Aeroplane

                                      Aeroplane
Isn’t it fascinating that we can now fly to any part of earth without hassles? Few decades back, who would have thought that we could fly in the air even without a pair of wings? The idea of soaring high like birds and kites has been the inspiration of theinventors of Aeroplane. There was a time when travelling was not as easy as it is today. One had to spend days for travelling from one part to another. Needless to say,Invention of Aeroplane has revolutionized travelling experience for people across the world.

 Man’s romance with skies started back in 18^th century when Hot Air Balloon was launched in France. This amazing invention was done by Montgolfier Brothers in 1783. François Laurent d'Arlandes and Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier were passengers of the first flight. But there was one problem with these hot air balloons that they could not be directed to the location one wanted to visit. Rather wind was one that decided destination and direction of balloon. 

       With more research and time invested in the concept of flying in the air, gradually led to invention of gliders. This non motorized flying mechanism was better than the hot air balloon. Earliest glider that could really fly was developed by George Cayel. And in 1843, William Henson made the plans for model plane which unfortunately proved to be a disappointment for him. And soon after, his friend named John Stingfellow designed a plane with the same model and succeeded. This plane managed to fly but did not stay in the air for a long time.

      Year 1880 witnessed earliest steam power airplanes. And during this time, Hiram Maxiam came up with steam powered flying machine too. As the machine was bulky, it could not ever become airborne. Samuel Langley also tried his hand on the steam powered planes and introduced one in 1894, the one that covered around 0.8 kms in around 1½ minutes. Then he designed another plane but its flights led to crashing in the lake. And finally in 19^th century, the heroes- Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright, that are known to endow successful Aeroplane, became interested in the concept of flying.

        The first step towards the successful invention of Aeroplane, was research through reading various books on it. The brothers built and tested the gliders. They chose Kitty Hawk in North Carolina as the test site due its sand, wind, hilly terrain, and the remote location. In year 1900, the Wright brothers tested the new biplane glider with 17 foot wing warping technique and wingspan, weighing 50 pound at the Kitty Hawk, in piloted as well unmanned flights. Based on the glider’s results, the brothers planned on refining landing gear and controls and designed a larger glider.

      In the year 1901, at the Kill Devil Hill in North Corolina, the brothers flew largest glider ever. With 100 pound weight and 22 foot wingspan, the boys geared up for their glider’s flight. But as nothing comes easy, the glider faced problems too. The wings did not have enough power to lift, forward elevator was not that effective and its wing warping technology caused it to spin out of control occasionally.

     In spite of all the problems being faced by them, Wrights refused to give up. They were fighters in true sense; they keep reviewing the test results till they found out that the calculations used for the mechanism were not up to the mark. Then they thought of building wind tunnel for testing the wing shapes and their effect on the lift. Based on the tests, the inventors tried to understand how airfoil wing worked and calculated how well a wing design could work. Their plan was to design the new glider with around 32 foot wingspan and tail for stabilization.

 During 1902, the Wrights flew a number of test glides of the new glider. Their research showed that a movable tail would be of help in balancing craft so they connected one for coordinating turns. With the passing time, they invented various things like flaps on wings and rudder. These two brothers were the first ones to add the concept of navigation on the glider. So they gave a glider that allowed pilots to control the height and direction of glider in the air. And these improvements continued for a couple of years. With the success of their test flight with wind tunnels, they planned of building powered aircrafts.

    And towards end of year 1903, the Wright Brothers effectively flew earliest plane with a man on it. The earliest of their flights covered around 120 feets in span of 12 seconds. And in the same day, the brothers had another 2 successful flights. Amongst all, longest was by Wilbur that covered around 892 feet and stayed in the air for 59 seconds.

  Their first powered Aeroplane was named Flyer. It was plane with two wings and 12 horse powered engine. It also had wooden wings which were 40 feet wide, covered with the cotton cloth. This plane demanded pilot to be in lower wing on his stomach for the steering. And in year 1908, another plan was introduced by the brothers that stayed in the air for about 1½ hours. In year 1909, the brothers got a contract from US military for building first plane for them. In 1911, Calbriath Rodgers was the one that made first flight across U.S possible.

    Since then, Airplane travel has improved a lot. Airplanes now cover thousands of miles at great altitudes of 7 miles and more, carrying around 300 passengers. These passengers comfortably travel across the world on these airplanes. Jet engines have now replaced the propellers and they travel with speed of more than 600 miles every hour. Not even Wright Brothers would have imagined the way air travel has turned today. Consistent efforts and hardwork of the Brothers and other inventors have offered the comfort of air travel today. The best part is that in innovations never stop, they are ongoing. So, one can look forward to advancements in the field.

