Adding LOGIC to our projects

The world of electronics sure was turned up side down by the invention of transistors. We all have difficulties comprehending the purpose and design of these minuscule miracles.

This is an amazing video on transistors I just came by. Hope it helps!

Well to keep it short and simple - invention of transistors paved us the majestic route to discover something called 'Logic'. A logic as explained in the above video speaks of two states- ON or OFF. This simple concept is used all around us to create some of the powerful applications without which survival is challenging and less fun!

In order to make it a little simple, we arranged/connected transistors in a particular fashion and designed hardwired logic set ups called logic gates. Logic gates helped early engineers to design a full featured application. I sincerely hope the following video will  enlighten us all with the nuts & bolts of logic gates and how transistors helped us get there. Though it is long, it guarantees throughput delivery.

The first application man used logic was for was making Math simple! Yes, he used logic gates to design the 4 basic mathematical operations : addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  So this proofs that man considers Maths to be the hardest of all and so he made the transistors do all the hard work.

When any of us try and attempt to do our project to suit OUR needs then mostly we are required to create our own circuit to solve the problem. It will be a very wise decision to employ logic gates to make our design simple and up to the point.

Take the following for example. The guy in the video wanted to create something which will respond to the button click and void out the other button. Though it doesn't show the circuit, the way he constructed the circuit was pretty cool.

Logic gates can be a great solution in case you want to do your own application. An application is just a real time project which WORKS and solves a problem/issue. In this case the application was

• To determine out of the 2 switches which one was pressed first 
• To void out the other switch and avoid registering the switch input

In my future posts I am going to take a simple logic gate project and help you build your own logic gate based applications.

Till then hang on... As a parting gift one more cool video to understand the logic gates even better + learn playing dominoes. Enjoy!!

Let us start a Lab!

The adorable  hurdle of implementing an idea is the lack of proper set up or a workplace to experiment it out! There is also the other obstacle of methods or means of trying out your idea, we will come to that later. This post will deal with how you can start a small Lab and see it getting transformed into a production unit or a command center! 

Like I mentioned when I say 'Lab' don't think its going to be like the one they show in Dexter's Laboratory , a very little computer desk or a kitchen table is all that is required to start your own mini lab.

Now coming to the most important part - the tools. Your work will only be as good as your tools so never hesitate to buy yourself quality tools, it is never an expense only an investment! This guide is for starting an electronics lab facility so if you are looking for test tubes and pippets in the inventory list, then you are reading the wrong blog dude!

Screw Drivers:

These are the first tools that should come to your mind when talking about a Lab. Buy yourself a screw driver set as shown below. You never know when which tip will come to your rescue! Again the varieties in the bits and the variation in size is completely up to your needs. But at the very beginning a similar kit should do the trick!

Breadboard:

The moment you decide to try out a circuit you see in a magazine or in the web be sure to wire that up using the breadboard. This will save you precious time in case you are not so sure about the authenticity of a acquired circuit and you want to mass produce it or make a prototype. Spend some time with the below video to learn all about breadboards. 

Soldering Iron + Lead & flux:

This is certainly one of the most important tool you need to make a prototype of an electronic circuit. There are huge varieties and variants of soldering iron. Since we are just starting up we will settle for a 30W pointed tip "SOLDRON" make iron. I still own a 8 year old soldering iron and he is my pal when it comes to heating things up! Then once we have enough experience we can move on to the temperature controlled ones and SMT types. Watch & learn the fun behind soldering.

Power tool box:

There may be a time when you may need some hard cutting tools to bring stuffs into shape. Try getting yourself a mini toolkit from Bosch or its Chinese equivalent ;) It may come in handy! But if it is way too pricey for your budget then let us deal with this later! 

Laptop/Desktop:

Trust me! you will need this more than all the other tools combined together. This will surely be the most essential part of your lab and almost 70% of your research will be through this awesome tool. Thought I will add this one too!

 

Bench Power supply:

Now, what is electronics without power supply. But wait can we use the live AC voltage for our small circuits. The answer is no and you need to either buy a 12 V power adapter with standard jacks or build yourself a variable power supply. I would recommend the 12 V power adapter, but if you want to start your research by building your own variable power supply, then here you go:

Multimeter:

This is your next best friend in electronics. You are going to need this as much as your fingers. 

