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Digital Rooftop Union Budget Wireless

Multimeters Solar 2016-17 Charging

APRIL 2016

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Clo ck -Cu m proj

Vol. 04 No. 12
YO Plus, many
ISSN 2454-4426
Pages: 132+8 UK 6; US $12
 Nexte
Issu

Contents
rage
te Sto
d-Sta dustr
y
Soli rs In
Printe nder
3D rs U
Printe
3D 100,000
`

april 2016
VoL. 04 | No. 12
ISSN-2454-4426

Editor : ramesh Chopra

Tech Focus Buyers Guide
Editorial : Editorial Secretary
CorrESpondEnCE phone: 011-26810601; E-mail: editsec@efy.in
40 Stepping Through
The Looking Glass,
We Found Displays
63 Choosing The Right
Digital Multimeter

(technical queries: efylab@efy.in) So Different

SubSCriptionS & : phone: 011-26810601 or 02 or 03

miSSing iSSuES E-mail: support@efy.in
18 Automation Do-IT-Yourself
baCk iSSuES, : kitsnSpares, new delhi Controlling 3-Phase Induction Motors
bookS, Cds, phone: 011-26371661, 26371662
Using VFD and PLC
pCbs etc. E-mail: info@kitsnspares.com

nEwSStand : ph: 011-40596600 26 Components

diStribution E-mail: efycirc@efy.in
What Drives Sensors
advErtiSEmEntS
nEw dElhi : ph: 011-26810601 or 02 or 03 34 Power Supply
(hEad offiCE) E-mail: efyenq@efy.in 88 Alarm Clock-Cum-Temperature Indicator
The Evolving World Of Wireless Charging
mumbai : ph: 022-24950047, 24928520 Technology 91 Arduino Based ESP8266 Wireless Web Server
E-mail: efymum@efy.in
95 Programming The Mirzar32 Board In Lisp
bEngaluru : ph: 080-25260394, 25260023 46 Innovation Programming Language
E-mail: efyblr@efy.in
A Board For Creating Your IoT Product Faster 99 Simple RF Based Code Lock
punE : ph: 08800295610, 09870682995 101 Lid-Monitoring Sensor Module
E-mail: efypune@efy.in 48 Test & Measurement 103 Configurable RS232 To TTL To I2C Adaptor
gujarat: : ph: 079-61344948 Digitise At Source, Store In The CloudThe
DAQ Mantra 105 Live Streaming Using Raspberry Pi
E-mail: efyahd@efy.in
107 Game Station Entry Card Software Using RFID Tags
China : power pioneer group inc.
ph: (86 755) 83729797, (86) 13923802595
52 Defence Electronics
Directed Energy Weapons: Particle Beam
EFY Plus DVD
E-mail: powerpioneer@efy.in
Weapons (Part 1 of 8)
japan : tandem inc., ph: 81-3-3541-4166 Logic Friday For Combinatorial Digital Logic Design.... I
E-mail: tandem@efy.in
58 Internet of Things RapidSmith: A Java Based CAD Tool For
Modern Xilinx FPGAs ............................................... IV
SingaporE : publicitas Singapore pte ltd Standardising IoT Standards And Groups
ph: +65-6836 2272 Xyce: A Parallel Electronic Simulator........................ VII
E-mail: publicitas@efy.in
66 EFY Plus DVD Regulars
taiwan : j.k. media, ph: 886-2-87726780 ext. 10
Exciting Design Software And Raspberry-
E-mail: jkmedia@efy.in 06 Feedback
Flavoured Operating Systems
unitEd StatES : E & tech media 08 Q&A
ph: +1 860 536 6677
E-mail: veroniquelamarque@gmail.com
Make in India 10 Useful Websites
12 Tech News
75 Union Budget 2016-17: Whats Good For
The ESDM Industry And Whats Not 72 Make in India: Industry News
84 New Products
printed, published and owned by ramesh Chopra. printed at international
print-o-pack ltd, C-4 to C-11, hosiery Complex, phase-ii Extension, noida-201305,
gautam budh nagar, uttar pradesh, on the first day of each month and published
80 Market Survey: Traversing The Solar
Path Of India 110 First Look
from d-87/1, okhla industrial area, phase-1, new delhi 110020. Copyright 2016.
all rights reserved throughout the world. reproduction of any material from
115 Business Pages Ads
this magazine in any manner without the written permission of the publisher is
prohibited. although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility
eStyle 124 Electronics Mart Ads
whatsoever is taken for any loss due to publishing errors. articles that cannot
be used are returned to the authors if accompanied by a self-addressed and
sufficiently stamped envelope. but no responsibility is taken for any loss or delay in
112 Buyers Guide: Selecting An Appropriate
Rooftop Solar System
128 Product Categories Index + Attractions During 2016
129 Advertisers Index
returning the material. EfY will not be responsible for any wrong claims made by
an advertiser. disputes, if any, will be settled in a new delhi court only. 114 Do-It-Yourself: Turn Your PC Into A TV

Interviews
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Period Newstand Price
Year (`)
You Pay
(`)
Digital
(`)
Overseas
Digital Print 68 internet oF thinGs:
Plug-and-play sensors... are easier to use 69 Wireless:
While integration makes additional features
two 2400 1800 750 uS$ 15 and are more secure colm Prendergast, cheaper... you only take what you need
one 1200 960 280 uS$ 5 uS$ 120 director of iot technology, Analog devices rajiv Kapur, managing director, Broadcom india
please send payments only in favour of EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd

4 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU PLUS WWW.EFYMAG.COM


Chip-LEvEL SERviCing
I am one of the oldest subscribers
to EFY and an electronics experi-
menter. The market is full of books
on software, programming and the
like. However, good, informative and
knowledgeable books/articles on chip-
level servicing of PC motherboards for
the benefit of electronics hobbyists/ex-
perimenters are not readily available. I
request you to carry a series of articles
on this relevant topic.
A. Carvalho
Through email
3D pRintER
I am an electronics enthusiast. I
request you to publish a project on
Arduino based CNC machine, XY-
plotter or 3D printer.
Surajit Paul
Through email
ZigBEE pRojECt
I am an electronics student as well
as a hobbyist doing a project on trans-
mission of three different signals to a
computer using ZigBee. I request you
to publish relevant articles as soon as
possible.
Navratan Lal Gupta
Through email
EFY. Thanks! We will keep the above
suggestions in mind while selecting
material for coming issues.
thingS You WAntED
to KnoW
In Things You Wanted To Know Q&A
section of February issue, the answer
to Q1 is not fully correct. If you have a
60Hz-operated device, you just need a
frequency-converter circuit to convert
60Hz to 50Hz. You should also give
6 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
FEEDBACK
YOUR SUGGESTIONS
the design for a frequency-converter
circuit and details regarding its usage.
Shatrajit Soraisam
Through email
Corrections
In February issue, in Test & Measurement
article, Oscilloscopes Available in The Mar-
ket table, an OWON oscilloscope has been
listed. This is not sold by the firm in India.
In Buyers Guide article under Benchtop
Power Supplies table, a MASTECH power
supply has been listed that was discontin-
ued around three years ago.
Mr Kwatra
MD, MetroQ
In EFY+DVD section published in February
issue, 634-bit mentioned under Tizen SDK
should be read as 64-bit.
Dinesh Kumar
Through email
On the cover page of February issue, un-
der Top-5 Do-It-Yourself, in the Plus-Minus
5V Supply from 12V Battery title, it should
be 9V battery instead of 12V battery.
Roy Verghese
Through email
Spot An Error
AWARD Winners
In Diabeto: A 360-degree Diabetes-
Management Solution article published
in February issue, under Flexibility
offered by this little birdie takes you
by surprise, the full form of API is
incorrectly mentioned as application
peripheral interface instead of application
programming interface.
Siddharth Kaul
In RGB Colour Generator DIY article
published in February issue, RGB1 shown
in the schematic (Fig. 2) is wrong. It
should be a common-anode type.
Tanmay Dasgupta
EFY. For conversion of 50Hz AC
mains to 60Hz AC mains, it is not
sufficient to convert frequency
(50Hz to 60Hz) only. A 50Hz to
60Hz frequency-converter-cum-
power converter will suffice. Nor-
mally, we do not provide the whole
design including circuit, source
code, etc in Q&A section due to
space limitation.
We highly appreciate your feed-
back and look forward to hearing
from you in future, too.
In Things You Wanted To Know
Q&A section of January issue, un-
der Q4, it says ATmega8 cannot be
used in Arduino Uno board. This is
wrong. Earlier, Arduino board used
ATmega8 as the microcontroller.
It can still use ATmega8 with ap-
propriate bootloader. Of course, AT-
meg16 is a 40-pin microcontroller
so it cannot be used.
Pramod Kumar
Through email
pLuS-MinuS 5v SuppLY
In Plus-Minus 5V Supply From 9V
Battery DIY article published in
February issue, 7805 used in the
circuit is a popular 5V regulator. Its
pins (1 and 3) should be corrected
as input and output, respectively.
Abhijit Dasgupta
Through email
The author A. Samiuddhin replies:
IC 7805 is a normal voltage regula-
tor that comes in TO-220 pack-
age. 78L05 used in the circuit is a
low-power 5V regulator that comes
in TO-92 package and its pin con-
nection shown is correct. Hence,
no correction is required in the
circuit.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
Ques. What is haptic
technology? What kind
of projects can be made
using it? What training
courses are offered in
this domain?
nikhil lamba
ans. Haptics is the science of ap-
plying touch (tactile) sensation and
control to interact with computer
applications. By using special input/
output devices (joysticks, data gloves
and other devices), users can receive
feedback from computer applications
in the form of sensations felt on a
hand or other parts of the body.
In combination with a visual
display, haptics technology can be
used to train people for tasks requiring
hand-eye coordination such as surgery
and spaceship maneuvers. It can also
be used for games in which you feel as
well as see your interactions with im-
ages. For example, it could enable you
to play tennis with another computer
user somewhere else in the world.
Both of you can see the moving ball
and, by using the haptic device, posi-
tion and swing your respective tennis
rackets and feel the impact of the ball.
You can do many projects using
this technology as per application.
Some of these are given below:
Medical. Sense of touch and medi-
cal simulation may prove especially
useful for training.
Military. For certain applications,
for example, where terrain or texture
information needs to be conveyed,
haptics may be the most efficient for
communication.
Assistive technology for the visu-
ally impaired. A visually-disabled
person can feel things like maps that
are displayed on the Internet and
also learn computing work by tracing
touchable mathematical courses.
Museum displays. This technology
8 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Q&A
THINGS YOU WANTED TO KNOW!
provides the possibility of widening
access to information and artefacts
held in museums by allowing visitors
who live far away to feel objects at
a distance, and to show the range of
artefacts that are currently in storage
due to lack of space.
Entertainment. It can also be used
to enhance the gaming experience.
Haptic based trainings and work-
shops assist engineers to learn about
this technology in detail. You may
refer the following links for course
structure, schedule and topics covered
during these trainings.
www.skyfilabs.com/workshops/
haptic-arm-arduino-workshop
www.robokart.com/index.
php?route=product/product&product_
id=391
https://lagunita.stanford.edu/
courses/SelfPaced/Haptics/2014/about
www.i3indyatechnologies.com/
workshop/robotics-arm-development.
html
There are no prerequisites for a
haptic training, but a basic knowledge
of information technology is desirable.
Q2. Which single-board
computer and microcon-
troller is ideal for real-
time audio-video stream-
ing/surveillance?
prashant
a2. Audio-video streaming/surveil-
lance systems play an increasingly
important role for maintaining social
security. With the development of
information technology, especially
in embedded CPUs of open Linux
systems, video conferencing, remote
monitoring and mass data-processing
fields can apply embedded technology.
Single-board computer. The
hardware system includes a processor,
video-capture devices, audio jack for
audio and a router to receive video in-
formation through Wi-Fi. You can use
any single-board microcomputer like
Raspberry Pi B+, Samsung S3C6410 or
any other ARM11 processors for this.
Microcontroller. If you only need a
basic video feed, consider using motion
JPEG to send data across the network.
Interface your camera with the micro-
controller and run a Web server to send
a series of JPEG images to a browser.
The quality and frame-rate are not so
great, but it lights on processing if the
camera outputs JPEGs. You may refer to
the article published in Electronics For
You using the link given below:
www.electronicsforu.com/
electronicsforu/circuitarchives/
view_article.asp?sno=1505&article_
type=1&id=924&tt=unhot
This project is built around Wi-Fi
module MRF24WBOMA, PIC micro-
controller PIC18F4620 and a camera
module using TCP-IP protocol. The
camera captures live video from a
remote location, which is transmitted
wirelessly through the Internet and
can be viewed on a PC or laptop.
Q3. What are the uses
and differences
betWeen ic uln2003 and
ic uln2803?
mahesh j. shetty
a3. Instead of using individual dar-
lington transistors, you can use an in-
tegrated circuit (IC) specially designed
for driving high-current loads from
TTL-level inputs. Most common ICs
of this type are ULN2003, which has
seven darlington drivers in a 16-pin
DIP package, and ULN2803, which has
eight drivers in an 18-pin DIP package.
Answers compiled by EFY senior application engineer,
Nidhi Kathuria. Letters and questions for publication
may be addressed to Editor, Electronics For You,
D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New Delhi
110020 (e-mail: editsec@efy.in) and should include
name and address of the sender
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 USEFUL Websites SOLAR ENERGY
Here are a few websites that can enlighten you on how to harness solar power
as a renewal energy source
Compiled by nira j sahay
thesolarplanner.com
If you are looking for
information on how to select
and install a home photovoltaic freesunpower.com
system, this is the place to start. This website provides
Whether you are a student, tutorials on setting up a solar
home owner, contractor or power system for producing
installer, tutorials available on electricity from sunlight.
the site will walk you through These cover solar panels,
the entire process. charge controllers, power
inverters, storage batteries, AC
www.thesolarplanner.com/index.html generators, wires and cables,
meters and monitors, and
much more. Complete system
wiring diagram examples plus
interactive online design tools
are also featured with a point-
and-click interface. The site
works as the place to learn and
have fun with solar power.
www.freesunpower.com/index.php
solarpaneltalk.com
builditsolar.com
The website is a forum for
discussion on different topics
related to solar energy. It has
discussions on solar lighting,
solar panels and solar heaters.
The forum has approximately
18,803 topics with 176,406
posts and 28,624 members.
www.solarpaneltalk.com/ www.builditsolar.com/
10 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
off-grid.info
The website aims to be a
great collection of useful
information for people
wanting to explore ideas
related to the concept
of off-grid living. Solar
energy plays a major role
in building an off-grid
system. You can use the
navigation section on the
right of the home page to
find categories you are most
interested in. Be sure to
check out the blog, which
now has 200-plus off-grid
discoveries and tutorials
from around the Web.
http://off-grid.info/blog/how-to-solar-power-
your-home-amazing-tutorial/
The website has plans, tools and
information to help you build
different solar projects. It has
hundreds of projects ranging from
lighting an electric bulb to building
a solar home. It also has design
information and tools for building
renewable energy projects. The
website offers a monthly newsletter
that can be subscribed to by anyone
to stay updated on such projects.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Tech NEWS
TECHNOLOGY UPDATES
Solar cells developed as thin as
a soap bubble
Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA,
have developed the thinnest-ever solar cell, which is as
The ultra-thin solar cell system
Smart paper skin can imitate the functions of human skin
A group of electrical engineers from King Abdullah Uni-
versity of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia has
designed a sensor circuitry that can imitate the functions of
human skin. It is flexible, paper based artificial skin, made
using items found in a typical household, that is capable of
sensing pressure, temperature, humidity, proximity, pH and
air flow.
The multi-sensor artificial skin can respond to external
stimuli and could have important applications in medicine
and robotics. The paper based skin is layered onto a Post-it
note, with paper, aluminium foil, lint-free wipes and pencil
lines acting as sensing components. It is made of recyclable
materials and presents a large number of sensory functions
in a cheap and environmentally-friendly way.
12 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
light as a soap bubble. This achievement might completely
revolutionise the contemporary trend of miniaturising tech-
nology. The team prepared the chip
by using a flexible polymer named
parylene for both the substrate and
the protective over-coating and an
organic material called DBP as the
light absorbent.
An author of the research
paper explains that the goal
was to produce a complete solar
cell system with an artificial
shield to screen the effects of the
surroundings. Key approach of
the study was to develop both the
substrate and the device in the
same system.
To achieve this, the researchers
helped both the substrate and the
solar cell to grow inside a vacuum
tube where the temperature was set
at room temperature and the effect
of external solvents was negligible.
The whole process was built upon
vapour deposition technique.
The flexible temperature array was made by drawing a resistor structure with
a silver conductive ink pen on Post-it paper (Image courtesy: King Abdullah
University of Science and Technology)
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Tech News

3D printing tech helps devise

Braille maps for the blind
Jason Kim, a senior mechanical engineering student in
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in
Rutgers School of Engineering, USA, along with his profes-
sor Howon Lee, has designed a 3D-printed Braille mapping

Jason Kim and Howon Lee with a 3D-printed tactile map with Braille
(Image courtesy: http://phys.org)

system for the visually impaired. This design will enable

the blind to understand the surroundings of Joseph Kohn
Training Centre in New Brunswick. The system will be
embedded in each story of the local training centre.
One of the biggest challenges faced by the visually
impaired is to recognise the correct directions to the
destination. Moreover, orientation of objects in its
surroundings might get in the way and indirectly interfere
with the pathway.
The computer tablet size map is very cost-effective.
Using one single pamphlet, the user will get a ready-made
picture of the building.

Head cap that could enhance

human skill-acquisition capacity
Dr Matthew Phillips and his team from HRL laboratories
has successfully incorporated brain activity patterns of
commercial and military pilots inside a novice test subject
who had little idea about flying aircrafts. Owing to tran-
scranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) technology, test
subjects were able to learn how to pilot an airplane in a
realistic flight simulator.
Dr Phillips said that, in order to realise their goal, they
glued an electrode-embedded head cap on the subjects.
Ultimately, they compared the measured value of the

14 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

 Tech News
average g-force of the plane during the simulated landing
with the control subjects who had undergone brain-
stimulation training.
A tDCS signal can boost the brain and heal neural
impairments. However, this study takes a new direction in
the field of artificial intelligence and neural systems. HRLs
findings are the first to ensure the fact that a tDCS signal
can help improve practical learning.

Tech that lets smartwatches track

fingers in mid-air
Scientists, including those of Indian origin, have developed
a new sonar technology that allows you to interact with
mobile devices by writing or gesturing on a tabletop, a
sheet of paper or even in mid-air.

FingerIO allows users to interact with mobile devices by writing or gesturing

on any nearby surface by turning a smartphone or smartwatch into an
active sonar device (Image courtesy: www.newseveryday.com)

An app, FingerIO, tracks fine-grained finger movements

by turning a smartphone or smartwatch into an active
sonar system using the devices own microphones and
speakers. Since sound waves travel through fabric and do
not require a line of sight, you can even interact with a
phone inside a front pocket or a smartwatch hidden under
a sweater sleeve.
Researchers at University of Washington, USA, showed
that FingerIO can accurately track two-dimensional finger
movements within 8mm, which is sufficiently accurate to
interact with todays mobile devices.

Technology that uses smartphone

to count molecules
Diagnostic healthcare is many a time restricted in areas
with limited resources because the procedures required to
detect many molecular markers that can diagnose diseases
are too complex or expensive to be used outside of a central
laboratory. To address the need for a robust readout sys-
tem for quantitative diagnostics, researchers from Rustem
Ismagilovs lab have invented a new visual readout method
that uses analytical chemistries and image processing to pro-

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 15

 Tech News
vide unambiguous quantification of single nucleic-acid mol-
ecules that can be performed by any mobile phone camera.
The work uses a micro-fluidic technology called
SlipChip, which was invented in Ismagilov Lab many years
ago. SlipChip serves as a portable lab-on-a-chip and can be
used to quantify concentrations of single molecules. Each
Wells turn blue if a particular nucleic acid molecule is present. A mobile
phone image of the wells can then undergo ratiometric spectral processing to
provide a quantification of target molecules (Image courtesy: Ismagilov Lab)
SlipChip encodes a complex program for isolating single
molecules (such as DNA or RNA) along with chemical
reactants in nanoliter-size wells.
The program also controls complex reactions in each
well; the chip consists of two plates that move, or slip,
relative to one another, with each slip joining or separating
the hundreds or even thousands of tiny wells, either
bringing reactants and molecules into contact or isolating
these. The architecture of the chip enables users to have
complete control over these chemical reactions and can
prevent contamination, making it an ideal platform for a
user-friendly, robust diagnostic device.
Consumer drone that can fly itself
DJI Phantom 4 is a consumer drone that can fly itself,
avoids obstacles and follows people. It uses computer vi-
sion that autonomously avoids obstacles. This quadcopter
is equipped with five cameras; two on the front, two on the
belly and one primary 4K camera. All images from these
Phantom 4
16 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
cameras are run through a computer vision software that
processes these and 3D-maps the environment. Regardless
of the mode the drone is flying in, it senses obstacles and
either ascends to fly over it or comes to a screeching halt
instantly and hovers. The crash-avoidance feature can be
turned off for expert flyers to get closer to obstacles.
DJI have used their own camera on Phantom 4, and it
is capable of making hi-res 4K videos, saved on a microSD
card. Viewport of the primary camera is 60, with a 30
vertical view. Phantom 4 empowers even the most novice
of flyers to fly the drone and shoot amazing pictures,
without using sticks at all.
Tiny robots pull a two-ton car
A fleet of teensy robots, collectively weighing less than an
apple, moved a 1800-kilogram car and driver. The secret
behind these tiny-but-mighty bots is an adhesive inspired
by gecko feet.
According to David Christensen, a mechanical
engineering doctoral candidate at Stanford University in
California, USA, who helped design the robots, a synthetic
gecko adhesive was used that is turned on when shear
force is applied and then turned off as soon as it released.
The robots lock onto the surface when they want to but are
never actually stuck.
The tiny bots are made using a tiny battery that powers
the motor, which lifts a metal arm anchored to a towing
cable. At the bottom of each bots feet is an adhesive
that makes the robot parts operate like a geckos foot.
When pulled vertically, the adhesive offers no resistance,
but when tugged sideways, parallel across a surface, the
material strongly resists motion.
Samsungs VR headphones trick
your brain into feeling motion
Entrim 4D headset from Samsung makes virtual reality
(VR) way more realistic. The new headphones trick your
brain into feeling like you are moving, even when you are
standing completely still. Entrim, which works with Sam-
sungs Gear VR headset, sends motion signals to your brain
via your inner ear, so you feel like you are moving with the
images you are experiencing in VR. These do not provide
vibrations or any type of physical feedback, so they do not
physically feel different than any other type of headphones.
Using a combination of algorithms and galvanic
vestibular stimulation, a safe and simple technique that
sends specific electric messages to a nerve in the ear,
the VR accessory synchronises your body with changing
movements in video content. Electrical signals, like the
ones used to help restore balance in stroke patients, are
delivered via headphones equipped with electrodes that
correspond with movement data input by engineers.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM

