This simple block provides a high voltage output when the switch is pressed.  When the switch is open the output is held low by the 100k resistor.  It can be used for turning on many process blocks such as the driver blocks and the gated astable blocks.  The switch must be a single pole single throw (spst) push-to-make switch.

This time a push-to-make spst switch is used to give a low output when pressed.  When not pressed the output is held high by the 100k resistor.  This is useful for process blocks which need to be triggered low, for example, the 555 Monostable.

Very similar to the push switch, this uses a tilt switch as the input sensor.  This can be a ball bearing switch or a mercury switch.  The output is high when tilted, otherwise it is held low by the resistor.

This circuit block uses a single pole double throw (spdt) switch which can be either slide or toggle.  You should not use a centre off switch because that could leave the output in an unknown condition.  You may want to put a resistor (1k would do) in the output lead if there might be a problem with the following block being connected directly to 0v or +V.

Instead of the usual push-to-make switch, this circuit uses one which is normally closed.  The connection is broken when the switch is pressed.  In this block the output is normally held low by the switch, but when the switch is pressed, the 100k resistor will pull the output high.  This block can also be used the other way up, but you must make sure the following block can cope with being connected directly to +V.

This block uses a touch sensor as the switch.  This is just a piece of PCB with intermeshed tracks like in the Crocodile Technology drawing (which won’t work).  The resistor values are high because normal fingers aren’t very conductive.  The values given should give a high output in most cases.  See the Touch page for more touch operated blocks.

Most switches use mechanical contacts that often don’t produce a nice clean output.  They suffer from bounce.  This is when the output switches up and down a few times before deciding what it should be and giving a stable output.  The same thing can happen when the switch is released.  To overcome this you can use a de-bounce circuit.  The Crocodile Technology one shown here is a combined switch and de-bounce block.  The PCB layout is of a de-bounce circuit designed for an input that pulses high.  It uses a double inverter to get the output high again.  By careful design you would only need one inverter for most inputs and process blocks.