Wheel of fortune
Electronic
555, 74HC00, 74HC76

You've probably seen a roulette wheel, or "wheel of fortune" type game in operation. You know how it works ... players try to guess where the wheel stops and they win if they guess right, we couldn't find room in this kit for the real thing, but we've included an electronic version!

Using this electronic "wheel of fortune" is super simple. Turn power ON and press S1 down. You'll notice the lower half of the LED display lights up and seem to "spin" around. (It's not really spinning, of course - the different segments are just rapidly blinking on and off, one after the other.)

During the "spinning" you'll hear a funny sound from the speaker. After a few moments both the "spinning" and sound slows down. Eventually, it stops with just one segment lit and a steady sound coming from the speaker.

You'll notice a couple of interesting things about this circuit. Each segment of the display has its own sound. And the speed at which the display "spins" depends upon the control volume.

Try moving the potentiometer while the "wheel" is "spinning" ... notice how you can make it slow down or speed up. You can use this project as a game by guessing which segment will be lit when the "wheel" finally stops "spinning." Or you can try to make the "wheel" stop at a certain segment by adjusting the control volume while it is still "spinning."