Controlling 3-Phase induCtion
Motors Using VFD and PLC
V
Joby Antony is
masters in computer
technology from the
USA, and is currently
working as engineer-F
at Nuclear Inter-
University Accelerator
Centre (IUAC), New
Delhi. He was also a
visiting scientist at
CERN, Geneva
Akshay Kumar is a
B.Tech student at
Delhi Technological
University, New
Delhi, and currently
an intern at IUAC
18 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
automation
arious automation processes in the
industry need control of AC induc-
tion motors using AC drives. Pre-
sented here is a robust system for switch-
ing on/off, varying the speed and direction
of rotation of an industrial 3-phase induc-
tion motor. We use here Delta AC motor
drive for its operation.
A simple control panel is wired using
an Allen Bradley PLC for demonstration.
An extended Intouch wonderware SCADA
can be developed similar to our earlier
article published in May 2015 issue for a
PC based virtual control panel.
An electrical motor is an electrome-
chanical device that converts electrical
energy into mechanical energy. In case of
3-phase AC operation, the most-widely-used
motor is the 3-phase induction motor as this
type of motor does not require any starting
device, being a self-starting motor.
Fig. 1: Entire system layout
Fig. 2: Block diagram of a drive
What drives are
Often in the industry, need arises for con-
trolling the speed of a 3-phase induction
motor. Deltas AC motor drives are able to
efficiently control motor speed, improve
machine automation and save energy.
Each drive in its variable frequency drive
(VFD) series is designed to meet specific
application needs.
AC drives accurately control torque,
smoothly handle increased load and
provide numerous custom control and
configuration operating modes. A VFD can
be used to vary speed, direction and other
parameters of a 3-phase motor. We use the
2-wire method for controlling the speed
and direction of the motor.
Working of a VFD
The first stage of a VFD is the converter,
which comprises six diodes, which are
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 automation
similar to check valves used in
plumbing systems. These allow cur-
rent to flow in only one direction; the
direction shown by the arrow in the
diode symbol. For example, whenever
A-phase voltage (voltage is similar
to pressure in plumbing systems)
is more positive than B- or C-phase
voltages, that diode opens and allows
current to flow.
When B phase becomes more
positive than A phase, B-phase diode
opens and A-phase diode closes. The
same is true for the three diodes on
the negative side of the bus. Thus, we
get six current pulses as each diode Fig. 3: Circuit model of a VFD
opens and closes. This is called a
6-pulse VFD, which is the standard
configuration for current VFDs.
We can get rid of AC ripple on DC
bus by adding a capacitor. A capaci-
tor operates in a similar fashion to a
reservoir or accumulator in a plumb-
ing system. It absorbs AC ripple and
delivers smooth DC voltage.
The diode bridge converter that
converts AC to DC is sometimes
just referred to as a converter. The
converter that converts DC back to
AC is also a converter, but to distin-
guish it from the diode converter, it
is usually referred to as an inverter. It
has become common in the industry
to refer to any DC-to-AC converter as Fig. 4: Waveforms at different operating frequencies and average voltages
an inverter.
When we close one of the top adequate for a motor.
switches in the inverter, that phase of If we want to reduce motor The specifications
the motor is connected to the positive frequency, we simply switch the Output frequency 0.1Hz ~ 400Hz
DC bus and voltage on that phase be- inverter output transistors more Adjustable V/f curve and vector control
comes positive. When we close one of slowly. But if we reduce frequency, Carrier frequency up to 15kHz
Auto torque boost and slip compensation
the bottom switches in the converter, we must also reduce voltage in
Built-in PID feedback control
that phase is connected to the nega- order to maintain V/Hz ratio. Pulse Built-in MODBUS communication, baud
tive DC bus and becomes negative. width modulation (PWM) does this. rate up to 38400bps
Thus, we can make any phase on the Imagine, we could control the 0 speed holding function
motor positive or negative at will and pressure in a water line by turning Built-in sleep/revival function
can thus generate any frequency that the valve on and off at high speed. Support communication module
we want. So we can make any phase While this would not be practical (DN-02, LN-01 and PD-01)
positive, negative or zero. for plumbing systems, it works very
Notice that, output from the VFD well for VFDs. any average voltage on the output of
is a rectangular waveform. VFDs do Notice that, during the first half- the VFD.
not produce a sinusoidal output. This cycle, voltage is on half the time and
rectangular waveform would not be off the rest. Thus, the average volt- Selection of Delta VFD-M
a good choice for a general-purpose age is half of 480V, that is, 240V. By as AC drive
distribution system, but is perfectly pulsing the output, we can achieve Delta VFD-M is a sensor-less vector

20 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

 automation
micro AC drive. innovative technologies that reduce modes of operation; two are 2-wire
Its compact de- interference. method and one is 3-wire method.
sign is ideal for This drive can have numerous Other than these, there is the default
small- and medi- applications like a packing ma- method operable from the digital
um-horsepower chine, dumpling machine, treadmill, keypad.
applications. M temperature/humidity-control fan First, carry out a trial run to
drive is designed for agriculture and aquaculture, check all connections.
to provide an mixer for food processing, grinding
ultra-low-noise machine, drilling machine, small- Test run for VFD
operation and size hydraulic lathe, elevator, coat- The factory setting of the operation
Fig. 5: Delta VFD-M includes several ing equipment, small-size milling source is from the digital keypad
machine, robot arm (Pr.01=00). You can perform a trial
of an injection ma- run by using the digital keypad with
chine (clamp), wood the following steps:
machine (two-side 1. After applying power, verify
woodworking planer), that the display shows F60.0Hz.
edge-bending machine, When AC motor drive is in standby,
elasticiser and so on. STOP LED and FWD LED will light
up.
Steps for complete 2. Press key to set frequency
motor control to 5Hz.
1. Check connections 3. Press RUN key. RUN LED
of L1, L2, L3; T1, T2, and FWD LED will light up, which
T3 (used for giving indicates operation command is
3-phase input to VFD forward running. And if you want
and connecting motor to change to reverse running, you
to it) and wires coming should press . And if you want to
out of M0, M1 and decelerate to stop, please press STOP
RESET

GND. key.
Fig. 6: Pin-out connection diagram for VFD-M 2. Switch on the 3-
phase power supply. VFD-M programming
3. For programming There are two contacts, M0 and M1.
the VFD-M: Whenever M0 is closed, VFD goes
(i) Press Mode into run mode. If it is open, there is
(ii) On F60.0, press no rotation of the motor. M1 decides
Enter the direction of rotation. If M1 is
(iii) Click Mode open, it rotates in forward direction;
(iv) Select the appro- if closed, in reverse direction.
priate parameter using Parameters for the above mode
Up/Down keys avail- are set as:
able on the keypad. Pr.00 set to 01 (for controlling
(v) For example, for master frequency via potentiometer)
Pr0, select P 00.
(vi) According to the
manual, set the param-
eters for required mode
of operation
(vii) Press EnterEnd
Note: At any point,
Note. Multi-function input terminal M0 does
press Mode to go to the not have its own parameter designation.
previous step. M0 must be used in conjunction with M1 to
operate 2- or 3-wire control.
For motor running
from external con- Fig. 8: Two-wire operation: Only Pr.38 can be
Fig. 7: Controlling a digital keypad on Delta VFD-M trols, we have three set to 1

22 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

 automation

PARAMETERS NEEDED FOR THE 2-WIRE EXTERNAL

CONTROL MECHANISM
Parameter Explanation Settings Factory setting
Pr.00 Source of 00: Master frequency determined by digital keypad 00
Frequency 01: Master frequency determined by 0 to +10V
Command input on AVI terminal with jumpers
02: Master frequency determined by 4 to 20mA Fig. 10: Control board for motor control operation
input on ACI terminal with jumpers
03: Master frequency determined by RS-485 com-
munication port
04: Master frequency determined by potentiometer
on digital keypad
Pr.01 Source of 00: Operation determined by digital keypad 00
Operation 01: Operation determined by external control termi-
Command nals, keypad STOP is effective
02: Operations determined by external control
terminals, keypad STOP is ineffective
03: Operation determined by RS-485 communica-
tion port, keypad STOP is effective
04: Operation determined by RS-485 communica- Fig. 11: Allen Bradley PLC connection
tion port, keypad STOP is ineffective
Pr.38 Multi-function 00: M0: FWD/REV, M1: REV/STOP 00
Input Terminal 01: M0: RUN/STOP, M1: REV/FWD
(M0,M1) 02: M0, M1, M2: 3 wire operation control mode

Fig. 12: Varying the speed of the induction motor

via potentiometer

Fig. 9: Ladder program for control
Pr.01 set to 01 (external controls,
via M0, M1)
Pr.38 set to 01 (M0, M1 set as
run/stop and fwd/rev)
Set Pr.00 to 00 for controlling
master frequency using the digital
keypad, and 01 for controlling via
potentiometer attached as shown in
first pin connection diagram.
Pr.38 should be set to 01 as
shown in above diagrams.
Once all these parameters are
set, follow 2-wire mode operational
steps for running the motor.
and O3 (outputs)
of PLC and control
O2 and O3 using
Ladder Logic. Fig.
4 shows a logic
defined for mode
01, that is, Pr.38 =
Fig. 13: Three-phase
01. O:0.0/2 is con-
induction motor nected to M0.
When I:0.0/2
is set on, it puts the motor in run
Using the PLC mode. Now, even if I:0.0/2 is
Programmable logic controllers switched off, O:0.0/2 remains on due
(PLCs) support digital input/output to the logic defined. It can only be
very effectively. So a PLC can also stopped by pressing I:0.0/2 again.
be used to control the operation of I:0.0/3 controls O:0.0/5, which,
a VFD, hence to finally control the in turn, is connected to M1, which
connected 3-phase induction motor. decides the direction of rotation of
Allen Bradley MicroLogix 1000 the motor.
PLC is connected to Delta VFD-M 0:0.0/3 is the LED that turns on
and is programmed using Ladder when the motor is in run mode.
programming using RS Logix. (Refer 0:0.0/5 is the LED that turns
to the article published in May 2015 on when the motor is running in
for more details on this.) forward direction and turns off in
We connected M0 and M1 to O2 reverse rotation.

24 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM


What Drives SenSorS
Dilin Anand is a
senior assistant
editor at EFY. He
is B.Tech from
University of Calicut,
currently pursuing
MBA from Christ
University, Bengaluru
Abhimanyu
Rathore is a
content
specialist at EFY
Technical drawing
of the latest version of
Sensor Fish
26 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
components
A
sensor-like accelerometer is not
something new, but it has been
miniaturised and volume produc-
tion has made it so cost-effective that
you can put it almost everywhere. Sen-
sors started as a component in numerous
applications such as mobiles and tablets,
but you can now see these in industrial
equipment, toys, medical electronics,
wearables and even safety in vehicles,
says Vivek Sharma, regional vice presi-
dent, greater China and South Asia region
- India operations, director - India design
centres, STMicroelectronics, in an inter-
view with EFY.
What is driving these little pieces of
technology that are so crucial for the Inter-
net of Things (IoT)? Could sensors be the
new linen?
The IoT has had a great influence
on sensor technology. Whether it is
wearables, implantables, smartfabrics or
smartpills, improvements in micro-electro-
mechanical systems (MEMS) technol-
ogy and sensors have been one of the
driving factors.
Hybrid circuits
Walden C. Rhines, chairman and CEO of
Mentor Graphics, told us in an interview
that the IoT has created a greater inter-
est in multi-die packaging, in analogue
and RF for relatively-low-complexity
designs and in hybrid circuits that com-
bine sensors, actuators, MEMS and other
Birds eye view of driving
elements
Hybrid sectors
Compression happening in MEMS
NEMS
Sensor patches and tattoos
Flexible image sensors
Large-area integration of micro-electronics
Integrated smartsensors
things with ASIC chips and then package
these accordingly.
Firms like PragmatIC Printing are
developing ultra-thin, low-cost flexible
microcircuits that can be incorporated in
mass-market packaging. Steven Bagshaw,
marketing executive at Centre for Process
Innovation Ltd also mentioned how
hybrid electronics will give rise to wire-
less medical devices for rapid diagnostics
using printed sensors, thus helping build
better medical devices in line with the
IoT concept.
Centre for Nano Science and Engi-
neering (CeNSE) at Indian Institute of
Science (IISc) is also working on nano-
electro-mechanical systems (NEMS). Dr
Vijay Mishra, CTO at CeNSE in IISc, has
presented a talk on nanotech sensors for
human body health monitoring at the 4th
edition of Electronics Rocks conference
that took place in Bengaluru last year.
Scaling up sensor deployment
John Rogers materials science research
team from University of Illinois, USA,
has developed a way of building cir-
cuits that act like tattoos, collect power
wirelessly and can be worn just about
anywhere on the body. Their sen-
sors harvest energy through near field
communication to power themselves.
Rogers company named MC10 Inc. has
marketed these in the form of sensor
patches, and they are now working on
a new generation of the technology
since late 2014.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM

We have always gone towards
higher and higher integration.
Starting from small chips, we kept
on integrating more features and
blocks into it. From just indi-
vidual sensors in the beginning,
we brought in more sensors into
the mix to create a sensor hub
for engineers. Embedded micro-
controllers and a communication
system followed this, and the final
result is the self-contained unit we
see today, adds Sharma.
Large-area integration of these
micro-electronics devices makes
the most of their small size by
creating processes that can scale
these over a larger area.
ISORG and Plastic Logic have
a flexible plastic image sensor
made from flexible photodetec-
tor sensors and organic thin-film
technology. This technology
won them the prestigious FLEXI
award, a recognition given to
firms in the flexible and printed
electronics segment.
Integrated smartsensors
Newer sensor technology has now
integrated vital components of a
smartsensor on a chip to offer a
controlled specification set across
the operation range of a sensor.
The underlying idea here is to
integrate sensor technology at the
silicon level itself. This is believed
to improve power consumption
while simplifying product develop-
ment. How are companies imple-
menting it?
Texas Instruments not only
integrates data conversion and
communication sections of a
smartsensor but also helps in
either eliminating the traditional
sensing element or integrating
it on-chip. For instance, a wheel
speed sensor typically employs
either a multi-pole ring magnet
and hall arrangement or a mag-
netic rotary encoder and magnet
arrangement for measuring wheel
speed in vehicles.
28 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
components
What is a sensor
The definition of a smartsensor may vary but, typically, at a
minimum, it is the combination of a sensing element with processing
capabilities provided by a microcontroller. This essentially means
that smartsensors are basic sensing elements with embedded
intelligence. The sensor signal is fed to the microcontroller, which
processes the data and provides an informative output to an external
user. Upcoming trends for smartsensors also include integration of a
sensor element and related processing at chip level, thereby making
end-product realisation easier and faster to develop.
Sanjay Jain, analogue applications manager, MGTS, Texas Instruments India
(SC sales and marketing)
The proposed inductive hall (CVH) technology, program-
switch sensor completely does mable microprocessor based signal
away with a costly multi-pole ring processing and supports multiple
magnet and utilises the metal- communication interfaces includ-
lic wheel hub and printed circuit ing inter-integrated circuit, serial
board itself as a sensor to measure peripheral interface and single-
wheel speed. Inductive sens- edge nibble transmission.
ing utilises LC tank resonance to
identify presence of metallic teeth Handling data
and valley as an object to switch Traditional heavy cryptography
between high/low states. Given is difficult to deploy on a typical
sensitivity, mounting as well as sensor, hence deployment of many
temperature issues with magnets, insecure IoT devices. Regulations
new solutions make way for a for the IoT need to address issues
reliable non-magnet approach and of minimum specifications for IoT
low-cost implementation. Moreo- devices. Existing IoT sensors are
ver, this technology is enabling the not equipped to take advantage of
placement of control electronics 5G technology either, explained
remotely from location of sensing, Kevin Curran, IEEE senior member
thereby making it easier to operate and reader in computer science at
the sub-system away from noise University of Ulster in an interview
environment, explains Sanjay with EFY.
Jain, analogue applications man-
ager, MGTS, Texas Instruments Production process upgrades
India (SC sales and marketing). In an interaction earlier this year
This technology is also being with Uday Prabhu, general manag-
adapted for a whole lot of other er, electronics product engineering
position and speed-sensing applica- and product management, Robert
tions including passenger-occupan- Bosch Engineering and Business
cy detection, seatbelt-buckle detec- Solutions Pvt Ltd, he explained
tion and gear-position detection, to that there is compression happen-
name a few. ing on a large scale with MEMS.
Allegro Micro Systems had An increase in the number of
launched an angle-position sensor transistors that can go into a chip
that is also programmable. Model has resulted in reduced size with
A1335 is a contactless, programma- higher functionality. Earlier, MEMS
ble magnetic angle position sensor elements functioned exclusively as
integrated circuit that comes with a sensing elements.
system-on-chip architecture with a Now, intelligence, which is the
front-end based on circular vertical processor, is built into the MEMS
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 components

SOME SENSORS AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET

Manufacturer Sensor name/ Description Features Applications
Part number
Adeunis RF LoRaWAN A ready-to-use radio transceiver al- Ready-to-use transceiver
sensors lowing transformation of any type of LoRaWAN V1 network protocol
0V-10V, 4mA-20mA and I/O sensor 0-10V, 4-20mA & I/O interfaces
into a wireless sensor Range up to 10km
Up to two sensors by transmitter
Up to ten years of autonomy on battery
IP67 enclosure
AMS AS-MLV-P2 A gas sensor for monitoring indoor Over-voltage, reverse-voltage protection Building automation and consumer air-quality
air quality 2.7V for 320C monitoring applications
34mW at 320C
Reflow capable
Available as tape on reel
Bosch BMX055 A 9-axis sensor that allows accurate Three sensors in one device, namely, ac- Advanced gaming, HMI and augmented reality
Sensortec measurement of angular rate, ac- celerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer Advanced gesture recognition
celeration and geomagnetic fields in Indoor navigation
three perpendicular axes Tilt measurement and compensation
Free-fall detection and drop detection for
warranty logging
Display profile switching
Advanced system power management for
mobile applications
Menu scrolling, tap/double-tap sensing
Exar XR10910 - 16:1 A sensor-interface analogue Force sensing Bridge-sensor interface
sensor interface front-end IC that integrates 16:1 Integrated features for interfacing multiple Pressure and temperature sensors
differential multiplexer, offset- bridge sensors with an MCU or FPGA: Strain-gauge amplifier
correction DAC, programmable-gain - 16:1 differential mux with I2C interface Weight scales
instrumentation amplifier and a - Instrumentation amplifier Industrial process controls
voltage reference - LDO
- Offset correction DAC with I2C interface
(560mV offset correction range - RTI)
1mV maximum input offset voltage
100pA maximum input bias current
556A maximum supply current
2.7V to 5V analogue supply voltage range
1.8V to 5V digital supply voltage range
-40C to +85C temperature range
6x6mm QFN-40
Greyhill 68P series Non-contact rotary position sensors One million rotational cycles Agriculture vehicle control throttle
sensors that use Hall effect technology to Debris-resistant Hall effect sensor technol- Test and measurement equipment
(68PARN-020C, produce ratiometric voltage output, ogy Audio/visual equipment
68PARS-020C) which allows these to substitute for Redundant Hall effect sensor Industrial automation
a potentiometer. With this output and Ratiometric analogue output
contactless operation, these are ideal
for use in applications that require
constantly changing voltage control
PIL P43 A ultrasonic sensor with digital Range of 250mm to 6000mm Object recognition for agriculture and fluid
output Two integrated internal LEDs for echo justi- levels
fication and analogue internal sensors Distance measuring for trucks and loading
Three different output functions ramps
Level sensing and parking-lot detection/barrier
monitoring
Texas HDC1000 A digital humidity sensor with Relative humidity operating range of 0%- HVAC (heating, ventilating and air-condition-
Instruments integrated temperature sensor; 100% ing)
measures humidity based on a novel 14-bit measurement resolution Smart thermostats and room monitors
capacitive sensor Relative humidity accuracy of 3% White goods
Temperature accuracy 0.2C Printers
Handheld meters
Medical devices
Cargo shipping
Automotive windshield defog
Wearable devices
Mobile devices
Texas TDC1000 A fully-integrated analogue front-end Automotive AEC-Q100 (TDC1000-Q1) Measurements through tanks of varying
Instruments for ultrasonic sensing measure- Measurement range up to 8ms materials:
ments of level, fluid identification/ Operating current of 1.8A (2 SPS) - Fluid level
concentration, flow and proximity/ Transmitter channels TX1/TX2; supports - Fluid identification/concentration
distance applications common in single or dual transducer Flow metering: water, gas and heat
automotive, industrial, medical and Operating temperature range of -40C to Distance/proximity sensing
consumer markets 125C

30 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM


chip itself. This is the primary in-
fluencer for the wearables segment,
with MEMS chips doubling as con-
trol units. Also, structural advances
help make finer measurements of
acceleration, momentum and so
on, he adds.
Will we soon see the addition of
communications technologies to the
MEMS chip? Probably not! Prabhu
explained that it is good to separate
fast- and slow-moving technologies.
Otherwise, our wearables would
become obsolete very fast and may
not support usage with a new,
upgraded phone.
What is trending here
A lot of applications have long used
sensors (of one sort or another)
to diagnose, manage and report
information. In the last few years,
however, sensors have become
increasingly important as devices
and sub-systems have become more
32 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
components
Why sensor technology has evolved
Manufacturing of sensors. Miniaturisation of sensors has been
possible due to advancements in material science and manufacturing
technology. Improvements in material science and manufacturing
technology have resulted in more reliable and predictable-quality
sensors. Adoption of MEMS has increased due to advancement in
process technology.
Connectivity. Wide choice of connectivity is now available based
on industry application. Sensors are enabled with Ethernet, wireless
mesh, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Bluetooth and other technologies. These have been increasingly
becoming smart and intelligent with integration of connectivity and processing/memory
capabilities.
Processing. Processing power of sensors has increased, which has enabled these in
handling more complex signal processing to digitise data. More processing can be done
on the sensor or at the edge for better latency and real-time actions.
Cost and reliability. Advancement of technology has helped in bringing down the
cost, triggering affordability. It has also resulted in better reliability and accuracy of
measurements.
Krishnananda Shenoy, AVP and principal architect, Engineering Services, Infosys
sophisticated with the increase in these new-age sensors increasingly
demand for reliability, especially useful in a range of applications in-
in safety-critical applications. The cluding consumer electronics, auto-
advent of real-time data capture motive and in industrial segments,
and analysis applications is making adds Jain.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Power SuPPly
The Evolving World Of
Wireless Charging TeChnology
N
ikola Tesla in the late-18th and ear-
ly-19th centuries described a device
that he believed could transmit elec-
trical power from one conductor to another
without the need for wires. But his work
in this field failed due to engineering and
financial limitations. Soon thereafter power
cables became the commonly-accepted
means of transporting electricity across
Dr S.S. Verma
is a professor distances. But with widespread adoption
at Department of small, portable devices with batteries in
of Physics, Sant
Longowal Institute need of constant recharging, peoples atten-
of Engineering and tion is again turning to wireless power.
Technology, Sangrur,
Punjab
Types of wireless charging
Power through radio waves. Transmitting
power through radio waves at first seemed
promising. A good example of how radio
waves can transmit power is a crystal radio.
This basic radio consists of a long wire as
34 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
an antenna, a diode, another wire to act
as ground wire and a crystal earphone. By
attaching the two wires to either end of
the diode, connecting the ground wire to
a metal stake in the ground and connect-
ing the crystal earphone to the ends of the
diode, this radio can pick up radio waves
that we can actually hear. We do not
need a battery or any other power source
to hear these; radio waves themselves pro-
vide the power.
The trouble with radio wave transmis-
sions is that these are not very efficient.
These spread out as these transmit; only a
relatively-small percentage would make it
to the antenna for the charging device.
But there are other methods to send
electricity wirelessly, including through
microwaves or magnetism. Magnet ap-
proach really resonated with engineers
looking for a way to get rid of those extra
charging cords.
Resonant wireless charging. There
are mainly two types of wireless charg-
ing: inductive and conductive. Inductive
charging involves an electromagnetic field
to transfer charge across a gap and into
the devices battery. Requisite for induc-
tive charging is an induction coil, which is
capable of receiving wireless energy. Con-
ductive charging functions through direct
electrical contact between the power source
and the battery.
Wireless charging or inductive charg-
ing uses an electromagnetic field to
transfer energy between two objects. This
is usually done with a charging station.
Energy is sent through an inductive cou-
pling to an electrical device, which can
then use that energy to charge batteries or
run the device.
Induction chargers typically use an
induction coil to create an alternating
electromagnetic field within a charging
base station. A second induction coil in
the portable device takes power from the
WWW.EFYMAG.COM

electromagnetic field and converts it
back into electric current to charge
the battery. The two coils, when
placed in proximity, form an electri-
cal transformer.
Greater distances between sender
and receiver coils can be achieved
when the inductive charging system
uses resonant inductive coupling.
Recent improvements to the reso-
nant system include using a mov-
able transmission coil, for example,
mounted on an elevated platform or
arm, and the use of silver-plated cop-
per or sometimes aluminium for the
receiver coil to minimise weight and
decrease resistance due to skin effect. phablets and tablets, enabling simul-
Through this process,
power can be transferred
safely over an air gap and
also through any non-metallic
object that might exist be-
tween the coils, such as wood,
plastic or granite. Addition
of extra (or larger) transmit-
ter coils can also extend the
range at which power can be
transferred. Wireless charg-
ing is based on the principle
Resonant wireless charging provides a convenient and safe means
of magnetic resonance or to reliably charge and power millions of consumer electronic and
inductive power transfer, the industrial devices
process whereby electricity
is transferred between two objects
through coils using the following
key steps:
1. Mains voltage is converted
into high-frequency AC.
2. The AC is sent to the transmit-
ter coil by the transmitter circuit. It
then induces a time-varying mag-
netic field in the transmitter coil.
3. The AC flowing within the
transmitter coil induces a magnetic
field that extends to the receiver coil
(when within a specified distance).
4. The magnetic field generates
current within the receiver coil of the
device. The process whereby energy
is transmitted between the transmitter charging for all consumer electronic
and the receiver coil is also referred
to as magnetic or resonant coupling,
and is achieved by both the coils
resonating at the same frequency.
5. The AC current flowing
36 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Power SuPPly
within the receiver coil is converted
into DC by the receiver circuit,
which can then be used to charge
the battery.
Wireless charging technology
2D charging solution. Current op-
tions for wireless charging of smart-
phones and tablets involve the use
of a charging pad that acts as the
transmitter, transferring power to a
miniaturised wireless receiver inte-
grated into smartphones or tablets.
This is the safest and most-efficient
wireless charging pad technology for
electronic devices like smartphones,
taneous wireless charging of multiple
devices, with full spatial freedom for
placement of devices in any position
(no exact alignment).
Miniaturised receivers are inte-
grated directly into the devices, re-
moving the need for external hous-
ing covers or sleeves on devices.
With continued advances in wireless experiment paves the way for wire-
charging technology, transmitters
built into workstations, desks, tables
and a whole range of everyday fur-
niture will soon become a reality.
Wireless charging for wearables
and devices using AA batteries.
In order to truly deliver wireless
devices, technology needed to some-
how enable charging of irregular
shaped objects, that is, not only thin
form or flat in shape. Such devices
commonly use AA batteries or spe-
cialised small batteries in the case
of wearable devices. This is called
in-device charging and it means
convenient, simultaneous charg-
ing of multiple devices including
remote controllers, gaming devices,
cameras, toys, wearable devices and
more, without having to remove and
replace batteries.
Wireless ambient power. Com-
panies are developing a technol-
ogy that could draw enough power
from ambient radio waves to keep
a mobile phone handset topped up.
Ambient electromagnetic radiation
emitted from Wi-Fi transmitters,
mobile phone antennae, TV masts
and other sourcescould
be converted into enough
electrical current to keep a
battery topped up. They are
working towards a prototype
that could harvest up to 50
milliwatts of powerenough
to slowly recharge a phone
that is switched off. Current
prototypes can harvest three
to five milliwatts.
Wirelessly powered light
bulb. Researchers have creat-
ed a revolutionary device that
could remotely charge batter-
ies and power household appliances.
They have shown that it is possible
to wirelessly power a 60-watt light-
bulb sitting about two metres away
from a power source. They have
demonstrated, for the first time, that
it is feasible to efficiently send that
much power over such distance. The
lessly charging batteries in laptops,
mobile phones and music players, as
well as disposing of electric cords on
household appliances.
Benefits
Whatever the application, removal
of the physical connection delivers
a number of benefits over tradi-
tional cable connections, some of
which are not always obvious. This
article highlights below some of the
benefits and advantages of reso-
WWW.EFYMAG.COM