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Air Conditioner

                                  Air Conditioner

Ever since the industrial age began, man has thought of hundreds of ways to outsmart nature. And out of those hundred times, man has succeeded in more than ninety nine times. Climate and weather too have been brought together as a symphony that man desires to hear. Air-conditioning is the name of the scientific method that defies unruly sun, freezing winters and humid airs. Once a sci-fi author Rober Heinklein had said “Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.” Truly, with air-conditioner we get what we expect.

What we know as air conditioning is rather an innovative and as unique technology, but for ages, different techniques of dehumidifying and cooling air have always been around and practiced in different parts of the world. The seeds of this thoughtful invention called air-conditioner were sown ages back when handmade fans gave way to electric fans and coolers and finally the 21^st century woke up to the AC that marked the onset of temperature ruled by man. The wealthiest of ancient Romans put to use aqua duct water and circulated it through the walls of their mansions. At the same time, the Chinese too used varied methods to keep the interiors of their buildings cool s by utilizing air and water in the hottest of time.In the 1800’s, a man came as close to inventing an air-conditioner as one could. The British inventor Michael Faraday found out that Ammonia on being compressed and liquidized could help in cooling the air. Later on the same lines, John Gorrie, in the year 1841, discovered that the same compressing technology could be put to best use in his hospital in Florida. Utilizing this technology, he created ice to keep his patients’ rooms. Unlike Faraday, Gorrie didn’t stop at the mere discovery, and continued his experiments with the new found technology. He came very close to inventing the first air-conditioning unit, but unfortunately his first pro type leaked and resulted to be a failure. Instead of stepping back and disappearing in the darks of failure, Gorrie secured some funds and finally got his patent approved in the year 1851. For his hard luck, his funding partner died and left him with the shattered dream of indoor air-conditioning unrealized. Gorrie too succumbed to death in 1855 and with him, the air-conditioning science too died for the next 50 years.Again, work started on the science of air-conditioning and the first air-conditioner was designed in 1902. It was initially designed for industrial purposes. The inventor or “Father of Cool” Willis Carrier used coils to control moisture in the air and at the same time maintain the cool to prevent wrinkling of paper in a printing plant. It was only one year after Carrier graduated with a Masters in Engineering from Cornell University that he saw the first air conditioning in operation. He figured out that he could make the Brooklyn printing plant owner happy through his air-conditioning coils. These coils created a stable environment with which aligned four-color printing could be possible.Happy with the success of the first system, Carrier established the pioneer mass plant for air-conditioners. The term air-conditioning was coined by Stuart W. Cramer in the year 1906. He belonged to Charlotte, North Carolina and was finding out ways he could add moisture to the air in his textile plants. The first usage of this term happened in the papers he had filed to the patent offices for the water conditioning unit invented by him. These inventions happened parallel to each other, and fascinated by the name, Carrier took this term air-conditioning and added it to his companies’ name. The first air-conditioner was bulky, reproduced huge noises and gave out toxic chemicals too. These toxins namely, ammonia, methyl chloride and propane, were inflammable and when leaked caused fatal effects in the atmosphere and even to the human lives. In 1928, an air-conditioner was built using Freon which was considered much safer for humans though it was hazardous for the environment. Thomas Midgley was the inventor of this Freon using air-conditioner. Even after the human friendly air-conditioner was launched, the general public except those who lived luxuriously enjoyed the air-conditioning in the movie theaters alone. In the 1930s most of the theaters were utilizing the cooling technology and even during the Great Depression, people could enjoy the artificial chilly air in the theaters, even the rich proprietors, who had to give away their luxurious ACs. The system that was used in the theaters was produced by Carrier and was sold at high rates ranging between $10,000 and $50,000.Air-conditioners were a luxury limited to the rich sections of the society but that was only in the early 1930s and 1940s. Slowly with steady steps, Air-conditioning walked into the corporate world and demanded the bosses to provide their employees with the comfort of ACs. Followed by a bit of retaliation at first, the bosses finally gave in and the employees worked in the comforts of artificial cold air and gave better output. The wave of air-conditioning spread world-wide and by 1957, most of the offices had air-conditioners installed as 90% of the companies according to Gail Cooper's Air-Conditioning America saw air-conditioning as the most vital factor in the increased office efficiency.America led when it came to Air-conditioner adoption and by 1980s it grew as the nation that was consuming most of the air-conditioning as compared to all the other countries combined. Soon criticism too boiled up and people started lamenting the invention that concentrated on devouring the electricity and then gave out mechanical cooling. But more than criticism, Air-conditioning has always been credited with survival and growth of various industries, the development of heat sensitive computers, and what not. If not for the Air-Conditioners, how would we have survived through the record-breaking temperatures? The bulky ACs have now shrunken and are no more noisy. The emission of chemicals too doesn’t happen and besides all these improvements efforts are continued to be made to improve air-conditioning and the emphasis is now on energy conservation and efficiency. In the nearing future we can hope to see the best of air-conditioners with distinguishing features and sophisticated technology.

