[TC] Ascent Engineering Mastermind Contest

Ascent is India's most widely circulated and read recruitment supplement. It is focused on Career Development, Human Resource Development, Employment and Job Opportunities. The supplement has 23 national editions, nearly 75 lakh+ readers, over 400+ companies advertising nearly 5000+ jobs every week. All the jobs published in the supplement are also posted online on www.itsmyascent.com.

Ascent Engineering Mastermind is India's biggest Inter Corporate Quiz for engineers which intends to bring together the brightest engineering minds in the country competing in a battle of wits. Teams of 2 participants each would be competing in the zonal rounds in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune and winning teams would be challenged in the finals in Mumbai.

Register Here http://aem.itsmyascent.com/quizpage.html

[TC] DIY Auto-Balancing Surface using Servo Motors

Using a touch screen, these DIYers built an self balancing surface which automatically tilts itself based upon the position of any object placed upon it.  In the video demo, the surface automatically adjusts to the ball, keeping it directly the the center of the screen, reacting quickly when the object is manipulated.

As you can see in the video, the screen outputs data which is sent back to the servos which adjust their axis accordingly.

We carry many servos in varying speeds and sizes in Hack-n-mod store.

This demo shows a Ball and Plate demo done by Francesco Prosperi at the Retis Lab of the Scuola Superiore S. Anna in Pisa.

The demo uses the Flex boards hosting a Microchip dsPIC DSC that pilots two servomotors. The ball position is taken by using a touchscreen!

Updated Apr 2010 - we released a new version of the Ball & Plate available for purchase! Just check
http://www.evidence.eu.com/products/a...
The new system is completely supported by the Scicoslab Code Generator

Source" http://www.youtube.com/

[TC] Receipt Printer With Raspberry-Pie

In the future, everything will be connected to the internet. 
And all restaurants will be Taco Bell!

The idea of pervasive connections between physical objects and the online world.

These connected devices don’t just idly sit around waiting for commands or files.

They’re active agents that anticipate your needs and can push 
or pull data from the internet.

Our Internet of Things Printer is a small, internet-connected thermal printer
that can have a daily weather forecast ready before you head out in the morning,
a puzzle to work on while riding the subway, provide a list of “tweets” 
relating to your interests or any other task you can program!

This second version of the printer is built around the Raspberry Pi,
 a tiny computer that packs a wallop:

more processing power, more RAM and the potent Linux operating system.

 The new kit has an easier time handling graphics and looks super tidy 
with its wireless networking:

Complete Tutorial @ http://learn.adafruit.com/pi-thermal-printer?view=all
Download PDF @ http://learn.adafruit.com/downloads/pdf/pi-thermal-printer.pdf

Piccolo – The ‘Sketching’ Robot

Piccolo

Piccolo can be said as the perfect companion for a graphic designer or an engineer as it helps him to sketch his creativity. Piccolo is a small pocket sized robot which uses servo mechanism for developing and deploying the accurate 2D or 3D output. Like all other robots, this one also works according to CNC technology. CNC is the acronym of Computer Numerical Control. Here the computer converts the design produced by the computer aided design software (CAD) into numbers. These numbers denote different coordinates – that is X, Y and Z in a graph. This technology is employed in a number of places such as the automatic machine cutting, or the drawing tool.  We can sketch a simple drawing or cut a sheet using a laser tip by attaching the corresponding tip to this bot. Piccolo will work according to the type of tip attached to it. Another important advantage of Piccolo is its portability. We can carry this cool machine anywhere with us. When compared to other CNC based robots, this one does not cost thousands of dollars but just $70.This device was introduced by the Diatom studio from London with the collaboration of Cheng  Xu and Huaishu Peng  From CoDe Lab.

Piccolo Demonstration Video

 Piccolo is open source – anyone can modify its design. The prototype is simple; it can be assembled quickly and is easy to use. The Piccolo includes Arduino and processing libraries so that we can use Piccolo as we wish like moving automatically or by responding to a sensor. We can engage multiple piccolos to work together so that it could create a larger canvas. In the Piccolo kit we are provided with the facility to create 3D or 2D sketches according to our desire.

Source: http://www.circuitstoday.com/piccolo-the-%E2%80%98sketching%E2%80%99-robot

Tutorial: Making Solar Cell Using 2N3055 Transistor

This video unveils the fact that a silicon diode is quite similar to a solar cell. To prove this, it takes apart a 2N3055 power transistor to produce 1.6 milliwatts. Watch the video for a great tutorial on creating a transistor solar cell.

It's easy to cut open a power transistor like the 2N3055 to expose the NPN silicon material inside to make a solar cell. When exposed to sunlight, or household lights, it conducts electricity. The N-type and P-type materials work like a solar cell. The best way is from the Base to the Collector though from both the Base and Emitter combined and then to the Collector also works well. The voltage and current aren't much but with just a few of them in series you can power a small 1.5 volt calculator.


Source: http://electronicsforu.com/newelectronics/video/detailvideo.asp?id=2077

[TC] Finally time for Smart Watches and Wearable Computing

Long ago, in a far off land some of us will remember where the days of a smart watch and wearable computing was a digital giant of a watch that incorporated functions such as a calculator and alarm in a device that obliterated much of your wrist but was a cool gadget to show off to your friends.

Today’s smart watches may not at first glance be that different, yet despite being around for the past decade modern smart watches have so far failed to become mass market.

The most recent launches this month however are likely to increase the adoption of smart watches and be another step towards bringing the world of wearable computing to the masses.

ABI Research has predicted that more than 1.2 million smart watches will be shipped in 2013.

The unveiling by both Sony and Samsung of their own smart watches at the IFA trade show in Berlin this week, both of which will be available before the end of the year, should help speed up adoption of wearable computing on your wrist and allow users to realise the benefits of M2M connected wearable technology.

Samsung’s Galaxy Gear Smart Watch is essentially a smart phone on your wrist since it can not only be used to make calls but can also deliver email and texts and take photos too. It launches next month.

Sony also unveiled its own version of the smart watch and Pebble launched earlier this year but the market is still waiting for Apple’s long-rumoured iwatch. Qualcomm meanwhile also showed off its prototype smart watch Toq this month and Microsoft is reported to be launching its own smart watch for Microsoft Surface in 2014.

Read More at http://www.telecomstechworld.com/blog/?p=147

[TC] Test Mains Voltage Wireless

Description.

This circuit can be used to test whether mains voltage is present or not without having electric contact with mains line. The CMOS IC CD4033 is the heart of this circuit. The CD4033 consists of a 5 stage decade Johnson counter and an output decoder for converting the Johnson code to a 7 segment decoded output for driving 7 segment LED display. A 10cm long insulated copper wire connected to the clock pin (pin1) of the IC serves as the sensor. The sensor wire has to be placed in the vicinity of the mains wire to be tested. When there is no voltage in the mains line, no voltage will be induced in the sensor wire and the display will show a random digit. When there is voltage in the mains line, a small voltage will be induced in the sensor wire due to electromagnetic induction and this voltage is sufficient enough to clock the CMOS IC CD4033. Now the display will count from zero to nine and repeat.

Circuit diagram.

Notes.

• The circuit can be assembled on a Vero board.
• Use 9V PP3 battery for powering the circuit.
• Use a 10cm insulated wire as the sensor.
• The IC must be mounted on a holder.
• Switch S1 can be a miniature ON/OFF switch.
• 
  

Source: http://www.circuitstoday.com/