nant wireless charging and offers an
insight into a world where wireless
power is widely integrated into the
home, office and everyday lives:
1. From an environmental stand-
point, wireless charging could be in-
credibly promising. It would eliminate
the need for plastic-body chargers,
which not only drain power but are
also replaced regularly. Wireless
charging could save tens of thousands
of tons of chargers from ending up in
landfills and allow users to tap into
existing electronic activity instead of
traditional power sources.
2. It provides greater convenience
and ubiquity for charging of everyday
devices.
3. It would reduce costs associ-
ated with maintaining mechanical
connectors.
4. It would allow safe powering
or charging of devices that need to
remain sterile or hermetically-sealed
(waterproof).
5. It would prevent corrosion
due to elements such as oxygen and
water.
6. It would eliminate sparks and
debris associated with wired con-
tacts.
7. It would provide protected con-
nections; no corrosion when electron-
ics are all enclosed, away from water
or oxygen in the atmosphere.
8. It is safer for medical implants
(embedded medical devices). It al-
lows recharging/powering through
skin rather than having wires pen-
etrate the skin, which increases the
risk of infection.
9. It is durable. Without the need
to constantly plug and unplug de-
vices, there is significantly less wear
and tear on the sockets of the devices
and the attaching cables.
10. It enables non-radiative en-
ergy transfer.
11. It can be more convenient as
there is no need for cables.
Disadvantages
Some disadvantages of wireless
charging are:
38 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Power SuPPly
Lower efficiency and waste
heat. Main disadvantages of induc-
tive charging are its lower efficiency
and increased resistive heating in
comparison to direct contact. Imple-
mentations using lower frequencies
or older drive technologies charge
more slowly and generate heat with-
in most portable electronics. It is not
as efficient as a direct cable connec-
tion. Wireless charging is around 60
per cent to 70 per cent efficient, and
it is still recommend that booting a
device from cold is done through a
wired connection.
Slower charging. Due to lower
efficiency, devices can take longer to
charge when supplied similar power.
More expensive. Inductive charg-
ing also requires drive electronics
and coils in both device and charger,
increasing complexity and cost of
manufacturing.
Short-distance applications.
Whether or not it incorporates
resonance, induction generally sends
power over relatively short distances.
Solutions
Given below are some possible solu-
tions:
1. Newer approaches reduce
transfer losses through the use of
ultra-thin coils, higher frequencies
and optimised drive electronics.
This results is more efficient and
compact chargers and receivers,
facilitating their integration into
mobile devices or batteries with
minimal changes required. These
technologies provide charging times
comparable to wired approaches,
and these are rapidly finding their
way into mobile devices.
2. For day-to-day use, just lining
up the coils and letting electromag-
netism do the rest is the simple value
proposition at the heart of wireless
charging. It is worth noting that
the lithium-ion chemistry used in
smartphone batteries happily copes
with having short bursts of energy to
charge these up. This is exactly what
wireless charging can provide.
3. Future plans for wireless
power involve moving electricity
over a span of kilometres. A few
proposals even involve sending
power to the Earth from space. The
secret was a large, ground based
microwave transmitter. A large,
disk-shaped rectifying antenna, or
rectenna, changed the microwave
energy from the transmitter into DC
electricity. This was because the
microwaves interaction with the
rectenna had a constant power sup-
ply as long as it was in the range of
a functioning microwave array.
Rectifying antennae are central
to many wireless power-transmis-
sion theories. These are usually
made of an array of dipole anten-
nae, which have positive and nega-
tive poles. These antennae connect
to semiconductor diodes. These
collect microwave energy and trans-
mit it to the diodes, which act like
switches that are open or closed as
well as turnstiles that let electrons
flow in only one direction. These
direct the electrons to the rectennas
circuitry. The circuitry routes the
electrons to the parts and systems
that need these.
Safety concerns
There will be safety issues, real or
imagined, as all power has to pass
through space in some form or the
other, and pass through any bodies
lying in its path. However, research-
ers have minimised this problem by
ensuring that power is mainly in the
form of a magnetic field, a form of
energy to which the body is almost
entirely insensitive. It is believed
that wireless charging is safe, even
for people with implanted medical
devices such as pacemakers.
Although researchers have
not made a detailed study to test
how the system interferes with
pacemakers, however, they do not
expect it to interact strongly with
objects that do not resonate at the
same frequencies that are used to
transfer power.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 tech focus
Stepping Through The Looking
Glass, We Found displays
so diFFerent
E
yes, perfected by Mother Nature, are
matchless display systems. Every
other man-made display has some
problem or the otherbattery life, heat,
glare, image quality and what not. How-
ever, humans never give up on their desire
to out-do or, at least, match nature. And
so, manufacturers and researchers continue
attempting to improve the current display
Janani
Gopalakrishnan systems, making these smaller, more flex-
Vikram is a ible, power-efficient, panoramic, etc.
technically-qualified
freelance writer, Moreover, ubiquity of devices has also
editor and hands- led to the need for displays that are flex-
on mom based in
Chennai ible and have a smaller footprint. Mo-
biles, wearables, augmented reality (AR)
workspaces, immersive games and other
applications throw challenges at the display
industry to match their speed of travel into
the future. What will the future displays
look like? In this story, we dig into a few
off-beat and futuristic research projects that
give us a few clues regarding what displays
might be like a decade from now.
Ole! Time to bend, roll and tango
Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) have
been around for quite some time now. Hav-
ing started their career with mobile devices,
these are now beginning to be used in high-
Conceptual
end large-size televisions, too. Made of or-
smartphones with ganic materials that glow when subjected to
transparent and electric current, these screens have laudable
flexible display
energy savings, resolution and form factor.
More attractively, these organic materials are
more flexible and make flexible displays a
reachable goal.
Manufacturers like LG and
Samsung are especially keen on
bendy displays. A few years ago,
Samsung demonstrated YOUM,
a flexible active-matrix OLED
(AMOLED) display that uses
polyimide as the substrate mate-
rial instead of glass. Polyimide
is a polymer with high resilience
40 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
and flexibility. Although Samsung has used
this technology in a few of its curved phone
screens, the impact has not been felt much
because most of these displays have been
encased in toughened Gorilla glass.
However, it is clear that the company is
keen on flexible displays and hopes to use it
to make jaw-dropping devices. A patent filed
by Samsung and published by the US Patent
and Trademark Office (USPTO) last Novem-
ber (http://tinyurl.com/h9wpbtq) focuses
on such scrollable, foldable smartphones
and tablets. It describes a device that can be
folded in half like a book, and another that
can be rolled up into a cylinder.
The patent also hints at what the fold-
able device could possibly do in open and
closed states. When in closed state dur-
ing a call, the device would show the face
of the caller and call-related options like
recording, keypad and mute, while the open
state will additionally have the contact list
opened in the other half of the display.
Other applications like messaging, im-
ages, etc, are also shown using the flexible
display. Some images also suggest notifica-
tions being shown on the back of the screen
when folded on the sides, or the corner.
LG is equally keen on flexible display
tech. They showed off some beautiful tech
at this years Consumer Electronics Show
(CES 2016). Apart from a 45.7cm (18-inch)
flexible display panel, they showed two
smaller versions, one that was transparent
and another that could be rolled up into a
3cm-radius cylinder.
LG claims that their new OLED displays
are flexible enough to curve around walls
or be used seamlessly inside cars. These are
also thinner, lighter and break-resistant; so
light that a thin magnetic strip is all that is
needed to stick the 4mm-thick television
screen to the wall and so convenient to peel
off and stick somewhere else, as required.
The display produces its own light, so
WWW.EFYMAG.COM

there is no backlight to add bulk to
it. According to an announcement
by LG, they plan to develop a 152cm
(60-inch) ultra-high-definition (ultra-
HD) flexible and transparent OLED
panel with a transmittance of more
than 40 per cent and a curvature
radius of 100R, by 2017.
Of course, no race is complete
without Apple in it! In 2015, Apple
was awarded a patent (http://tinyurl.
com/zsjoea4) by the USPTO for flex-
ible, foldable electronic devices with
force gesture control. According to
Apple Insider, the patent describes
a portable device, like an iPhone,
that can be flexed, bent, folded or
otherwise deformed without nega-
tively impacting the sensitive internal
components contained within. What
makes this patent exciting is that it
also describes flexible external parts,
such as the chassis and cover glass,
with pliable internal parts like batter-
ies, circuit boards, displays and other
electrical components.
Not only that, it also hints at an
exciting new user interface using
force sensors. Say, for example, users
can squeeze the device to activate a
command.
The patent also mentions bi-
stable flex regions. This means the
device can have two or more stand-
ard configurations. So what would
Apple make with this technology? A
phone that folds up like a hanky or
maybe a phone that has displays on
both sides? Well, we might have to
wait for a few years to find out.
Self-repairing screens
Users with toddlers racing around the
house would readily vote for this tech-
nology. Last year, a team of chemists
led by Duncan Wass of Bristol Univer-
sity, England, revealed a technology
that would enable smartphones and
other screens to heal themselves.
Inspired by the way the body
forms scabs to protect wounds, this
new technology involves adding a
healing agent, basically a chemi-
cal formula, to materials used for
42 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
tech focus
developing display screens, or even
other products like nail varnish or
wall paints.
This healing agent is made of
different carbon based chemicals
and produces a sheet of millions of
microscopic spheres. When there
is a crack in the display screen, it
breaks apart these hollow micro-
spheres, and a liquid is released that
moves into the newly-formed gap.
A subsequent chemical reaction
causes this liquid to harden and seal
the crack automatically, without any
intervention from the user.
At a top-level, it looks as if includ-
ing this technology into existing
products would only involve a small
manufacturing tweak, of adding the
Fig. 1: Foldable device shown in Samsungs
patent
healing agent to the material used.
However, experts feel that new chal-
lenges might crop up when one starts
delving into the details. The tech, for
example, might require some adapta-
tion to fit into cutting-edge flexible
displays. However, it is definitely a
good start and would save users a lot
of money in replacing broken screens.
Displays that touch you
Displays seem to be incomplete with-
out touch technology these days. As
more and more devices fill the world,
people want more natural forms of
interacting with these. Since the past
few years, there has been a lot of
interest in haptic touchscreens, that
is, screens that give you some form
of sensory feedback.
Senseg is one of the pioneers in
the field. Although not yet main-
stream, their technology is lauded by
experts and is constantly evolving.
It lets the user feel reactions. Was
the button-click accepted? Was there
an error? Is the call going through?
All this can be felt through pulses or
pressure exerted by the screen on the
fingertips. Senseg is promoting the
technology for use in automotive ap-
plications, where getting haptic feed-
back will reduce the necessity for the
driver to look at the screen, thereby
reducing distraction.
Boschs haptic display, Neosense,
apparently goes a step further, ac-
cording to professional reviewers who
tested it at CES 2016. According to
reviews, Neosense lets you feel tex-
tures. Assume a system that has but-
tons designed with different textures,
namely, coarse, silky, ribbed, etc.
By moving your fingers over these,
you can feel the different textures or
patterns. This means that you can
identify the required buttons simply
by touching these.
Neosense also uses a vast array
of pressure sensors to accurately
differentiate between an intentional
button press and brushing of fingers
across the screen while searching for
the right option.
Well, displays that let you feel
textures would be a boon, especially
for developers of learning systems and
e-commerce portals. Imagine the day
when customers can feel fabric on the
screen while shopping for clothes!
Apple, too, has a bagful of haptic-
feedback technologies like 3D Touch,
Force Touch, Taptic Engine inside Ap-
ple Watch and vibration patterns for
ringtones and notifications. However,
haptic tech firm Immersion has filed
lawsuits against Apple claiming that
these infringe on Immersions patents.
Will graphene and graphics get
along
Since its discovery in the early 2000s,
graphene has been touted as a magic
material that has the potential to dis-
rupt many an industry. It is basically
a single-atom thick layer of carbon,
achieved by shaving off layer after
layer off graphite. Scientists propose
innumerable uses for graphene, right
from optics to semiconductors.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Tomas Palacios, who heads Centre
for Graphene Devices and 2D systems
at Massachusetts Institute of Technol-
ogy (MIT), is one such scientist ex-
ploring the applications of graphene.
He has several radical ideas, of which
one is described by him as display on
demand.
He believes that graphene could
turn everyday objects like coffee cups
and shoes into devices that can easily
compile and transmit information.
Basically, everything around us will
be able to convert itself into a display
on demand, he said during a news-
paper interview.
To implement this, his team is
developing a 3D printer that uses gra-
phene as its ink. These objects would
Fig. 2: Basic working principle of Bodle Technologies
optoelectronic framework based platform technology
have electrical intelligence built into
these. Graphene with its electrical
and optical properties could enable
the object itself to turn into a display
when required.
There have been earlier attempts
to make awesome displays with
graphene. Researchers from Univer-
sity of Manchester and University of
Sheffield, for example, came up with
a prototype semi-transparent, flex-
ible, grapheme based LED display
that could be used in phones, tablets
and even televisions. The super-thin
display was just 10 atoms to 40 atoms
thick and could emit a sheet of light
across its entire surface.
Samsung, which has developed a
method of synthesising large-area, sin-
gle-crystal wafer-scale graphene, also
believes that graphene is the perfect
material for use in flexible displays,
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
wearables and other next-generation
electronic devices. There are rumours
that the company is already testing
graphene based touchscreens.
Bodles bid for power
If flexibility is one requirement for
future displays, then power effi-
ciency is equally important. If you
are bound to have devices all around
you, you would certainly not want to
keep charging all of these.
Bodle Technologies, a UK based
startup, is working on a technology
that could be used to make super-
efficient displays that require almost
no power at all. Their tech revolves
around ultra-thin structures made
using well-known and well-character-
ised materials including phase-
change materials. This structure
can manipulate light using
electrical, optical or mechanical
means.
According to the company,
It can be used to filter, steer or
dim light at a flick of a switch
and, most importantly, con-
sumes very little or no power
after switching. This optoelec-
tronic framework based platform
technology can be used for de-
veloping low-power, flexible displays,
smartwindows and much more.
Personal home theatre, anyone
Head-mounted displays, which were
clunky and cumbersome at one point
of time, are now sleek, lightweight
and power-efficient. No wonder
these devices, like Samsung GearVR,
are touted to be more than gaming
devices. These virtual reality (VR) dis-
plays have the potential to turn into
personal home theatres, giving you an
immersive, comfortable and personal-
ised movie experience.
However, holographic displays
that are likely to become popular in
the next five to ten years are likely to
put todays 3D, VR and AR displays
to shame. Holographic and volumet-
ric displays appear to give an object
mass. So you actually feel as if you
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 43

are reaching out and holding an
object.
There are several types of holo-
graphic displays. Of these, augmented
holographic displays, which embed
3D objects into your surroundings, as
if these were real, are already here.
Products like Microsoft HoloLens and
MagicLeap are examples of augmented
holographic displays that provide an
interactive, customisable experience.
In another class of holographic
displays, nanophotonic devices
manipulate light to achieve moving,
full-colour holograms. These devices
manipulate light at the source rather
than trick the eye using middleware
like glasses.
Several teams across the world,
including one at Griffith University,
Australia, are trying to develop such
systems using graphene oxides and
laser pulses to control the refrac-
tive index and wavelength of light.
A nano-photonic holographic dis-
play does not require glasses, which
means several people can view it. It is
also potentially scalable to any size.
However, it needs a wall to work and
cannot project onto thin air.
If projecting onto thin air is what
you really want, then you will get that,
too. A team of researchers from Aerial
Burton and multiple Japanese univer-
sities recently demonstrated a system
that projects pixie-shape holograms
called Fairy Lights into thin air. What
makes these holograms all the more
special is that these respond to human
touch. The system uses femtosecond
lasers, which can stimulate physical
matter to emit light in 3D form.
Micro-LEDs to give OLEDs
a good chase
Display experts consider micro-LEDs
a technology worth watching. Micro-
LED is an emerging display technol-
ogy that uses arrays of microscopic
LEDs as individual pixel elements.
The tech offers benefits like greater
contrast, faster response times and
low energy consumption. While
larger micro-LED displays are still too
44 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
tech focus
difficult to manufacture, experts feel
that these displays make sense for
smaller devices like smartwatches.
That explains why Apple acquired
LuxVue, a company working on
micro-LED displays.
That said, perhaps micro-LED
might emerge in larger formats.
When John Rogers and Chris Bower
of X-Celeprint proposed the use
of micro-LEDs for multifunctional
display systems at a conference last
year, they first described a process
for making multiple layers of LEDs
with sacrificial layers in between
that allow the layers to be lifted off.
The company has developed a tech-
If all this talk about holograms has
made you thirsty for experimentation,
try this not-so-little trick that turns your
smartphone into a hologram projector:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YWTtCs
vgvg&feature=youtu.be
nology for transfer-printing of chips
using elastomeric stamps utilising
peel-rate-dependent adhesion.
If that does not make sense, let
us turn to industry expert Kim Wer-
ners simplified explanation on Dis-
play Daily: To oversimplify shame-
lessly, if you place the stamp on the
layer of chips and peel it off quickly,
the chips adhere to the stamp.
Impress the stamp on the target
substrate and peel it off slowly, the
chips adhere to the target. This is
also impressive, but it still does not
create LED arrays any larger than
the original lattice-matched arrays.
As it turns out, it is relatively
simple to impose patterns on stamps
that result in picking up every tenth,
twentieth or nth LED before deposit-
ing these on the substrate. In this
way, you can go from the dense array
of the original wafer to a sparse array
on the target substrate. In principal,
this allows you to make -ILED dis-
plays of virtually any diagonal.
Using this technology, X-Celeprint
has made 150mm stamps. According
to Bower, making larger ones is just a
matter of engineering, not science.
Nature-inspired display tech
The very concept of display is in
many ways inspired by nature. No
wonder scientists continue to observe
naturefrom the butterflys wings to
the woodcocks 360-degree visionto
develop better display systems.
In one recent venture, scientists
from Harvard University and MIT
learnt a few lessons from a type of
mollusc called the blue-rayed limpet.
Limpets have two optical structures
within their shell. These are con-
figured to reflect blue light while
absorbing all other wavelengths of
incoming light, resulting in a blue-
striped appearance.
In an attempt to understand where
the stripes came from, researchers
decided to take a close look at the
translucent shells using 2D and 3D
structural analysis to reveal the 3D
nanoarchitecture of the photonic
structures embedded in the shells.
The shells top and bottom layers
were relatively uniform, with dense
stacks of calcium-carbonate platelets
and thin organic structures.
As they got about 30 microns
under the shell surface, they found
regular plates of calcium-carbonate
morphed into a multi-layered struc-
ture with regular spacing between
layers, like a zigzag pattern.
This could potentially serve as a
design guide for engineering colour-
selective, controllable, transparent
displays that require no internal light
source. This technology can be used
in windows and glasses, which need
to be transparent and at the same
time overlay AR content, like say, a
map. In a news release, one of the
researchers said, We believe that the
limpets approach to displaying colour
patterns in a translucent shell could
serve as a starting point for develop-
ing such displays.
Everywhere we look, there is an-
other creature that inspires a better dis-
play, another device that needs a better
display and another team ready to work
on it. Indeed, there is a lot to look for-
ward to in the coming years.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 InnovatIon
A Board For Creating
Your iot ProduCt Faster
B
uilding your own IoT device is
not as simple as it looks. The first
hurdle is in putting the hardware
together. Then comes the process of
faithfully transmitting messages over the
distance you need the signal to travel. Let
us not forget the time it takes to develop
your solution and the cost for it.
This innovation story introduces an
Priya Ravindran
was working evaluation board that helps you get your
as a technical idea into a finished product quicker, and
journalist
at EFY until also lets you create an open access mesh
recently network to send your data reliably up to
2km. The board in question is a Bluetooth
Low Energy (BLE) and ANT based board
by Atoll Solutions Pvt Ltd.
BLE-ANT, a useful combination
What makes this board special is the way
it is put together, enabling faster time-
to-market and low-power solutions. The
board contains Raytac module with Nordic
Semiconductor nRF51 chip, which offers
support to BLE and ANT protocols.
The evaluation Enabling mesh creation. Generally,
board
when you communicate via Blue-
tooth, you can transfer data up to
a maximum of 80m in open air,
and about 18m in normal scenar-
ios. With BLE-ANT combination,
you can create a mesh network
and connect up to 2km radius,
with all devices connected to this
mesh network.
Specifications of the board
Size: 18mm10mm3.2mm
Operating temperature: 0C to 70C
Operational relative humidity: 10 per cent to 80 per cent
Operating voltage: 1.8V to 3.6V
Frequency band: 2400MHz - 2483MHz
Supported data rates: 2Mbps, 1Mbps and 250kbps
Receiver sensitivity: -93dBm at BLE mode
Transmission power: -20dbm to +4dbm
46 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
When a device sends out a signal, it
is communicated via the mesh, from one
node to the other, until it reaches the end
device. Thus, information is secure and a
strong signal is received by the end user.
Low power consumption. A device
designed using this board is mostly in
sleep mode, awoken by signals only when
it has work to do. The claim is that a coin-
cell battery combined with this boards
power management scheme will let you
use this board for about six months on a
single charge.
Easily connected to existing setup.
As soon as a module like ANT comes into
the picture, the notion is that connecting
to this might need a lot of effort from the
user. This is where BLE module steps in,
letting you connect to even your smart-
phone easily. Of course, there is some
configuration you would need to do from
your end, according to the application you
choose, but the back-end is taken care of
by the board.
Deep inside the board...
The board is built around Nordic Semi-
conductor nRF chip that comes in the
form of MDBT40 board, with support for
Bluetooth 4.0 and BT4.1 stack for BLE
and ANT modules. It is designed based
on Nordic nRF51422 solution. A 2.4GHz
transceiver and an ARM Cortex 32-bit
processor in the Nordic chip take care of
the functioning.
Along with this, the
board contains an accel-
erometer, ten configurable
general-purpose inputs/
outputs, three configu-
rable analogue-to-digital
converter channels, one
32-bit and two 16-bit tim-
ers with counter mode,
and support for inter-
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
faces like universal serial bus, serial
peripheral interface, inter-integrated
circuit, universal asynchronous
receiver/transmitter and central pro-
cessing unit-independent program-
mable peripheral interconnect. It
also includes advanced encryption
to secure data you work with.
To get you up to speed, here is what ANT actually is
According to Dynastream Innovations, creators of ANT, ANT is a practical wireless sensor
network protocol running in 2.4GHz ISM band. Specifically designed to enable creation
of mesh networks, this protocol easily works with peer-to-peer, star, connected-star, tree
and fixed-mesh topologies. While there are other protocols like CSRmesh for enabling a
mesh network, these are proprietary. ANT allows open access, although the protocol is
proprietary to its creators.

