ROBOSAPIENS-INDIA

User Manual/Reference Guide

iBOT
(A Multi functional Robotics Kit)
Functions Includes: Obstacle Avoider LCD operations Light Searching Edge Avoider Sound Operated operations (3 Different Configurations) Black Line Follower White Line Follower LDR and PWM operations ADC operations Buzzer operations Mobi - botricks Swarm robotics UART/USART operations Timer Operations GPS/GSM robotics Computer controlled operations Wireless control operations In

iROBOTRICKS
(A Workshop on Robotics and Automation)

Basics of Electronics
Electron theory and atoms
Atoms and electrons Electron theory states all matter is comprised of molecules, which in turn are comprised of atoms, which are again comprised of protons, neutrons and electrons. A molecule is the smallest part of matter which can exist by itself and contains one or more atoms. Electron Theory and Metals It would be impossible for electronics to exist without metals and they are crucial to modern technology. Here are some of the properties of a few metals commonly used in electronics. Properties of selected metals

1. 2.

Density at 20 C is Kg per M3 Ohms -1

Current
A flow of electrons forced into motion by voltage is known as current. The atoms in good conductors such as copper wire have one or more free electrons of the outer ring constantly flying off. Electrons from other nearby atoms fill in the holes. There are billions of electrons moving aimlessly in all directions, all the time in conductors. The amount of current in a circuit is measured in amperes (amps). Smaller units used in electronics are milli-amps mA (1 / 1,000th of an ampere) and micro-amps uA (1 / 1,000,000th of an ampere). An ampere is the number of electrons going past a certain point in one second. The quantity of electrons used in determining an ampere is called "coulomb" which one ampere is one coulomb per second. Note: We Measure Current by Ammeter which should be connected in SERIES.

Voltage
Voltage or potential difference is actually the electron moving force in electricity (emf) and the potential difference is responsible for the pushing and pulling of electrons or electric current through a circuit. Sources of electromotive force (EMF) or voltage To produce a drift of electrons, or electric current, along a wire it is necessary that there be a difference in "pressure" or potential between the two ends of the wire. This potential difference can be produced by connecting a source of electrical potential to the ends of the wire.

It is expressed in units called volts, short for voltage. A volt can be defined as the pressure required to force a current of one ampere through a resistance of one ohm. Voltage can be generated in many different ways Chemical (batteries) e.g. dry cell 1.5V, wet cell storage about 2.1V Electromagnetic (generators) Thermal (heating junctions of dis-similar metals) Piezoelectric (mechanical vibration of certain crystals) Photoelectric (light sensitive cells) Note: We Measure Voltage by Voltmeter which should be connected in Parallel.

Resistance
What is resistance? Between the extremes of good conductors such as silver, copper and good insulators such as glass and rubber lay other conductors of reduced conducting ability, they "resist" the flow of electrons hence the term resistance. The unit of resistance is the ohm and 1 ohm is considered the resistance of round copper wire, 0.001" diameter, 0.88" (22.35 mm) long at 32 deg F (0 deg C). Resistance in series and parallel It follows if two such pieces of wire were connected end to end (in series) then the resistance would be doubled, on the other hand if they were placed side by side (in parallel) then the resistance would be halved! This is a most important lesson about resistance. Resistors in series add together as R1 + R2 + R3 + ..... While resistors in parallel reduce by 1 / (1 / R1 + 1 / R2 + 1 / R3 + .....) Consider three resistors of 10, 22, and 47 ohms respectively. Added in series we get 10 + 22 + 47 = 79 ohms. While in parallel we would get 1 / (1 / 10 + 1 / 22 + 1 / 47) = 5.997 ohms. Resistance and Power

P=I*I*R
Power equals the current squared times the resistance. Note: The resistor must be able to comfortably handle the power it will dissipate. A rule of thumb is to use a wattage rating of at least twice the expected dissipation. Common resistors in use in electronics today come in power ratings of 0.25W, 0.5W, 1W and 5W. Resistors come in a range of values but the two most common are the E12 and E24 series. The E12 series comes in twelve values for every decade. The E24 series comes in twenty four values per decade. E12 series - 10, 12, 15, 18, 22, 27, 33, 39, 47, 56, 68, 82 E24 series - 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 43, 47, 51, 56, 62, 68, 75, 82, 91 Resistance colour chart codes Here in this large colour chart is the resistance colour code - learn the sequence forever

There are two colour banding of resistances - four band and five band resistance colour code.

Capacitance
A capacitor (formerly condenser) has the ability to hold a charge of electrons. The number of electrons it can hold under a given electrical pressure (voltage) is called its capacitance or capacity. Two metallic plates separated by a non-conducting substance between them make a simple capacitor. Here is the symbol of a capacitor in a pretty basic circuit charged by a battery. Capacitor schematic in a circuit In this circuit when the switch is open the capacitor has no charge upon it, when the switch is closed current flows because of the voltage pressure, this current is determined by the amount of resistance in the circuit. At the instance the switch closes the emf forces electrons into the top plate of the capacitor from the negative end of the battery and pulls others out of the bottom plate toward the positive end of the battery. Two points need to be considered here. Firstly as the current flow progresses more electrons flow into the capacitor and a greater opposing emf is developed there to oppose further current flow, the difference between battery voltage and the voltage on the capacitor becomes less and less and current continues to decrease. When the capacitor voltage equals the the battery voltage no further current will flow. Secondly if the capacitor is able to store one coulomb of charge at one volt it is said to have a capacitance of one Farad. This is a very large unit of measure. Power supply capacitors are often in the region of 4,700 uF or 4,700 / millionths of a Farad. The unit uF stands for micro-farad (one millionth) and pF stands for pico-farad (one million, millionths). These are the two common values of capacitance you will encounter in electronics.

