San (Page 2)

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Some things i had written online around 2002 on cars.

Cars can have multiple skins like Winamp

If you use organic flexible LEDs, encapsulated in transparent poly-sulphone or some silicones. And the RGB triad matrix of LEDs are driven by a computer system to make it work like a flexible LCD screen. It can be used to form a skin for a car. Only there will be no high resolution, but it will do.

This flexible layer is fixed on the car like a permanent cap. Now with the onboard graphics synthesis embedded car computer you can choose any jpg, png or gif textured tile or make your own. Then output the tile or wallpaper to the car exterior LED matrix skin. Now the Car has become skinnable. Not just colors but fine textures are possible.

Automobile Ideas from 2002

Now with a Bluetooth enabled Human Mood Monitor plugin you can make the car exterior to reflect the mood of the life-forms inside. This will make a road alive and traffic jams very colorful.

Simple Automobile Safety Radar

There must be a very affordable automobile radar with just a 10-20 feet radius around the vehicle. This should display as a graphic on the dashboard as some of the very old 2D car games. This radar must be based on sonar or infra red to avoid additional EMI-RFI pollution and confusion. The display should show all objects which include people, small animals, kerb and wall.

The sensor has to be a multiple sensor, static belt one near wheels and one at the roof of automobile. The display device on car should be TCP-IP so that you can monitor your vehicle with your cellphone, PDA or any browser.

(:->)—-\–/—-<                            Man Sleeping

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IC Engines or Internal Combustion Engines are used in all types of Motor Vehicles. They convert Organic Fuel to Motion by tiny combustive explosions in a Cylinder-Piston arrangement. The use of Electricity here is only the spark for ignition.

Revolutionary Balloon Anti-gravity Car

Balloon Antigravity Car

These have a very low efficiency analogous to the Incandescent Tungsten Filament Bulb, The traditional bulb is being replaced by the emerging Energy Efficient LED Lighting Technology.

If we can convert Ethanol Fuel to heat by combustion, that is easy. Then the entire heat is absorbed by Thermoelectric Cell Arrays, like the Solar Cells absorb The radiation from the sun. The EMF from the Thermoelectric Cell Array can be a cascaded to generate enough electricity to charge the Rechargeable Batteries in an Electric Vehicle.

The most important thing is ….. The Material/Compound that can give a good Heat to Electricity Conversion, has still not been discovered. This has be as good as a Solar Cell.

Some Breakthrough in Semiconductor Physics, Nanotechnology, Material Science or Electrochemistry by the Scientists in Fundamental Research and Applied Science, can make the Internal Combustion Engine Obsolete.

Thermal Electricity can also make possible, ‘on the fly’ Electricity from anything that can burn. Coal, wood, twigs, dried leaves, biogas, ethanol can fire Mini Thermal Engines; that make Heat into Electricity to drive Electric Motors backed up by supercaps or rechargeable batteries.

The only other way is to offset gravity as shown in the right, this was a graphic i made in 1999 for a poem on my website.

delabs – 2006

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Windows and Ventilators can have a Dust Frame or Solid Curtain. This can be fixed to windows like the Venetian Blinds but have to be leak proof on on the four sides. Mainly for Tropical and Equatorial Climates or Dusty areas near Roads etc.

SmartWindow with Economy Dust Frame

Theory Points of Study

Layer-1 – Blocks most reptiles and Insects. Mosquitos to Fruit Flies. Aperture of Grid 1 sq mm. Material Aluminum.

Layer-2 – Another Layer similar to above, but facing the Outside Garden/Road. Aluminum Mesh 5 sq mm holes, resist Big Rats and others. It is thick and strong. Prevent Small Animals, Birds too.

The layers are as large as windows and are separated by 5-10mm by 12 nylon spacers. These may have small pins fixed in the gap in many places for “Action of Points” .

Electronics –

Layer-1 is anode, Layer-2 is cathode. Very High Voltage of Very Low Current, ionize air and coagulate dust, smells, pollen and other floating colloids. The plates when touched by Humans cannot cause any harm. Current less that 100 microamps. This ionizer powered by an isolated 24V adapter, draws very low power so it can be kept on all the times

Gaurd Layers –

Finger Gaurd layers on either side made of a decorative design with apertures smaller than fingers made of Environment Resistant Plastic or Epoxy. The layers are as large as the windows and can be the aesthetic part.