Storing Components:

One word of advice. Whenever you are buying components for your projects don't buy the exact quantity required to build the circuit. Always get some spares in excess than required. This will:

• Avoid wastage of time to visiting the shop again in case of components malfunctioning or breakage and loss due to improper handling
• You will start building your store and you never know when you will be need of a particular component
• Get ideas on how components will 'look like' in case you are designing a PCB or a Dot board circuit based prototype

Check this out on ideas of how you can stack or store your components and how a Lab may look like:

Connecting wires and Wire strippers:

Wires are of different types and I recommend to start with the single stranded wires and get your self a wire stripper to use them in your bread board. 

And one last thing:

The one thing you should always have ready on the go is your patience. You loose this and all your work will be at stake. No first electronic project has ever worked for any one who tried it out for the first time & if yours worked for the first time then my heart full congratulations and best of luck on your future projects.

Go start your first project and let me know in case you need further support! 

P.S: Just as you rightly thought all stuffs are already available in the web. This blog is an attempt to kindle interest on any budding electronic practitioner by putting together stuffs and guide him/her on the process of starting out your dream electronic project!  

Looking for an Idea?? Well Look closer!

Let us admit it, the moment when we get inspired by electronics and it's mind blowing abilities we want to start our own project! At that exact moment we get stumped by the next problem. "What am I going to do?" If you have ever found yourself in a similar situation then you are reading the right blog my friend.

Yes, I have also been through the same question countless times. We all know that electronics is fascinating and everybody are going to see us as magicians after we complete a working project. Yes, you read it right .. after we make the project work. But what project to do? How will I ever find an inspiring idea? How do I create something and it gives a 'cool' outlook to others who come by it? 

Many electronic hobbyists and enthusiasts have the same question before them. A word of advice though, the harder you dwell in this thought of getting an awesome idea or concept the more distant you are from reality of actually doing something 'cool'. 

Yes, you have to think in real terms to get a practical idea for which you design a project! Not the other way around! When you want to start implementing electronics the basic thing required is the basic understanding of electronics. You cannot design a fully autonomous robot as your first project & if you ever managed to do such a cool thing then you must have realized you are already strong in your basics!

Coming back to the 'idea' problem- when you decide you are going to start an electronic project instead of thinking of inventing or creating something new just try and find out how can your project fit-into the practical world. Try and figure out practical issues and try designing something to fix those issues and viola you got your self an 'idea'. Some example -

• Automatic Water filling for the overhead tank
• Home automation & security
• Bottle filling plant etc
• Mobile applications to suit you eg. Workout timer, Auto switch off etc. (Android/java based)

I know these are very old projects which are not even considered as projects these days! But don't give up, look harder and you will find a practical issue sitting right before you and that issue is your 'idea' for your next project. 

The next key step is to improvise your idea. Try researching about that issue and get to know the various 'forms' of the same issue. You can Google to find about the practical problem and enhance your idea based on your knowledge and creativity! That's it, after your mind is filed with the idea it will never be in the same dimension ever again! 

If you are finding difficulties in identifying problems or practical issues around you then its high time for you to do some serious reading and research. Visit some industries (small scales at first), manufacturing units, factories, mills, gardens, medical labs and try and speak with the persons there and identify a problem. Then you can enhance you idea and learn the technology to implement it! What most people are doing is they learn the technology and try to figure ideas which is solvable using that technology, which is why we end up simply searching for concepts and settle with those which are not really our ideas! 

Also try recreating the projects you come about in internet or any books. They will teach you more than you think and there is no harm in experimenting. Once you get to know the nuances of doing a sample project your spectrum of assimilating the problems around you and thus transforming them to 'ideas' will be an easy task. 

Remember if you want the project to be yours then the idea should also be yours! Watch the below video and get inspired by electronics and instead of thinking what to do, try and look closer around you!

Ideas are all around us.. we just need to look closer!

A fresh Start!

Hi Guys,

I have decided to rekindle this blog which I maintained back in 2009 when I was in my engineering. The aim of the blog will be same as it was back then. I will be sharing all my project and research works whih people can re-use in thier projects /reserach.

I will be sharing circuit board designs, Photos and videos of how I build my projects. So watch out this space if you love tweaking your electrical/electronic gadgets.

Thanks for reading! Keep following!