Low cost, low maintenance
Using this evaluation board will
result in reduced cost as the module
can directly be connected to sensors.
To transfer data over longer ranges,
you need not have multiple repeat-
ers to strengthen the signal, thanks
to the mesh network.
The only catch is the need to
ensure that no node in the mesh
fails. For this, automatic diagnosis
can be scheduled once a week,
which will alert you in case of any
problem. As most of the configura-
tion happens via software, it is also
easy to regularly update the entire
setup to make up for any glitches in
the code.
Why the board
On the face of it, one might won-
der why you should buy a board
when you can put a system together
yourself. Have a go at it and then the
difficulties show up. If you purchase
a Nordic chipset, you will need to
Debugging with ST-Link/V2
design everything from the radio fre-
quency module to every component
on the board from scratch, putting in
your time and effort for research and
development. It would easily put
you back by a month or two.
While going in for manufactur-
ing, there might be damages due to
welding of buses onto the board.
If you still manage to get it right,
the size might be an issue, not to
mention power consumption of the
complete design.
The challenge is in getting the
components together within the re-
quired dimensions, without affecting
the range of the individual wireless
module, managing power efficiency
and providing battery backup.
Enabling faster time-to-market.
With an inbuilt Cortex-M0 micro-
controller, the board lets you create
your design easily, and provides
32kb of memory to store your data,
which is perfect for small applica-
tions. With the help of ST-Link/V2,
an in-circuit debugger and
programmer for the STM8
and STM32 microcontroller
families, you can easily
debug your program. The
package is like a mini sys-
tem on a chip, letting you
connect via BLE port and
code according to the cho-
sen application. You can
simply load the firmware
into the board and begin
your task right away.
What you can do
with the board
The board is a solu-
tion to any application
that requires a hardware
We developed this
board with an aim
to easily cater to a
variety of applications.
Keeping this in mind,
we also customise the
board in terms of size
and specifications,
and deliver it to the customer. If users
have the necessary facilities to make
their own board, we also provide the raw
materials for the same.
Binoy Johnson, hardware technical
leader, Atoll Solutions Pvt Ltd
circuit, software and a message to
be transmitted over a long area. It
has already found its way to a few
projects. Vehicle-tracking systems
in cars have been implemented by
integrating global positioning system
with this solution. This proves to
be very useful for safety purposes,
tracking the exact location of the
vehicle. With the protocols followed,
the transmitted signal is found to be
reliable and faithful.
Another hot area of work is
home automation. Especially as BLE
module enables connecting to your
smartphone easily, it is most com-
fortable for the user to stand in the
hall and turn off the lights in a room
on the first floor.
This setup also comes in very
handy while designing wearables
due to its compact size and low
power consumption.
Meter monitoring is also a wor-
thy mention.
The developers took about two
months to get this board working.
Each board is priced at ` 1400. More
details about the product can be
found on the website www.atollsolu-
tions.com

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 47

 test & measurement
Digitise At Source, Store In The
CloudThe DAQ MAnTrA
M
ore for less seems to be the
trend for data acquisition (DAQ)
and logging systems. In the
recent years, we have witnessed a migration
to more affordable and compact products
for data-logging applications, says Shayan
Ushani, business developer, Analog Arts.
The new products offer more function-
alities and recording length, and are most
Priya Ravindran
was working often supported by powerful application
as a technical software, he adds.
journalist
at EFY until
recently The enabling factors
Progress in analogue signal processing and
signal detection is a significant reason for
development of more powerful data-logging
products, feels Ushani. No wonder then that
mixed-signal DAQ and data-processing capa-
bilities are features integrated within these
devices. In the instrumentation area, the
most important aspect is how you convert
physical signals into electrical signals, says
Vinod Mathews, founder and CEO, Captron-
Shanosh Kumar
is working as ics Systems Pvt Ltd.
media consultant Ushani reiterates, Data-logging ap-
at EFY
plications are usually concentrated around
monitoring the output of a sensor. The sen-
sor can be an ordinary thermocouple sensor
or a sophisticated earthquake detector.
Powerful application software, easy-to-adapt
equipment and automation seem to be the
dominating features in the latest range of
What kind of data do you need
Take the case of an automobile. The demand is to know when, where and how you
make the measurement. It is not to learn if the car is functioning right, but to get
statistical information to improve efficiency of the plant, and not just fix an issue in
a particular unit. Today, if you go and give your car at the service station, they know
everything from the vendor and date of manufacture, to who fixed what problem at
your last service. This is possible because data has been acquired at every point,
right from manufacturing and assembly to outward quality check from the tier 1
supplier and inward quality of the original equipment manufacturer. Information
is being captured in terms of what is causing more problems, which user has a
problem, what kind of defects are possible and when those defects can happen.
Necessary analysis is then performed. Authentication and password protection with
biometric entry is the security criteria.
Based on interaction with Vinod Mathews, founder CEO, Captronics Systems Pvt Ltd
48 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
DAQ and data-logging products.
Mathews feels that the change is not in
the sensor, its accuracy or calibration, but
in the treatment of signals. He says, Today,
you are digitising at source and sending the
digital signal; so you are not worried about
interference by motors and pumps, or other
electromagnetic interference.
Smartly exploiting the digital signal
The idea is how to get more data into
a smaller frequency range, continues
Mathews. He explains that the allotted
spectrum is fixed, and adding more data
to it will only introduce high density and
very low fidelity. Some of the traditional
methods for wideband communication are
amplitude-shift keying, phase-shift keying,
amplitude- and phase-shift keying, frequen-
cy-shift keying, and analogue modulation
techniques like amplitude modulation and
frequency modulation. Today, we are mov-
ing towards orthogonal frequency-division
multiplexing (OFDM), he adds.
Mathews feels that the main advantage
offered by OFDM is the ability to encode
digital data on multiple carrier frequen-
cies. This is already being used in 4G,
wireless and regular radio frequency ap-
plications, during acquisition. Basically,
OFDM has multiple carriers spread over
a large area and low symbol rate to get
higher data rate than that carried by a sin-
gle signal. In other words, we get a wider
band, he elaborates.
Fig. 1: USB data logger from Labjack - Digit TLH
(Image courtesy: https://labjack.com)
WWW.EFYMAG.COM

Fig. 2: DAQ board from Analog Arts
(Image courtesy: www.analogarts.com)
Make way for better
processing...
How best to convert the available
analogue data to a digital signal? We
now have Sigma-Delta analogue-to-
digital converters (ADCs) that work
with 24-bit data, which demand
over-sampling. Filters onboard the
ADC or its card strengthen the signal
to make it suitable for long-distance
transmission.
This method is slowly making its
mark in the industry, owing to high
measurement accuracy. It is also use-
ful when transferring high bit-count
low-frequency digital signals into
lower bit-count higher-frequency digi-
tal signals, during the reverse process.
New signal-processing components
offer high resolution at extremely-low
power consumption, Ushani says.
Analyse better and
store better
Better the processing, better the
analysis. Naturally, companies are
vying with one another to introduce
advanced processing techniques. To-
day, most DAQ companies have front-
end analysis as part of the large data
tools being sold. National Instruments
has Diadem, a third-party software
available to pull up data and look at
graphs, or pre-measure to see the ef-
fects of one on top of the other. These
50 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
test & measurement
Will USB continue to rule data transfer?
Let us wait and watch
Shayan Ushani, business developer, Analog Arts, says, USB-type products are gaining popularity
among users. At Analog Arts, we believe that USB DAQ will be the most popular form of DAQ in
the near future. The ease of use makes it ideal for data transfer for a majority of applications. Data
transfer rate of the USB port was a major issue for some high-end applications. However, USB
3.0 has taken away this weakness.
Contrary to this, Vinod Mathews, founder and CEO, Captronics Systems Pvt Ltd, says
Maximum systems are running on USB and a personal computer is becoming a closed unit.
USB 3.0 has no more future and will be taken over by faster interfaces, starting with Wi-Fi itself.
Once Wi-Fi is faster, USB becomes irrelevant.
Re-usable electronics on wings
In the words of Vinod Mathews, founder and CEO, Captronics Systems Pvt Ltd, Now, Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle launches are one-tenth the cost of National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) and European Space Agency (ESA) launches. If they develop electronics and vehicles that
come back, that is bound to increase the level of competition in India. Electronics that comes back
can be re-used to cut down the cost. This will be the programme of the future.
This is in sync with one of their earlier projects where they needed to acquire data from the capsule
in a parachute, while it was at the horizon. They could get the data once the parachute landed. This
concept can be extended to the defence sector, Sound Navigation and Ranging (SONAR) technology
and more. Hence, for the future, Captronics is working on design issues and with companies who
are working on ruggedising the systems, adds Mathews.
are in an easy-to-use format and do can walk through the factory with
not demand prior knowledge of pro- a tablet and get all the information
gramming. You can just open up the that is required, because they are all
sample in the software. It pulls in the connected through Wi-Fi.
data and you can throw it around, However, more connected the
comments Mathews. system is, more is the lurking
In addition to grabbing maximum danger. Data privacy and security
data from the logged data, the newer are becoming extremely important
range of algorithms allow for better factors of the new generation of DAQ
data compression and storage. With products, mentions Ushani.
these algorithms being built into The reason for this new-found
DAQ systems, there is more storage importance is data sharing through the
space for data and, more important- Internet. In addition to this, remote
ly, more data can be stored in lesser control of these devices for some ap-
space, in Mathews view. plications demands a high degree of
security, he adds. Strictly following
Why worry about space standards and protocols seems to be
when you have the cloud the best way to keep the data safe.
Although cloud processing has not
caught on much when it comes to Interesting developments
DAQs, there is a practice of storing With all these developments, allow-
data in the cloud, avoiding storage- ing for equipment to be configurable
and-memory problems. Mathews creates the much-needed flexibility
opines, Data is digitised and we can for user applications. Varun Man-
have a buffer of a few GB onboard, wani, director, Sahasra Electronics,
which makes it easy, and I can then whose company is the exclusive
transfer whatever I want to send to distributor of Labjack products, says,
a server. Basically, the cloud is used Devices from Labjack are plug-and-
for the back-end. The person who play that do not need a whole lot of
is using the data need not be sitting time to understand, install and use.
on the factory floor. Today, he or she These work on open source soft-
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
ware and are compatible with Visual
Basic, C++ and others. These also
come with Wi-Fi, universal serial bus
(USB), RS232 and Ethernet connec-
tivity so that consumers can use any
protocol to connect their devices to
the applicable environment.
Captronics is looking at introduc-
ing global positioning system, Wi-Fi
and wireless capabilities in their lat-
est range of equipment. Captronics
now has radio frequency recording
and playback signals, says Mathews.
The task does not end with just DAQ.
It is important to make sure that the
signal is de-modulated and intelli-
gence is captured correctly.
FPGA: From luxury to necessity
Another noteworthy change is the ac-
ceptance of field-programmable gate
arrays (FPGAs) and software code as
integral parts of DAQs. Many things
that have so far been executed via
hardware are now moving towards
software. FPGAs introduced into DAQ
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
systems have added
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS REPORT
benefits for improved
functionality. The trend
has caught on so much
today that these com-
ponents are taken for
granted.
Ushani feels that
what works for FPGAs is Shayan Ushani Varun Manwani Vinod Mathews
the low-cost, low-power, business developer, director, Sahasra founder and CEO,
Analog Arts Electronics Captronics Systems
high-density and mixed- Pvt Ltd
signal capability, which,
in turn, make the data-logging sys- components, feels Ushani.
tem more efficient and affordable. Manwani feels that it is most
The footprint is getting smaller, important to use technologically-
processing faster and the amount of advanced as well as in-production
data bigger, according to Mathews. microcontrollers and other key com-
ponents while designing a system.
A new look, new expectations Ushani explains that it is a prod-
Keeping all these in mind, there ucts flexibility, ease of use, support
is a shift in the way DAQ systems for applications and data security
are being built. Traditional factors that are key influencers for popular
such as accuracy, stability, resolu- DAQ systems.
tion, speed and memory size are Do not leave out affordability, as
most important, but are no longer this seems to win the way for the
the distinguishing factors of these best equipment out there.
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 51

DirecteD energy Weapons:
Particle Beam Weapons
Dr Anil Kumar Maini
is former director,
Laser Science and
Technology Centre,
a premier laser and
optoelectronics
research and
development
laboratory of
Defence Research
and Development
Organisation of
Ministry of Defence
Fig. 1: Archimedes
death ray concept
52 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Defence electronics
Part 1 of 8
L
aser is no longer confined to prem-
ises of prominent research centres
like Bell laboratories, Hughes Re-
search Laboratories and major academic
institutes like Columbia University, USA,
as it was in its early stages of develop-
ment and evolution. In the last five
decades, after Theodore Maiman dem-
onstrated the first laser in May 1960 at
Hughes Research Laboratories, there has
been explosive growth in industrial, medi-
cal, scientific and military applications of
lasers. Application areas are continuing to
grow with every passing day.
Lasers have been used in various mili-
tary applications since the early days of
development that followed their invention.
There has been large-scale proliferation of
lasers and optronic devices and systems
for applications like range finding, target
designation, target acquisition and track-
ing, precision-guided munitions and so on
during 1970s and 1980s.
These devices continue to improve in
performance and find increased accept-
Shore
Mirror
Archimedes
heat ray
Mirror
Mirror
ance and usage in contemporary battle-
field weaponry. Technological advances
in optics, optoelectronics and electronics
leading to more rugged, reliable, compact
and efficient laser devices are largely re-
sponsible for making these indispensable
in modern warfare.
Last one decade or so has also seen
emergence of a new class of weapons
known as directed energy weapons
(DEWs) leading to enhanced global
interest from scientists and engineers in
DEWs development. Lasers, high-power
microwaves and high-energy particle
beams have been exploited for DEW de-
velopment. These weapons, with the ex-
ception of particle beam weapons (PBWs)
and laser-induced plasma channel (LIPC)
weapons, generate streams of electromag-
netic energy that can be precisely directed
over long distances to disable or destroy
intended targets.
After decades of research and devel-
opment, DEWs are now becoming an
operational reality. This has been possible
due to their unique characteristics that po-
tentially enable new concepts of military
operation and also because there has been
considerable progress over the past two
decades in developing relevant technolo-
gies such as power sources, beam-control
concepts and pointing and tracking tech-
niques. For these applications, lethal en-
ergy from a high-power laser or a source
of high-power microwaves or high-energy
particle beam is delivered to the targets
for causing either neutralisation of electro-
optic sensors onboard the target platform
or structural damage to the target itself.
DEWs
A DEW system, with the exception of
LIPC weapons, primarily uses directed en-
ergy in the form of concentrated beam of
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
electromagnetic energy, or
atomic or subatomic parti-
cles in the targeted direction
to cause intended damage
to the enemys equipment,
facilities and personnel.
Intended damage could be
lethal or non-lethal.
Ever since H.G. Wells
published War of the Worlds
in 1898, DEWs have been
a recurring theme in sci-
ence fiction literature. Idea
of a death ray, which can Fig. 2: Technical feasibility of death ray, an MIT experiment
instantly destroy or burn a
target at a distance, in fact, dates
back to a belief that Archimedes
used a burning glass to set afire
Roman ships during the siege of
Syracuse in 212 B.C. Although many
images of the death ray depict
Archimedes with a parabolic mirror,
use of a set of individual flat mirrors
appropriately positioned seemed to
be a more practical implementation
of the concept (Fig. 1).
Though the story has long been
dismissed as a myth, interest gener-
ated by it has led to a number of
experiments being conducted to
verify the technical feasibility of
such an event. Experiments con-
ducted by Comte de Buffon and Dr
Ioannis Sakkas, and more recently
by students of Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology (MIT), USA,
have established the feasibility of
such an occurrence.
Buffon assembled 168 mirrors,
20.3cm x 25.4cm (8-inch x 10 inch)
each, adjusted to produce the small-
est image 45.7m (150-feet) away.
The array turned out to be a formi-
dable weapon. With this elaborate
setup, he performed several experi-
ments. He demonstrated igniting a
creosoted plank at 20.1m (66-feet)
distance using only 40 mirrors. 128
mirrors could ignite a pine plank
instantly and, in another experi-
ment, 45 mirrors melted 2.7kg (six
pounds) of tin at 6.1m (20-feet).
In an another effort, Dr Sakkas
lined up nearly 60 Greek sailors,
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
each holding an oblong mirror
tipped to catch the Suns rays and
directed these at a wooden ship
48.7m (160-feet) away. The ship
caught fire at once.
As recently as 2009, MIT stu-
dents carried out an experiment
with 11.7sqm (127-sqft) mirrors
focusing solar radiation on to a boat
30.5m (100-feet) away, causing a
sustained flame and confirming
technical feasibility of what Archi-
medes might have achieved with his
death ray (Fig. 2).
DEWs versus kEWs
At the most fundamental level,
DEWs share the concept of deliver-
ing a large amount of stored energy
from the weapon to the target to
produce structural and incendi-
ary damage effects. Kinetic energy
weapons (KEWs) deliver this effect
at subsonic or supersonic speeds
while DEWs do so at the speed
of light.
Both KEWs and DEWs need to
address two fundamental issues.
The first major concern is related to
travel or propagation through the
atmosphere and hitting the target.
In the case of KEWs, it is getting
the projectile to successfully travel
through the atmosphere and hit the
target. In the case of DEWs, it is the
propagation of high-energy beams
such as high-power electromagnetic
radiation or high-energy particle
beams through the atmosphere and
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 53

directing these to hit the target.
The second major concern is to
produce sufficient damage to the
intended target. This is where inter-
action of high energy with matter
comes into play. This implies that,
having a high-power laser or a
HPM emitter alone does not make
a DEW.
Three important constituents of
DEW therefore are the high-energy
sources influencing operational
range, target-tracking and
beam-pointing technology
determining probability of
target hit and interaction of
high-energy beams with mat-
ter that determines lethality.
Types of DEWs
Four major categories of
DEWs are:
1. PBWs
2. Microwave based DEWs Fig. 3: Concept of space based PBW in science fiction
3. Laser based DEWs
4. LIPC weapons
A PBW uses a high-energy
beam of atomic or subatomic
particles to inflict intended
damage to the target by
disrupting its atomic and/or
molecular structure. It is the
least mature of the four DEW
technologies and receives
by far the least amount of
research effort. It is not a Fig. 4: Another concept of space based PBW
true DEW. Unlike high-energy
laser weapons and high-power
microwaves that direct electromag-
netic energy towards the target,
it delivers kinetic energy into the
targets atomic structure and is only lasers as weapon that is going to
a hard-kill weapon.
A microwave based DEW
system is designed to produce
the equivalent of electromagnetic
interference to damage enemys
electronics systems. Due to con-
cerns regarding unintended side
effects on the host platform, it is
usually preferred to put such weap-
ons only on unmanned combat air
vehicles. Also under consideration
is use of high-power microwaves
54 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Defence electronics
as a weapon to attack underground
and deeply-buried targets that are
resistant to high explosives.
At the core of the laser based
DEW is a high-power laser that
has enough power in the case of
continuous wave laser, or sufficient
pulse energy in the case of pulsed
laser, to inflict physical damage
to the target. Though the lasers
intended for already-established
applications such as range finding,
target designation for munitions
guidance and more will continue
to improve as newer technologies
evolve and develop, it is the use of
rewrite the military balance in the
next 15 to 20 years.
Introduction of laser based
DEWs is set to dramatically alter the
war-fighting capabilities of nations
by making possible execution of
missions that would be extremely
complex, if not impossible, to realise
with conventional KEWs. These
include ground based laser sys-
tems for disabling low Earth orbit
satellites and destroying missiles,
airborne laser systems for destroy-
ing ballistic missiles and space
based laser systems for neutralising
theatre and inter-continental bal-
listic missiles.
A large number of experiments
with laser based DEWs to demon-
strate these or similar capabilities
have been carried out in different
parts of the world. Realisability of
these weapons has been established
beyond doubt, and these weapons
have been projected by strate-
gists as the weapons of the
21st century.
LIPC weapons are hybrid
weapons that use a laser to
ionise a path of molecules to
the target, via which an elec-
tric charge can be delivered
into the target to cause dam-
aging effects. These can be
used to destroy anything that
conducts electricity better than
the air or ground surrounding
it. This works as follows:
A high-intensity train of
picosecond laser pulses is
used to create a powerful
electromagnetic pulse around
itself that strips electrons from
air molecules, thereby creating
a plasma channel through the
air. Since the air is composed
of neutral particles that act as
insulators, LIPC is relatively a
good conductor. A high-volt-
age current discharge is sent down
this conducting filament to the tar-
get rather than arcing unpredictably
through the aira phenomenon
similar to lightening that finds its
way from clouds to ground via the
path of least resistance.
Of these four categories, high-
energy laser weapons have the
greatest potential in the near term
to become worthy of a potent
weapon system.
High-power microwave tech-
nology, too has similar potential,
but has not been funded as gener-
ously as high-energy laser weapon
development programmes. LIPC has
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
significant potential especially as
a non-lethal weapon. PBWs at this
time are apt to remain in the science
fiction domain, as the weight and
cost as yet do not justify achievable
military effect.
Though technology needed for
PBWs exists and seems feasible, it
is too impractical for miniaturisa-
tion and operational deployment.
There are no known operational
PBWs and, as of now, such weap-
ons exist only in science fiction
and artists imagination (Figs 3
and 4). Fig. 5 shows yet another
PBW called Disruptor known in
science fiction.
PBWs
A PBW is a form of DEW that uses
atomic or subatomic particles ac-
celerated to the speed of light or
near speed of light with the help
of powerful electric and magnetic
fields in a particle accelerator. The
particles are directed to deliver a
fraction of their kinetic energy to the
intended target, thereby causing se-
vere damage due to disruption of its
atomic structure. It is characterised
by beam energy in electron-volts,
beam current in amperes and beam
power in watts.
PBWs come in two primary
types: charged-particle weapons
and neutral-particle weapons. When
it comes to military application
of these different types of PBWs,
charged-particle weapons are endo-
atmospheric, while neutral-particle
weapons are exo-atmospheric.
At the core of a PBW is the par-
ticle accelerator. It is also the most
complex part of the beam weapon
and is built using a linear electric
field to accelerate charged particles
similar to Gauss or coil gun or an
induction linear accelerator system.
Induction linear accelerator
consists of a simple non-resonant
structure where drive voltage is
applied to an axially symmetric
gap that encloses a toroidal fer-
romagnetic material. Change in
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flux in the magnetic core induces
an axial electric field that provides
particle acceleration.
Characteristic parameters
A particle beam consists of protons,
electrons or neutral atoms flowing
with real or imaginary current. It
is characterised by beam energy,
current and power. Beam energy
is expressed in mega electron-volts
(MeV). One eV is the kinetic energy
of an electron that has been ac-
celerated by an electric potential
of one volt. Particle beam energy
is characterised by the energy of a
typical particle of the beam as all
particles in a beam will have been
Fig. 5: PBW called Disruptor in science fiction
accelerated to the same velocity. A
PBW capable of inflicting serious
damage to a target 1000km away in
space would typically require beam
energy of 1GeV.
An estimate of the number of
charged particles in the beam can
be made from the magnitude of
beam current. It is possible to as-
sign a current to the particle beam,
assuming that each particle has a
charge quantum equal to that of an
electron even if the charged particle
was the neutral atom. Beam cur-
rent for the possible beam weapon
described above would typically be
1000 amperes.
Power of a particle beam is
the rate at which beam energy is
transported, which is also indicative
of the rate at which it can deposit
energy into a target. As an analogy
to electric circuits, the particle beam
in watts is equal to the product of
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 55

energy in electron-volts and the
beam current in amperes.
Types of PBWs
There are two broad categories of
PBWs, namely, charged-particle
beam (CPB) and neutral-particle
beam (NPB) weapons. CPB weapons
have a set of technological charac-
teristics that are entirely different
from NPB weapons. While charac-
teristics of the former make these
suitable for use within the atmos-
phere, the latter are better suited for
use in space.
Both endo-atmospheric (used
within atmosphere) and exo-
atmospheric (used in space) beam
weapons have their own technologi-
cal hurdles to overcome. A particle
beam propagating through atmos-
phere requires having extremely-
high power and precisely-defined
beam characteristics.
Technologies required for the
Defence electronics
development of a suitable power
supply and particle accelerators with
sufficient power and appropriately-
shaped pulses for endo-atmospheric
weapons are very complex and
involve high risk.
On the other hand, the greatest
challenge in the case of exo-atmos-
pheric beam weapons is in the area
of beam control. The PBW should
not only be able to produce a high-
intensity low-divergence particle
beam at the exit of the accelerator,
it should also have the necessary
beam-control mechanism for aiming
and beaming at the target, and the
ability to detect pointing errors in
the beam for applying correction,
if required.
Because of these two different
sets of demands, endo- and exo-
atmospheric devices represent two
different types of weapon systems in
appearance and operation. Never-
theless, there are certain fundamen-
tal areas of development that are
common to both types of PBWs.
Charged PBWs. A CPB con-
sists of electrons accelerated to the
required energy level in a particle
accelerator using a combination of
electric and magnetic fields. To be
able to destroy the target, parti-
cle energy should be high, and so
should be the beam current. As an
example, a practical electron beam
weapon would need to hit a target
1000km away with a 1000-ampere
beam with energy of 1GeV for 0.1
millisecond to destroy it.
Particles in the beam have
kinetic energies equal to their rest-
mass energies, with the result that
these would travel with nearly the
speed of light. Particle accelerators
researched for high-energy physics
have high energies and pulsing rates
but low beam currents.
On the other hand, particle ac-
celerators related to fusion research

