Electronic Circuit Design by The Engineering Mindset

About this course

Learn to turn ideas into working, dependable electronics with a practical approach to electronic circuit design. This free online course builds the core skills electricians and hands-on makers use to power, protect, and control real circuits—from basic LED wiring to motor control and PCB-ready designs. You will develop the confidence to read circuit behavior, choose the right components, and make design decisions that hold up outside of a simulator.

Start with power fundamentals by understanding voltage regulation and rectification, then apply that knowledge to clean DC supplies using capacitor filtering. From there, the course moves into everyday design tasks: selecting resistors for LEDs under different supply voltages, working with multi-LED arrangements, and avoiding common mistakes that lead to dim lighting, overheating, or short battery life. You will also practice the thinking behind timing circuits through capacitor charge and discharge behavior, time constants, and how those calculations translate into predictable delays and stable performance.

As you progress, you will connect theory with control and switching techniques used in modern installations and projects. You will explore PWM concepts for LED dimming and DC motor speed control, understand what practical limits components like the 555 timer introduce, and learn when isolation is essential by using optocouplers in switching and solid-state applications. Along the way, you will improve your troubleshooting mindset by learning how to estimate battery runtime, combine resistors in series or parallel to reach needed values, and design light-sensitive circuits with LDRs that respond reliably to changing conditions.

By the end, you will be better prepared to design circuits that are efficient, safe, and buildable, with clearer judgment on component selection, power handling, and real-world constraints. Whether you are upskilling for electrical work, supporting electronics tasks on the job, or building projects at home, you will finish with a stronger foundation to move from schematic to prototype—and ultimately to PCB design workflows.