This is a cool little project I've been meaning to do for a long time. One which was so simple I kept putting it off.
Essentially this is a 8Hz (ish) squarewave generator attached to a decade counter - it counts upwards displaying each count on the next LED however the outputs are wired in such a way that instead of just going upwards it goes back downwards. it should be obvious when you look at the schematic how the thing works.
Anyway as the name suggests the LEDS go back and forth like the eye things on Cylons from battlestar galactica or the front panel on the car from knightrider. my older brother drives a taxi so I plan on using this to drive relays to big lamps and attach it to his car when he's next away.
This circuit is very useful outside of replicating old TV show LED things, you can use it to sequence pretty much anything using relays or even digital circuits and you don't have to use the 555 to do it automatically, you can replace that with a push switch circuit to the CD4017 Clock pin (14) and control a pedalboard for example
or maybe even make your house seem haunted by using it to remotely control appliances. I will include a simple Relay Driver below.
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| To use the CD4017 to drive a relay |