Solar Air Cleaner and Humidifier ACH Option

This is a Solar energy based Air Cleaner and Humidifier that covers 1/4 of the window like a Box-Slab at the Top of Window. It is optional and an addon internal module to the DustFrame.

The Solar Panel is as wide as window and fitted on top of windows at an angle outside. The length can be around 6 inches or less. The ACH fitted inside is 1/4th or less the height of window. The rest of window 3/4 is open for fresh air but the air is cleaned by ionizer frame like in explanation above.

The 1/4 ACH is a Box 6 inches deep on the inside, it is sealed but with a place to pour or guide water thru a mini water pipe, like the tubes used in Intravenous Systems used in hospitals.

The water collects at bottom of the box and drawn upward by a capillary action by an array of cotton wicks in matrix formation. The wicks grow from the floor of box to top.

Tiny row of low power fans powered by solar and rechargeable battery, draw air thru the ionizer layer and blows on the wicks array. The air exiting from this box is cool, clean and recharged with some humidity. it could also be one fan with long vertical geared turbine barrel plastic fin too, this sucks the air and blows on the wet wicks.

This system reduces dust, toxic colloids and allergy causants. It also prevents mosquito, flies, rodents and other small pests. It recharges the air with some humidity that keeps the room healthy and fresh. It consumes very low power and can be run on solar energy. The wet wicks also add a bit of cooling if the air is too warm.

San – 2012

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We can by Photo-lithography, Laser, Milling, Etching make Intricate Designs on a Single Side Copper Clad Glass Epoxy Board. After that we Multi-Mask the copper side with Translucent Synthetic Lacquer of different shades. Prepare the wall with an epoxy coating and Stick 1 Square Feet panels with tiny rivets or screws. Larger that 1 square feet may cause warp stress, need big screws.

Copper Clad Glass Epoxy Wall Panels

You can also do something that is Geeen. Buy up Surplus Electronics PCBs Old and New with or without Components. After epoxy coating the walls, Fix a thin waterproof hardboard on the wall. Then screw these PCBs as Wall panels, after you have washed, dried and lacquered them.

You can have an entire wall of 286 and 386 Mother Boards or the Boards that come form old Telephone Exchanges full of Relays.

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Many people give up on Wireless Keyboard Mouse Combo after a few months of “Novelty”. This is due to the chore of replacing batteries and also the cost and wastage (carbon foot).

Then i have long been suggesting, nineties, ferrite smps coupled charger docks. This is like RFID, but more like RF power transfer. One half of Ferrite E-Core is in the Gadget and the other half is in the Dock. When the Gadget is docked it is sensed and power transfer just like in SMPS. Rechargeable batteries in the gadget.

Here is the Schoodle for building this. The Mumbo Jumbo to make a Wired-Wireless Combo is below.

Wired Wireless Keyobard Mouse

How-To Convert Wireless to Pseudo-Wired

Now you got a Wireless Combo, it can be converted into wired yet wireless, it is simple the wires will now carry 3V power to the Keyboard and Mouse, so no batteries. A little gentle and smart drilling is needed for the Mouse.

Get a 5V Adapter, the ones used for charging phones and music players. If you cannot get 5V use a 7805 to derive a 5V from 6 or 9. Use two 1N4007 in series on the positive line to drop 1.5V – test out with a dummy load of 10K and 100uF cap. Now use this to power both the mouse and keyboard with thin dual-core wires leading to the battery terminals. Soldering this may be a delicate job. Now you got a Perpetual Wired Keyboard Mouse Combo. The Interface still remains Wireless.

Another way is use Rechargeable Batteries for both. The wires will carry exactly a regulated 3.3V from a LM317 circuit which can be tweaked. The Mains adapter can be any 6V or 9V raw DC. You can have a Connector for the power wires when you want it to be wire free. This may require greater Gadget Opening and Drilling Expertise.

Reuse – Be Earth Friendly – Keep your Carbon Footprint smaller than that of a Yeti.