Time constant of capacitance The time required for a capacitor to reach its charge is proportional to the capacitance value and the resistance value. The time constant of a resistance - capacitance circuit is: T=RXC where T = time in seconds where R = resistance in ohms where C = capacitance in farads The time in this formula is the time to acquire 63% of the voltage value of the source. It is also the discharge time if we were discharging the capacitance. These properties are taken advantage of in crude non critical timing circuits. Capacitors in series and parallel Capacitors in parallel ADD together as C1 + C2 + C3 + ..... While capacitors in series REDUCE by: 1 / (1 / C1 + 1 / C2 + 1 / C3 + .....) Note that the result is always LESS than the original lowest value. Series combinations are somewhat more difficult requiring 1 / (1 / C1 + 1 / C2 + 1 / C3 + ...).

A very important property of Capacitors Capacitors will pass AC currents but not DC. Throughout electronic circuits this very important property is taken advantage of to pass ac or rf signals from one stage to another while blocking any DC component from the previous stage. What do capacitors look like? There are two kinds of capacitors: fixed and variable capacitors. Also, Polarised and non-polarised capacitor Polarised ones have clear marking about their +ve and -ve sides. The upper capacitor in the figure is a variable capacitor. Down the left hand side we have a number of electrolytic capacitors. The red capacitor in the lower left is a tag tantalum type of greater tolerance and high stability. The yellow is a metallised polypropylene film type.The green ones at the right are the popular polyester types "Greencaps". In the middle are silver mica capacitors.At the upper right is a 25 pF beehive trimmer.

Inductance
The property of inductance might be described as "when any piece of wire is wound into a coil form it forms an inductance which is the property of opposing any change in current". Alternatively it could be said "inductance is the property of a circuit by which energy is stored in the form of an electromagnetic field".

We said a piece of wire wound into a coil form has the ability to produce a counter emf (opposing current flow) and therefore has a value of inductance. The standard value of inductance is the Henry, a large value which like the Farad for capacitance is rarely encountered in electronics today. Typical values of units encountered are milli-henries mH, one thousandth of a henry or the micro-henry uH, one millionth of a henry. The value of an inductance varies in proportion to the number of turns squared. If a coil was of one turn its value might be one unit. Having two turns the value would be four units while three turns would produce nine units although the length of the coil also enters into the equation. L = 0.394r2 X N2 / ( 9r + 10len ) where: L = inductance in uH r = coil radius in centimetres N = number of turns len = length of the coil in centimetres

Ohms Law
Ohms law, sometimes more correctly called Ohm's Law, named after Mr. Georg Ohm, mathematician and physicist b. 1789 d. 1854 - Bavaria, defines the relationship between power, voltage, current and resistance. These are the very basic electrical units we work with. The principles apply to a.c., d.c. or r.f. (radio frequency). Ohms Law is the foundation stone of electronics and electricity. These formulae are very easy to learn and are used extensively throughout our tutorials. Without a thorough understanding of "ohms law" you will not get very far either in design or in troubleshooting even the simplest of electronic or electrical circuits. For voltage [E = I * R] E (volts) = I (current) * R (resistance) For current [I = E / R] I (current) = E (volts) / R (resistance)

For resistance [R = E / I] R (resistance) = E (volts) / I (current) For power [P = E2 / R , P = I2 * R , P = E * I]

Diodes
Diodes are semiconductor devices which might be described as passing current in one direction only. Diodes can be used as voltage regulators, tuning devices in rf tuned circuits, frequency multiplying devices in rf circuits, mixing devices in rf circuits, switching applications or can be used to make logic decisions in digital circuits. There are also diodes which emit "light", of course these are known as lightemitting-diodes or LED's. Schematic symbols for Diodes A few schematic symbols for diodes are:

Types of Diodes The first diode in figure is a semiconductor diode which could be a small signal diode of the 1N914 type commonly used in switching applications, a rectifying diode of the 1N4004 (400V 1A) type or even one of the high power, high current stud mounting types. You will notice the straight bar end has the letter "k", this denotes the "cathode" while the "a" denotes anode. Current can only flow from anode to cathode and not in the reverse direction, hence the "arrow" appearance. This is one very important property of diodes.

