Component of a Machine that can Generate Shocks at Specified Times?

I am a high school research student who is working with an arduino kit this school year. My partner and I plan to create a machine that produces shocks from a 9V battery at specified times throughout the day. What procedures should we follow to do this, and what materials should we acquire as well? Thanks in advance!

Are you able to create your "shock" without an Arduino? When you can do that, the Arduino part may be obvious.

Paul

Yes. Manually, we are able to shock with a 9 volt battery and two wire clips. We are looking for a way to shock automatically, possibly a program or part that can do this for us.

Imbrah:
Yes. Manually, we are able to shock with a 9 volt battery and two wire clips. We are looking for a way to shock automatically, possibly a program or part that can do this for us.

Unless you place the terminals of the 9 volt battery on your tongue I don't really see how you can 'shock' with just 9 volts. Could you explain how you create the shock?

use a relay (normally closed). This is a mechanical switch that can be turned on and off electronically. wire up the battery to the relay and program the relay to open. I like to use functions to keep code clean.

Now to get the relay to open at specific dates and times, you will want a DS1302 RTC (Real Time Clock) module. Both the RTC and Relay modules are inexpensive (<$10 together).

There are lots of example sketches using relays and RTC's so that will help you with programming it.

http://www.robotshop.com/en/2-channel-5v-relay-module.html

http://playground.arduino.cc/Main/DS1302RTC

sounds like a nasty sort of project - do your supervisors approve?

regards

Allan

Thinking there is more to this story than the kid is telling us. Wonder why? I found a bunch of Utube videos doing what he suggests. They are using a reverse fed transformer from an wall adapter with the 9 volt battery feeding the low voltage secondary and the primary giving the shocking voltage or firing a neon light.

If the OP is still interested, please confirm this.

Paul

stowite:
Unless you place the terminals of the 9 volt battery on your tongue I don't really see how you can 'shock' with just 9 volts. Could you explain how you create the shock?

I should have mentioned what we will be shocking. We are simply using the 9v battery and two wire clips to shock planaria.

Imbrah:
I should have mentioned what we will be shocking. We are simply using the 9v battery and two wire clips to shock planaria.

Yeah, makes a big difference! I am surprised you are not charged with animal cruelty!

Paul

jseery:
use a relay (normally closed). This is a mechanical switch that can be turned on and off electronically. wire up the battery to the relay and program the relay to open. I like to use functions to keep code clean.

Now to get the relay to open at specific dates and times, you will want a DS1302 RTC (Real Time Clock) module. Both the RTC and Relay modules are inexpensive (<$10 together).

There are lots of example sketches using relays and RTC's so that will help you with programming it.

http://www.robotshop.com/en/2-channel-5v-relay-module.html

Arduino Playground - HomePage

I checked out the DS1302RTC and it seems usable; however I am unsure of one thing. It states that the device can work in a 24-hour format or 12-hour format. Does that mean that this can be used only once or twice daily or is it just giving sample intervals of time usage?

24 hour format is a format that eliminates AM and PM numerically. You add 12 to the hour after noon. See example below.

12 hour 24 hour
midnight 0000
1 am 0100
2 am 0200
...
noon 1200
1 pm 1300
2 pm 1400
10 pm 2200
11:20 pm 2320

Paul_KD7HB:
Thinking there is more to this story than the kid is telling us. Wonder why? I found a bunch of Utube videos doing what he suggests. They are using a reverse fed transformer from an wall adapter with the 9 volt battery feeding the low voltage secondary and the primary giving the shocking voltage or firing a neon light.

If the OP is still interested, please confirm this.

Paul

Hello, sorry for the late reply but I tied searching up a few YouTube videos about this but I am very confused with the explanations. Would you mind explaining some of the basics of how this is done?

Elementary, my dear sir!

Do you have and older wall transformer, also known as a wall wart? These are heaver than the current versions which are all electronic.

Take the wall wart apart. May need to saw the plastic enclosure. Find and remove the transformer. It should have 4 wires coming out. Two will be for the "primary windings". Two will be for the "secondary windings". If you have an ohm meter, check the windings for resistance. One pair will have more resistance than the other pair. The high resistance pair go to the primary winding. Low resistance to the secondary.

Next step is to find a neon bulb. Preferably one with two wire leads. No resistor needed.

Connect the neon bulb leads to the transformer primary wires.

And finally, using a regular 9 volt battery, connect one transformer secondary lead to one terminal on the battery. Which one doesn't matter.

Brush the remaining transformer secondary wire against the other 9 volt battery terminal. May produce a spark. At the same time, the neon bulb will flash.

The momentary connection to the 9 volt battery produces a pulse of current through the transformer producing a magnetic field which immediately collapses because you made the contact only for a very short time. The collapsing magnetic field is coupled to the transformer primary winding, and because the primary has many turns, produces a high voltage pulse, which you see in the neon bulb.

That is the basic operation the Utube videos are showing.

Paul