Here is the prototype for my soon-to-be-fully-realized Tinder Robot.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/109085943 w=640]

It’s pretty basic: a 555 timer that drives a solenoid through a TIP120 transistor. I use two potentiometers and a 100uF capacitor to control the speed of the solenoid, and voltage regulator that allows me to power the solenoid at 24 volts.

Here’s the Eagle schematic:

The board layout:

And the finished circuit:

I messed up the Eagle schematic a bit – the base pin for my transistor was different in real life than what showed up in my schematic, so I had to do some weird wiring to get the thing to work.

Here are the parts I used:

• 555 timer
• 100uF capacitor
• 10k ohm resistor
• 2 10k potentiometers
• TIP120 transistor
• LM7805 voltage regulator
• Solenoid

I made a simple circuit based on Eric Rosenthal’s diagram using a Roland Modela milling machine. It’s a radio that lights up an LED when it receives a signal.