The second of the diodes is a zener diode which is fairly popular for the voltage regulation of low current power supplies. Whilst it is possible to obtain high current zener diodes, most regulation today is done electronically with the use of dedicated integrated circuits and pass transistors. The third diode depicted is of course a light emitting diode or LED. A led actually doesn't emit as much light as it first appears, a single LED has a plastic lens installed over it and this concentrates the amount of light. Seven LED's can be arranged in a bar fashion called a seven segment LED display and when decoded properly can display the numbers 0 - 9 as well as the letters A to F. Rectifying Diodes The principal early application of diodes was in rectifying 50 / 60 Hz AC mains to raw DC which was later smoothed by choke transformers and / or capacitors. This procedure is still carried out today and a number of rectifying schemes for diodes have evolved half wave, full wave and bridge rectifiers. Voltage Regulating Diodes For relatively light current loads zener diodes are a cheap solution to voltage regulation. Zener diodes work on the principle of essentially a constant voltage drop at a predetermined voltage . The dissipation can be extended by using a series pass transistor. In the second schematic, we have three zener diodes in series providing voltages of 5V, 10V, 12V, 22V and 27V all from a 36V supply. This configuration is not necessarily recommended especially when the current being drawn is seriously mismatched between voltages. It is presented purely out of interest. Light-Emitting-Diodes or LED's Many circuits use a led as a visual indicator of some sort even if only as an indicator of power supply being turned on. Most leds operate at 1.7V although this is not always the case and it is wise to check. The dropping resistor is simply the net of supply voltage minus the 1.7V led voltage then divided by the led brightness current expressed as "amps" (ohms law). Note the orientation of both cathode and anode with respect to the ground end and the supply end. Usually with a led the longer lead is the anode.

Transistors
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals. It is made of a solid piece of semiconductor material, with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current flowing through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be much more than the controlling (input) power, the transistor provides amplification of a signal. Today, some transistors are packaged individually, but many more are found embedded in integrated circuits.

The transistor is the fundamental building block of modern electronic devices, and is ubiquitous in modern electronic systems. The essential usefulness of a transistor comes from its ability to use a small signal applied between one pair of its terminals to control a much larger signal at another pair of terminals. This property is called gain. A transistor can control its output in proportion to the input signal; that is, it can act as an amplifier. Alternatively, the transistor can be used to turn current on or off in a circuit as an electrically controlled switch, where the amount of current is determined by other circuit elements. The two types of transistors have slight differences in how they are used in a circuit. A bipolar transistor has terminals labelled base, collector, and emitter. A small current at the base terminal (that is, flowing from the base to the emitter) can control or switch a much larger current between the collector and emitter terminals. For a field-effect transistor, the terminals are labelled gate, source, and drain, and a voltage at the gate can control a current between source and drain. Transistor as a switch Transistors are commonly used as electronic switches, for both high power applications including switched-mode power supplies and low power applications such as logic gates. In a grounded-emitter transistor circuit, such as the light-switch circuit shown, as the base voltage rises the base and collector current rise exponentially, and the collector voltage drops because of the collector load resistor. The relevant equations: VRC = ICE RC, the voltage across the load (the lamp with resistance RC) VRC + VCE = VCC, the supply voltage shown as 6V If VCE could fall to 0 (perfect closed switch) then Ic could go no higher than VCC / RC, even with higher base voltage and current. The transistor is then said to be saturated. Hence, values of input voltage can be chosen such that the output is either completely off,[13] or completely on. The transistor is acting as a switch, and this type of operation is common in digital circuits where only "on" and "off" values are relevant. Transistor as an amplifier The common-emitter amplifier is designed so that a small change in voltage in (Vin) changes the small current through the base of the transistor and the transistor's current amplification combined with the properties of the circuit mean that small swings in Vin produce large changes in Vout. Various configurations of single transistor amplifier are possible, with some providing current gain, some voltage gain, and some both. From mobile phones to televisions, vast numbers of products include amplifiers for sound reproduction, radio transmission, and signal processing. Transistors are categorized by Semiconductor material: germanium, silicon, gallium arsenide, silicon carbide, etc. Structure: BJT, JFET, IGFET (MOSFET), IGBT, "other types" Polarity: NPN, PNP (BJTs); N-channel, P-channel (FETs) Maximum power rating: low, medium, high Maximum operating frequency: low, medium, high, radio frequency (RF), microwave Application: switch, general purpose, audio, high voltage, super-beta, matched pair Amplification factor hfe (transistor beta)

Part numbers There are three major semiconductor naming standards; in each the alphanumeric prefix provides clues to type of the device: 1) Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) has a standard for transistor part numbers. They begin with "2S",e.g. 2SD965, but sometimes the "2S" prefix is not marked on the package - a 2SD965 might only be marked "D965"; a 2SC1815 might be listed by a supplier as simply "C1815". This series sometimes has suffixes (such as "R", "O", "BL"... standing for "Red", "Orange", "Blue" etc...) to denote variants, such as tighter hFE (gain) groupings. Beginning of Part Number 2SA 2SB 2SC 2SD 2SJ 2SK Type of Transistor high frequency PNP BJTs audio frequency PNP BJTs high frequency NPN BJTs audio frequency NPN BJTs P-channel FETs (both JFETs and MOSFETs) N-channel FETs (both JFETs and MOSFETs)

2) The Pro Electron part numbers begin with two letters: the first gives the semiconductor type (A for Germanium, B for Silicon, and C for materials like GaAs); the second letter denotes the intended use (A for diode, C for general-purpose transistor, etc.). A 3-digit sequence number (or one letter then 2 digits, for industrial types) follows (and, with early devices, indicated the case type - just as the older system for vacuum tubes used the last digit or two to indicate the number of pins, and the first digit or two for the filament voltage). Suffixes may be used, such as a letter (e.g. "C" often means high h FE, such as in: BC549C[21]) or other codes may follow to show gain (e.g. BC327-25) or voltage rating (e.g. BUK854-800A[22]). The more common prefixes are: Prefix Usage Example class AC AF BC BD BF BS BL BU Germanium small signal transistor Germanium RF transistor Silicon, small signal transistor ("allround") Silicon, power transistor Silicon, RF (high frequency) BJT or FET Silicon, switching transistor (BJT or MOSFET) Silicon, high frequency, high power (for transmitters) Silicon, high voltage (for CRT horizontal deflection circuits) AC126 AF117 BC548B BD139 BF245 BS170 BLW34 BU508

