Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All
by MonkeyClub on 1/27/2026, 3:02:01 PM
https://aashvik.com/posts/555-revolution/
Comments
by: gary_0
I designed the electronics for a heavy-duty industrial 3D printer and used a 555 in the failsafe circuit (alongside the manual e-stop). If it didn't get reset by a heartbeat from the embedded computer/software, it would unpower the heaters and actuators.
1/30/2026, 8:12:25 AM
by: fzeindl
The 555 is a versatile little thing. I used it at university for a simple circuit which allowed an arduino to cut it’s own power for 5 minutes and then boot again.
1/30/2026, 8:06:53 AM
by: solomonb
When I was in college I was not in an engineering program but I was self-learning electronics. I was trying to learn to use a 555 timer to do something and couldn't get it to work.<p>So I went to the office hours of a random EE professor thinking they would help me out. Instead I got scolded about how 555 timers are not real engineering and that I shouldn't waste his time.<p>I never used a 555 timer ever since.
1/30/2026, 7:01:36 AM
by: ryan42
I want to build an atari punk console with a 555 to learn basic soldering and electronics, fun stuff
1/30/2026, 7:58:20 AM
by: stackghost
Obviously TFA is satire/tongue in cheek and while you can do all sorts of awesome stuff with a 555 you can't patch those implementations without physically rewiring them which in many cases means throwing out the board and fabbing a new one, whereas a microcontroller-based board can often be fixed with a simple jtag debugger.<p>So, yeah, 555 timers are cool and doing things with analog ICs is groovy but there's a reason everyone just stuffs a small microcontroller in places where we used to just stuff a 555, and it's maintainability.
1/30/2026, 6:31:38 AM
by: nurettin
Obligatory<p><a href="https://youtu.be/mDhNQPt8An0?si=VlzHWK4Cxcxn9pSK" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/mDhNQPt8An0?si=VlzHWK4Cxcxn9pSK</a>
1/30/2026, 6:52:22 AM