Knight Rider Circuit - Augie

Welcome!

This is my instructable showing how to make a Knight Rider circuit. This circuit gets its name from the iconic TV show Knight Rider. The circuit will cause LEDs to flash in a linear pattern, similar to the hood of KITT from the show. The speed of the flashing can be controlled by a potentiometer that is included in the circuit. Throughout this instructable I will show you how to make this circuit on either a breadboard or a protoboard.

1x Protoboard/Breadboard (your choice)

6x Red LEDs

8-10x 1N4184 Diodes

1x 1uf Capacitor

1x 500k Potentiometer

1x 22k Ohm Resistor

1x 330 Ohm Resistor

1x 555 Timer

1x 4017 Clock

1x 9v Battery and Battery connector

This this step you will be using the following components:

1x 555 Timer

1x 22k Ohm Resistor

1x 500k Potentiometer

1x 1uf Capacitor

1x 9v Battery and Battery connector

Because this circuit can be complex, it is best to connect each major component one at a time. I found it best to start with the 555 timer. Start by placing the 555 Timer in a part of your board that is easy to reach, as the power, ground, 4017 clock, and the potentiometer series will be connected to it. In this circuit the 4 and 8 pins of the 555 timer should be connected directly to the power source, while pin 1 is connected to ground. I recommend putting the following components in a line down one side of your board. This will help with organizing the board and using the potentiometer once you finish the circuit. Start by connecting the 22k resistor to power. Then connect pin 7 of the 555 timer in series with the resistor. After this connect the 500k potentiometer after pin 7 in the circuit. For the last parts of this circuit, connect the 2 and 6 pins of the 555 timer after the potentiometer in series. The final part of this step is connecting the capacitor. Connect the positive end of the capacitor with the rest of your series, then connect the negative end to ground. Finally connect the positive end of the battery connector above the 22k resistor and the negative end to the negative leg of the capacitor. You should now have the entire left side of the circuit diagram complete.

This this step you will be using the following components:

1x 4017 Clock

Jumper wire as needed

For this step we are going to focus on connecting the 4017 clock. I recommend placing this component in the middle of your circuit, as all of the non-light emitting diodes will all connect to the clock. In my example circuit the clock is connected in what is almost the dead center of the board. To begin with the clock connect pin 16 to the power source. Then connect pin 14 of the clock to pin 3 of the 555 timer. Before the more difficult step, connect pins 8, 13, and 15 all to ground.

This this step you will be using the following components:

10x 1N4184 Diodes

6x Red LEDs

1x 330 Ohm Resistor

Now its time to start connecting the diodes to the clock. This is easily the most complex step in the circuit, and can feel very daunting at first. There are a few ways to make this step a little bit simpler. Fist I recommend placing the 6 LEDs in the board before you start connecting the regular diodes to the clock. This will make it much easier to keep track of what diodes you have connected already. I found it easiest to start with the LED that connects to pin 1 of the clock and work down the line form there. In my example I did not add any of the optional diodes to the connections coming from pin 1 or 3.

The bulk of the difficulty in this project comes from connecting the middle diodes to their corresponding LEDs. The best way to keep track of this is to resolve the connections leading to each LED one at a time. For example I would connect the diodes to pins 5 and 10, then connect those to the positive end of their LED. This helped keep everything organized and easy to track. Repeat this connection process for the other 4 LEDs then connect the final LED to pin 3.

After all of the positive ends of the LEDs are connected to their respective pins and LEDs, connect the negative legs of the diodes together. Then connect all of these LEDs to your 330 ohm resistor, and connect the resistor to ground.

If everything worked out correctly your circuit should be in working order! You can adjust the potentiometer to change the speed at which the lights flash. Here is a video of the completed product.