Electromagnetic Swing Puppy Kit
It’s totally fair to say that the Tindie universe has a hefty portion of soldering kits. From absolute beginners through to complex “how small can you go” surface mount technology challenges, we have you covered. Commonly most of these kits don’t have mechanical or moving parts so this Electromagnetic Puppy Swing Kit caught our eye.
The kit consists of 3 printed circuit boards two of which are connected together using supplied brass standoffs and small bolts to create a base. The 3rd PCB is soldered into position and forms a tree above the PCB base. Soldering the tree to the base is a good example of using solder as both a construction technique as well as an electrical connector. The tree is decorated with through-hole light emitting diodes which glow statically red when powered, simulating fruit. The base has a similar collection of LEDs of different colours which flash in a pattern.
The real magic is in the electromagnetic portion of the project. There is a 4th PCB of a small puppy which once assembled sits on a small wire swing looped onto the tree PCB. A collection of magnets, a coil, and a few other components create a Hall effect sensor system which pulses the coil in time to make the puppy swing when powered on via a USB power source.
This looks like an excellent and fun project suitable for those new to soldering and it certainly would be an excellent platform from which to explore electromagnetic systems and the Hall effect principles.