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Mobile Phone

                                 Mobile Phone

Mobile Phones have proved themselves to be one of the greatest gifts to the mankind. They have become an indispensible part of our lives. But going back in time, owning a mobile phone was confined to members of affluent class. All thanks to cost cutting techniques and innovations over a period of time; mobile phones are now affordable for everyone. With a plethora of mobile phones sets flooding the market, they are not just catering to the needs but are acting as status symbols for many

.

Origin of this gadget is quite interesting. Starting from bulky mobiles phones which were as long and heavy as one’s forearms, to ultra thin and techno savvy handsets, mobiles phones have covered a long way so far. It all started with the basic telephony. Alexander Graham Bell was the first one to patent telephone in the year 1876. This technology was developed using the equipment designed for telegraph. Calls were connected with the help of operators. And a pillar of the mobile telephony came into existence when Charles Stevenson invented radio communication in early 1890s for keeping contacts with the offshore lighthouses. Marconi transmitted signals over the distance of 2 kms in year 1894. And Fessenden capably broadcasted music through radio by 1906.And the following development was merger of radio telephone technology. In 1926, first class passenger trains, running from Berlin to Hamburg used the technology. These radio telephones were also used for air traffic safety as well as in the passenger airplanes. At the time of Second World War, German tanks made great use of these radio telephones too.Two way radios was an ancestor of the mobiles phones. These radios also known as the mobile rigs, were fixed police cruisers, ambulances, taxicabs before advent of handheld mobile phones. Since the mobile radios were given connection to telephone network, one could not dial these from the home phones. And slowly this technology gained popularity among the mobile radio users.Later versions of these radio phones incorporated cigarette lighter plugs and were called bag phones. Fixed in the vehicles, these gadgets were either used as portable two way radios or mobile phones. And then in 1940s, Motorola came with new developments in mobile phones. And this is how Walkie Talkie was born. Large, bulky and battery operated, this Handie Talkie soon found a way to US military.Another turning point came in the history of mobile phones when the base station for mobile phones came into being. Engineers from Bell Labs developed the base stations in 1947. The same year, W. Rae Philip and Douglas H. Ring developed hexagonal cells for these mobile phones. But an engineer, Porter from Bell Labs, suggested positioning of the cell towers at corners of hexagons instead of center. He also argued for the directional antennas, for transmitting or receiving the signals in the three directions, into adjacent hexagon cells.In 1956, Ericsson Company released the earliest full automatic cellular phone system called MTA in Sweden. Though this gadget was operated automatically but due to its bulkiness, could not really hold the users interest for long. It is surprising to hear that this mobile phone weighed around 40 kgs back then. And then improved and lighter version of the same phone was introduced in 1965. This was known as MTB and used the DTMF signaling.Soon in 1957, Leonid Kupriyanovich developed experimental model of wearable mobile phones in Moscow, operating with the help of base station. This young engineer had earlier developed the radio phone known as LK-1. The battery life of the wearable mobile phone by the young inventor lasted for around 20-30 hours. Weighing 3 kg, it worked within the distance of 20 to 30 km from the station. Later he patented the mobile phones and also came up with a version of pocket mobile phone that was just of 0.5 Kgs in the same year.Then again automatic pocket mobile phone was developed in 1966 at Bulgaria. Called RAT-0.5, phone coordinated with the base station known as RATZ-10. And further developments in the field of the cellular phones were witnessed in 1967. It was decided that every mobile phone would be catered to a base station throughout its life. Though this was not that novel concept, need of one base station at least broke continuity of the automatic services to the mobile phones. After three years, in 1970, another engineer Ames E. Joel invented automatically operated call handoff technology. This system allowed the mobile phones to pass through cell areas while making a phone call without any loss of conversation. This was the time when the mobile user could use the gadget without any disturbance.Further in year 1971, AT&T Incorporation projected mobile phone service that was approved by FCC later. Another development in the history of mobile phones was registered with ARP network’s success launched in Finland. It was the earliest commercial cellular phones and was known as Zero Generation mobile network.Invention of mobile phones that closely resembles today’s mobile phones is credited to Martin Cooper, employer and researcher of Motorola.  He initially developed cellular phone named Motorola Dynatac in 1973. With 5 inches width and 9 inches length, this 2.5 pounds weighing phone carried around 30 circuit boards in it. With recharge time of around 10 hours, talk time of 35 minutes, this phone gave comfortable talking experience to the users. One could listen, dial and talk on this mobile phone but what was missing was display screen. With passing time, refinements were made and these mobile phones improved by leaps and bounds.With introduction of Global System for the mobile communications, radio spectrum could be used effectively. The technology gave great voice quality, international roaming facilities along with compatibility with ISDN systems. And further for providing coverage to the remote areas that ISDN, GSM and cellular phones could not offer, satellite phones came into being. Base station for the satellite phones were built in the geostationary satellites. And now there is no place on the planet that is untouched by the mobile phones.

