Switch-mode Light Dimmer using Multivibrators

Sean Kristian G. Garibay

Electric and Electronics Engineering Institute
University of the Philippines Diliman
Quezon City, Philippines
[email protected]

Abstract—this is a documentation of the steps taken to seen in common RC circuits, these components determine
create a light dimmer circuit using a variable duty cycle square the switching times of periodic signals and can thus
wave power source consisting of a cascaded astable and determine the size of the period of the waveform which is
monostable multivibrator powered by a DC voltage supply. inversely proportional to the frequency. R1 and C1 controls
the behavior of the output waveform 1 on the left side of the
figure, while R3 and C2 controls the behavior of the other
I. INTRODUCTION
output. The mark-to-space ratio of one output is directly the
The light intensity of a bulb can be changed by varying inverse of the mark-to-space ratio of the other. Since the
the voltage across it. This is normally achieved by increasing output of this circuit will only be used to trigger the
or decreasing the resistance of a potentiometer connected in monostable multivibrator circuit, it should be appropriate to
series with the bulb and the voltage source. Increasing the configure this circuit such that the mark-to-space ratio of any
connected resistance means that it will increase its share of output is 0.5. In other words, the output should be a
the voltage provided by the supply effectively lowering the symmetrical periodic pulse wave. To achieve this, C1 must
voltage across the bulb. This will result in a dimmer light be equal to C2, and R2 must be equal to C3.
intensity. Doing the opposite will yield the opposite effect.
To calculate the RC value for a given frequency, we use
Another method of varying the light intensity of the bulb the formula:
is by supplying a waveform voltage to the bulb and changing
the duty cycle such that the average voltage across the bulb F = 1/T = 1/1.38RC
also varies. A smaller positive duty cycle will produce a
lower average voltage and will thus give the bulb a dimmer
light. On the other hand, a larger positive duty cycle will A simple table given by Fig. 2 was used to easily
effectively have a higher average voltage giving the bulb a determine the common resistor and capacitor values that
much brighter light intensity. The supply waveform will be can be used.
provided by periodically toggling a switch to a constant DC
supply ON and OFF which will virtually create a square
wave ranging from 0V to the desired Vmax. This will be
done using a cascade of bothan astable multivibrator, a
monostable multivibrator, and an NPN transistor as the
switch.
For this Design Problem, the specs that must be followed
are: 12V DC supply, 7000 Hz frequency, and duty cycles
that must be able to vary from 10% to 50% ON. A ±100hz
and ±3% error is permitted.

II. DESIGN

A. Astable Multivibrator
An astable multivibrator circuit is used to produce the
desired frequency of 7000 Hz

b)
source: https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/waveforms/astable.html

Fig. 2. Astable Multivibrator Frequency Table

For the desired frequency, the available capacitor and

resistor values are shown by the corresponding highlighted
values. In this project, the 4.7kΩ resistor and the 22nF
capacitor were used.

B. Monostable Multivibrator
To create the square wave shape and the variable duty
cycle, a monostable multivibrator circuit is used. The duty
a)
source: https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/waveforms/astable.html
cycle must vary from 10% to 50% ON and must be
controlled by a potentiometer.
Fig. 1. General Form of an Astable Multivibrator Circuit

The frequency of the multivibrator can be set by

choosing the values if C1, C2, R2, and R3 from Fig. 1. As
 Tp,low = 14.2857143 µs = 0.693 RT,lowCT
RT,low = 9370 Ω
Tp,high = 14.2857143 µs = 0.693 RT,highCT
RT,high = 46850 Ω

To achieve the calculated range, a potentiometer and two

resistors are arranged in the following configuration:

c)
Source: https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/waveforms/astable.html

Fig. 3. General Form of a Monostable Multivibrator Circuit

Setting the desired duty cycle involves selecting the right

values of R and C such that the period of the pulse wave
Fig. 5. RT variable Resistor Configuration
corresponds to the right pulse time vs. the overall period
ratio. For this design, the RC time constant of the circuit is If the potentiometer is at 0%, it acts as a shorted wire making
defined by RT and CT on Fig. 3. The pulse time period is the effective resistance equal to 9.1 k Ω. On the other hand,
described by the equation: if the potentiometer is at 100%, the effective resistance is
47371.60 Ω.
Tp = 0.693 RTCT
C. Simulation
For a frequency of 7000 Hz, the waveform period is:
Using all the calculated component values previously, a
simulation schematic was designed.
T = 142.857143µs