Statement about ownership and other particulars about

ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
FORM IV (See Rule 8)
1. Place of publication : New Delhi
2. Periodicity of its publication : Monthly
3. Printers Name : Ramesh Chopra
Nationality : Indian
Address : ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area,
Phase-1, New Delhi 110020
4. Publishers Name : Same as (3) above
Nationality
and address
5. Names and addresses of : EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd
individuals who own the D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area,
newspaper & partners or Phase-1, New Delhi 110020
shareholders holding more
than 1% of the total capital

I, Ramesh Chopra, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of
my knowledge and belief.
Date: 29-2-2016
Ramesh Chopra
Publisher

56 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

generate high beam currents but
at low energies and pulsing rates.
Particle accelerators suitable for
producing beam weapons need to
generate high-intensity and high-
energy particle beams.
CPBs are of little use in space.
The combined effects of emittance
and Coulombs force of repulsion
between like-charged particles
broaden the beam. As an example,
a 1GeV, 1000-ampere CPB would
spread from 1cm to 5m over
1000 km.
Further, the beam is deflected
by Earths magnetic field. By the
same study, the 1GeV, 1000-ampere
beam would deflect by 1000km over
1000km distance due to Earths
magnetic field. CPBs though can
be made to propagate satisfactorily
over a few kilometres through an air
channel evacuated by heating air in
a straight line. Thus, a CPB weapon
could be employed for ballistic mis-
sile defence. The system could be
installed in a few ground based sites
in conjunction with either Earth-
borne or space-borne radar systems
to identify and track incoming bal-
listic missile warheads.
The CPB weapon could be rapid-
ly pointed at the incoming missile to
destroy it. For an interception in air
at 10km, an electron beam weapon
would typically require 500MeV
beam energy and 10,000 amperes of
beam current. However, large fixed
installations required for CPB weap-
ons, as per current status of technol-
ogy, may render these vulnerable to
sabotage or other forms of attack by
an adversary.
Neutral PBWs. A NPB weapon
consists of neutral atomic particles
accelerated to a high kinetic energy
level in a particle accelerator. The
process of generation of high-energy
NPB is as follows:
Hydrogen or deuterium gas is
subjected to an enormous electrical
charge. The electrical charge produc-
es negatively-charged ions that are
accelerated through a long vacuum
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tunnel by an electrical potential in
the hundreds-of-megavolt range. Af-
ter the negatively-charged ions have
been accelerated, at the end of the
tunnel, electrons are stripped from
the negative ions, thereby forming
the high-speed NPB.
Weapons-class NPB weapons
also require energies in hundreds
of MeV and beam powers in tens of
megawatts. Modern devices have
not yet reached this level. Given the
state of the art in accelerator tech-
nology, achieving the required beam
energy and power levels would
require hundreds of tons of accelera-
tor hardware and enormous power
sources to operate. Due to size,
weight, power constraints and inher-
ent complexity, it does not appear
feasible that a NPB weapon would
see the light of the day before 2025.
NPBs travel in a straight line
once these have been accelerated
and magnetically pointed just before
neutralisation in the accelerator.
Also, an NPB is strongly affected
by passage through the atmosphere.
It gets attenuated and diffused
as it passes through dense gas or
suspended aerosols, which makes
it far more suitable as compared
to a CPB for applications in space
against high-flying airborne or space
borne targets.
Damage assessment of the target
could be possible. When the beam
penetrates a target, the targets
atomic and subatomic structure
produce characteristic emissions
that could be used to determine the
targets mass or assess the extent of
damage to the target.
The major disadvantage of a
NPB weapon even in space is that it
is extremely difficult to sense, which
complicates the problem of beam
control and direction.
In the next part we will learn
more about PBWs. In subsequent
parts we will look at high-power
microwaves, less-lethal weapons and
high-energy laser weapons.
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 57
 internet of things
Standardising
IoT STandardS And GroupS
N
o matter which company or ap-
plication area you talk about, the
Internet of Things (IoT) seems
to be the trending buzzword. One of
the next big things surely, but it is also
a very confusing domain. With many
standards and overlapping member alli-
ances, it is not an easy arena to work in.
This article tries to provide some clarity
Priya Ravindran
was working on the standards aspect of the IoT.
as a technical
journalist Should you be worrying about this
at EFY until
recently Without standards, the IoT will fail
to realise the full potential predicted
for it, feels Martin Woolley, technical
program manager at Bluetooth Special
Interest Group (SIG). It is said of teams
58 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
that they go through phases of forming,
storming, norming and performing. I
think something similar can be said to be
happening with the IoT, though it may
be difficult to achieve a consensus as to
which of these earlier phases we are cur-
rently in, he adds.
It is for all to see that major organisa-
tions are into multiple standards-framing
associations, not just one. It just goes to
show that we are in a highly-experimen-
tal phase and the winner is, as yet, un-
clear. The field is open and up for grabs,
but we can be certain that the winner is
going to be backed heavily.
The three major competitors
The three incumbents aiming to
become the standard for tomor-
rows IoT are Alljoyn, IoTivity
and Thread. Let us begin by try-
ing to understand what each of
these has to offer.
Alljoyn. Alljoyn is an open
source effort by AllSeen Alliance,
with the source code starting
off at Qualcomm and currently
with Linux Foundation. With
more than 170 members includ-
ing LG, Sharp, Haier, Panasonic,
Sony, Electrolux Sears, Silicon
Image, Cisco, TP-Link, Canary,
Two Bulls and Xiaomi, the group
has based this standard on the
client-server model where the
server/producer advertises the
devices capability and the client
accepts or ignores it.
The service framework be-
hind Alljoyn aims at creating a
rich user experience by automat-
ing how a device connects to
this network. With the latest ad-
dition of a device system bridge
by Microsoft, even devices using
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 internet of things
Z-Wave or BACnet can connect to industrial approaches to standardise home automation. Along with this,
the Alljoyn network easily. IoT communications and interoper- Alljoyn supports developing devices
Thread. Thread protocol is the ability between connected devices, in the fields of smart television,
brainchild of Thread Group, whose with its diamond members being smartaudio, broadband gateways
founding members are Yale Security, Cisco, GE Software, Intel, Mediatek and automotive, while smartcity
Silicon Labs, Samsung Electronics, and Samsung. and wearables are the focus areas
Nest Labs, Freescale Semiconductor, IoTivity framework application for IoTivity. Thread adds focus on
Big Ass Fans and ARM. It is primar- program interfaces (APIs) work on environmental IoT devices, too.
ily a creation of Google NEST group a resource based RESTful architec- For all devices to connect to these
and is an Internet Protocol (IP) ture model operating as middleware networks and be used, these need
based solution built on open stand- for connected systems, while data to undergo a stringent standard
ards and designed for low-power transmission is based on a messag- compliance and certification by their
mesh networks. ing and streaming model. respective organisations.
The protocol for Thread is One main concern with the IoT
framed with a low power angle in The compatibility angle these days is the security aspect.
mind and is built on well-proven All three standards aim at working Keeping your personal data from
prying eyes involves multiple layers
of encryption and strict authenti-
cation. All three standards follow
The IoT is all about heterogeneous and aware devices interacting to
this to the T. The latest version of
simplify peoples lives in one way or the other. The new paradigm
Alljoyn even includes additional
of the IoT has given rise to a new way of communication between
features like elliptical curve cryp-
humans, machines and things. Bringing the IoT to life requires a
tography and access-control lists to
comprehensive systems approach, inclusive of intelligent processing
track device nodes.
and sensing technology, connectivity, software and services, along with
On being asked about standards,
a leading ecosystem of partners.
in an interview with EFY, Siddharth
So what can a developer do? Support all standards? Too expensive. Wait
Unny, director, TL Micro Automa-
for one standard to replace all others? May not happen. Implement a
tion, had very interesting views.
software abstraction layer that permits certain interfaces/standards to
With Europe being the leader in
be replaced? Good, if possible, but not always.
standardisation today, it is terribly
Choose one standard and accept incompatibility with all others?
costly for Indian products to be cer-
Bad, but sometimes the only choice. And so on.
tified. Why not have an exclusive
Narang N. Kishor, mentor and principal design architect, Narnix Technolabs Pvt Ltd,
standard for India, one that suits our
and convenor of panel on smart infrastructure at Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
requirements? he asked.
Having a standard that is not as
stringent as European allows Indian
standards like Institute of Electrical across all platforms and operating players to provide low-cost products
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) systems (OSes), ranging from An- and get these to market, quicker.
802.15.4, Internet Engineering Task droid to iOS, Linux and Windows. This helps them compete with big
Force (IETF) Internet Protocol ver- The idea is to make these agnostic players who price their product
sion 6 (IPv6) and IPv6 over Low- to all communication layers, from through economies of scale.
power Wireless Personal Area Net- Wi-Fi to the Ethernet. While Thread He also went on to add that one
works (6LoWPAN). This is an IPv6 allows about 250 devices to connect of the best ways to keep data secure
networking protocol that operates in to its network at a time, Alljoyn net- would be to use your own custom
the 2.5GHz band at 250kbps. Thread work decides the limit by the range protocols. This could be just for
devices create a mesh network of of the technology, available band- your dedicated network, that is, till
routers that forward messages from width and hardware restrictions. the gateway. Apart from keeping
one node to the next. One area where Thread wireless your data secure, this provides the
IoTivity. This framework is protocol differs from the other two flexibility to design what you want
hosted by Linux Foundation, spon- is in leaving the application layer and how, within your constraints.
sored by Open Interconnect Consor- to be chosen by the user via User
tium (OIC) and managed by IoTivity Datagram Protocol (UDP). What do we have apart
Steering Group. OIC believes in Keeping with the trend, all these from these three
combining the open source and the standards seem to primarily target No discussion on the IoT is com-

60 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

plete without mentioning ZigBee
and Bluetooth, and it is no wonder
that these have their own groups
promoting them, ZigBee Alliance
and Bluetooth SIG, respectively.
ZigBee Alliance works to connect
devices of dramatically different
natures into a single network, and
in any environment, with control in
the hands of the user. An open, non-
profit association, promoters of this
group include NXP, Philips, Schnei-
der Electric, Texas Instruments and
Silicon Labs, while the list of mem-
bers includes ARM, Atmel, Analog
Devices, Blackberry, Cisco Systems,
Microchip and Samsung.
ZigBee Alliance offers three
specifications for enabling inter-
operability, namely, ZigBee PRO
specification as a foundation that
concentrates on low power and
network interconnection, ZigBee
RF4CE specification for bi-direction-
al communication applications and
ZigBee IP specification for support-
ing IP based standards. With ZigBee
gateways, it is easier for devices to
adopt this standard.
With Bluetooth Smart finding
wide acceptance, especially as a
bridging technology in existing IoT
devices, Bluetooth SIG is also focus-
ing on developing the standards
behind Bluetooth. The group, which
boasts of members like Ericsson,
Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Apple and
Toshiba, aims to make it the pre-
ferred low-power wireless network-
ing technology for the IoT. Having
seen the success of mesh networks
in Bluetooth, they are working
towards formally defining a global
industry standard for Bluetooth
Smart mesh networks.
Woolley says, Smart mesh
networks will provide for a very
long-range capability, with devices
spread across potentially huge ar-
eas in large buildings or even urban
areas. It will introduce the pos-
sibility of having redundant paths
between devices, making sure
there is a backup in case a device
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fails, like in all mesh networks. But For devices working on other
what makes Bluetooth Smart mesh OSes, a compatibility library is to
networks all the more compelling is be installed for interoperability.
that these are based on a technol- Together, Brillo and Weave aim to
ogy that virtually all smartphones provide a complete platform for
have today. Mobile computing in connected devices.
many forms will be an important The two Lite systems. Lite
aspect of the IoT and so building OS, supported by National Sci-
IoT networks using Bluetooth im- ence Foundation grant, is an
mediately opens up some exciting open source, interactive real-time
possibilities, given the simple fact OS designed for wireless sensor
that it is so widespread. networks and embedded systems.
With a UNIX-like environment,
A hoard of operating systems programming is hybrid, allowing
With the IoT being all about con- both event-driven and thread-
necting devices together, how do we driven codes.
ARM mbed
The ARM mbed IoT device platform provides the operating system, cloud services, tools
and developer ecosystem to make the creation and deployment of commercial, standards
based IoT solutions possible at scale. Applications for the platform can be developed using
mbed online integrated development environment, editing the code and compiling it via
the cloud. The core software platform also includes ports that will allow mbed to run on
microcontrollers by different manufacturers.
mbed boards that have been designed for IoT purposes almost invariably have some
form of connectivity mechanism either built-in or by means of an extension board. ARM
mbed transport layer security (TLS) forms the core of mbed communication security
strategy and ARM aims at a combination of multi-layer hardware protection and a software
ecosystem to secure connected devices.
Mikko Saarnivala, VP - technology, IoT division, ARM, tells us what the transport layer
security in ARM mbed OS means for users and developers. He says, From the user point
of view, this does not really show up in any way. The only thing the user needs to know
is that mbed OS-enabled devices have state-of-the-art transport layer security and crypto
mechanisms in place. For developers who are working on new IoT devices, services
and products, this means that there is a standard Internet [TLS/datagram transport layer
security (DTLS)] security mechanism that we can use to secure traffic all the way from
the constrained IoT devices to the cloud services and servers.
leave out the OSes these work on? Huawei has also come up with
Google Weave through Brillo an ecosystem for connected ob-
devices. Brillo, the Android based jects, Agile IoT, which includes a
embedded OS platform by Google, lightweight system called LiteOS,
is essentially a lower version of a network gateway and a dedi-
Android and will integrate easily cated controller to link the chain.
with Android devices. It supports This needs just 10kB, which
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wi-Fi is less than that occupied by a
and Thread, and works with IoT normal document and, hence, is
devices that are low-power and correctly described as an ultra-
memory-constrained. light OS.
Along with Brillo, Google has
also introduced Weave, a protocol A standards group
to aid intercommunication between for the industry...
Brillo and other IoT devices. It will Industrial Internet Consortium
act as a common framework for (IIC), a trademark of Object Man-
applications to use these devices. agement Group, is a non-profit
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 61

organisation set up exclusively for
the industrial IoT. The organisa-
tion aims at bringing together
the best technologies and prac-
tices to accelerate the growth of
industrial Internet.
Its members include players in
various industrial sectors, govern-
ment and academia. IBM, Intel,
General Electric, AT&T and Cisco
are founding members. With 136
members as of January, the consor-
tium is also working on developing
test beds to improve quality effi-
ciency in industrial manufacturing.
... Another for the home
Apples HomeKit is a framework
that automates your home. It
helps control multiple devices like
switches, doors, thermostats and
lights. Instead of handling each
device independently, the idea is to
integrate all of these into a cen-
tralised app that acts as the pri-
mary control, made easier with the
integration of Siri with HomeKit.
You can even group devices into
categories that automatically start
functioning together on activating a
single command.
For accessing out-of-home
devices, Apple television does the
trick. All you need is an iPhone,
iPad or iPod Touch with iOS 8.1 or
above to start commanding your
home smartly.
Let us not leave out...
Internet of Things Global Standards
Initiative (IoT-GSI) by Global Stand-
ards Collaboration (GSC) started
off as an initiative for telecommu-
nications, and promotes a unified
approach for developing technical
standards. We also have the IEEE
standards association that promotes
the adoption of a universal ap-
proach for developing IoT systems,
reducing fragmentation.
In addition to all of these, we
have OneM2M that emphasises
a common service layer that can
be embedded into devices, Open
62 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
internet of things
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS REPORT
Martin Woolley Mikko Saarnivala
technical program VP - technology,
manager, Bluetooth IoT division, ARM
Special Interest Group
(SIG)
Mobile Alliance for developing open
standards for the mobile industry
and Samsungs SmartHome concen-
trating on home automation.
How about a unified standard
It is well-established that the IoT
is here to stay. Although everyone
comes together in adopting it,
opinions on the various standards
are fragmented. While most people
choose to go with the standard they
have heard of the most, the belief is
that these will slowly evolve to ar-
rive at a unified standard. Availabil-
ity of a lot of basic building blocks
in terms of protocols, security and
Web architecture is by itself the
universal standard, says Saarnivala.
The freedom to put together what
you need, as and when you need
them is the coming-togetherness.
There are also a few different
takes. In an interview with EFY,
Bipin R.R., vice president, Digital
Services - IoT, Tata Elxsi, stated that
a single unified standard for all IoT-
related work is pretty much impos-
sible to arrive at but, with time, we
will see a unique standard for each
industry vertical.
An all-embracing standard
might even be undesirable, adds
Woolley. According to him, the
focus needs to be on ensuring that
rigorous and widely-supported
formal standards exist for the key
technological building blocks of
IoT architectures. It is also im-
Narang N. Kishor
mentor and principal design
architect, Narnix Technolabs Pvt
Ltd, and convenor of panel on
smart infrastructure at Bureau
of Indian Standards (BIS)
portant that the standard ways of
achieving interoperability between
technologies and layers of the IoT
architecture are defined. After all,
the IoT is likely to be a highly het-
erogeneous world.
Standardising the standards
While it might not be desirable to
have a number of new standards,
Saarnivala feels that the trend of de-
veloping on existing, open standards
is a positive change. He says that
the use of open standards is obvi-
ously an extremely recommendable
approach as it tends to steer the
industry to a path of reduced frag-
mentation in standards and technol-
ogy. With improvements in device
management and provisioning, we
see IoT systems having a level of
interoperability that has never been
witnessed before.
Interestingly, OIC and IIC have
joined hands to work out the angle
of interoperability. Thread Group
and ZigBee Alliance are trying to
work together to allow ZigBees
application layer to connect with
Thread network. Qualcomm becom-
ing a member of Thread Group
opens the doors to Alljoyn and
Thread working together.
Efforts like these may open the
path to a universal network that
combines existing standards at dif-
ferent levels, to arrive at a compre-
hensive standard that all IoT devices
can cater to. Only time will tell.
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 buyers guide
Choosing The Right
DIGITAL MULTIMETER
C
hoosing the right digital multimeter
(DMM) requires thinking about what
you will be using it for. Evaluate
your basic measurement needs and job re-
quirements and then take a look at special
features/functions built into many DMMs.
Think about whether you need it for basic
measurements or for more advanced trou-
bleshooting options.
Biswajit Das is
manager-R&D,
EFY Labs Aspects to consider
Resolution and accuracy. Resolution of
a DMM is expressed in the number of
digits the unit can display. For example, a
4 DMM has four full digits that display
values from 0 to 9 and the fractional digit,
which is the most significant digit in the
display. Fractional digit is either 0 or 1.
Such a meter shows positive or negative
values from 0 to 19,999.
Accuracy of a DMM is different from
display resolution. It is the maximum al-
lowable limit of error in readings. All DMM
manufacturers express accuracy specifica-
tions as (% of reading+number of least
significant digit).
Fig. 1: Digital multimeters Working environment.
Measurements types. Almost
all DMMs make voltage, cur-
rent and resistance measure-
ments. Most make accurate AC
measurements with sinusoidal
signals, but when such signals
are not simple sine waves, their
accuracy suffers. If you need
to make AC measurements of
signals that have a lot of har-
monic distortion, you may want
to purchase a DMM that makes
true-rms AC measurements.
These cost more but will make
more accurate measurements.
Many DMMs are designed
to solve complex problems in
electronics, plant automation,
power distribution and electro-
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mechanical equipment. With the ability to log
data and review it graphically onscreen, you
can solve problems faster and help minimise
downtime. When selecting a DMM for data
logging, important specifications include the
speed at which the DMM can make measure-
ments and the amount of memory it requires.
To work safely near electrical panels
while wearing less personal protective equip-
ment, or to avoid the risk of being bogged
down while chasing interrelated events, one
has to adapt to wireless DMM.
True-rms versus average-responding
DMMs. Basically there are two types of
DMMs: average responding and true-rms.
The latter is a consistent and standard way
to measure and compare dynamic signals of
all shapes and sizes, whereas the former is
calibrated for sine-wave inputs only.
Average-responding meters normally work
well for linear loads (standard induction mo-
tors, resistance heating, incandescent lights
and more), but if non-linear loads (electronic/
electric-discharge lighting, adjustable-speed
drive systems and so on) are present, errors
occur, which could make the readings lower
than expected. If you want to measure non-
linear loads such as those found at electronic
controls, you should choose true-rms.
DMM input impedance. It is especially
important to select a DMM with high imped-
ance for applications requiring measurement
of sensitive electronics or control circuits to
ensure accuracy of the readings.
Basic aspects. A basic DMM measures
AC/DC voltage, AC/DC current and resist-
ance, checks continuity and diodes, and in-
cludes auto-ranging feature. More expensive
DMMs also measure capacitance, frequency,
temperature and pressure. Before purchas-
ing one, you should first identify the type of
testing you need to perform, establish which
features are important and determine the
required tolerance range for those tests.
Specialty aspects/functions. Besides
basic DMM measurement functions, con-
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 63

TABLE I
FOUR CATEGORIES DEFINED BY INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSSION (IEC)
CAT IV CAT III
Description For measurements For measurements For measurements
performed on all performed while performed on circuits performed on
sources of low- building instal- directly connected to
voltage installation lation
Examples Overhead wires Distribution
and cable systems boards and circuit portable equipment
breakers
Rated voltage
150V 4000V 2500V
300V 6000V 4000V
600V 8000V 6000V
1000V 12000V 8000V
sider looking for a DMM that offers
avant-garde capabilities to befit your
application needs. These avant-garde
DMM functions save time when per-
forming troubleshooting tasks. Here
are some of the advanced capabilities
designed to soothe the job of engi-
neers and technicians.
Vsense. Voltage sense detector (Vs-
ense) is a non-contact voltage detector
in insulated wires, wall receptacles,
fuses, junction boxes, switches and
more that detects the presence of AC
voltages nearby. If the presence of AC
voltage is sensed, the multimeters
beeper sounds and the LED turns on.
Smart ohm. This (offset compen-
sation) is another feature designed
to remove unexpected DC voltages
within the instrument at the input or
at the circuit being measured, where
resistance measurement errors are
introduced.
Data logging. This feature makes
it easy for factory maintenance per-
sonnel to generate a range of trou-
bleshooting, monitoring and process
documentation. The personnel can
also collect data over an extended du-
ration to support installation or repair
of factory systems such as heating,
ventilation and air-conditioning.
LPF. A regular true-rms DMM
cannot measure output from a motor
drive because the variable frequency
drive applies pulse-width-modulated,
64 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
buyers guide
CAT II CAT I
For measurements
circuits not directly
low-voltage installation connected to mains
Appliances such as Signal-level circuits
of electronic PCBs
Transient voltage
1500V 800V
2500V 1500V
4000V 2500V
6000V 4000V
non-sinusoidal voltage to the mo-
tor terminals. The low-pass filter is
designed to help block unwanted
voltages above 1kHz when measur-
ing AC voltage or AC frequency.
Harmonic ratio. This feature can
help technicians quickly check for the
presence of harmonics in the electri-
cal power system. A pure sinusoidal
waveform without harmonics has a
harmonic ratio of zero per cent.
ZLOW (low impedance mode). With
dual-impedance meters, technicians
can safely troubleshoot sensitive
electronic or control circuits as well
as circuits that may contain ghost
voltages. They can more reliably
determine whether voltage is present
on a circuit.
With low-impedance input to the
circuit under test reduces the pos-
sibility of false readings due to ghost
voltages and improves accuracy
when testing to determine absence
or presence of voltage.
Safety consideration. Many
people do not give much thought to
safety when buying a DMM. Howev-
er, there are large differences in how
good DMMs are protected against
common electrical hazards. It is very
important to consider the environ-
ment and applications you will use
in order to choose an appropriate
device. With these safety criteria in
mind, there would be no physical
damage to the device or life-threat-
ening contact to electric energy while
you hold it in your hand.
Voltage rating. It is important
to identify the maximum voltage at
which the circuit is designed to work.
Choose a DMM rated to measure volt-
age that is expected to be present on
the circuit.
Transient voltage rating. Such
voltage comes from two main sources:
natural causes such as lightning
outside the building or by switching
operations on the power-distribution
system. Switching events in power
distribution include switching of
transformer taps, motors, inductances,
sudden variation of load or disconnec-
tion of circuit breakers. Amplitudes
of these voltages vary from a few
hundred volts peak to about 6000
volts peak. These randomly-occurring
high-voltage spikes tend to last from
50 microseconds to 200 microseconds.
Energy capacity. To protect your-
self you should also know the energy
capacity of the circuit before you start
taking measurements. Circuits with
higher energy capacity can deliver
more current and energy into faults
than low-energy circuits.
There are four categories (Table
I) defined by International Electro-
technical Commisssion (IEC) that all
manufacturers of DMMs are required
to mark their products with. These
are CAT I, CAT II, CAT III and CAT IV.
With these markings one can easily
identify what the maximum transient
voltage is that the meter can safely
withstand.
Safety indicators. Responsible
manufacturers of DMMs obtain safety
certifications from independent third-
party testing agencies. These marks
can usually be found at the back of
the devices.
DMM probes should also be
marked with a logo of a third-party
safety-testing agency. You can check
out some such marks in Fig. 2.
Other important features. Large
displays, clear backlight to read
comfortably in dark areas, ergonomic
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German Association for Compliance
Electrical, Electronic & with EU Legislation,
Information Technologies Conformit Europenne
(VDE)
Fig. 2: Safety indicators of DMMs
design for good grip while working,
rugged body design with high-grade
drop-proof material to ensure no
break/damage even when dropped
from a height, availability of war-
ranty, service and affordable service
parts are other important features to
look for.
Standards and certifications
IEC 1010 standard is the safety stand-
ard for low-voltage test and measure-
ment equipment. Look out for CE,
UL, CSA and other symbols, safety
categories (CAT certification) and
EMC certification that would certify
that the meter will work in inductive
areas and so on. The DMM should
have ingress protection (IP) certifica-
tions, which protect it against dust,
water or any liquid and guarantees
uninterrupted performance in harsh
conditions. Look for IP ratings such
as IP42, IP30, IP54, IP67, etc.
Calibration to standards of ISO
or NIST is particularly important
to companies that hold related
certifications. These certifications
indicate products that are made to
very rigorous standards, so obtain-
ing DMMs with correct certificates
is important in these cases.
Wireless DMMs
Fluke 233 remote display DMM
comes with an innovative wireless
display and allows observation 9.1m
(30-feet) away from the measure-
ment point.
Fluke CNX 3000 wireless DMM is
the captain of Fluke wireless team.
It displays meter measurement plus
readings from up to three wireless
modules, as far as 20 metres away.
If more than three readings are re-
quired from more modules, you can
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
TABLE II
SOME TOP DDMs
Underwriters Canadian Safety Technical Make/brand Description
Laboratories Inc. Association Inspection Amprobe (AM- Amprobe AM-560
(UL) (CSA) Association
(CE) (TV) 560) Maximum AC/DC voltage:
1000V
Low-pass filter for VFD
Non-contact voltage detec-
tion enhances safety
add an optional PC adaptor to your CAT IV 600V and CAT III
laptop for real-time viewing of up to 1000V
ten modules. Extech (EX330) DC/AC voltage: 0.1mV to
EXTECH EX540 and EX542 are 600V
DC/AC current: 0.1A to
twelve-function wireless true-rms in-
10A
dustrial DMM/dataloggers (up to 9999 Temperature (type K): -4F
readings) with a wireless PC interface. to 1382F
Smart DMMs Fluke Fluke 117 electricians
The new range of DMMs offers a new
(Fluke 117) TRUE
Maximum voltage: 600V
way to perform measurements much Surge protection: 6kV peak
more accurately and comfortably IEC 61010-1 600V CAT III
Display: Digital with 6000
with additional features like measure- counts, updates 4/sec
ments through mobile applications. Battery life: 400 hours typi-
Using an app, the user can control cal, without backlight
any data remotely in real-time using INNOVA (3320) DC/AC voltage: 600V
a mobile phone or another mobile DC current: 10A
AC current: 200mA
device with Android OS. Large digital display
PROMAX PD-350, PD-351, PD-352 10 mega-ohm input imped-
are DMMs with rms and Bluetooth ance for safe automotive
use
control via an Android app. These
U/L listed for safety and
also feature smart power-off func- quality
tion, which extends battery life. Mastech DC voltage: 1000V
OWON DMM - 35 category main- (MS8268) AC voltage: 750V
tains features like voice warning sup- DC current: 10A
AC current: 10A
ported to assure measurement safety, Display: 4000 counts
smart voice-reading, smart power-off Display backlight
option extending battery life, sup- Auto power off
ports mobile device with Android 1000V CAT II and 600V
CAT III
4.3 or above/iOS 7.0 or above and is
Triplett 1101-B DC/AC voltage: Up to 600V
equipped with BLE 4.0 module. DC current: Up to 10A
Keysight meter logger for Android Standard CAT II design
smartphones and tablets improves Battery life: 200 hours
productivity and safety by allowing
the user to stream measurements in
real-time from up to three Keysight
DMMs and clamp meters wirelessly. rameters, there will be more specific
meters that will address the needs of
The future each application requirement, and
For the most part, the future of the resulting instrument would not be
DMMs will evolve slowly as these called a DMM.
are well-establish, general-purpose Where you will see some changes
test equipment that do not need to to DMMs in future will be inclusion
conform to rapidly-changing applica- of more memory for logging and
tions are. For such applications or graphing of data, along with wireless
those that need to address certain pa- transmission of said data.
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 65

