I've been working for my thesis with Kirlian photography, researching and playing around with every single idea I found on the internet. Most of them required manual switching, 555 circuits or expensive pulse modulators, so I decided to try my own version and design a circuit driven by the Arduino. This schematic can be used in many projects that need pulse modulators and high voltage, be creative and enjoy!

-Denise

Warning: This is a high voltage project. If you have no experience in this field please don't underestimate it. If you have heart problems, health issues or are pregnant don't try it!!!
I am not responsible for any incident or accident that might happen while you build this circuit. Please note that you should not have any problems if you follow this simple rules, but always be careful.

VIP Safety Rules:

-Wear rubber gloves
-Work with the adapter and battery unplugged at all time.

Don't place your finger on the discharge plate unless you are:

-Insulated from ground (sneakers or any insulating material)
-Tested the device on a ground object

Step 1: Main Schematic

This is the basic schematic, please take a second to understand it before we proceed. I designed it in illustrator because I am a visual designer and can't stand the way schematics look! hopefully you'll understand it better too.

To introduce yourself into the Kirlian concept you just need to know that it's a high voltage low current circuit that releases a discharge to an object or subject when this one is connected to ground. In this case there is a main input that gets released to a transformer and then converted into high voltage. Because I took the switch that controlled this input and the capacitors that retained them out of the schematic we will replace that part with a relay (let's say is a switch that can open and close depending on what we tell it).

A basic Kirlian circuit needs to work with an automatic pulse modulator that it's constantly feeding and releasing electrical juice. As humans we don't have the ability to turn a switch on an off that fast, so here is were the Arduino comes; It feeds the relay with a controlled pulse telling it to open or close whenever we want.

Step 2: What Do You Need?

- (1) Arduino board
- (1) 9V battery (regulated to 5V if used to power Arduino)
- (1) Wall adapter (12VDC)
- (1) Relay (Solid state)
- (1) Auto ignition coil (6V/12V)
- Wires (regular and HV)
-Transparent electrode
- (1) Tin Oxide coated glass (Imagesco sells them)
- (1) Cooper clad
- (1) Breadboard

If you want to set the Arduino board in the circuit like I did, you can go to the ITP site from NYU. They have a great tutorial on how to do this.

The wall adapter that I used gave me an input of 12VDC/120 AC with a current of 1 amp.
You should choose the capacity of the wall adapter depending on the size of your transformer. If you have a 6V transformer you would be Ok with a smaller input. Remember the amperage its what really needs to be carefully chosen. Don't try it with more than 1 Amp you could get shockedand DIE!!.

The relay also depends on your circuit, but it needs to be a SSR because you need it to close and open fast enough to output a spark. One important thing you need to know is that it should be able to handle 5V from one side (for the Arduino) and then from the other the input from your wall adapter, in my case 12V.

Step 3: Program the Arduino

The only code you need is the Digital write blinking LED from the library.

Tip: To test inputs, its a good idea to use LED's.

1) copy and paste this code into the Arduino program:

(Code from www.arduino.cc)

/*  Blink Turns on an LED on for one second, then off for one second, repeatedly. The circuit: * LED connected from digital pin 13 to ground. * Note: On most Arduino boards, there is already an LED on the board connected to pin 13, so you don't need any extra components for this example. Created 1 June 2005 By David Cuartielleshttp://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Blink based on an orginal by H. Barragan for the Wiring i/o board */

int ledPin =  13;    // LED connected to digital pin 13

// The setup() method runs once, when the sketch starts

voidsetup()   {                
   // initialize the digital pin as an output:pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);     
 }

// the loop() method runs over and over again,// as long as the Arduino has power

voidloop()                     
 {
   digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);   // set the LED ondelay(1000);                  // wait for a seconddigitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);    // set the LED offdelay(1000);                  // wait for a second
 }

2)Plug in your Arduino and transfer the code
3)Place an LED on pin 13 if you are using the board or on the right input pin from the
Atmega chip if you are using the breadboard setup.
4)Test it! if it works, you are good to go.

Now, here is the great thing about controlling the pulse of the circuit with the
Arduino. You can modify the delay time so that you have slower or faster pulses, and with this
practically control your whole experiment. If you wish to add other things like lights, sound,
or anything else you just go to the code and modify it.

I suggest you plug the Arduino from an independent power source (it needs to be 5V).

Step 4: Set Up Kirlian Circuit

On the breadboard we will set up the relay and connections to the discharge plate.The whole idea is to control two different voltages (5V and 12 V) so we want to "divide" the breadboard in two. Meaning that the side were the transformer is connected doesn't touch the side were the Arduino gets connected.

Process:
Placing the relay vertical connect the side with the closer legs to power (Input pin or pin 13) and ground from the Arduino.

Relay's PIN 1: Ground
Relay's PIN 2: power
Relay's PIN 3: Transformer +
Relay's PIN 4: Wall adapter +

Wall adapter's ground and transformer's ground share the same ground side.

Tip: to test connections place an LED with the correspondent resistor (R=V/I) in PIN 3 from the relay and then to ground, plug in the Arduino and the wall adapter. If everything is working you should be able to see the LED from the transformer side blinking.

Step 5: Discharge Plate

You can use any conductive material for this part, depending on the project you are building. I used the standard discharge plate described on Kirlian photography tutorials.

Supposing you want to use the discharge plate described on the Kirlian photography tutorial, just take the HV wire that comes from the middle of the Auto transformer and solder it to the cooper clad of the plate. This is the wire that gives the controlled HV input to whatever we place on the plate.
Remember to unplug everything before making any connections and also be careful not to touch the cooper clad because you will get shocked hard and it's not nice! been there :(

Step 6: Test It!

You are all set!!

Connect a wire from the 12V ground side of the breadboard and extend it all the way to the discharge plate. If you place the tip near the surface of the glass (1/8 of an inch approx or less) you will see a jumping HV spark. Once you get that you are all set!

Some options:
1) Connect that same ground wire to an object and place the object on the plate. Sparks should be constantly there depending on your pulse.
2) Carefully at your own risk and only if you are grounded!!! you can place your finger and see a coronal discharge around it.
3) if you want to take pictures with a digital camera:
Place the camera in a tripod and select the fastest option of aperture. Focus the subject manually and turn off the light. Now take the picture and after a few seconds when the shutter closes you should see the image.

If you want to see my thesis and the progress of this prototypes please visit my site