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SERVO MOTOR TESTER

                        SERVO MOTOR TESTER

When using a servo motor in a project, if the servo motor does not respond as per the input, how to make sure that the fault is not in the servo motor but the circuit or logic? One way is to isolate the servo motor from the circuit and check its proper working by feeding it pulses of varying width and checking the angle that the servo motor turns to. For example, a 1.5ms pulse should make the motor turn to a 90-degree position (neutral position).

The circuit presented here generates pulses of varying widths. It is built around two NE555 timer ICs (IC1 and IC2) and a few discrete components. Timer IC1 is configured as an astable multivibrator with a time period of 20 ms. Every 20 ms, the astable provides a very sharp negative pulse to trigger IC2. Timer IC2 is configured as a monostable multivibrator that produces 1ms, 1.5ms and 2ms long pulses to rotate the servo motor (M1). 


Pin 4 of IC1 is pulled down by resistor R2. When switch S1 is pressed, the astable multivibrator triggers the monostable to produce a pulse as per the position of switch S2. Switch S2 can select resistors R4, R5 and R6 together, and R7 to produce monostable pulse output of 1 ms, 1.5 ms and 2 ms, respectively. Preset VR1 is used to set the time period of IC1 to 20 ms.


Using switch S2, select the monostable time period as 1 ms, 1.5 ms or 2 ms and press switch S1. The servo motor should rotate to extreme left, middle or extreme right, respectively.

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Virtual Keyboard

                    Virtual Keyboard

With the alluring range of latest smart phones and tablets, this term sounds quite viable these days. A virtual keyboard is a software component that allows a user to enter characters. Here is a project from the students of Cornell University which featuring a ‘Virtual keyboard’ which is not completely a software component but still is virtual in complete sense. This device replaces a physical keypad with a customizable keyboard printed on a standard A3 size paper whose keystrokes are read and translated to real input.

 

As mentioned, the physical component is a printed A3 size paper with black background and blue keys. A conventional off-the-shelf laser beam with a line-generating diffractive optical element is used which generates invisible plane of red light hovering a few millimeters over the typing surface. A CMOS camera continuously captures images of the region containing the typing surface for red colour data. It is evident that a laser shining over a human surface produces saturating amounts of red colour data than otherwise. So, whenever the captured image’s red data exceeds a threshold value, a press is detected. The functioning of the camera to take input from it is initiated by the user through the microcontroller unit (ATMega32). The I2C protocol is used to establish a healthy interface between camera and MCU. After the images are captured, they are read from the camera registers at a rate of 6 frames per second for processing. A java applet is used as a simple GUI where the users can enter scan codes of the keys they desire and transmit it to the microcontroller through a standard com port on the PC.

Hence, we can sum up the crucial hardware and software implementations for the system as below:

 

Hardware:

·         Laser module

·         Camera and its associated circuitry

·         Outer casing for the entire device

 

Software:

·         Implementing the I2C protocol to read and write registers from camera

·         Reading values from camera to obtain 6 frames every second

·         Processing the images to obtain the pressed key

·         Converting the pressed key into a scan code which is then transmitted using the PS/2 protocol

·         Sending serial data from a java application to update the array of scan codes in the Mega32

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