Electronics

MEng Final year project

posted 19 Oct 2010, 04:19 by Atharva Inamdar

After I finished my internship, I had one month free to relax before university started again. So apart from relaxing, I decided to start looking for project ideas which I could undertake for my final year thesis.

This started off with scouring the web for final year projects. This gave me a starting point to see what the end goal should be. So some projects involved design and build tasks while others were purely software. Apart from just looking at other people's work, I was reading the IET magazine and website when I noticed a new upcoming area in electronics. Namely, 'Sensor Networks' or 'Sensornets'. I did a bit of research into this and came across a few presentations on the applications of sensor networks. This was very interesting and fascinating area of research.

So I looked at my university's website and found a contact who is currently working on this research area. After the initial meeting, we started discussing various possibilities of the project and where we could take it. Now it was important to keep in mind a few deadlines such as 1 year period with a break in project work for final year exams during April/May.

We finally decided on a application in fire hazard and safety. The title is 'Leveraging sensor network for monitoring of Fire outbreaks and aiding in evacuation'.
The proposal was as follows:

Set-up: A model office set up with various functional rooms. Set of networked sensors include fire monitors, heat sensors and Infra-Red Cameras.

Objective: Design and implement intelligent solution aiding an evacuation of the office building in an event of a fire. The solution should provide a fastest and safest route out of the building for the occupants. Sensors provide information about the situation on a periodic basis which is used in calculating the best exit route.

Thank you

Call for Project Ideas

posted 31 Aug 2010, 12:40 by Atharva Inamdar [ updated 31 Aug 2010, 12:46 ]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some electronics project ideas. This is for my Final Year Project. I am looking for projects that involve either a simulation of whole systems/environments or are similar to embedded systems involving a bit of hardware and software.

This can be any gadget you wish you had to perform a certain task or a proof of concept design.

You can find my previous project in the posts below.

If you have any ideas please post in the comments below.

Thanks

Communications Networks - Acronyms

posted 4 May 2010, 04:03 by Atharva Inamdar [ updated 9 May 2010, 06:16 ]

We all know, when studying a particular subject there can be an overwhelming number of acronyms. Sometimes, its expected that you already know the acronyms. One such module I am currently studying is Communication Networks. It contains over 120 acronyms! For something like this, we wish there was a easy to refer to list for what they stand for, so we don't have to keep flipping back pages or using Google to look up the definitions! So I took the time to compile a list not only for myself but for all the students and everyone else out there. You can download a PDF of this or a MS Word document if you wish. If you would like to add more acronyms to this list, please leave them in a comment below.

You can download a PDF file below if you do not wish to sign up to Scribd for the download.

Thank you.

| Attachments: Communication networks - Acronyms.pdf

Companders in PCM Systems

posted 17 Apr 2010, 11:15 by Atharva Inamdar [ updated 17 Apr 2010, 13:45 ]

This post is a little different to the previous post. PCM systems is not the topic of my project but rather one section of my study course Communication Systems. In this post, I aim to describe how PCM systems work. Mind you, this might get very technical very soon, but try to follow as I attempt to translate equations and symbols into English. I will start with a little bit of basics of systems.

Please view the following in fullscreen, to exit fullscreen mode press Esc.

If you wish to download a copy please leave a comment below with your email and I will email you a PDF document.

Please feel free to ask questions.

Thanks

Autonomous Quadcopter Project

posted 17 Apr 2010, 11:11 by Atharva Inamdar [ updated 24 Sep 2010, 10:28 ]

a little late but here's a photo of the construction. This shows the frame with rotors mounted but lacks the main processor board.

17/04/10

An aspect of this project is to develop a business case for our product. In order to do that, we have a new website for this. It is still under construction but will be updated with detail soon.

13/11/09

For my 3rd year project, the above project was chosen for its variety of challenges and possibilities. The project has just been initiated and ideas are being finalised.

Jan 2010

An overview of features has been finalised. This is to include: GPS, Wi-Fi or Xbee 2.4GHz modules, a camera, and possibly autonomous collision detection.

03/03/10

The design has been finalised. The final specifications are:

APPLICATION PROCESSOR
   o Atleast 75MHz clock rate
   o On-board memory of 8MB
   o Atleast 1 Analogue input
   o Atleast 8Digital General Purpose Input/Outputs (GPIOs)
   o Atleast 1 SPI & I2C interface
RADIO LINK
   o Wi-Fi technology
   o Atleast 1Mbps data transfer rate
   o Atleast SPI or UART or I2C interface
   o On-board IP stack
DATA STORAGE
   o SPI or UART interface
   o Large storage capacity - minimum 256MB
   o Small and lightweight form factor
IMAGING SYSTEM
   o Dual camera implementation
   o Camera 1
           o High resolution – minimum 1Megapixels (1MP)
           o Ability to capture stills
           o Digital output – parallel or serial
           o Optional: on-board JPEG encoder
   o Camera 2
           o Low resolution – 640x480 pixels VGA
           o Ability to record video
           o Digital output – parallel or serial
           o FIFO frame buffer
           o Optional: on-board stream encoder
ESC & MOTORS
   o PWM input control
   o Optional: Battery Eliminator Circuit
NAVIGATIONAL TELEMETRY SENSORS
   o Global Positioning System (GPS)
           o Minimum accuracy of less than 5m
           o Digital output – parallel or Serial
           o NMEA 0183 communications standard
   o Accelerometer
           o Minimum 1g (9.81ms-2)
           o 3-axis measurement (X, Y, Z)
   o Gyroscope
           o Rotational speed measurement up to 150Os-1
           o 3-axis measurement (Roll, Pitch, Yaw)
MICROPHONE
   o High directionality
   o Constant gain frequency response for range 650Hz-5kHz
   o Linear phase response within specified frequencies

If you are a potential sponsor or your corporation might utilise a quadcopter for search and rescue operations please contact me and my team using the feedback form or if you see me available for chat, please drop a line. Specifications may be updated to meet your custom requirements.Thank you.