3) The JEDEC transistor device numbers usually start with 2N, indicating a three-terminal device (dual-gate Field Effect Transistors are four-terminal devices, so begin with 3N), then a 2, 3 or 4-digit sequential number with no significance as to device properties (although low numbers tend to be Germanium devices, because early transistors were mainly Germanium). For example 2N3055 is a silicon NPN power transistor, 2N1301 is a PNP germanium switching transistor. A letter suffix (such as "A") is sometimes used to indicate a newer variant, but rarely gain groupings.

Multimeter
A multimeter or a multitester, also known as a volt/ohm meter or VOM, is an electronic measuring instrument that combines several measurement functions in one unit. A typical multimeter may include features such as the ability to measure voltage, current and resistance. Multimeters may use analog or digital circuitsanalog multimeters and digital multimeters.

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Analog instruments are usually based on a microammeter whose pointer moves over a scale calibrated for all the different measurements that can be made; digital instruments usually display digits, but may display a bar of length proportional to the quantity measured. A multimeter can be a hand-held device useful for basic fault finding and field service work or a bench instrument which can measure to a very high degree of accuracy. They can be used to troubleshoot electrical problems in a wide array of industrial and household devices such as electronic equipment, motor controls, domestic appliances, power supplies, and wiring systems. Analog multimeters can measure many quantities. The common ones are: Voltage, alternating and direct, in volts. Current, alternating and direct, in amperes. The frequency range for which AC measurements are accurate (must be specified). Resistance in ohms. Digital multimeters may also include circuits for: * Continuity; beeps when a circuit conducts. * Diodes (measuring forward drop of diode junctions, i.e., diodes and transistor junctions) and transistors (measuring current gain and other parameters)

Breadboard
A breadboard is a construction base for a one-of-a-kind electronic circuit, a prototype. In modern times the term is commonly used to refer to a particular type of breadboard, the solder less breadboard because it does not require soldering, it is reusable, and thus can be used for temporary prototypes and experimenting with circuit design more easily. The layout of a typical solderless breadboard is made up from two types of areas, called strips. Limitation: Complex circuits can become unmanageable on a breadboard due to the large amount of wiring necessary. Strips consist of interconnected electrical terminals. Terminal strips The main area to hold most of the electronic components Bus strips To provide power to the electronic components A bus strip usually contains two columns: one for ground and one for a supply voltage Jump wire The jump wires for solder less bread boarding can be obtained in ready-to-use jump wire sets or can be manually manufactured.

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Digital Basics
In the given figure, there are two crude transistor switch circuits. In the first circuit if there is no voltage applied to the base of Q1 then it is not switched "on" and accordingly the + 5V passing through the 10K load resistor from our + 5V supply appears at both the collector of the transistor and also at output 1. If we apply + 5V to the base of Q1 then because it is greater than 0.7 V than the grounded emitter, see the topic "transistors" for much greater detail on that operation, Q1 will switch on just like a light switch causing the + 5V from our supply to drop entirely across the 10K load resistor. This load could also be replaced by a small light bulb, relay or LED in conjunction with a resistor of suitable value. In any event the bulb or led would light or the relay would close. The basic principle in digital basics is "electronic switch" where the positive voltage on the base produces zero voltage at the output and zero voltage on the input produces the + 5V on the output. The output is always the opposite of the input and in digital basics terms this is called an "inverter" a very important property. Now looking at Q2 and Q3 to the right of the schematic we simply have two inverters chained one after the other. Here through the final output 2 from Q3 will always follow the input given to Q2. This in digital basics is basic transistor switch. Depending upon how these "switches" and "inverters" are arranged in integrated circuits we are able to obtain "logic blocks" to perform various tasks. In figure 2 we look at some of the most basic logic blocks.

Digital switches in digital basics In the first set of switches A, B, and C they are arranged in "series" so that for the input to reach the output all the switches must be closed. This may be considered an "AND-GATE". In the second set of switches A, B, and C they are arranged in "parallel" so that for any input to reach the output any one of the switches may be closed. This may be considered an "OR-GATE". These are considered the basic building blocks in digital logic. If we added "inverters" to either of those blocks, called "gates", then we achieve a "NAND-GATE" and a "NOR-GATE" respectively.

555
The 555 timer IC is an amazingly simple yet versatile device. It has been around now for many years and has been reworked into a number of different technologies. The standard 555 package includes over 20 transistors, 2 diodes and 15 resistors on a silicon chip installed in an 8-pin mini dual-in-line package

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(DIP-8). Variants available include the 556 (a 14-pin DIP combining two 555s on one chip), and the 558 (a 16-pin DIP combining four slightly modified 555s with DIS & THR connected internally, and TR falling edge sensitive instead of level sensitive). The figure shows the functional block diagram of the 555 timer IC. The IC is available in either an 8-pin round TO3-style can or an 8-pin mini-DIP package. In either case, the pin connections are as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Ground. Trigger input. Output. Reset input. Control voltage. Threshold input. Discharge. +VCC. +5 to +15 volts in normal use.