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First have a look at this How to Build a Robot a BeetleBot. This sparked the long lost memory of a book i read around 35 years back. My age was in single digits. This was when i had neither an idea of electronics or could afford any parts.

I had built many physics projects like weighing scale, gramophone, telegraph system, crystal radio. I will try to explain these later. Calling bells, gears and magnets from the flea markets my source of electricity & magnetism.

Beetle Robot guided by Light
I read a hobby book from UK for children. It was a Beetle Car Bot, with four wheels and 4 light sensors. It could be LDR or photo-transistors, i do not remember. The light sensors were at the four corners of the car. The maneuvering was by variation in the speed of each wheel. It was based on germanium transistors mostly.

Four large lamps like 40W, had to be mounted on the ceiling, at the four corners of the room. By turning on and off these lights, this bot could go anywhere in the room. The whole book with pictures was dedicated to one bot and how-to build one.

Now that we have PIC and AVR; we can use Dimmable LED Lightning arrays to guide the bot. The challenge is in the mechanics of the bot, we have to forget that we have wireless for some time. Try this out.

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Measurement Of Temperature – When power transistors are used, they may tend to over heat. Likewise resistors may also overheat in the event of faults or short-circuits. The knowledge of their temperatures may be advantageous. In addition, measurement of temperature constitutes a basic necessity in day-to-day life.

Measuring the temperature of a body, depends upon the establishment of thermo-dynamic equilibrium between the body and the device used to sense the temperature. In practice, this condition is rarely attained since it is difficult to establish complete instantaneous equilibrium. Hence great care must be exercised in choosing a method suited to the problem so that satisfactory conditions for temperature measurements are obtained. Temperature sensors possess thermal characteristics dependent largely on their size and shape and the materials from which they are made. These characteristics affect precise measurements. The introduction of a temperature sensor into a body tends to modify the temperature conditions at that point. In most cases the sensor is connected to a recording instrument by means of an intermediate system, along which the signal is carried. The intermediate system and the recorder may be subject to temperature and other changes. Hence compensating devices become a necessity to reduce or eliminate errors.

Diode Thermometer

The measurement of temperature in our instrument depends on the fact that the forward voltage drop of a silicon diode changes by about – 2 millivolts per degree centigrade. Thus, by measuring the change in forward voltage of silicon diode kept in a temperature probe, the voltage drop can be converted into temperature.

Since this involves the measurement of millivolt level accurately a precision voltage source is needed. This can be conveniently obtained from the 3 pin + 5v voltage regulator. This voltage is tapped using a preset VR6 whose output is used for adjusting the ice bath temperature reading to zero degree. This tapped voltage is fed to the diode in the temperature probe and the other end of the diode is returned to a negative supply of -8v. The negative supply uses a (-8v regulated output from IC 7808 voltage regulator) which has the least variation with temperature. Now, the voltage at the probe point is connected to the input of DPM via function selector switch ST.

The temperature probe can be made by a length of shielded audio cable connected to any type of mini plug and fitted onto the front panel socket SSG/T. The free end of the cable is soldered to the diode. The diode is kept just at the tip of the cable. A miniature glass diode like 1N4148 is preferred. The soldering makes a good fixture at the end of the cable. The meter can thus measure temperatures from 0°C to 150°C continuously and upto 200°C momentarily since above that the cable starts melting.

Epoxy Resin and a used Metal Pen Refill can be used to make a sensor to insulate the cable. The diode must be thermally and electrically isulated from metal tube.

(above text may have ocr and concept errors)

Extra Reading –

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This was a Student Project of mine, it is a very basic instruments that could do most of the tasks on a test bench.

The cabinet used, was available as a part of a Hi-Fi DIY System, The Range and Mode switches were Modular Stackable Interlocked MultiPole Switches. The rest of the Interface were wirewound pots, jacks, sockets and plugs. The front panel was Engraved Acrylic, the panel was the toughest issue we tackled.

I wanted it to look well engineered, at least on the outside. It was a total analog instrument except for the digital indication of ICL7107. Thanks to ‘Intersil Hot Ideas’ Applications Book.

The above belong to an instrument Measureall shown below.

MeasureAll Benchtop Instrument