Exciting Design software
and Raspberry-Flavoured
operating systems
Raspbian NOOBS
New Out Of Box Software, or NOOBS,
was introduced on June 13, 2013.
It makes Raspberry Pi easier to use
by simplifying the installation of an
operating system (OS). Instead of
using specific software to prepare a
secure digital (SD) card, files can be
unzipped and contents copied over to
a File Allocation Table (FAT) format-
ted file system (4GB or bigger) SD
card, which can then be booted on
Raspberry Pi. A choice of six OSes is
presented for installation on the card.
RISC OS Open
The official RISC OS distribution for
Raspberry Pi, RISC OS, is a British
OS designed specifically for the ARM
processor by the team who created
the original ARM. It is fast, compact,
efficient and developed, tested by
the loyal community of open source
software developers and users. RISC
OS is not related to Linux or Windows
platforms. It has its own set of unique
features and aspects for OS design.
Logisim
Logisim is an educational tool for
designing and simulating digital logic
circuits. It is equipped with a simple
toolbar interface and simulation of cir-
cuits as you build these. The software
is simple enough to facilitate learning
of most basic concepts related to logic
circuits. It has the capacity to build
larger circuits from smaller sub-circuits
and to draw bundles of wires with a
single drag of the mouse. Logisim can
be used to design and simulate entire
central processing units for education-
al and learning purposes.
66 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
efy dvd
SHANOSH KUMAR
Some popular resources
Jaspersoft Studio. Jaspersoft Studio is a free, open source, Eclipse based report designer for
JasperReports and JasperReports Server. It helps users create sophisticated layouts, which can
contain charts, images, sub-reports, crosstabs and many more types of illustrations. Jaspersoft
Studio facilitates them to access data through JDBC, TableModels, JavaBeans, EXtensive Markup
Language (XML), Hibernate, comma separated values and custom sources. They can use this
tool to publish reports in formats such as PDF, RTF, XML, XLS, CSV, HTML, XHTML, text, DOCX
or OpenOffice.
Eraser 6.2.0.2970. Eraser is a secure data-removal tool for Windows. It completely removes
sensitive data from the hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully-selected patterns.
The software erases residue from deleted files including managed file transfer (MFT) and MFT-
resident files (for NTFS volumes) and Directory. It also has a powerful and flexible scheduler.
FreeCAD colours, too. FreeCAD-
FreeCAD is a general- PCB is equipped with
purpose feature based, the latest updates this
parametric three-di- season.
mensional modeller for
computer-aided design, Logic Friday
MCAD, computer-aided Logic Friday is a free
technologies, computer- software for Boolean
aided engineering and logic optimisation,
product lifecycle man- analysis and synthesis.
agement. It is aimed at It lets users ease over
mechanical engineering the process by simultane-
and product designing due to ously viewing and accessing a
the fact that it fits a wider range of number of windows, namely, func-
uses in engineering such as archi- tions, truth tables, equations and gate
tecture and other engineering areas. diagrams. The software takes help of
FreeCAD provides for very advanced Espresso logic minimiser to efficiently
extensions and customisations. reduce the functions in an electronic
design.
FreeCAD-PCB Users can optimise diagrams for
FreeCAD-PCB allows you to design standard integrated circuits that will
printed circuit boards that can be minimise the total number of inte-
imported to FreeCAD. It is loaded grated circuit packages in the design,
with the latest features that support or optimise for die area, letting the
many layers. It allows users to de- program choose gates to create a cus-
sign models with different names, tom integrated circuit with minimum
colours and transparency settings die area.
for added customisation. It allows Shanosh Kumar is working as media consultant
them to import Initial Graphics at EFY. He is currently pursuing MBA from Christ
Exchange Specification models with University, Bengaluru
WWW.EFYMAG.COM

Logic Friday For Combinatorial
Digital Logic Design
D
igital electronics rarely
leaves you, no matter where
you go. Right from the small
register in your controller to the
multiplexer that routes the signals
in your circuit, it is present
in almost everything you
handle. The subject being
a delight for some and a
nightmare for the others, this
article introduces a tool that
helps make your digital logic
design experience easy and
pleasurable. Have a look at
Logic Friday.
Visualise your logic
function in totality
The logic of any combinato-
rial system design is always
analysed for all possible input
combinations, the different
states its output can take, an
expression for every possible
output and, the most favourite Fig. 1: Designing with Logic Friday
of all, the logic diagram. Logic (Image courtesy: www.ilovefreesoftware.com)
Friday lets you ease over the
process by simultaneously
viewing and accessing four
windows: functions, truth
table, equations and gate
diagrams. When you make a
modification in one window,
the change is reflected in the
others automatically. Every
function includes a detailed
description, right from the
number of inputs and outputs
to the number of min terms
that make it true.
Espresso for efficient
minimisation
Logic Friday takes the help of Fig. 2: Manipulating equations
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
efy dvd
PRIYA RAVINDRAN
Espresso logic minimiser to efficient-
ly reduce the functions in your elec-
tronic design. Instead of using the
traditional Karnaugh map method
of min term reduction, the program
manipulates the function iteratively
to give a closely approximated re-
sult, eliminating redundancy. The
same result is optimised by factori-
sation and mapped onto basic cells
in the technology library,
while dealing with field pro-
grammable gate arrays and
application specific integrat-
ed circuits. This method of
minimisation turns out to be
efficient, using less memory
and computation time.
You have options of per-
forming a fast or an exact
minimisation. The former
would give you a good
result that may not be truly
minimal, while the latter
takes a significant amount
of time to give you the per-
fect result.
Also, for functions with
multiple outputs, you can
choose to jointly optimise
the total number of product
terms or independently op-
timise each min term. The
second is useful while map-
ping to gates, as you will
end up with a simpler gate
diagram, but might result in
a large number of terms in
the resulting function.
The function explained
as gates
There is no digital electron-
ics without a gate diagram.
Universal gates NAND and
NOR help represent any
complex logic, and one
of the two will have to be
specified as the type for
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU PLUS | APRIL 2016 1I
 efy dvd
Simple facts
Logic Friday is a free software for Boolean logic optimisation, analysis and synthesis.
It works on Windows and needs Internet Explorer version 5 or later, on your system.
A version for MAC obtained from Wine is included in this DVD, along with the Windows
version. Make sure you have X11 on your MAC.
You will need Espresso and MisII while working with Logic Friday.
You can deal with up to 16 inputs and 16 outputs for a given function.
gate diagrams
may look very
different but end
up being copies
of each other; an
equation might
seem perfect but
miss a small bar
or dot, and the
changes certain-
ly show. If you
have two equa-
tions with the
same number of
inputs and a sin-
gle output, Logic
Friday lets you
Fig. 3: Trace the logic in your gates do a comparison
between the two
mapping your design to gates. and find the differences between
Logic Friday has support from these.
MisII for gate diagram synthesis. Possible cases could be equal,
You can optimise the diagram for unequal or one being a sub-set of
standard integrated circuits (ICs) the other. With various input combi-
that will minimise the total number nations possible, the tool even tells
of IC packages in your design, or you exactly for which rows the two
optimise for die area, letting the functions happen to be alike.
program choose gates to create a Further, you even have a choice to
custom IC with minimum die area. clone a function to save a copy. Very
Mapping to gates automatically useful when you have to move back
minimises function. a few paces while designing some-
The other important factor is thing complex, would you not say?
tracing logic in a gate diagram.
Choosing this option automatically Play around with
adds colour to the diagram, with a your equations
red for logic high and blue for logic Depending on need, convert your
low. You can thus view how your equation to look like you want it
signal travels from input to any to. Be it a sum-of-products form or
point in the circuit. To observe the a product-of-sums form, factorise it
result for other cases, change the in- or leave it expanded. The variable
put combination in the tool window names and equation formats follow
and visualise the trace displayed. a given syntax of representation. The
equation can be assigned values of
Compare functions true, false, dont care or invert. If the
to find differences input to an equation is a dont care,
Logic can get very confusing. Two the tool understands the input to
have various values and creates an
exclusive table for it, while not con-
sidering it for minimisation. A dont
care in the output is important as it
influences calculation of results.
A look-up table for
implementing in software
This feature comes in very use-
ful when you have a logic function
that needs to be carried forward to
software or firmware. Simply choose
the generate C look-up function tab
under operations menu and Logic
Friday creates a stand-alone module
that can be added to your source
files. You need to specify the size of
type unsigned int on the processor
or compiler for the software to prop-
erly distribute output truth values
over bits of a data table. You can
select how you want the function to
be represented and called in C code.
Every output will be assigned its own
look-up table and dont care condi-
tions will be considered logic high.
Offering the much needed
flexibility
Once done with experimentation
and designing the logic circuit, Logic
Friday makes it easy to save your
design by simply exporting the truth
table into an Excel file with a .csv
extension, and the gate diagram
into an image file in formats such as
Windows bitmap (.bmp) or en-
hanced metafile (.emf).
For logic equation or gate dia-
gram, print these to save a copy. For
diagrams that may not be legible
in a single page, a road atlas style
is followed to print on two sheets,
without losing continuity.
You can even choose to import a
truth table before you begin working
on your design.
Sounds simple enough, right? Well,
what are you waiting for then? Grab
this months DVD and install the tool.
Explore. Have fun designing!
Priya Ravindran was working as a technical journal-
ist at EFY until recently

2
II APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU PLUS WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 www.opensourceforu.com

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Open Apache

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THE COMPLETE MAGAZINE

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 efy dvd

RapidSmith: A Java Based CAD Tool

For ModeRn XilinX FPGAs
JAI SACHITH PAUL

T
he RapidSmith Project from
Brigham Young University,
USA, is a Java package that
contains the tools and applica-
tion program interfaces (APIs) for
providing a unique platform to
work out experimental ideas and
algorithms on modern Xilinx field-
programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
The tool allows users to import
XDL/NCD, manipulate, place, route
and export designs among a variety
of design transformations.
As a tool based on Xilinx De-
sign Language (XDL), RapidSmith
provides a human-readable file
format equivalent to Xilinx pro-
prietary Netlist Circuit Description
(NCD). Through xdl executable,
RapidSmith can be used to modify Fig. 1: The wires available in a tile and the connection name in the tooltip message
designs at any point in ISEs design
flow or even create one from for designers as
scratch. Packages present in Rapid- more designs and
Smith allow parsing and exporting debugging could
of bitstreams at packet level, and be completed
representating frames and configu- within the stipu-
ration blocks in the provided data lated time.
structures. The latest release of the Moreover,
software, version 0.5.2, is bundled devices get bigger
with this months EFY Plus DVD. and bigger with
every generation,
The motivation behind thereby resulting
Project administrators, Christopher in no significant
Lavin and team, have described the improvement in
motivation behind the development FPGA implemen-
of RapidSmith in their document tation times. Fig. 2: Xilinx Virtex4 family supporting RapidSmith
titled Rapid Prototyping Tools for Although, the
FPGA Designs: RapidSmith. They target hardware is often available been developed as a rapid map-
felt that the compilation time as- for design-verification during much ping mechanism for design onto an
sociated with the FPGA design was of the development process, it often existing FPGA platform to perform
very high in comparison with what goes unused as there is no fast rapid design and debug cycles.
is required for software systems. A method for its proper utilisation This, in turn, provides a more in-
faster compilation process for FP- for verification during the design teractive development environment
GAs ensures improved productivity process. Therefore RapidSmith has for FPGAs.

IV APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU PLUS WWW.EFYMAG.COM

Challenges in a module Physical design tools.
based FPGA design flow Creation of physical design
tools is very easy with the
There are mainly two chal- help of RapidSmith frame-
lenges faced in the creation work. An interactive hard
of a module based FPGA macro placement tool can
design flow. First, creation be built using RapidSmith.
of modules should be fast
and simple. The so-created The use of Java
modules should contain as One of the main priorities
much relative placement behind the development
and routing information as of RapidSmith software
possible to provide reason- is its ease of use. With
able speedup. user-friendly features like
The second challenge is an easy-to-use API and
the absence of a framework automated garbage collec-
for commercial FPGAs, Fig. 3: A RapidSmith program that interactively searches XDL instances tion, Java was chosen as
which allows the design the programming language
flow to be built upon. for RapidSmith. The time
Infobytes
Performing experiments needed for debug is greatly
on actual FPGAs ensures a Size of the tool: 345.5MB reduced and the researcher
credible speedup and fast Developed at: Brigham Young University, USA can focus on more fruitful
build times. RapidSmith Latest release: Version 0.5.2 research. The design and
follows a new hard macro Licence: GNU general-public licence device packages in Java
based design flow that, like Supported operating systems (OSes): Windows, Linux, Mac OS X alleviate the challenges of
software, would create and (RapidSmithworks; but Xilinx tools do not run on OS X) using XDL and establish
use pre-compiled modules Supported devices: Virtex 4 and 5 families; to a lesser extent other an API to interface with
Xilinx families are also supported
(or hard macros) from a the ISE tool flow through
Available at: https://sourceforge.net/projects/rapidsmith/files/
library that could be rap- XDL interface.
idly assembled, placed and But many engineers
routed for a rapid implementation, only and should not be used with feel that the use of Java as a proto-
describe the project administra- commercial designs. typing platform for FPGA CAD tools
tors in their demonstration paper. is a wrong choice. This is due to its
The tool, thereby, overcomes the What RapidSmith offers reputation of being a memory hog
above-listed challenges and offers Having discussed the motivation and slow. But developers of Rapid-
an open source framework that behind and targeted users, let us Smith are optimistic in this regard and
makes such a design flow possible now have a quick look at the various feel that both speed and memory can
on Xilinx FPGAs. tools bundled in the software. be controlled to the point where this
Design-analysis tools. If a design is not an issue.
Targeting academicians is given in XDL format, RapidSmith
in FPGA CAD research provides an easy-to-use platform for Improving productivity
The tool is targeted at academicians creating design-analysis tools. A de- of FPGA designs
involved in the research of FPGA sign analyser that tabulates detailed RapidSmith is an XDL based rapid
computer-aided design (CAD). A resource utilisation statistics and de- prototyping platform for research
basic understanding of programming sign properties could also be created. ideas and algorithms relating to low-
in Java is a prerequisite for using Design-creation tools. Rapid- level FPGA CAD tools. Hopefully,
this tool. Smith could be used to read and researchers around the globe will
Again, users need to have basic write XDL files. Apart from this, the make use of the tool for research to
knowledge about Xilinx FPGAs and software allows users to create a cir- develop its capabilities further and
XDL, but the detailed documenta- cuitry in XDL file format. APIs that to provide new opportunities for
tion of the tool available online will create primitive instances customise research in FPGA CAD tools.
help them be at par with the re- these instances and even create logi-
quired knowledge level. The tool is cal connections between primitive Jai Sachith Paul is assistant professor at Depart-
intended for the purpose of research instance pins contained in the tool. ment of ECE, SETCEM, Thrissur

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU PLUS | APRIL 2016 V


Xyce: A Parallel Electronic Simulator
I
n this article we introduce
Xyce, a SPICE-compatible
Some major analysis types in Xyce Harmonic Balance, Multi-Time
parallel electronic circuit
simulator developed at Sandia
National Laboratories, USA. The
software is capable of solving
extremely-large circuit problems
on large-scale parallel computing
platforms. Apart from being an
analogue electronic simulator, Xyce
is used widely in general network
systems such as neural networks and
power grids.
Xyce is under continuous devel-
opment since 1999 and is funded by
National Nuclear Security Adminis-
trations Advanced Simulation and
Computing Campaign. It is released
under open source GPL licence from
version 6.0 onwards. The latest release
of the software, version 6.4, is incor-
porated in the DVD accompanying this
months Electronics For You Plus.
Key features
Being a state-of-the-art massively-par-
allel circuit-simulating platform, Xyce
simulator offers the standard capa-
bilities offered by competing com-
mercial and open source simulators
in addition to a variety of devices and Vertical Bipolar Inter-Company,
models specific to Sandias needs.
Supporting large-scale parallel
computing. With the help of Message
Passing Implementation, Xyce can
be run on serial, shared-memory and
distributed-memory parallel systems.
Special care has been taken by the
designers to provide optimal paral-
lel efficiency in multiple processors
by addressing the specific nature of
circuit-simulation problems. Xyce
has shown scalability up to hundreds Standard analysis techniques such
of processors.
Device model support. Though
Xyce is not developed as a deriva-
tive of SPICE, it is designed to be
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
efy dvd
JAI SACHITH PAUL
Direct current, TRAN and alternating current
Harmonic Balance
Multi-time PDE
Model Order Reduction
Direct and adjoint sensitivity analysis
Uncertainty quantification via Dakota
Fig. 1: Diode clipper circuit netlist for DC
sweep analysis
SPICE-compatible. A canonical set
of industry models including Berke-
ley Short-Channel IGFET model,
Bipolar Transistor model and others
are supported.
Apart from this, many non-tra-
ditional models that support neuron
simulation and reaction networks
have been developed. With the help
of a powerful expression library,
behavioural modelling can be
performed. Verilog-A models can be
incorporated with a model compiler.
Options for circuit analysis.
as steady-state direct current operat-
ing-point analysis, transient analysis
and small-signal frequency domain
analysis are supported. More ex-
otic analysis methods including
PDE and Model-Order Reduction
methods are also supported.
The modern code base. Xyce
is a highly modular and flex-
ible tool, designed and written
from scratch in C++. It applies
abstract interfaces to easily de-
velop different analysis types, solvers
and models.
Xyce uses Trilinos solver library,
yet another open source development
from Sandia. This library helps in
the development and implementa-
tion of robust algorithms and enables
technologies with the help of mod-
ern object-oriented software design.
Trilinos also leverages from values of
other well-established libraries like
PETSc, Metis/ParMetis, SuperLU,
Aztec, the BLAS and LAPACK.
A number of circuit-specific solv-
ers including KLU direct solver have
been developed for Xyce.
Faster development time. For
each type of analysis in a SPICE
based code, new device functions
are created. The differential-algebraic
equation formulation in Xyce allows
all analysis methods to use the same
device-load functions. This results in
a faster development time for new
devices and new analysis types.
Encapsulation between models
and solver layers of the source code
is significantly improved as the de-
vice models using differential-
algebraic equation formulation are
nearly independent of analysis type.
What is new in the
latest version
The latest release Xyce 6.4 has many
new features and enhancements.
Some of these are:
Inclusion of new device mod-
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU PLUS | APRIL 2016 VII
7
 efy dvd

Some competing open source circuit simulators

Circuits Cloud. This is a NGSPICE based free online analogue/digital simulator. The
simulator, developed for educational purpose, was initially an online digital simulator, later
updated to support analogue circuit simulation, too.
EasyEDA. Design, simulation and discussion of schematics, simulations and printed circuit
boards can be done with the help of this tool. These can be shared both publicly as well
as privately.
GNU circuit analysis package (gnucap). This is a general-purpose circuit simulator capable
of performing DC, AC, Fourier and transient analysis.
Ngspice. This mixed-signal circuit simulator is an open source successor of SPICE
simulator, which is the origin of all electronic circuit simulators.
Qucs. Quite Universal Circuit Simulator, or Qucs, allows users to set up a circuit with a
graphical user interface and simulates large-signal, small-signal and noise behaviour of
the circuit.

