PROJECTS: Squishy Tech
a resonance frequency between the two
inductors, increasing efficiency.
I encourage an exploratory approach to learning
about inductive power. Most components are
cheap and easy to set up. While the math is pretty
complex, the ideas can be observed clearly with
some simple LED circuits that I’ll show you now.
YOUR FIRST INDUCTIVE BLINK
The first thing I like to share with people is the
easiest way to make your own inductive blink,
using just a piece of wire, an LED, and your
phone! Because your phone has an inductor
inside for NFC (Near Field Communication) for
Apple Pay, Google Pay, or similar services, you
can create a very basic inductive circuit.
MATERIALS
» Any 5mm or 3mm LED
» Enameled copper wire aka magnet wire;
or any wire that’s coated
TOOLS
» Soldering iron
» Modern smartphone
1. CHECK COMPATIBILITY
Make sure you have a smartphone that not only
has NFC, but also can run NFC in the background.
Starting with the iPhone 7, iOS 14, you will have
an Enable NFC option. For most Android phones
you can enable NFC by going into Settings
Connected DevicesNFC and making sure it’s
switched on.
2. MAKE A COIL
Make a simple coil by wrapping your wire around
a large marker. I’d recommend between 10–20
turns, depending on the gauge of your wire. Make
sure to leave both ends of the wire accessible
(Figure
E
).
3. SOLDER YOUR LED
Solder each lead of your LED to one end of your
coil (Figure
F
). Polarity is not important here, so
don’t worry about the positive and negative leads.
4. LIGHT IT UP!
With the NFC setting on, place your phone over
your LED coil (Figure
G
). You should see the LED
start to blink! You might have to move your coil
around, depending on your phone. You can also
try flipping the coil backward to get it to couple.
EXPLORING INDUCTIVE POWER
If you’re looking to get up and going with
inductive LEDs quickly, I’d recommend getting
Adafruit’s Small Inductive Coil and 10 Wireless
LED Kit (Figure
H
). You’ll also need a 5V power
supply: either a USB battery, a battery pack of
AA batteries, or a bench power supply. (The
bench supply is great for learning, but you’ll
need to figure out another option if you want
to take your creations wireless.) Adafruit also
sells a Large Inductive Coil wireless LED set,
and a paired Inductive Charging Set in 3.3V
E
F
Lee Wilkins
72 makezine.com
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