Simple touch switch with timer and white LEDs

This neat little kit uses a 555 timer and some other components to make a touch activated light. Once the kit is built, just touch the touch plate and the white LEDs come on for the preset time as selected by the trimpot (adjustable from around 3 seconds to just over 2 minutes).

The LEDs turn off after the preset time and the switch is in standby, waiting for the next touch to activate it.

There is also a 3mm red LED that is on when in standby and off when the white LEDs are lit. This acts as a simple locator light so you can always find the module in the dark.

The kit runs from a nominal 5V power source, but a single 3.7V lithium cell would do it, or 4 x AAA or AA batteries or whatever. It even runs fine from a standard 9V battery.

The PCB measures 28.5 x 38mm. Standby current is less than 1mA @ 5V.

Note that no instructions are provided as all component values are stated on the PCB. Just solder them into the right places and you are good to go!