Fig. 2: Plot for DC sweep voltages
els. New device models have been
included and already existing ones
have been enhanced. Some notable
inclusions and enhancements are
as follows:
1. A new memristor device using
Yakopcic model
2. Power Grid Generator Bus
model enhanced with support for
reactive power limits
3. MEXTRAM 504.11 with self-
heating
Enhanced solver stability, per-
formance and features.
1. For reducing memory con-
sumption and improving parsing
speeds for large circuits, netlist
parser has been significantly
refactored.
2. In order to improve time
stepping for time integrators, Local
Truncation Error criteria have been
incorporated. History information of
signals is used for this purpose.
3. Linear solver has been
improved with Kundert SPARSE
linear solver.
4. Well-resolved time-
domain outputs can be
achieved with the help of
over-sampling capability
for Harmonic Balance
time-domain output,
which is newly intro-
duced in Xyce.
Improved interfaces.
Compatibility between
Xyce and PSpice digital
behavioural models has
been significantly improved in Xyce
with support for DIGINITSTATE op-
tion. Harmonic Balance output and
error handling during netlist parsing
have been significantly improved,
too. Enhancements at output allows
users to suppress the header and
footer of standard-format output files.
Releasing the software under
open source. The first open source
release of Xyce 6.0 was on No-
vember 5, 2013. By releasing the
source codes and binaries for public
download, developers aim to foster
external collaboration and solicit
feedback from the simulation com-
munity. They feel that new collabo-
rators, new benchmarks and external
feedback can be a valuable starting
point for code improvements.
Moreover, research is funded
by the taxpayers money. So mak-
ing it open source is their social
responsibility.
The author is assistant professor, Department
of ECE at SETCEM, Thrissur

VIII
8 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU PLUS WWW.EFYMAG.COM

COLM
PRENDERGAST
DIRECTOR OF IoT TECHNOLOGY,
ANALOG DEVICES
Q. What is driving efficiency in con-
nected automation systems?
A. Improving efficiency is the
prime driver behind connected
automation systems. If it is a proac-
tive maintenance system that you are
setting up, you need to be able to gain
information from the data collected
and use that to change the behav-
iour in the real world. You are using
sensors, measurement, data analytics
and machine-learning techniques to
provide feedback in a preventative
maintenance system.
Q. How should one start with setting
up a connected automation system?
A. The flow is that you start
with the physical process, around
which you build your data-collection
system. Once you get the system in
place, collect data and apply ana-
lytics to it. Big Data analytics and
machine learning can be done in the
cloud, although increasingly there
is a trend towards moving analytics
to the network edge where smarter
devices can be more responsive to
the systems being monitored. These
systems provide the information
needed to implement the behavioural
changes for preventive maintenance.
Q. What are the main factors affect-
ing evolution in this space?
A. Top factors affecting this space
are low-power technology, advances
in sensing and measurement, closed-
loop feedback, energy harvesting,
energy-independent sensors and low-
power signal processing.
68 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
IntervIew
Internet of Things:
plug-and-play sensors...
Are easier to use
And Are More secure
As the Internet of Things (IoT) picks up pace to properly disrupt the market,
changes behind the scene affect it in various ways. Let us take a look at
what these changes are and the role these play. Colm Prendergast, director
of IoT Technology, Analog Devices, speaks with Dilin Anand from EFY
Q. How does data analytics work for
information collected as videos?
A. Information extraction happens
at the node itself in the case of media.
Using our BLIP camera system we take
video and images at video graphics
array resolution, and use that as source
data on which occupancy informa-
tion extraction is done at the node.
Once this occupancy information is
extracted, only those pieces are sent
forth for the next set of analytics. This
helps to ensure that the network is not
overstressed with data.
Q. Any exciting imaging products
coming up in the IoT space?
A. Cameras! These have the entire
analytics engine built into them, with
occupancy detection and open ap-
plication program interfaces to enable
developers to build on top of them.
Sensor integration is a trend, but
what is rising up now are plug-and-
play sensors that are easier to use and
are more secure. These also support
over-the-air/networks upgrades. This
makes development pipeline easier
and also lets a piece of hardware in the
field to be upgraded over time. Overall,
it signifies a shift of firms from being
based on capital expenditure towards
being based on operating expenditure
since these can continue to add value
after a system has been deployed.
Q. Please give an application ex-
ample along with a chip that can be
used to implement it.
A. One example use case would
be a security alarm that can detect
whether the object is a human or an
animal. We have a family of proces-
sors known as the Blackfin line,
which are signal processors with
an architecture designed for low-
power digital signal processing. Such
features are enabled by contextual
analysis of images.
Q. What are some interesting engi-
neering trends in this space?
A. A big trend is that the nature of
our customer base is changing; soft-
ware engineers are making decisions
on what hardware to chose. Hardware
systems are integrated to single chips
and they are outsourcing hardware
development to ADI. This shows that
the current IoT decision-makers are
more software-centred due to the data
science elements involved.
Q. What challenges do you face while
building tools for software engineers?
A. Challenges with data science
are due to the fact that it tends to be
a very specialised field. So when we
build platforms for the IoT, the ques-
tions being asked are on how to make
data science easier, or how to enable
sophisticated data science tools for
software developers.
Q. What is getting engineers to bring
more devices to the IoT paradigm?
A. The ease of doing data science at
the cloud is an enabler. We are seeing
that many firms are moving analytics to
the edge. We also see a need to enable
customers to more quickly build and
deploy their systems solutions.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 IntervIew
Wireless:

While IntegratIon Makes

Additional Features Cheaper,...
You Only take What You need
Thanks to the world of mobiles, sleeker laptops and tablets, use cases of Wi-Fi
RAJIV KAPUR and Bluetooth being used simultaneous are becoming very common now. This
MANAGING DIRECTOR, interaction takes a look at the broad trends in the wireless space. Rajiv Kapur,
BROADCOM INDIA
managing director, Broadcom India, speaks with Dilin Anand of EFY

Q. Broadcom recently released
chips for 5G Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Smart. Should the designer of an
Internet of Things (IoT) product
consider a single standard wireless
chip or a multi-standard one?
A. Not only are these sleek de-
vices becoming thinner and smaller,
you can no longer take the radio of
both, keep it separate and shield
it from each other. Also, no longer
are these being used one at a time;
these are being used simultaneously.
That means you are on a Bluetooth
headset while you are also stream-
ing something on Wi-Fi.
What chip vendors like us have
done to stay ahead is to integrate
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on the same
silicon and invest in the radio
frequency (RF) side to make the
co-existence simultaneous and non-
interfering. While integration makes
additional features cheaper, a key
point remains that you only take
what you need. The IoT application
decides whether you need one or
two or more connectivity solutions.
Q. What drives adoption of near
field communication (NFC) in con-
sumer electronics space?
A. NFC was earlier misunder-
stood to be a payments topic. There
is another use case of NFC, which is
called tap-and-share or tap-and-pair.
Consider the following: I take my
phone and tap it on my TV, and this
simple tapping helps pair the two
devices, instead of the complexity of
Bluetooth pairing.
Q. How is this technology shaping
up for the automotive market?
A. The reason it is now playing a
role in automotive is because of mo-
biles that are starting to adopt NFC.
Computers and mobiles have picked
up Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and are now
starting to pick up NFC.
It is hard for other devices to
ignore the fact that these will have to
communicate with a mobile or a com-
puter. So, the de facto standard will be
one of these three. And automotive is
picking NFC because an automobile
can have multiple people sitting in it
and NFC is more convenient.
Q. What exciting trends do you see
in connected cars?
A. The most interesting trend is the
whole universe of Ethernet that had
previously been outside the car. There
is a lot happening based on Ethernet,
which includes video surveillance,
video conferencing, audio streaming
and data movement, among others.
The purpose is to leverage the
universe of Ethernet to give better
vehicles. For example, the rear camera
can be an Ethernet based camera.
We actually invented how Ethernet
can be distributed over thin cables. It
is a standard now but we invented it.
Q. Any other emerging trends you
see in wireless communication tech?
A. Technology has been simpli-
fied enough to make it implementa-
ble by everybody. For example, when
Nike first came out with the shoe
that has Bluetooth talking to your
iPhone, they came to us because this
was a use case implementation that
required us to invest in making sure
it worked. We are constantly imple-
menting improved solutionssome-
times in software and sometimes
hardwareto keep evolving the use
of that technology.
The IoT is a great example. We
are pushing Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
standards and implementations to be
IoT friendly, to consume lower power
and be easier to use.
Q. What is holding back the tel-
ecommunications tower technology
in India?
A. Mobile backhaul is one of the
weaker links. You can throw more
users at the base transceiver station
(BTS) and upgrade the BTS accord-
ingly so as to not hit any bottlenecks.
In India, 90 per cent of mobile tow-
ers are still connected wirelessly. If
you can wire-connect it, the capacity
is high, and it is not the bottleneck
anymore. But there is a limit to how
much you can connect with wire.
We keep complaining about call
drops. This is actually one of the
resulting effects of bottlenecks. It
depends on implementation and in
our case, a higher-capacity backhaul
is needed.

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 69

 Industry NEWS
Government invests ` 5 billion a
year for research on electronics
Aruna Sharma, IAS, secretary, govern-
ments Department of Electronics and
IT (DeiTY), who was the chief guest at
CSR Leadership Conference, organised
by NASSCOM Foundation, said that the
government is investing ` 5 billion per
year on research related to electronics
products. The research is carried out at
incubation centres associated with IITs,
Indian Institute of Science and other
premier institutes.
A deal between DeiTY and NASS-
COM Foundation was also announced,
wherein the foundation has been
` 1.2 trillion investment in electronics manufacturing
With efforts on to make India an
electronics manufacturing hub, total in-
vestment in the sector has now reached
` 1.2 trillion, according to telecom
minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
We would like to say that by 2020,
India must also promote export of
consumer goods. I want to assure this
House [Lok Sabha] that a large num-
ber of companies are keen to invest in
India and we are creating an enabling
atmosphere, the minister said.
Electronic goods imports rise to ` 2.256 trillion
Total import of electronics goods grew
over 15 per cent to reach an estimated
` 2.256 trillion in 2014-15 over the
previous fiscal.
According to telecom minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad, total import of elec-
tronics goods during 2012-13, 2013-14
and 2014-15 (estimated) as per the fig-
ures of Directorate General of Commer-
cial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS)
was ` 1.790 trillion, ` 1.959 trillion and
` 2.256 trillion, respectively.
72 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
MAKE IN INDIA
entrusted upon the responsibil-
ity of sensitising citizens across
the country on e-waste, its health
and environmental hazards and its
responsible disposal.
The foundation has secured
grants in excess of ` 500 million in
the financial year 2016-17. It is the
industry partner to the government
for National Digital Literacy Mission
and has been able to reach its target
of over 100 centres across India and
aims to make over 75,000 households
become digitally literate.
He also said that two companies
have shown interest in electronics
chip manufacturing and governments
efforts are to make India an important
centre of chip manufacturing.
He added that India is now mak-
ing about 110 million units of mobile
phones. That is a growth of 83 per
cent in quantity terms in a year.
Growth of LEDs is 37 per cent, LED
lights is 65 per cent and tablets is
27 per cent.
He added that total production
of electronic goods based on figures
provided by the respective electronics
industry associations was ` 1.641 tril-
lion, ` 1.804 trillion and 1.903 trillion
during 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15
(estimated), respectively.
Comparison of total production
with import of electronic goods sug-
gests that indigenous production of
electronic goods is not sufficient to
meet domestic demand.
On The Move
Milagrow appoints Debashis
Das as CEO
Consumer robotics company
Milagrow has appointed
Debashis Das its CEO. Das
has previously worked with
companies including Gillette,
Perfetti, Dabur, Henkel, Mother
Dairy and SC Johnson over the
course of his career.
Nivruti Rai joins Intel India
as GM
Intel appointed Nivruti Rai as
Intel India site general manager.
Rai succeeds Kumud Srinivasan
who is relocating to the USA after
completion of her assignment
in India.
YU Televentures names
Shubhodip Pal COO
Smartphone maker YU
Televentures has appointed
Shubhodip Pal as chief operating
officer. This is Pals second
stint with Micromax, which is
the parent company of YU
Televentures.
Honeywell Automation
appoints Suresh Senapaty
as chairman
Former Wipro finance chief
Suresh Senapaty, who retired
from the outsourcing firm after
spending over three decades
at the company, has been
named chairman of Honeywell
Automations India operations.
Alpna Doshi leaves Reliance
Communications
Reliance Communications chief
information officer Alpna J. Doshi
has quit after a six-and-a-half-
year stint with the company. She
is joining Royal Philips as group
CIO, business transformation
and IT worldwide, based at
the companys Netherlands
headquarters.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Calendar of Forthcoming Electronics
Fairs/Exhibitions/Seminars/Events
Name, Date and Venue
China Information Technology
Expo
April 8-10, 2016
Shenzhen Convention and
Exhibition Centre, China
AsiaWorld-Expo
April 11-14, 2016
Hong Kong
Global Sources Electronics
April 11-14, 2016
AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong
National Electronics Weeks
2016
April 12-14, 2016
Birmingham, UK
Global Sources Mobile
Electronics
April 18-21, 2016
AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong
Connect EXPO
April 19-20, 2016
Melbourne, Australia
Thailand PCS Expo
April 19-22, 2016
Impact Exhibition & Convention
Centre, Bangkok, Thailand
Consumer Electronics China
April 20-22, 2016
Shenzhen Convention and
Exhibition Center, China
Industrial Automation 2016
April 25-29, 2016
Hannover, Germany
Internet of Things Applications Addresses the opportunity for the Internet of
Europe
April 27-28, 2016
Things (IoT)
Berlin, Germany
Del Mar Electronics &
Design Show
May 4-5, 2016
San Diego, California, USA
CES Asia 2016
May 11-13, 2016
Shanghai New International
Exhibition Centre, Shanghai,
China
LED Expo 2016
May 12-14, 2016
Bombay Exhibition Court,
Mumbai
CommunicAsia2016
May 31-June 3, 2016
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
CWST-Expo2015
June 9-11, 2016
Bombay Exhibition Centre,
Mumbai
8th Future of Wireless
International Conference
June 21-22, 2016
London, UK
The 14th International LED &
OLED Expo 2016
June 22-26, 2016
Kintex, Korea
SES 2016
July 7-8, 2016
Bangalore International
Exhibition Centre (BIEC),
Bengaluru
NIWeek
August 1-4, 2016
Austin Texas, USA
IFA Berlin
September 2-7, 2016
Berlin, Germany
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
Topics
Largest and most comprehensive exhibition of
electronics and ICT industry in China
Worlds largest electronics sourcing show
Worlds largest electronics sourcing show
UKs largest gathering of electronics and
manufacturing professionals
Worlds biggest mobile electronics
sourcing show
Australias fastest growing business
technology event with over 7000 visitors meet
200 exhibitors
ASEANs international exhibition on PCBs and MEX Exhibitions Pvt Ltd
electronic assemblies Website: www.pcbexpothailand.com
Platform that unites international exhibitors
with Chinese retailers keen to bring new
products to their customers
Manufacturers present solutions for
manufacturing and process automation,
robotics, image processing, efficient drive
technology and more
Covers electronic components, fabrication,
design and other aspects of electronics
manufacturing
Premier event for the Asian consumer
technology market for global brands and
budding start-ups, alike
Platform for its exhibitors and visitors to
source and explore the latest in trend products Website: http://led-expo-mumbai.
and technologies from around the globe
International communications and information
technology exhibition and conference
Presentation platform for coil winding,
insulation, stamping, transformer
manufacturers, coil winding machines and
allied industry
A leading conference for discovering the latest Cambridge Wireless
in cutting-edge wireless technology
Worlds top B2B trade show for the LED and
OLED industry
A platform for the Indian industry to explore
opportunities to work together with the
defence establishment, bring all stakeholders
including the government, defence
organisations, private and public sector
together
Annual global conference for graphical system National Instruments
design organised by National Instruments
Leading trade show for consumer electronics
and home appliances
Contact address for details
China Information Technology Expo
Website: www.citexpo.org
AsiaWorld-Expo Management Ltd
Website: www.asiaworld-expo.com
Global Sources Electronics
Website: www.globalsources.com
National Electronics Weeks 2016
Website: www.new-expo.co.uk
Global Sources Electronics
Website: www.globalsources.com
Connect EXPO
Website: www.connectexpo.com.au
CE China
Website: www.b2b.ifa-berlin.com/en/
Exhibitors/ApplicationCEChina2016
Industrial Automation 2016
Website: www.hannovermesse.de/en/
exhibition/trade-fair-line-up/industrial-
automation/
IDTechEx
Website: www.idtechex.com
Del Mar Trade Shows Inc.
Website: www.mfgshow.com
CES Asia
Website: www.CESAsia.com
Messe Frankfurt
in.messefrankfurt.com
CommunicAsia2016
Website: www.communicasia.com
Brandscope Exhibitions
Phone: +91- 9699807207, 9899107207
Website: www.cwstexpo.com
Website: www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/
futureofwireless
International LED EXPO 2016 Secretariat
Website: www.ledexpo.com
Electronic Industries Association of India
(ELCINA)
Website: www.elcina.com/events_ses.asp
Website: www.ni.com/niweek
IFA Berlin
Website: www.b2b.ifa-berlin.com/en/IFA/
AboutIFA
Continued on next page...
Solar installations to double
in India in 2016
Mercom Capital Group, a global
clean energy communications and
research firm, has forecast more
than 4GW in total solar installations
for 2016, which is nearly 100 per
cent year-over-year growth from the
2015 total of 2133MW. The Indian
solar sector is finally coming out of
hibernation, said Raj Prabhu, CEO
and co-founder of Mercom Capital
Group. Solar installations in 2015
increased by 142 per cent after three
years of remaining flat, and we ex-
pect 2016 and 2017 to record strong
growth, he added.
In January, the Union Cabi-
net approved amendments to the
revised tariff policy. One of the most
significant revisions is a Renewable
Power Obligation (RPO), which
would require that eight per cent of
electricity consumption be procured
from solar energy by March 2022.
This is an important step towards
achieving the 100GW goal, but the
RPO will remain just a number
without strict enforcement.
Thirty three solar parks
approved across 21 Indian
states
As per an official statement issued
by Solar Energy Corp. of India
(SECI) on February 21, SECIs man-
aging director Ashvini Kumar stated,
As against 25 solar parks planned,
the ministry (MNRE) has approved
33 solar parks in 21 states with an
aggregate capacity of 19.9GW.
The states have currently re-
ceived funding of ` 549.3 million,
out of an overall fund of ` 3.74
billion for setting up of solar parks.
Piyush Goyal, minister for power
and new and renewable energy,
conveyed to the parliamentary
consultative committee of his min-
istry that the installed solar power
capacity in India has crossed the
5GW mark in January, and is set to
achieve the target of 18GW by the
end of 2017.
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 73
 Make in india
Snippets
India to register augmented
Intertek commissions its first Services Ltd, a joint venture of four central growth of TLC 3D NAND SSDs
electrical laboratory power sector undertakings, which has
According to 6Wresearch, Indias
installed LED streetlights in many states.
Intertek, a leading quality solutions SSD market is forecast to reach US$
provider to industries worldwide, has Nagpur to emerge as new investment 128 million by 2022. Until 2015, data-
commissioned its first Electrical Centre
of Excellence laboratory for LEDs and
destination storage device market was domi-
batteries in New Delhi. The facility Within Maharashtra, Nagpur is getting nated by the hard disk drive (HDD)
aims to comply with not just the Indian promoted by the government for drawing segment acquiring nearly 90 per cent
governments regulations for the LED and major investments both globally as well as of the share, though is witnessing
battery industries, but with international domestically. During Make in India Week year-over-year decline.
testing standards as well. 2016, the city came up as one of the most
Apart from external HDD that
sought-after destinations after Mumbai,
Chennai to spend ` 1.45 billion Pune, Nashik and Aurangabad. currently accounts for over 20 per
on LED lights cent of the overall HDD shipment,
Greater Chennai Corp. has sanctioned
L&T Infotech plans to invest internal HDDs demand is further
` 1.45 billion for a project to install 30,000 in startups projected to decline owing to market
LED streetlights across the city, after L&T Infotech, the IT division of Larsen & saturation and growing adoption of
earlier turning down a central scheme that Toubro, is planning on obtaining board NAND flash memory storage devices,
would have meant considerably lower approval for investing in technology
predominantly SSDs.
expenses for the civic body. The central startups, which the IPO-bound firm hopes
scheme works via Energy Efficiency will assist in boosting its digital offerings.
Mobile manufacturing
to reach 500 million units
Mobile phone manufacturing in India
Continued from previous page... will reach 500 million units in a span
Calendar of Forthcoming Electronics of two years with the backing of tal-
Fairs/Exhibitions/Seminars/Events ent as well as an incentive policy, as
Name, Date and Venue Topics Contact address for details stated by telecom secretary, Depart-
Open Source India Premier open source conference in Asia Open Source India ment of Telecom.
October 21-22, 2016 targeted at nurturing and promoting the open Website: http://osidays.com/osidays/
NIMHANS Convention Center, source ecosystem in the subcontinent The government is trying to bring
Bengaluru
down import of electronic products
Mechatronika 2016 Topics include ICT, power electronics, Department of Air Defence Systems
December 7-9, 2016 sensors, EMC, actuators, modelling and Website: http://mechatronika.fel.cvut.cz/ and meet the requirements of the
Prague, Czech Republic simulation, robots, industrial applications, domestic market via indigenous pro-
military technologies, measurement and
diagnostics, bio-mechatronics, among others duction. It has also received proposals
IEEE International Conference
on Power Electronics, Drives
The conference provides a platform for
discussions, networking and publication of
Government Engineering College Thrissur
Website: www.pedes2016.org
amounting to ` 1.13 trillion in the
and Energy Systems the benefits of power electronics and its allied electronics manufacturing segment
December 14-17, 2016 technologies
Trivandrum, India from popular brands under the modi-
India Electronics Week An exhibition for the global electronics industry EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd fied special incentive package scheme.
March 2-4, 2017 showcasing concurrently six events: Electronics Phone: +91-11-40596605
Bangalore International For You Expo, Electronics Rocks, T&M India, Website: www.indiaelectronicsweek.com
Exhibition Centre, Bengaluru LED Asia, Raksha India and IoT Show Adit Infratel sets up Indias
Look up under Events section in www.electronicsforu.com for a comprehensive list first lithium-polymer battery
Since this information is subject to change, all those interested are advised
to ascertain the details from the organisers before making any commitment.
facility
Adit Infratel Pvt Ltd, the com-
pany behind brand Advent, has
Government plans State-owned institutions such announced the commencement of
US$ 1.25 billion as Power Finance Corp. Ltd and Indias first lithium-polymer embed-
renewable energy fund Rural Electrification Corp. Ltd have ded battery manufacturing facility
already committed a total of US$ at Manesar, Haryana. Involving an
The government of India is planning 300 million to the fund. overall investment of ` 250 million,
to set up a US$ 1.25 billion fund to The proposed target of an out- the initiative is part of companys
finance renewable energy projects in put of 175GW of renewable energy Make in India strategy to boost local
the country. This move will help the assumes at least 100GW from solar, manufacturing, reduce dependency
country in scaling up clean energy 60GW from wind, 10GW from on imports and create large-scale
generation from 37GW at present to bio-power and 5GW from small impact on the domestic economy
175GW by 2022. hydropower projects. through job and wealth creation.

74 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

 make in india

Union Budget 2016-17:

Whats Good For The

ESDM InDuStry And Whats Not
The Union Budget 2016, presented by the NDA government on February 29, 2016, has put
forth various initiatives to give a boost to flagship projects like Make in India and Startup
India. The Budget has certainly offered a lot to the ESDM industry by providing various tax
and duty benefits. These will go a long way in strengthening the manufacturing capabilities
of Indian companies. Sudeshna Das, senior executive editor, Electronics Bazaar, interacted
with different industry experts to get a better understanding of whats good and whats not
in this budget, for the ESDM industry

T
he Union Budget 2016 has outlined various gov- provision of minimum alternative tax and no capital
ernment initiatives to transform India through the gains tax if such gains are invested in the notified
adoption of technology. These include allocation fund of funds envisage an environment in which
of funds for Indias digital connectivity initiative by startups will help to build the startup ecosystem in
pushing the panchayats and municipalities to upgrade this sector.
and develop digital The Union Budget
infrastructure, enhance 2016 also clearly high-
the use of IT infrastruc- lights the governments
ture and more. The agenda to transform the
Budget has also revised electronics industry. Var-
the electrification target ious provisions for the
from 10 per cent to 45 sector announced in the
per cent, which will lead Budget will, in the long
to increased demand for term, encourage domes-
electronics products and tic value-added manu-
IT hardware. facturing of electronics
The Budget also of- hardware and make it as
fers a very attractive cor- competitive as imports.
porate tax rate option for The announcements
new manufacturers at 25 are in line with Make in
The union minister for finance, corporate affairs and information and
per cent plus surcharge broadcasting, Arun Jaitley (holding a briefcase) along with the minister of
India initiative and work
and cess, provided the state for finance, Jayant Sinha on the left towards reducing trans-
company does not claim action costs. But what
profit linked or investment linked deductions. It should do industry experts make of all these initiatives?
also not avail an investment allowance and accelerated At the outset, we collated key policy amendments
depreciation. related to the indirect tax structure, that is, excise duty/
The Budget has lowered the corporate tax rate for countervailing duty (CVD), special additional duty
the next financial year for relatively small enterprises, (SAD) and basic customs duty (BCD) for the ESDM
that is, for companies with a turnover that does not sector. And we then solicited the opinions of industry
exceed ` 50 million (during the financial year ending experts, who generally feel that the Budget has largely
March 2015), to 29 per cent plus surcharge and cess. met the expectations of the ESDM sector due to the
This will help MSMEs working in this segment. number of changes in the indirect tax structure, which
In addition, favourable policies like a 100 per cent will promote the manufacture of IT hardware and mo-
tax holiday for three years in a window of five years, bile phones.

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 75

 make in india

Exemptions to facilitate Make in India

The excise duty/CVD as well as SAD have been abolished on inputs, parts and components as well as sub-parts
for the manufacture of chargers, adaptors, batteries, wired headsets or speakers for mobile phones, subject to
actual user conditions. At the same time, a differential duty structure has been created on chargers, adaptors, bat-
teries, wired headsets or speakers for mobile phones wherein two per cent CVD is applicable if CENVAT credit is
not availed on these products, but 12.5 per cent is applicable if that is availed. To further support manufacturing,
exemption of BCD on chargers, adaptors, batteries, etc, for mobile phones has been increased from zero per cent to
five per cent. BCD has been reduced to nil on all inputs, parts and components of the above products.