The operation of the 555 timer revolves around the three resistors that form a voltage divider across the power supply, and the two comparators connected to this voltage divider. The IC is quiescent so long as the trigger input (pin 2) remains at +VCC and the threshhold input (pin 6) is at ground. Assume the reset input (pin 4) is also at +VCC and therefore inactive, and that the control voltage input (pin 5) is unconnected. Under these conditions, the output (pin 3) is at ground and the discharge transistor (pin 7) is turned on, thus grounding whatever is connected to this pin. The three resistors in the voltage divider all have the same value (5K in the bipolar version of this IC), so the comparator reference voltages are 1/3 and 2/3 of the supply voltage, whatever that may be. The control voltage input at pin 5 can directly affect this relationship, although most of the time this pin is unused. The internal flip-flop changes state when the trigger input at pin 2 is pulled down below +VCC/3. When this occurs, the output (pin 3) changes state to +VCC and the discharge transistor (pin 7) is turned off. The trigger input can now return to +VCC; it will not affect the state of the IC. However, if the threshold input (pin 6) is now raised above (2/3)+VCC, the output will return to ground and the discharge transistor will be turned on again. When the threshold input returns to ground, the IC will remain in this state, which was the original state when we started this analysis. The easiest way to allow the threshold voltage (pin 6) to gradually rise to (2/3)+VCC is to connect it to a capacitor being allowed to charge through a resistor. In this way we can adjust the R and C values for almost any time interval we might want. The 555 has three operating modes: Monostable mode: in this mode, the 555 functions as a "one-shot". Applications include timers, missing pulse detection, bouncefree switches, touch switches, frequency divider, capacitance measurement, pulse-width modulation (PWM) etc Astable - free running mode: the 555 can operate as an oscillator. Uses include LED and lamp flashers, pulse generation, logic clocks, tone generation, security alarms, pulse position modulation, etc. Bistable mode or Schmitt trigger: the 555 can operate as a flip-flop, if the DIS pin is not connected and no capacitor is used. Uses include bounce free latched switches, etc. In monostable mode, the timing interval, t, is set by a single resistor and capacitor, as shown to the right. Both the threshold input and the discharge transistor (pins 6 & 7) are connected directly to the capacitor, while the trigger input is held at +VCC through a resistor. In the absence of any input, the output at pin 3 remains low and the discharge transistor prevents capacitor C from charging.

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When an input pulse arrives, it is capacitively coupled to pin 2, the trigger input. The pulse can be either polarity; its falling edge will trigger the 555. At this point, the output rises to +VCC and the discharge transistor turns off. Capacitor C charges through R towards +VCC. During this interval, additional pulses received at pin 2 will have no effect on circuit operation. The standard equation for a charging capacitor applies here: e = E(1 - (-t/RC)). Here, "e" is the capacitor voltage at some instant in time, "E" is the supply voltage, VCC, and " " is the base for natural logarithms, approximately 2.718. The value "t" denotes the time that has passed, in seconds, since the capacitor started charging. We already know that the capacitor will charge until its voltage reaches (2/3)+VCC, whatever that voltage may be. This doesn't give us absolute values for "e" or "E," but it does give us the ratio e/E = 2/3. We can use this to compute the time, t, required to charge capacitor C to the voltage that will activate the threshold comparator: 2/3 = 1 - (-t/RC) -1/3 = - (-t/RC) 1/3 = (-t/RC) ln(1/3) = -t/RC -1.0986123 = -t/RC t = 1.0986123RC t = 1.1RC The value of 1.1RC isn't exactly precise, of course, but the round off error amounts to about 0.126%, which is much closer than component tolerances in practical circuits, and is very easy to use. The values of R and C must be given in Ohms and Farads, respectively, and the time will be in seconds. You can scale the values as needed and appropriate for your application, provided you keep proper track of your powers of 10. For example, if you specify R in megaohms and C in microfarads, t will still be in seconds. But if you specify R in kilohms and C in microfarads, t will be in milliseconds. It's not difficult to keep track of this, but you must be sure to do it accurately in order to correctly calculate the component values you need for any given time interval. The timing interval is completed when the capacitor voltage reaches the (2/3)+VCC upper threshold as monitored at pin 6. When this threshold voltage is reached, the output at pin 3 goes low again, the discharge transistor (pin 7) is turned on, and the capacitor rapidly discharges back to ground once more. The circuit is now ready to be triggered once again. Astable Mode: If we rearrange the circuit slightly so that both the trigger and threshold inputs are controlled by the capacitor voltage, we can cause the 555 to trigger itself repeatedly. In this case, we need two resistors in the capacitor charging path so that one of them can also be in the capacitor discharge path In this mode, the initial pulse when power is first applied is a bit longer than the others, having a duration of 1.1(Ra + Rb)C. However, from then on, the capacitor alternately charges and discharges between the two comparator threshold voltages. When charging, C starts at (1/3)VCC and charges towards VCC. However, it is interrupted exactly halfway there, at (2/3)VCC. Therefore, the charging time, t1, is -ln(1/2)(Ra + Rb)C = 0.693(Ra + Rb)C. When the capacitor voltage reaches (2/3)VCC, the discharge transistor is enabled (pin 7), and this point in the circuit becomes grounded. Capacitor C now discharges through Rb alone. Starting at (2/3)VCC, it discharges towards ground, but again is interrupted halfway there, at (1/3)VCC.

