Page 941 – Electronics-Lab.com

Password Based Circuit Breaker

Posted on 15 October, 2015 by mixos

Electrical accidents are rapidly increasing especially electric line repairs incident due to the lack of communication and coordination between the maintenance personnel and the electric substation staff. The password based circuit breaker device could just be the solution as only the lineman could reliably control the circuit breaker to avoid miscommunication. The system requires a password to turn ON/OFF the circuit breaker as needed. It is entirely controlled by 8051 family microcontroller specifically the SST89E54RDA-40-C-PIE, an 8-bit microcontroller that is a member of the Flash Flex family.

The circuit consists of 8051 series controller, 4×3 keypad, LCD, relays and two loads. LCD data pins are connected to port1 and control pins RS, RW, EN pins are connected to P3.7, P3.6 and P3.5 respectively. The keypad is connected to port 2 of the controller while the LCD is used to display the information. In addition, the lamp and motor are connected to P3.0 and P3.1 through the relays. These are used to indicate circuit breaker state. Moreover, BC547 transistors are used to drive the relays where 5V relays are used to drive the AC loads. While giving the connections, there should be no common connection between AC and DC supplies. Furthermore, a 5V power supply is used to provide regulated 5V DC to the controller.

This project distinctly provides security and convenience to electrical maintenance personnel. This may help avoid fatal accidents to line man, which can be used in establishments such as building offices, hotels, industries and houses. It is a simple project with commonly available components that helps save life.

Password Based Circuit Breaker – [Link]

DIY WiFi gas detector with text alerts

Posted on 15 October, 2015 by mixos

Stefan over at Hackster.io has written an article detailing his DIY Wi-Fi gas detector that sends SMS alerts:

Hey guys, back with another little project that I’ve been fiddling with for the past week. With kids around, every parent is thinking how to make their home safer for the little ones and for everybody in general. One of the most dangerous thing in the house can be the stove and since we have a gas-powered one, I always wondered why there are no simple gas detectors that can be used around the stove, just to alert instantly that gas may be leaking.
Well, that was the moment when I decided to build one of my own. Having a Particle (Spark) Photon lying around, I decided to use that as a foundation for the project. I like the fact that they are very small and cheap, and also can be flashed over the Wi-Fi. Having that settled, I needed the gas sensor and some kind of alerting system.

DIY WiFi gas detector with text alerts – [Link]

Compensation of Oscilloscope Probes

Posted on 14 October, 2015 by mixos

by Maurizio @ dev.emcelettronica.com:

Using simple wires to measure signals with the oscilloscope would result in unreadable plots on the scope, the main reason being the noise coupled onto the “probe” itself. The first line of defense against that would be to use a coaxial cable as a probe, which would prevent external noise coupling.

An unwanted deterioration of the measured signal is due to the capacitive loading that such a piece of cable adds to the signal. An equivalent schematic of an IC to IC signal is illustrated in figure 1.

Compensation of Oscilloscope Probes – [Link]

9-axis motion sensor and MCU reside in tiny package

Posted on 14 October, 2015 by mixos

by Susan Nordyk:

Housed in a 5.2×3.8×1.1-mm package, Bosch Sensortec’s BMF055 9-aix sensor combines an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer with a 32-bit MCU to enable easy programming and customization. It can be used by designers creating advanced application-specific sensor fusion algorithms for robotics, gaming, remote controls, navigation systems, drones, and human interface devices for IoT projects.

The BMF055 system-in-package integrates a triaxial 14-bit accelerometer, a triaxial 16-bit gyroscope with a range of ±2000 degrees per second, and a triaxial geomagnetic sensor. Based on a 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+ core running at up to 48 MHz, the Atmel SAM D20 microcontroller employed by the BMF055 provides in-system programmable flash memory and a rich set of peripherals and interfaces.

9-axis motion sensor and MCU reside in tiny package – [Link]

Evolution of Arduino graphic

Posted on 14 October, 2015 by mixos

Here is a nice graphic showing the Arduino progress from starting back to 2005 till 2013.

Top-level Weller soldering stations for even better prices

Posted on 14 October, 2015 by mixos

Now even you can afford the best, what´s available on the field of soldering and service.

A fact, that we also try to transform better purchasing conditions on You – our customers, we´ve already mentioned to you few times in our articles. This time we have this pleasant occasion to make so at soldering equipment from company Weller. The biggest change happened at components, which are usually the most costly – at soldering (and desoldering) stations.

The result is lower price at all Weller stations, which are our standard stock items – in majority of cases in 15-20%, what makes up to 200-300 Eur discount at the most expensive types.

It´s still actual, that within 1-2 weeks we´re able to supply you practically any Weller component (which we don´t keep in stock). In our offer can also be found selected types of original soldering tips and any other types can be supplied to you in a short leadtime and at convenient conditions.

So where to start? Probably best by having a look at the Weller catalogue. Our previous articles may also give you an inspiration.

Top-level Weller soldering stations for even better prices – [Link]

Unlock a Door with your Fingerprint

Posted on 14 October, 2015 by mixos

by Kinoma @ instructables.com:

We built a biometric fingerprint-controlled lock prototype. A fingerprint scanner is used to capture and store the fingerprints of authorized users. When the scanner recognizes a user, a solenoid plunger disengages and opens the lock.

Unlock a Door with your Fingerprint – [Link]

How to program the ATtiny85 with the Arduino UNO board

Posted on 14 October, 2015 by mixos

by codebender_cc @ instructables.com:

In this tutorial we will use an Arduino board as an ATtiny programmer.

To do this we will use one Arduino UNO board as an ISP (programmer) and one ATtiny85 micro-controller.

We will use Codebender – online Arduino IDE.

With the following procedure you will be able to program easily the ATtiny45 and ATtiny85 micro-controllers.

How to program the ATtiny85 with the Arduino UNO board – [Link]

Home automation with Telegram BOT

Posted on 14 October, 2015 by mixos

by lucadentella.it:

The project I’m going to describe today it’s a sort of proof of concept that will demonstrate the possibility to remote control sensors and actuators (for example a couple of relays) via Telegram.

Telegram is an instant messaging application, similar to the famous Whatsapp. Last June, the Telegram developers announced that a new set of APIs were available to develop bots.

Home automation with Telegram BOT – [Link]

Simple, Cheap Motor Controller

Posted on 13 October, 2015 by mixos

by TeamJaeger @ instructables.com:

I’ve used this simple circuit several times to drive motors (like in my Stair Climbing robot) as well as solenoids. I originally picked it up from this instructable which is focused on controlling a solenoid. I wanted to isolate this circuit in its own Instructable as a motor driver so I could easily reference it from other future instructables and also provide example code to show how to use it in this manner.

Simple, Cheap Motor Controller – [Link]