A positive duty cycle of 10% will need a pulse time

period of:

Tp,low = 0.1T
Tp,low = 14.2857143 µs

While a positive duty cycle of 50% will need a pulse time

period of:

Tp,high = 0.5T
Tp,high = 71.4285715 µs

These calculated pulse periods can be transformed into an

equivalent frequency. Using these equivalent frequencies Fig. 6. Cascaded Multivibrators Circuit
with the help of the common component values table from Giving the circuit a DC supply of 12 V and probing the
Fig. 2, a preliminary list may be tabulated. monostable multivibrator output yielded the following
simulated results:
10% ON 50% ON
R(Ω) C(F) R(Ω) C(F)
1k 10n 2.2k 22n
2.2k 4.7n 22k 2.2n
4.7k 2.2n 4.7k 10n
10k 1n 10k 4.7n

Fig. 4. Table of Possible Common Values

From all the common capacitor values on both duty

cycles, the 2.2nF capacitor was chosen.
With the capacitor CT value now determined, the limits of
the value of resistor RT may be calculated.
Fig. 7. Circuit Output with Potentiometer at 0%
 permissible range. An attempt to fix this was performed by
tweaking the effective resistor and capacitor values on both
the astable and monostable multivibrator circuits but it was
not done on time. There was one persisting problem even
after the attempted fixes. The frequency and upper duty cycle
seemed to stabilize within specs but once the potentiometer
was adjusted to show the lower duty cycle and a dimmer
light, the frequency will settle just out of range of the specs
at 7.14 kHz. This problem might be due to the unpredictable
temperature fluctuation of the light bulb. The bulb that was
used was a higher wattage 2-contact break lamp. At the
upper duty cycle, the bulb has a bright intensity but because
the average voltage during the lower duty cycle is too small,
Fig. 8. Circuit Output with Potentiometer at 100% it was not able to power up the bulb. It should be noted that
the variation in light intensity is still present and not just a
As can be seen in the measured data on both graphs, the change between an ON and OFF state. This difference of no
simulated circuit performs well within the specifications. light to bright light causes the temperature of the bulb to
change drastically between the high and low duty cycles. The
III. ACTUAL CIRCUIT resistance of the bulb may have increased during the high
temperature periods of the high duty cycle but the
temperature also decreases drastically once on low duty
cycle and in turn, the resistance may have also decreased
rapidly. This may be the reason for the unstable RC
behavior.

REFERENCES
[1] “Astable Multivibrator and Astable Oscillator Circuit,” Basic
Electronics Tutorials, 04-Mar-2018. [Online]. Available:
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/waveforms/astable.html.
Fig. 9. Constructed Circuit on Breadboard [Accessed: 11-Nov-2019].
[2] Basic Electronics Tutorials. (2019). “Monostable Multivibrator - The
The actual circuit was constructed as close to the One-shot Monostable”. [online] Available at:
schematic as possible only accounting for possible non-ideal https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/waveforms/monostable.html
component values. The cascaded astable and monostable [Accessed 11 Nov. 2019].
circuits performed within the specifications but connecting [3] George, Ligo. “Astable Multivibrator Using Transistors.”
the bulb and switch block gave rise to minor complications. ElectroSome, 24 Jan. 2016, [Online]. Available:
The light bulb that was used was larger than required thus it electrosome.com/astable-multivibrator-transistors/. [Accessed: 11-
Nov-2019].
tended to draw more power to it. It took a while to stabilize
and the bulb component slowly heated up. Although the [4] George, Ligo. “Monostable Multivibrator Using Transistors.”
ElectroSome, 3 Jan. 2016, [Online[. Available:
frequency and duty cycle range specifications were reached, electrosome.com/monostable-multivibrator-transistors/. [Accessed:
it was not stable enough to stay within specs simultaneously. 11-Nov-2019].
There were cases where the upper duty cycle was displayed [5] Dahl, Oyvind Nydal, “How Astable Multivibrator Circuits Work”,
on correct frequency but the frequency goes out of build-electronic-circuits, 06-Sept-2018. [Online]. Available:
permissible range when switched to the lower duty cycle. https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/astable-multivibrator/.
There were also cases where the frequency remains within [Accessed: 11-Nov-2019]
specs but either one or both duty cycles fall just outside of