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The discharge time, t2, then, is -ln(1/2)(Rb)C = 0.693(Rb)C. The total period of the pulse train is t1 + t2, or 0.693(Ra + 2Rb)C. The output frequency of this circuit is the inverse of the period, or 1.44/(Ra + 2Rb)C. One interesting and very useful feature of the 555 timer in either mode is that the timing interval for either charge or discharge is independent of the supply voltage, V CC. This is because the same VCC is used both as the charging voltage and as the basis of the reference voltages for the two comparators inside the 555. Thus, the timing equations above depend only on the values for R and C in either operating mode. Bistable Mode In bistable mode, the 555 timer acts as a basic flip-flop. The trigger and reset inputs (pins 2 and 4 respectively on a 555) are held high via pull-up resistors while the threshold input (pin 6) is simply grounded. Thus configured, pulling the trigger momentarily to ground acts as a 'set' and transitions the output pin (pin 3) to Vcc (high state). Pulling the reset input to ground acts as a 'reset' and transitions the output pin to ground (low state). No capacitors are required in a bistable configuration. Pins 5 and 7 (control and discharge) are left floating.

SENSORS
A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury-in-glass thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated glass tube. A thermocouple converts temperature to an output voltage which can be read by a voltmeter. For accuracy, most sensors are calibrated against known standards. A good sensor obeys the following rules: 1. 2. 3. Is sensitive to the measured property Is insensitive to any other property likely to be encountered in its application Does not influence the measured property

Ideal sensors are designed to be linear or linear to some simple mathematical fuction of the measurement, typically logarithmic. The output signal of such a sensor is linearly proportional to the value or simple function of the measured property. The sensitivity is defined as the ratio between output signal and measured property. Sensors are specialized circuits that are sensitive to some physical quantity like: Light, Motion, Temperature, Magnetic fields, Gravity, Humidity, Vibration, Pressure, Electrical fields, Sound, and other physical aspects of the external environment Physical aspects of the internal environment, such as stretch, motion of the organism, and position of appendages

IR Sensor
IR Sensors are sensitive to light falling on the photodiode,

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(A photodiode is a type of photo detector capable of converting light into either current or voltage, depending upon the mode of operation) In this circuit, LED is emitting light and photodiode is absorbing the light incident on it, absorbed photon energy triggers current in R2, a voltage is produced at pin 3 of OPAMP LM 358, a voltage divider circuit is employed on pin 2 of LM 358 using potentiometer. Thus sensitivity of the IR sensor can be calibrated by calibrating the potentiometer. These are used as input of OPAMP in comparator mode. OPAMP as Comparator An operational amplifier (op-amp) has a well balanced difference input and a very high gain. The parallels in the characteristics allow the op-amps to serve as comparators in some functions. A standard op-amp operating in open loop configuration (without negative feedback) can be used as a comparator. When the non-inverting input (V+) is at a higher voltage than the inverting input (V-), the high gain of the op-amp causes it to output the most positive voltage it can. When the non-inverting input (V+) drops below the inverting input (V-), the op-amp outputs the most negative voltage it can. Since the output voltage is limited by the supply voltage, for an op-amp that uses a balanced, split supply, (powered by VS) This action can be written: Vout = Ao(V1 V2) So, LED 2 will glow only when it Voltage at pin 3 of OPAMP is higher than on pin 2 i.e. if any light is incident on photodiode. Application of IR sensor 1) IR Sensor can be used to detect objects. a. This can be realised using LED and Photodiode in the setup shown in the figure such that light emitted by the LED will get reflected back to the IR sensor and the sensor will sense the light and indicator LED will glow. 2) IR sensor can be used to differentiate between colours. a. This can be realised using same setup as black colour will absorb all the light emitted by LED, so photodiode will not have any photons to trigger current in R2, but any other colour will reflect light resulting in indicator LED to glow.

Sound Sensor
Sound sensors are realised using microphone (colloquially called a mic or mike), it is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. Most microphones today use electromagnetic induction (dynamic microphone), capacitance change (condenser microphone), piezoelectric generation, or light modulation to produce an electrical voltage signal from mechanical vibration.

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Working of sound sensor is very simple; every sound will produce some mechanical vibrations in microphone which will produce an electrical signal dependent on the intensity of sound, for example, sound of a clap or whistle will produce sharp electrical signal. Now we will examine this simple sound sensor circuit, It has voltage divider circuit with (R6, MIC) and (R4, R5). The resistance of MIC will be dependent on the intensity of sound, thus input variations at decoupling C2 capacitor will be dependent on sound intensity. (A decoupling capacitor is a capacitor used to decouple one part of an electrical circuit from another. Noise caused by other circuit elements is shunted through the capacitor, reducing the effect they have on the rest of the circuit.) Now this signal reaches base of transistor 2N2222, which gets amplified due to amplification property of transistor. Thus we get amplified signal at output which is dependent on sound produced. But the signal produced contains noise and is also very short in duration. So, as a solution of this problem, we will use 555 in monostable mode as it will produce noise free signal of larger duration using output of previous sound sensor as trigger pulse. The duration of output pulse can be calibrated by varying value of R1, C1. As the time pulse is dependent on R1, C1 by the formula t = 1.1*R1*C1. See working of 555 timer for details of monostable state.

