it to work.
There's usually a wide margin.
The first location's desk/lighting actually looked really good on camera. Maybe update the bench at home, or would that be sacrilege?
You made me want to build a similar circuit myself. Thanks, and thanks again!
It's a lot of fun making magnetic pendulums.
I still have my original flappy flower 😂 hiding away somewhere broken, that was one of the first things I bought from China!
So what to 3d print to replace the happy flower?
Wow a flappy solar thingy without a blob chip?!! This surprised me! I like when mfrs dont hide the circuitry or put everything in one chip, now i can also reproduce the circuit without decapping the chip and reverse engineer silicon
I would like to know how you produce such good printed scans of PCBs. What gear are you using to take the pictures and what printer and paper stock are you using?
Clive has a video on his channel about this! It's called "How I get my crisp macro shots with tupper-cam" .
These are kind of neat but the wires on the newer ones are so small and fragile they break and because they're coated soldering them back on is difficult. The older one is much better, wish they still made them like that.
The People demand a repair video! 😁
Great to see one of these flip flaps with discrete circuitry! Now I know how to build the silly kinetic sculpture thingy that was on Pepper's desk in _Iron Man 2._ (I was obsessed with it for a while, but now...meh.)
Anyway, thank you for another great reverse engineer of tacky tat. I always look forward to your next video, and am never disappointed.
The swinging sticks ornament is pretty neat.
Could you look at the cheep ebay solar panels for cars? Mine was about £13, it came with a cigarette 12v, battery terminal clamps and also a connector to the obd2 port. I have mine plugged into the obd2 port as it was the longest wire. It also has 2 usb ports and 1 usb c port. If I charge my phone through it while it's still plugged into the car, it knocks the radio off. I was hoping you could do a teardown of one to see if it can be "fixed" with a resistor or something
I have one of these in my front window and it's still going for years. The plastic is faded by UV but still...
How does it turn off the transistor? I guess when the magnetic field decrease the induced voltage goes negative and the base current is decreased. It means the transistor is on when the magnet is getting closer and off when it is moving away. Very clever.
The best thing I learned from this video is the word "gazumph" exists!
Interesting that your camera went magenta when overexposed during the reverse engineering segment. I wonder how that happened.
Poor lighting and really weird colour temperature.
Awesome, do all these pendulum, coil devices have circuits or are some just coil and magnet? I have a "Lucky Cat" but don't want to disassemble, it was rather expensive being painted ceramic. Thanks Clive, very interesting.
Most will just have a blob chip doing everything, this one is interesting because it's early enough to not use an IC.
If you can design one with just a coil and magnet then your Nobel prize awaits.
Would be nice to see the changes in voltage with a multimeter.
A 'scope you mean
1:32 that sums up my experience, old and stiff. 😂
awwww so close to the answer I seek :) I want to make a device to gentle keep my hammock swinging gently while I sleep/fall asleep, like a pendulum, but lack the knowledge to make one. Have to watch this again a few times, can it be scaled??.. love the video's, I find them very relaxing too
Something like that might exist. Probably motorised.
Since the young village girls who migrate to the cities for jobs making this type of tat are only paid pennies for long shifts before going home to pretty rough accommodations, you might be able to import a couple to take turns swinging your hammock Punkha Wallah-style for a very economical rate? 🤔😉😁
Thanks Clive! Using "Vintage" and "Good Construction" in same sentence; Showing 'circuitry to see how item works'; Leaves One wondering, what's left in 'next era' to *'learn' about 'Quality' .... Under a Blob?*
Value question: where did _'the Older the Wiser'_ go? will 'new era' ever learn from them?
The best you can do is dissolve the "blob" and use high powered microscopy to inspect the individual junctions on the silicone die. It's a nasty process to remove the epoxy and once done, you're left with a tracing task so onerous I'd only attempt it if I was getting payed handsomely for my time.
4:11 Ah, it wasn't a pink notebook.... 🙂
Just out of curiosity i would like to know if you're familiar with Lidmotor's channel?
This is just the kind of thing that is fiddling around with.
On my family pics I don't like borders. On your technical images, I think the border looks more professional and helps seperate the image from the the bench.
probably wouldn't have noticed the borders on the circuit printout🤷
Clive, I hope everything is going well with the shows. We'll try not to send any more hot weather from the States. 😅
We actually need more sunshine. It's been very wet here. Not so much fun for the audience, and worse for the performers.
@@bigclivedotcom understood. I hope to one day get to see the Tattoo; Scotland is on my bucket list.
Looks like a Heriot-Watt desk there.
Generic student accommodation provided by work.
A palculator canel?
So what makes the coil have such high resistance? If you measure resistance in most transformers and such it tends to be pretty low.
It's wound with a very long length of extremely thin wire.
We can ALWAYS rely on you, Big Clive, for in-depth analysis, and fascinating reverse-engineering of World-changing 🌍 green 🌱 technologies! 👍 ... It's just a pity said technology is Made in China ... from plastic! 👎🤣
I won't, but I want to build a lawn ornament sized pendulum thing now
4:03 For a moment I thought BigClive had finally managed to find a giant pink pad to sketch schematics on. How disappointing. :-)
Are you gonna delve into "Neko Waving Lucky Cat" items that have a similar mode of operation? Similarly amusing to watch. I assume the lil cap across the inductor is some sort of filter, so as the device runs out of power it doesn't "buzz" when low on power, due to not having enough current to propel the magnet beyond center.
Lucky cat already investigated.
If one were to make one of these, what sort of off the shelf coil would work? Or if winding one, how critical is the wire, diameter and number of turns?
The choice of coil and capacitor might take a bit of experimentation.
Ugh nothing is easy. Even the simplest childish enjoyment turns into a tedious engineering chore
@@pleasecho2
Designed & Built by Engineers who love kids & their fascination for toys..
How much voltage does the solar chip provide?
2V.
Does it matter in which direction the pendulum swings over the coil?
No. But polarity experimentation might be required.
Is it possible to control speed with a “ POT “.
You could control magnetic pulse power.
1:31 Giggity giggity, giggity goo.