IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 25
1 billion
number of 555 chips produced annually,
according to hans camenzind, who
designed the ic in 1971
the
big time
Build
a giant
version
of the 555
timer ic
resources_HANDs oN
iologists have plastic DNA helices, astronomers have celestial globes, and chemists
the ubiquitous periodic table wall chart. These iconic objects each encapsulate a foundational
piece of working knowledge, recognizable to all practitioners in a field. Sadly, such touchstones
are thin on the ground for electrical engineers. Although pretty, vacuum tubes, for example, are a niche technology these days, while the transistors and integrated circuits that define the discipline are a bit on the small side for easy viewing. So I was pleased
when I learned about the recent creation of the US $35 Three Fives Discrete 555 Timer Kit, sold by Evil Mad Scientist, a DIY and open-source hardware
company located in Silicon Valley. The Three Fives kit is a working model of the 555 integrated circuit. It's hard to think of an IC more ubiquitous than
the 555 timer, which was introduced in 1971. There can't be an electrical engineer alive today who hasn't used a 555 at some point, for tasks ranging
from simply making a light blink on and off to pulse-width modulation; in January's Hands On article, our contributor used the 555 to make a music organ
with conductive ink traces. Unlike many other chips that have come and gone over the decades, the 555 is still finding its way into all kinds of prototypes
and products, with no end in sight (for the origins of the chip, see "25 Microchips That Shook the World," IEEE Spectrum, May 2009). Just as DNA models,
star maps, and periodic tables serve as reminders of fundamentals that can get obscured by day-to-day minutiae, so too the Three Fives kit is a reminder
that even the most complex digital processor is still at its heart just a collection of very simple components. When assembled, the Three Fives stands
4.3 centimeters high, 9.9 cm wide, and 13.25 cm long, compared with the measurements of a typical 555 IC: 8.38 millimeters high, 7.87 mm wide,
evil mad scientist laBoratories
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014
Contents
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - Cover1
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - Cover2
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 1
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 2
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - Contents
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 4
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 5
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 6
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 7
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 8
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 9
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 10
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 11
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 12
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 13
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 14
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 15
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 16
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 17
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 18
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 19
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 20
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 21
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 22
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 23
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 24
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 25
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 26
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 27
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 28
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 29
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 30
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 31
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 32
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 33
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 34
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 35
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 36
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 37
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 38
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 39
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 40
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 41
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 42
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 43
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 44
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 45
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 46
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 47
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 48
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 49
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 50
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 51
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 52
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 53
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 54
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 55
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 56
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 57
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 58
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IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 60
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 61
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 62
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 63
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 64
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 65
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 66
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 67
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - 68
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - Cover3
IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2014 - Cover4
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