Light searching Sensor

Light searching sensor is very simple sensor which uses two photodiodes to detect the presence of light in the surrounding environment. In this, we use OPAMP LM 358 in voltage comparator mode, and inverting and non-inverting input of the OPAMP will be output from two photodiodes. Thus whichever photodiode will be exposed to more light (read: photons), that will pass more current in the adjacent resistance. Thus, it will generate more voltage at that input pin depending on the direction of light. Hence the output of the OPAMP will be dependent on the direction of light.

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Transistor based dual H-bridge motor driver

This is a very basic motor controller circuit. In this circuit we will be using H-bridge as motor controller. There are two H-Bridge Circuits in this board.

H-Bridge
An H-bridge is an electronic circuit which enables a voltage to be applied across a load in either direction. These circuits are often used in robotics and other applications to allow DC motors to run forwards and backwards. H-bridges are available as integrated circuits, or can be built from discrete components. The term "H-bridge" is derived from the typical graphical representation of such a circuit. An H-bridge is built with four switches (solid-state or mechanical). When the switches S1 and S4 are closed (and S2 and S3 are open) a positive voltage will be applied across the motor. By opening S1 and S4 switches and closing S2 and S3 switches, this voltage is reversed, allowing reverse operation of the motor. Using the nomenclature above, the switches S1 and S2 should never be closed at the same time, as this would cause a short circuit on the input voltage source. The same applies to the switches S3 and S4. This condition is known as shoot-through. The H-Bridge arrangement is generally used to reverse the polarity of the motor, but can also be used to 'brake' the motor, where the motor comes to a sudden stop, as the motor's terminals are shorted, or to let the motor 'free run' to a stop, as the motor is effectively disconnected from the circuit. The following table summarises operation. H-Bridge can be realised using BJTs. This consists of a minimum of four mechanical or solid-state switches, such as two NPN and two PNP transistors. One NPN and one PNP transistor are activated at a time. Both NPN and PNP transistors can be activated to cause a short across the motor terminals, which can be useful for slowing down the motor from the back EMF it creates. H-Bridge can also be realised using push-pull four channel driver with diodes, like L293D. Other similar ICs are L293B, L293E; these are push-pull four channel driver without diodes, we can use external diodes with them. (A pushpull converter is a type of DC to DC converter that uses a transformer to change the voltage of a DC power supply. The transformer's ratio is arbitrary but fixed; however, in many circuit implementations the duty cycle of the switching action can be varied to affect a range of voltage ratios. The primary advantages of pushpull converters are their simplicity and ability to scale up to high power throughput, earning them a place in industrial DC power applications.) To realise H-bridge using L293D we just have connect circuit like the given figure (diodes may or may not be used depending upon type of motor driver).

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Microcontroller ATmega 16 The ATmega16 microcontroller is 40-Pin Wide. This chip was selected for your workshop because it is robust and the DIP package interfaces with prototyping supplies like solder less bread boards and solder perfect-boards. These same microcontrollers are available in a surface mount package, about the size of a dime. Surface mount devices are more useful in a production (i.e., industry) setting, because they lend themselves to high throughput automated assembly. Key Features8-bit Micro-controller , 40-pin DIP, 32 Programmable I/O Lines, Operating Voltages 2.7 - 5.5V, Speed Grades 0 - 8 MHz, 512 Bytes EEPROM, 8-channel (10-bit) ADC, Programmable Serial USART, On-chip Analog Comparator, Master/Slave SPI Serial Interface, Programmable Watchdog Timer with Separate On-chip Oscillator, 16K Bytes of In-System Selfprogrammable Flash program memory, Two 8-bit Timer/Counters with Separate Prescalers and Compare Modes, One 16-bit Timer/Counter with Separate Prescaler, Compare Mode, and Capture Mode AVR- modified Harvard architecture (Alf (and) Vergard RISC) The AVR is a modified Harvard architecture 8-bit RISC single chip microcontroller which was developed by Atmel in 1996. The AVR was one of the first microcontroller families to use on-chip flash memory for program storage, as opposed to One-Time Programmable ROM, EPROM, or EEPROM used by other microcontrollers at the time. The original AVR MCU was developed at a local ASIC house in Trondheim Norway, where the two founders of Atmel Norway were working as students. It was known as a uRISC (MicroRISC). The internal architecture was further developed by Alf and Vergard (hence AVR).

AVR Families TinyAVR : General purpose microcontroller with up to 8K Bytes Flash program memory, 512 Bytes SRAM and EEPROM. MegaAVR: High performance microcontroller with Hardware Multiplier. Up to 256K Bytes Flash, 4K Bytes EEPROM and 8K Bytes SRAM. PicoPower AVR: Microcontrollers with leading edge power-saving characteristics. XMEGA: The new XMEGA 8/16-bit AVR microcontrollers have new and advanced peripherals with increased performance, DMA and Event system, and extends the AVR family in low power/high performance markets. Application Oriented: AVR-based devices covering specified areas such as such as automotive, LCD drivers, CAN networking, USB connectivity, motor control, lighting applications, smart battery singlechip, 802.5.4/ZigBee and Remote Access Control.

