Mohawk College - Electrotechnology - Digital Principles - Logic Interface Board

Introduction

The Logic Interface board or Digital I/O board was first introduced into
Electrotechnology courses in January 2011, thanks to the design work
of our support technologist John Anger. Before the introduction of this
board students built their own I/O board which was frustrating
exercise for beginner students with limited protoboarding skills and
due to faulty wiring was often an unreliable tool. The Logic Interface
board on the other hand enables you the student to be able to focus
on building only the circuitry required for the lab and not have to
worry about the I/O circuitry’s operation. The added advantage is that
you can develop your skills outside of the limited lab time available to you as a student.

The Login Interface board is designed to be used in conjunction with the student built power supply, a protoboard, and
various digital integrated circuits all of which can be used independent of the lab environment. Once basic operation of
the board is understood it can be easily tested for proper operation with only a power supply and some jumpers.

The premise of the Logic Interface board is that all electronic devices/circuits require input and output: an alarm system
requires sensors and a siren, a cell phone a keypad and a screen, a thermostat a thermistor and a relay to control the
furnace, all of these sensors can be simulated with switches for input and LEDs for output. The Logic Interface board
besides operating in a static mode also has a clock circuit to simulate dynamic operation of logic circuits which is closer
actual circuit operation especially in the case of sequential logic circuits.

Logic Interface Board Features:

Short and over voltage protected

Polarized power in and out

2 - Debounced pushbuttons for input

8 - DIP toggle switches for input

Easy to connect pin headers

8 - LEDs in bar format for output

1 - Variable frequency/duty cycle clock

1 – Programmable 4 bit counter/divider

Socketed I.C.s for easy replacement

Multiplexed display

2 - 7 Segment LEDs for BCD output

Logic Interface Board Subsections:

1. Output section provides 8 toggle switches in the form of a DIP (Dual Inline Package) switch and 2 debounced (single
pulse/edge signal) push buttons. Switches are labeled SW1/0, the ‘0’ is referred to when the switch is used as a
binary value and the ‘1’ is referred to when the switch is used as regular input.
a. The toggle switches are not debounced but are used to provide logic levels dependent on switch position. A dual
row of interface interface pins allow each switch to be run to multiple locations.
b. The debounced push buttons provide single events (rising or falling edge of a pulse) required for the
operation/triggering of sequential circuits. The output status of the push buttons are indicated using single LEDs.

2. Input section provides 8 buffered LEDs in the form of a BAR LED, pull-up resistors in the form of a SIP (Single Inline
Package) ensures that when unconnected the LEDs are in the off condition. LEDs are labeled LED1/0, the ‘0’ is
referred to when the LED represents a binary value and the ‘1’ is referred to when the LED represents regular
output.

3. Clock Section provides a variable frequency and duty cycle square wave that ranges from a slow flashing to the
middle audio range. This signal can be used to operate a logic circuit at a rate that visible or at a rate that requires an
oscilloscope to monitor its operation. The clock output comes from the O/P CLK pin which is in the form of a
variable frequency pulse train, or the O/P DC (Duty Cycle) pin which is in the form of a variable frequency/duty cycle
square wave.
The clock signal can also be used to clock the on board counter/divider using SEL jumper and to multiplex (switch
between) the two 7 segment displays by connecting the O/P÷16 to I/P L/R pins. When the clock signal is fed into the
counter four additional clock signals are available from the O/P÷2, ÷4, ÷8, and ÷16 pins for testing circuits that
require multiple frequency signals.

4. BCD output section provides 2 multiplexed 7 segment displays, this allows circuits that operate with decimal values
to display values from 0 to 99. The input pins are labeled BCD1-1 where ‘BCD1’ indicates the right most 7 segment
display and ‘-1’ indicates the binary weighting of the pin.
To control the brightness of the display connect the O/P DC and the I/P BRIT pins, the DUTY potentiometer can then
be used to control the displays brightness.
For one display to be active connect the I/P L/R pin to a high for the left display or low for the right display. For both
displays to be visible the I/P L/R pin must be clocked at a rate fast enough to make both displays appear on at the
same time this can be done by connecting the O/P÷16 and I/P L/R pins together, connecting the bottom two pins of
the SEL jumper and adjusting the FREQ setting to a rate high enough to show both displays simultaneously.
Logic Interface Board Essentials:
1. Always wear safety glasses when using the Logic Interface Board.
2. Board requires +5V @ 200mA to operate, higher voltages will destroy the I.C.s.
3. Input and output power must be properly polarized or high current can cause the I.C.s to explode.
4. Shorted output power or shorted output components can cause permanent damage, from burnt out I.C.s to
melted printed circuit board traces.
5. In order to utilize the O/P÷2, ÷4, ÷8, and ÷16output signals a jumper must be placed on the lower two pins of
the ‘SEL’ header.
6. FREQ and DUTY potentiometers have dead zones at each end of their travel, when testing set potentiometers to
mid point.
Logic Interface Board Quick Test:
1. To test he DIP switches and BAR LEDs use an 8 pin or 2 quad connectors to connect
the DIP switches to the BAR LEDs and change the switches, the LEDs should follow
the switches output.
2. To test the BCD Display connect the 8 pin or 2 quad connectors from the DIP
switches to the BCD1 and 2 inputs, a the 1-0 output from push button 1 to the I/P
BRIT and t1-0 output from push Button 1 to the I/P L/R input. Under these
conditions one of the displays should be on and showing the value of switches
binary value in BCD.
3. To test the O/P DC connect the output to single LED from the BAR LED, set the
DUTY control to mid position and turn the FREQ control counter clockwise until the
LED flashes at a visible rate.
4. To test the O/P÷2, ÷4, ÷8, and ÷16 outputs connect a quad connector from these
outputs to four sequential BAR LEDs, jumper the two lower pins of the SEL header
and adjust the FREQ control until all four LEDs are flickering/counting.
Hoping you enjoy using your Logic Interface Board,
B Habicht