Research Project - Nanowires

posted 17 Apr 2010, 11:10 by Atharva Inamdar [ updated 17 Apr 2010, 15:54 ]

For this research project, I had taken on one of the most important role of a project manager. I was responsible for project planning including time management. During the first week of the project initialisation, I drew a Gantt chart planning all or most of the major tasks at hand. This is shown as black baseline bars on the Gantt chart in this supplementary file. I used a professional package (Microsoft Project) to plan the project to allow maximum accuracy and resource allocations based on the typical working patterns of students. Other management tasks included assigning deliverables to team members appropriately and accurately.

I believe communication within the team is very important so I made sure everyone was communicating regularly on their progress and notifying me or Dr Durrani of any questions that were raised. The primary form of communication was group meetings and emails. However, since all of team are good friends it meant that informal meetings would also raise some points regarding certain aspects of the project.

My second main responsibility was to research and write a whole section on a unique application of SiNWs. I chose to research use of SiNWs in anodes for lithium batteries. A practice of researching and reading technical papers provided by Dr. Durrani, aided in better understanding complex papers. Research was carried out using online services such as ISI Web of Knowledge, MetaLib, online catalogues of IEEE Xplore, American Chemical Society and Nature archives. It should be noted that my research in this field included manufacture of SiNWs using CVD-VLS which is included in a separate section in the main report. This research and write-up of individual sections was originally scheduled to be completed during the Christmas break, however this was delayed and thus the rest of the tasks were aligned accordingly.

My other responsibilities included helping with main report compilation and compiling and editing this supplementary file. I provided input on the formatting of the report and the website. I was also responsible for communications with Dr Durrani. I have chosen to present this project along with a few others. This responsibility includes creating the presentation and will also include the time management and task assignment.

I wholly contributed a section titled “Lithium batteries with silicon nanowire anodes”, which I believe has made a significant contribution to the research report. Through my role as a project manager, I ensured the smooth running of the team including keeping everyone on track for the final deadline.

The project report PDFs can be found here:

[view online]

[Supplementary File]

Work Experience

posted 17 Apr 2010, 11:09 by Atharva Inamdar

I had 2 day work experience at CRDM (Centre for Rapid Design and Manufacture). Use of proEngineer and some Hands on at Prototyping. Feedback form from CRDM: [CRDM feedback]

Here is my electronics' teacher's recommendation:

"I have taught Atharva for 4 years and seen him through his GCSE Systems and Control Technology and AS/A2 Electronics courses. I have always found him to be diligent, conscientious and determined. He has a developed an excellent knowledge of Electronics which he has applied to produce successful coursework projects of complexity beyond that required by the exam boards. He has always asked questions to deepen his understanding of Electronics and often challenge my own knowledge!"

In Yr12 I mentored Atharva as part of a 4 man team in the Engineering Education Scheme. Throughout this scheme he has demonstrated that he is a strong team player and he has gained a Gold Crest Award for his participation. The scheme judges and their link company Edmund Nuttall were so impressed with their outcome that they are currently being assessed for a Platinum Crest award. Atharva has had a pivotal role in ensuring that the team's project will meet the Crest Scheme requirements for this prestigious award.

I have taught many students and I would put Atharva in the top 5% in terms of ability, application and determination. "

School Projects

posted 17 Apr 2010, 11:08 by Atharva Inamdar [ updated 17 Apr 2010, 16:10 ]

Anyway, I'll tell you about my projects and my interests in Electronics.

When it comes to choosing a project i always aim higher than standard. For example in GCSE I opted to make a Portable Weather station when everyone else in my class made a dice or stopwatch. Then the Grade i got didn't matter to me much, but once AS level came it mattered a whole lot more. I chose to do a stopwatch. But note that the examination board I study did not allow the use of any Microcontrollers (Processors) or 555 Timer IC. I had to use discrete components only, which was a pain. Then came the A2 level coursework. This time uPs were allowed but only if it was necessary and no other alternative existed. I made a Data logger complete with a Analogue to Digital Converter made from discrete components. The specs were simple: 1analogue input, Record raw data to RAM/EEPROM and send it to a PC using serial or USB.

The following are my coursework projects through GCSE to A level.

GCSE - Weather Station (doc not available as this was done on A3 paper)

AS-Level - Digital Stopwatch (PDF)

A2-Level - Datalogger with high speed PC interface (PDF)

Summary of most of the projects i have done (IET info):[doc]

Any Suggestions (incl. Project titles, improvements, etc.) are welcome regarding any content. Please submit these through the Feedback form.

Thanks