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AVR Studio AVR Studio is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for writing and debugging AVR applications in Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/VISTA environments. AVR Studio provides a project management tool, source file editor, simulator, assembler and front-end for C/C++, programming, emulation and on-chip debugging. Currently as a code writing environment, it supports the included AVR Assembler and any external AVR GCC compiler in a complete IDE environment. AVR Studio supports the complete range of ATMEL AVR tools and each release will always contain the latest updates for both the tools and support of new AVR devices. AVR Studio 4 is a large piece of software, it supports several of the phases you usually go through when you create a new product based on an AVR microcontroller. Typical phases are: 1. Product definition. Based on your knowledge of the task you want to resolve and market input, the product that should be created is defined. 2. Formal specification. A formal specification for the product is defined. 3. A project team consisting of from one to many are assigned the task of creating the product based on the formal specification. 4. The project team goes through the normal sequence of design, development, debugging, verification, production planning, production, test and shipment. AVR Studio supports the developer in the design, development, debugging and verification part of the process. I'll try to give a brief presentation of why and how to use this tool in the following sections. Using AVR Studio as an IDE gives you 2 main advantages: 1. Edit and debug in the same application windows. Faster error tracking. 2. Breakpoints are saved and restored between sessions, even if code are edited Lets see how to write a code. Startup wizard The startup wizards are displayed every time you start AVR Studio 4. From within this dialog you can quickly reopen the latest used projects, change debug platform/device setup or create a new project. Just double-click on the wanted project and it will automatically open and restore to its last settings. The startup/project wizard can also be opened from the project menu. New project: If you want to create a new project, use this function Open: If you want to load an existing project or a single debug object file, press this button. Next Step: This button is highlighted when a project is selected. Press next to select platform and device to eventual change the debug platform or device setup for the selected project. Load: Load the selected project. New project Description Select Project->new project from the menu, and the dialog below will appear. The startup wizard will also have this option. Project types

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Currently two project types are available listed in the project type list box. Atmel AVR Assembler and AVR GCC. The assembler (AVRASM2) are distributed with AVR Studio, but you have to download a GCC compiler to create and use an AVR GCC project. Projects can also be created by loading supported object files. File->Open file must be used to create such projects. Project name and initial file Input the project name. Default the initial file will have the same name (ASM or C) and will be created, but this can be changed. A folder with the project name can be created, but this is not default selected. Next Step If project name and project type are ok, press next to select platform and device to simulate/emulate. You can also finish now, but then the debug platform and device must be selected when a debug session is started. AVR GCC The AVR GCC plug-in is a GUI front-end to GNU make and avr-gcc. There is no compiler or make system included with the plug-in component; this must be downloaded and installed separately. The plug-in requires GNU make and avr-gcc for basic operations and avrobjdump from the AVR GNU binutils for generating list files. The plug-in component will automatically detect an installed WinAVR distribution and set up the required tools accordingly. An AVR GCC plug-in project is a collection of source files and configurations. A configuration is a set of options that specify how to build and link the files in a project. On creating a new project, the "default" configuration is created. A user can choose to continue using this configuration, adding/removing options as the project evolves or create one or more new configurations to use in the project. Requirements: WinAVR, or GNU AVR tool-set. (avr-gcc.exe, make.exe and avr-objdump.exe) Features 1) Integration of avr-gcc and Make in AVR Studio Start the compiler, clean the project, set project options and debug the project from AVR Studio. Tools from the WinAVR distribution are detected by the plug-in. 2) GUI Controls to Manipulate Project Settings Custom compile options can be set for specific files or all files in the project. Linker options can also be set. There are controls for optimization level, include directories, libraries, memory segments and more. 3) A Project Tree for Managing Project Files A project tree provides easy access to and manipulation of every file in the project. 4) Work with Several Configurations It is possible to define several sets of build options, called configurations. 5) Build Output A build output view shows raw output from GNU make and avr-gcc. Error and warning messages that contain reference to a file and line can be double-clicked to open this file and put a marker on the line.

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Our Other Workshop

e-Robotricks W/s
e-Robotricks is workshop on entry level robotics. It covers basic electronic fundamentals, working of sound & light sensors, OPAMPs and their basic application using BJT Hbridge motor controller circuit : Robots covered: Black Line Follower Robot White Line Follower Robot Obstacle avoider Robot Edge avoider Robot Light searching Robot Sound operated Robot

Mobi-botics W/s
Mobi-botics is workshop on Mobile controlled robotics. It covers introduction to microcontroller and their basic application: Motor & LED control and its interfacing with GSM based Mobile phones using DTMF Decoder IC. Robots covered:

Mobile Controlled Robot Other Applications:

Black Line Follower Robot White Line Follower Robot Obstacle avoider Robot Edge avoider Robot

Swarm Robotics W/s

Swarm Robotics is workshop on swarm robots. It covers introduction to swarm and their implementation, microcontrollers and their basic application : Motor & LED control Robots covered: Communication between Swarm Robots

Vision Roboticks W/s

Vision Robotics is workshop on robotics using image processing. It covers introduction to image processing using MATLAB, microcontrollers and their basic application : Motor & LED control Robots covered: Vision Robots TEXT Detection using Camera Ball Tracking Robot

Other Applications:
Black Line Follower Robot White Line Follower Robot Obstacle avoider Robot Edge avoider Robot

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