Recommendations for learning circuit design - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Tamu23
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 07:12:36 am
content: Hey I am looking to learn more about actually designing circuits to complete a task. In school you just learn theoretical stuff and circuit analysis while building simple circuits. I considered buying the art of electronics because it seems to be recommended for this topic, but I looked over the pdf and it appears to just be a repeat of the theoretical stuff that you see in any standard EE curriculum so I don’t know why it’s recommended for circuit design. I considered buying a kit with guides, and I probably will, but that also appears to just be following instructions to implement someone else’s design. So I’m looking for any program that teaches design principles and then gives you a task and some tips for getting it done, if that exists. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

author: bob91343
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 05:39:50 pm
content: It would seem that one could devise one's own design tasks. For instance, you could think about how to make a circuit that switches between two inputs on command. Or another that makes a staircase wave.These will get you going to see where the problems lie. I don't think design can really be taught; it's more an art than science.

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 08:26:44 pm
content: I would think that any project design consists of a multitude of small component circuits which you already know how to design.In the age of the Internet, I would expect to find prototype designs all over the web. Just about anything that can be built already has been built and the documentation is all over the place.There are many sites talking about beginner circuits and these are possibly the componet circuits you might need.In terms of uC projects for Arduino and Raspberry Pi I like the 'starter kits' with tutorials:https://www.amazon.com/ELEGOO-Project-Tutorial-Controller-Projects/dp/B01D8KOZF4https://www.amazon.com/Freenove-Raspberry-Processing-Tutorials-Components/dp/B06W54L7B5These kits will build up your foundation for any type of uC project. It's a place to start...The Jetson Nano Development Kit is terribly overpriced at the moment but it provides a good start in machine learning and computer vision. Very interesting stuff for which NVIDIA has an entire curriculum.https://www.amazon.com/s?k=jetson+nano+developer+kit+4gb&crid=3DHG6HBR7LM9IOr, you can build an analog computer and play with those ODEs you struggled with in college:http://www.analogmuseum.org/english/homebrew/vogel/There are all kinds of things to play with!ETA: I don't know how I overlooked my favorite toys: FPGAs. It's kind of fun to implement a complete computer system. Like the IBM 1130 with CPU, card reader, disk drive, keyboard, typewriter, printer and plotter. It runs the factory code unchanged. I started programming this machine in 1970 and I still use my emulation to this day for certain FORTRAN applications.http://ibm1130.org/My favorite board:https://digilent.com/shop/nexys-a7-fpga-trainer-board-recommended-for-ece-curriculum/

author: Sredni
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 10:21:32 pm
content: I agree with Bob91343: get your feet wet.There is nothing like building and tweaking something that can make you understand how to design it from scratch.My suggestion: if you do not own one already, get yourself an oscilloscope ASAP. A digital entry level scope like the Rigol or Siglent will do. It is imperative being able to see the signals of the circuits you tweak and design. Without oscilloscope you are blind. Very smart people might do without it (I am not one of them), but even if you are smart, you will find it extremely helpful.Start designing a simple amplifier, then current sources, then current mirrors, then elementary discrete op amps, a regulator with feedback, a very basic switching power supply, filters to kill the mains hum. First you might copy and explore existing projects - and use the scope to verify they do what they claim to do. Then tweak them to change some parameter (more voltage, more current, etc.).Then design them all over from scratch, imposing your design goals.General purpose books that teach design --- I am not even sure they exists. You should look for books specialized in the particular circuit you want to design: for example Cordell or Self or Lindsey Hood for audio amplifiers, a book on LED drivers for current sources and switching regulators, and so on...Some designers have published articles in magazines and have collected their expertise in books that are essentially seemingly disjointed pieces of information glued toghether.Magazines and 'compilation' books:Jim Williams, several books collect his advice and most relevan application notes (google "reading Jim Williams)Bob Pease, same as above, google will find you the articles he wrote for EDNEDN has a ton of interesting articles about design.Nut's and Volts, the magazine, has some nice tutorials that are available even if you are not subscribed.General 'Cookbooks' (yes, it is an unfair classification):Horowitz and Hill, The Art of ElectronicsTexas Instruments Transistor Circuit Design (1963)Marc Thompson, Intuitive Analog Circuit DesignLeslie Green, Analog SeekretsBonnie Baker, A Baker's dozen - Real Analog Solutions for Digital DesignersAnd then topic specific books. The list would be endless.Get.Your.Feet.Wet.

author: Romualds
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 12:06:16 pm
content: I learned a lot from studying the first edition of "The Art of Electronics" by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill. In 2015 the 3rd, updated edition of this book has been published.Highly recommend this book.

author: tepalia02
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 12:39:25 pm
content: Everyone has made very good suggestion above. Along with these, you can also try 555 based projects. 555 is basically a Timer IC. It's quite common. Used in many circuits in which microcontroller may not be cost effective.https://www.theengineeringprojects.com/2016/02/555-timer-projects.html

author: 123rolle
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 01:59:04 pm
content: What about "Learning the Art of Electronics: A Hands-On Lab Course"? Atleast name suggests its different from the theory book.

author: ledtester
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 03:23:01 pm
content: Quote from: Sredni on June 10, 2022, 10:21:32 pmSpeaking of EDN, they recently released a compilation of their Design Ideas articles from 2001-09:https://www.edn.com/design-ideas-pdf-collections-2001-2009/

author: petrinch
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 03:48:43 pm
content: Quote from: Tamu23 on June 10, 2022, 07:12:36 amThe companion lab manual, “Learning the Art of Electronics” by Tom Hayes (2016 version) may be more useful to you. It’s a complete electronics lab course (1100 pages or so) intended to focus attention on the more practical aspects of the design process guided by a rules-of-thumb understanding of electronics fundamentals. Have a look.

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 03:54:58 pm
content: Quote from: 123rolle on June 14, 2022, 01:59:04 pmYes and 'Real Analog' at Digilent has lab exercises. They tend to revolve around the Analog Discovery 2https://digilent.com/reference/learn/courses/real-analog/startThe lab exercises and solutions are in the downloadable PDF:https://digilent.com/reference/_media/learn/courses/real-analog/real-analog-chapters-1-12-toc.pdf

author: ppeatman
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 07:20:52 pm
content: Quote from: Tamu23 on June 10, 2022, 07:12:36 amWell, the big difference between H&H and any standard EE curriculum text book is that it's actually fun to read. Not heavy on mathematics (I have been through all those in my Uni time) and the authors share their enthousiasm with you. Glancing through a PDF may not give a good first impression, so my recommendation is to get hold of the real book (new or 2nd hand), sit back and enjoy reading :-)

author: Terry Bites
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2022, 03:13:53 pm
content: I suspect that almost all of us were practical builders and blundering experimeters before we had any formal education in EE.You won't start out making "original" circuits. Just kowing what has been done before is a mamoth task. Tusk....?Now that ICs dominate EE design you'll be stuck with the manufacturers reference designs and a limited amount of tweaking.Though a bit of IC repurposing can be interesting.Kits are very educational paticularly when they don't work. Debugging and a bit of reverse engineering is invaluable.You want to acquire experience with analog circuits and discrete logic. Learning to drive your lab gear too.Micro projects are not going to teach you much about the electonics skills you need. As the man said, "every idiot can count to one".And that man was a font of circuit originality.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_WidlarOther peoples deisgns are a really good (the only) place to start. All of us use them, modify them, steal them and improve them.Everything has to evolve.

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author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 08, 2022, 10:23:28 am
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