Manufacturers importing specified mobile
parts/accessories like chargers, speakers,
headsets and batteries are now required to
pay the normal customs duty rate on import-
ing these products. The beneficial scheme for mobile
phones has been altered to incentivise actual manu-
facturing of mobile phones from the parts/components
level and dis-incentivise SKD manufacture of mobile
phones. The intention appears to be to create a manu-
facturing ecosystem through a process of backward
integration. Mahesh Jaising, partner at BMR &
Associates, LLP
This makes a strong case for making these products
in India. Those who import will need to pay 12.5 per
cent excise duty and domestic makers will have to pay
two per cent. Pankaj Mohindroo, national presi-
dent, Indian Cellular Association
The same way, as it was done for mobiles and
tablets, a 10.5 per cent duty differential benefit has been
created for those who manufacture/assemble these
products locally viz-a-viz imports, which will attract the
full 12.5 per cent CVD.
Regarding components, the obstacle for local
manufacturers is that they will have to get the actual
user certificate from the manufacturer of the charger or
the wired headset locally. Only then will they be able
to supply at a rate excluding the excise duty. This is the
only obstacle that has to be overcome.
This problem will not be faced if components are
imported from outside, but only if these are manufac-
tured locally. The local manufacturers will also have a
CENVAT overflow because they will be buying inputs.
So this amendment brings the direct benefit up to the
mobile accessory stage and does not encourage local
component manufacturers. This needs to be addressed,
even before the next budget, through an interim policy
amendment. The government should provide some
incentives for local components procurement. Local
component manufacturers can supply electronic compo-
nents such as resistors, capacitors and some connectors
that are being made locally. In this budget, all these
components are allowed with zero import duty.
Rajoo Goel, secretary general, ELCINA
The proposal to abolish excise duty on inputs,
parts, components and sub-parts for the manufacture
of chargers/adaptors, batteries and wired headsets/
speakers of mobile phones is a welcome move, and will
eventually promote local manufacture of these compo-
nents. However, exemption from basic customs duty,
CVD and SAD on chargers/adaptors, batteries and wired
headsets/speakers for mobile phones being withdrawn
will increase the cost of the mobile phones till the time
the companies manufacture these products domesti-
cally.Rajesh Agarwal, co-founder Micromax
Buoyed by the success of mobile handset manufac-
turing, where introduction of a differential excise duty
structure has led to the setting up of production facili-
ties in India by several leading mobile handset vendors,
both Indian and foreign, the government has widened
its scope to cover additional high-consumption products
in the Budget 2016-17. It would, however, be a chal-
lenge to supply locally manufactured inputs to domestic
manufacturers of product categories brought within the
ambit of the differential excise duty structure due to
zero CVD and the applicable BCD on their inputs (for
non- ITA-1 inputs). Vinod Sharma, chairman, CII
National Committee on ICTE Manufacturing and MD,
Deki Electronics Ltd
This is basically done to improve the value chain
of these products. The government has created almost a
26.93 per cent duty difference between imported prod-
ucts and finished products that are domestically manu-
factured. It has imposed customs duty, CVD and SAD,
which is not available in the case of imports. So if you
manufacture these products in India, all these three du-
ties are exempted. Now the only problem that the govern-
ment should address is abolish CST for finished products,
due to which two per cent gets added to the cost.
Further, this amendment creates an opportunity for
local component manufacturers. Today, when people
are importing finished products, the very survival of the
component suppliers in India is under threat. But now
there will be a huge demand for components within the
country; so component manufacturers should compete
and cater to that demand. Nitin Kunkolienker, VP,
MAIT

76 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

Excise duty/CVD as well as SAD have been abolished on parts and components for routers, broadband modems,
set-top boxes, digital video recorders, network video recorders, lithium batteries, CCTV cameras and IP cameras.
A differential duty structure has been created for routers, mobiles, set-top boxes, etc, with four per cent excise/
CVD being levied without CENVAT credit and 12.5 per cent being levied with CENVAT credit.

The government is driving Digital India
initiative by exempting all earlier-applicable
duty charges on DVRs and CCTV cameras.
This will make products cheaper and more
affordable in the market, keeping in mind the con-
sumers perspective. This offers a bright opportunity for
existing industry players and encourages new entrants
to make their presence felt in this segment, and to cater
to the audience more efficiently. Manish Sharma,
president of CEAMA and MD, Panasonic India and
South Asia
The change in the duty structure as proposed in the
Budget 2016 will encourage manufacture of consumer
premise equipment like modems, routers, digital video
recorders, STBs for the Internet and IP cameras. I expect
investments of about ` 100 billion for the local produc-
tion of these devices. I expect their prices will go down
by eight per cent in the first year, and by ten per cent in
a year-and-a-half. With the incentive on finished goods
with respect to CCTV cameras, assembly of these will
begin to happen locally. As the pace picks up and scale
develops, it will provide the necessary impetus for com-
ponent suppliers to set up manufacturing units locally
as well, just like the industry from Taiwan migrated to
China 15 years back.
Not only the components for CCTV cameras, but
also the sub-components used for manufacturing these
components are exempt from duty. Hence, the compo-
nent manufacturer will enjoy duty exemptions, while
the CCTV manufacturer pays two per cent on output.
Nitin Kunkolienker, VP, MAIT
The situation in the case of digital video recorders,
CCTV cameras, set-top boxes, etc, is similar to that of
mobile phones. The government has abolished excise
duty, which also includes the CVD as well as SAD on
parts used for manufacturing these items.
Further, the government has created a differential
duty structure. So if manufacturers of these products
claim CENVAT on finished products, they will have to
pay 12.5 per cent but if they do not claim CENVAT, then
they only have to pay four per cent. That means an 8.5
per cent advantage is provided to those who assemble/
manufacture these products here. This incentivises as-
sembly of the product, which is good at this stage but
only for the short term, because the ultimate goal is to
develop the entire ecosystem. To ensure that, compo-
nent manufacturing needs to be incentivised.Rajoo
Goel, secretary general, ELCINA
Extending the benefit of concessional excise duty
(at four per cent) to indigenous manufacture of specified
IT hardware described as consumer premise equipment,
which includes routers, broadband modems, set-top
boxes for gaining access to the Internet and set-top boxes
for TVs. Exemption to parts, components and accessories
thereof for use in the manufacture of these products.
Mahesh Jaising, partner at BMR & Associates, LLP

A four per cent SAD has been imposed on populated PCBs used for the manufacture of personal computers
(laptops or desktops), and a two per cent SAD has been imposed on populated PCBs for mobile phones/tablets.

Import of populated PCBs by manufacturers
of mobile phones/tablets now attracts a two
per cent duty. This will have a positive im-
pact on domestic manufacture of PCBs. How-
ever, companies that have already made investments in
India, without factoring in the duty on the manufacture
of the above-mentioned products, will incur an addi-
tional cost of two per cent. Mahesh Jaising, partner
at BMR & Associates, LLP
Introduction of SAD on populated PCBs is use-
ful. The only issue here is that the SAD that is paid
on populated PCBs is allowed to be adjusted over the
excise duty on the finished product. So it may or may
not encourage buyers from sourcing it locally. How-
ever, those products that do not attract excise duty in
India may be incentivised to get their populated PCBs
assembled here. Benefits are not very quantifiable right
now; some more analysis has to be made. But yes, there
are some benefits and these will increase the business
for EMS companies. Rajoo Goel, secretary general,
ELCINA
It is a good step. The government should complete-
ly discourage import of populated PCBs in the country.
Populated PCBs should be taxed to the highest level,
and so should be the family of components, because
there is a huge potential to assemble these in India.

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 77

 make in india
Many traders have switched to manufacturing by just That should be prohibited. Introduction of SAD is not
importing the goods in semi-knocked-down form. They going to affect motherboard manufacturers that much as
are cheating the government by obtaining populated they will get the import credit for the same. It will help
PCBs almost as finished products in disassembled form. EMS companies. Nitin Kunkolienker, VP, MAIT

BCD is being exempted on specified raw materials used in the manufacture of micro-fuses, sub-miniature fuses,
resettable fuses and thermal fuses. Further, BCD has been reduced to 2.5 per cent on neodymium magnets and
magnet resins used to manufacture brushless DC motors, subject to actual user conditions.

Reduction of BCD on specified capital goods
used in the manufacture of various fuses is
a boost to component manufacturing and
will enrich the supply chain. M.N. Vid-
yashankar, president, IESA
Some specific recommendations of ELCINA, which
were pending since many years, have also been ad-
dressed this year, and this is one of them. Rajoo
Goel, secretary general, ELCINA

BCD and SAD have been exempted for machinery, electrical equipment, other instruments and their parts
(except populated PCBs) used for the assembly, testing, marking and packaging of semiconductor
chips and liquid crystal display fabrication units, subject to actual user conditions.

By this, the government is hoping to create
an environment that encourages the setting
up of fabs in India. Mahesh Jaising,
partner at BMR & Associates, LLP
The government has already introduced incentive
schemes like MSIPS to encourage the setting up of fabs
in India. This amendment is another positive gesture
by the government as it will reduce the capex costs
involved in setting up fabrication units. Nitin
Kunkolienker, VP, MAIT

Steps taken for ease of doing business

1. Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2016,
has been introduced with the Union Budget 2016-
17. It will be effective from June 1, 2016. Its salient
features are:
An appeal pending before the commissioner
(appeals) with respect to an impugned order as
on March 1, 2016, will qualify for declaration
to be filed on or before December 31, 2016.
The declarant has to pay tax along with in-
terest and penalty equal to 25 per cent of the
penalty imposed in the impugned order within
15 days from the date of acknowledgement
of the declaration, and the designated officer
will pass an order of the discharge of dues.
2. IGCR-1996 has been amended to IGCR-2016. Key
features are:
End use certification, which was to be obtained
from the local deputy commissioner, excise, has
been waived.
Reporting time for imported goods in the manu-
facturing facility has been increased from one
day to two working days (excluding holidays).
Instead of approval, the excise (AC/DC) officer
will now forward a copy of the application to
the AC/DC, customs.
Import plan for the full year submitted to
customs and excise departments need not be
monitored by the authorities for each import,
and returns can be filed on a quarterly/yearly
basis.
Reference: Amendment in The Customs Act, 1962,
Vide No. 32/2016 - Customs (N. T.)

78 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

 Industry Leaders Views
This Budget, unlike any other,
has not treated technology in iso-
lation but integrated the effective
use of technology across all the
strategic imperatives in keeping
with the intent of a digital India. It
has laid emphasis on governance
reforms and ease of doing busi-
ness, while highlighting the need
for enhancing educational skills.
However, we are disappointed with the announce-
ment of R&D incentives being reduced, because this
move could be detrimental in building India as an inno-
vation hub. I strongly urge the government to reconsider
this move, as any restrictions on the R&D ecosystem are
likely to decelerate innovation and restrain the ambi-
tious Make in India and Digital India vision. Debjani
Ghosh, president, MAIT
The government impetus being
given to Make in India initia-
tive by providing tax and duty
benefits will boost the manufac-
turing sector for a long period of
time and strengthen the manu-
facturing capabilities of Indian
companies. The industry today is
well equipped to address envi-
ronmental concerns; however,
the government should consider formulating a coherent
policy, wherein development and environment conser-
vation go hand-in-hand. The government should also
place emphasis on incentivising the manufacture of
energy-efficient and eco-friendly products. Manish
Sharma, president, CEAMA and MD, Panasonic India
and South Asia
The effort to incentivise the
Make in India programme by
way of domestic value addition
in the EMS segment is a step
in the right direction as is the
removal of customs duties. This
augurs well for us, as majority
of spending in our industry is on
imported ESDM items. Sunil
Khanna, president and MD,
Emerson Network Power India
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
Given the challenges the finance
minister has to contend with to
meet the high expectations of
various sectors of the industry,
SMEs, big corporate houses, the
middle class and social sectors,
the Budget has come up to our
expectations. He has drawn a
roadmap for relief to all sectors;
as GDP growth gets accelerated, it
will lead to higher revenues available with the govern-
ment. Vikram Desai, president, ELCINA and MD,
Desai Electronics Pvt Ltd
Imports of assembled sub-
systems like chargers/adaptors,
batteries and wired headsets/
speakers for the manufacture of
mobile phones will cost 16.5 per
cent more due to withdrawal of
BCD and SAD.
On the other hand, inputs,
parts, components and the sub-
parts for manufacturing these
and other electronics sub-systems have been reduced to
zero per cent. Further, imports of populated PCBs will
cost two per cent to four per cent more. Both reflect a
strong commitment to promoting local value addition
in electronics. Vinay Shenoy, chairman, IESA and
MD, Infineon Technologies
The IGCD procedure has been
simplified, allowing duty exemp-
tions to importers/manufacturers
based on self-declaration, obviat-
ing the need for permissions from
the central excise authorities.
Various provisions for the sector
announced in the Budget would,
in the long term, encourage do-
mestic value-added manufactur-
ing of electronics hardware and make it as competitive
as imports. The announcements are in line with Make
in India initiative and towards reducing transaction
costs. However, a lot more needs to be done to develop
India as an electronics manufacturing hub. Vinod
Sharma, chairman, CII National Committee on ICTE
Manufacturing and MD, Deki Electronics Ltd
Reproduced from EFY Groups Electronics Bazaar
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 79
 make in india

Market Survey:

Traversing The Solar Path of IndIa

I
ndia, with an ambitious goal of installing enough to match the pace of growing demand.
100GW of solar energy capacity under So people are coming forward to look for
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mis- alternatives, and solar fits the bill. Major fac-
sion (JNNSM) by 2022, is expecting a call for tors boosting the current and future growth
huge capital investmentto the tune of ` 6 in the solar energy segment are summarised
trillion. In addition, solar power projects re- in Table I.
quiring investments of about ` 900 billion are
planned to be bundled with thermal power On the way to Make in India
projects. Typical investors would include Growth prospects along with the proposed
Sudeshna Das is
senior executive large public sector undertakings and inde- five-fold increase in JNNSM targets will
editor at EFY pendent power producers. State governments definitely boost solar manufacturing industry
have also come out with state-specific solar in the country. This, in turn, will help in the
policies to promote addition of solar capac- creation of technology hubs for manufacturing
ity. As part of Indias ambitious goal, total broadly in sync with Make in India initiative.
solar power installed capacity in the country Apart from local players, global solar
has crossed 5GW in 2015, including 4.7GW manufacturers also have an eye on India as
of utility-scale solar and 525MW of rooftop one of their preferred destinations for solar
solar power capacity. energy investment. According to industry
sources, there are a host of global renewable
The growth drivers energy firms that have shown an interest in
One of the key reasons why solar industry is investing here. India has made it clear that
growing in India is the fact that the country it will encourage global as well as local solar
itself is developing. Good power supply is manufacturers to make in India and is offer-
one of the key enablers of development these ing many incentives to these firms to start
days. Indias power requirement is expected to production here. Recently, we have seen a
grow by more than five per cent annually over flurry of global investors investing in states
the next decade, while supply is projected to like New Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The
fall short by 3.6 per cent. Here, the alarming numbers are expected to increase substan-
fact is that traditional energy sources are not tially in the coming months.
However, numerous challenges need to be
addressed to make Make in India initiative a
TABLE I
reality for solar manufacturing. Off-grid solar
SOLAR INDUSTRY GROWTH FACTORS IN INDIA power systems face major challenges like
Demand side Supply side high capex investment requirements, inef-
Rising energy needs in the country Currently, power generation in India is ficient subsidy disbursement processes, no
Persistent energy shortage in the country heavily dependent on non-renewable
minimum guarantee of return on investment
with average demand-supply gap revolving natural resources such as coal and die-
around 12 per cent of total power supply sel, resulting in fast depletion of those and so on. Moreover, it is not feasible to ren-
Future increase in per capita electricity resources. It is compelling the govern- der any generic installation approach due to
consumption up to around 1900kWh by ment and power-generation companies varying consumer locations and preferences.
2032 from the current consumption of to consider renewable energy sources,
Thus, increasing solar capacity in the country
more than 1000kWh (as per the power especially solar power
ministry forecasts) The favorable environment created by requires planning and innovation to get rid of
Favourable policy measures such as government through subsidy schemes those challenges.
JNNSM aimed at encouraging investment and policies encourage power-genera-
in the solar energy sector tion companies to invest in solar sector Challenges to be addressed
Increasing public awareness about issues and thus promoting growth
such as energy scarcity and environmental Huge demand for electricity in rural Multiple decentralised schemes are available
sustainability fuelling the demand for eco- areas lacking grid connectivity and from different ministries to facilitate solar
friendly power, hinting at growth opportuni- abundant availability of sun in India electrification. These need to be integrated or
ties for solar power throughout the year
linked to provide clear directives to the indus-

80 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM


TABLE II
YEAR-WISE ROADMAP TO ACHIEVE THE TARGET
OF 100GW SOLAR CAPACITIES BY 2020
2015-16 2016-17
Rooftop solar (GW) 3 7
Large-scale solar (GW) 4 6
Ultra-mega power projects (GW) 0 5
Total (GW) 7 18
(Source: RE-Invest by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy)
try and users. A centralised system to
disburse capital subsidies may further
streamline the process. Introduction
of an audit system for monitoring the
obligatory solar purchase by discoms
and heavy penalty for defaulters may
ensure adherence to fulfillment of
solar purchase obligation.
It is hardly possible to achieve the
ambitious target of 100GW by float-
ing tenders. Therefore just like wind
energy segment, feed-in tariff mecha-
nism could be useful in solar as well.
The decision to drop anti-dumping
duty on the import of solar cells
may be a big hindrance for domestic
manufacturing.
Growth of solar industry in India
opens a huge market for polysilicon.
In the absence of domestic capac-
ity, India is heavily dependent on
imports. Polysilicon manufacturing
involves high initial investment and
also needs large volumes to achieve
return on investment.
Local manufacturing needs spe-
cial incentives to compete with global
manufacturers. These incentives may
either be in the form of tax sops or
policies that stipulate special prefer-
ence for local vendors. This, in turn,
will benefit the solar ecosystem in
terms of productivity, foreign trade,
employability and so on. One good
news is that, Adani and SunEdision
have announced an investment of
US$ 4 billion in Gujarat for vertically-
integrated polysilicon refining facility.
Need to facilitate investment
Cost and financing are the key
hurdles in the way of realising the
100GW target. Potential problems
82 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
make in india
2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 Total
9 10 11 40
8 10 12 40
5 5 5 20
22 25 28 100
with transmission and land ac-
quisition could also act as hur-
dles in the way of achieving the
mammoth targets.
Specific solar sector schemes
need to be implemented for reduc-
ing the cost of finance and increas-
ing the return on investment. Sec-
toral cap for lending in the power
sector is also applicable for solar
and other renewable energy sectors.
Raising finance for solar systems is a
challenge with a dearth of low-
interest loans due to this sectoral
cap. Removal of this cap for renew-
able energy sector will improve
leverage for the renewable industry.
Benchmark prices offered un-
der different government subsidy
schemes or tenders for solar system
installation are often considerably
lower than actual costs of project
implementation. This leads to disin-
terest among industry players about
government tenders. Public-private
partnerships for government-owned
solar projects involving local entre-
preneurs as well as electricity sup-
ply companies can be an effective
model to ensure industry participa-
tion. Various forms of incentives
such as tax holidays and partial risk
guarantee (from state governments)
Indias solar rooftop map for 2016
1. Over 525MW of rooftop solar projects have been commissioned as of October 31, 2015
2. Tamil Nadu is the leading state with rooftop installations of more than 76MW
3. Total installed capacity in the residential segment is 143MW or 27 per cent of the total
market
4. Residential market is highly fragmented and dominated by local companies
5. Industrial and commercial markets will lead the growth of rooftop solar installations going
forward
can be provided to encourage the
solar industry.
Moreover, given that solar plants
tract huge demand for land may
turn out to be a challenge unless
the draconian land acquisition laws
in the country are streamlined.
Effective planning of projects also
requires site-specific pre-feasibility
analysis and assessment of local
household and agricultural demand
in the area.
Efficient storage in demand
Availability and reliability are im-
peratives for any successful energy
source. Energy-storage systems
and charging mechanisms play a
critical role to ensure reliability and
efficiency of solar power sources in
the country, especially during the
season of low solar light and in the
hinterlands of the country that are
prone to frequent power blackouts.
An efficient energy storage
system also helps ensure reduction
of maintenance cost by countering
intermittency in off-grid systems.
According to an industry source,
more than 50 per cent of compo-
nent cost for any off-grid solar
installation accounts for energy
storage systems. Technological in-
novations are required to develop
cheaper and more efficient energy
storage systems.
In the last decade, lithium-ion
based energy storage systems have
helped promote implementation
of off-grid solar energy facilities
by ensuring a captive source for
continuous power supply, thereby
minimising dependency on fossil
fuel or on-grid systems.
(Source: BRIDGE TO INDIA)
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Batteries alone are not sufficient
to store energy from solar panels.
There is a severe need for energy
storage with management solutions.
Concepts like smart technology and
net metering will evolve in order
to manage the energy reliably. The
sector is expected to witness huge
investment, large number of foreign
and domestic players entering this
domain and high level of awareness
among customers.
Innovative storage mechanisms
(such as flow batteries instead of
lead-acid and lithium-ion technolo-
gies) and hybridising solar plants
with either wind, pumped hydro or
biomass can make load balancing
more robust.
Powered by reliable backup
Growth of solar energy creates
huge opportunities for the complete
value chain and products required
to install a complete solar setup, es-
pecially for solar inverters for more
reliable backups. Inverters for solar
systems are in great demand given
the growing number of solar power
installations and continuous growth
ranging from turnkey projects to
solar rooftops.
The Indian market is diversify-
ing with the introduction of solar-
related products and solar-integrated
systems. R&D has become one of
the major focus areas of the power
backup systems market.
Solar technologies have evolved
a lot since these first made their
debut in the 1960s. While previously
solar photovoltaics were seen as a
thing of the future, today, techno-
logical breakthroughs have posi-
tioned the industry for huge growth.
A series of new developments in
solar photovoltaics technology also
promise to contribute to the indus-
trys success.
Consequently, the industry is
witnessing a shift towards new
technology and design in order
to support more sophisticated
appliances.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
Smart inverters on the way both grid-tie and off-grid inverters.
With technology being upgraded Considering unstable grids situa-
over time, solar power inverters tions, off-grid solar inverters are
have become smarter and offer a more suitable as compared to grid-
number of features that make these tie inverters, which have limited use
more efficient. Green UPS systems, in India currently, as these require
which offer efficiency rates of 9497 solar as well as grid power.
per cent, as against the usual 8088 Today, high-power-tracking
per cent efficiency units, are one of systems such as maximum power
the latest trends that have emerged point tracker based solar inverters
in the market. are being used. This is the technol-
ogy shift that is occurring from the
typical pulse width modulation
Steps to boost solar growth
inverters. Companies are employing
1. Faster and efficient implementation of more of this tracking technology to
renewable energy certificates extract the maximum from sunlight
2. Carbon trading as a source of revenue
and convert it into usable power.
3. Selection of the right location for
implementation of on-grid applications Another trend is hybrid invert-
4. Development of off-grid applications ers. There is lot of scope for devel-
5. Establishment of localised mini- opment in DG-solar hybrid spaces
grids, especially in regions that lack as only a few companies are capable
grid connectivity due to physical or of manufacturing the same. Con-
financial barriers sidering the net metering system in
India, inverters with backup facility
as well as the ability to interact with
Unique opportunities the grid will be in great demand.
Smartcities. The smartcity initiative being
undertaken by the government is likely to
Looking ahead
entail significant investments in installing Overall, the next few years seems to
renewable energy capacity. be an era for the Indian solar sector.
Railways. Indian Railways plans to It could even be considered the on-
leverage solar energy by installing solar set of a golden era for solar energy
power systems on rooftops of 500 trains sector if all good intentions of the
as a pilot project.
government turn to reality.
However, lack of standardisation
Over time, solar power inverters for off-grid systems makes designs
have become smarter and offer a and performance parameters dif-
number of features such as remote ficult to achieve. The government
monitoring and touchscreen tech- needs to establish process guide-
nology that have increased their lines and enforce stringent quality
demand. Even micro-inverters have standards to ensure sustainability of
received significant importance off-grid systems.
in the global market. In terms of Two big hindrances that impact
dimensions, compact inverters in the growth of solar sector in India
central sizes that have lesser weight are lack of proper knowledge among
and lower losses are growing in consumers and deficit of talented
popularity. Solar system developers manpower who can sell/install solar.
such as engineering, procurement Last, but not the least, sectorial
and construction companies are skill development programmes need
looking for inverter manufacturers to be supported by both government
that offer the latest technology and and industry to ensure availability
robust designs that will enable them of huge manpower to support en-
to operate in different conditions. hanced production and installation
The Indian power industry offers of solar systems.
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 83
 NEW Products
Components
Intelligent power devices
Renesas Electronics has announced
six new intelligent power devices for
automotive motor and heater-control
applications. The devices provide an
extremely-reliable, high-performance
solution compared with mechanical
relays that switch the current flow on
and off in electronic control units.
Key features are:
1. Low on-resistance for reduced
loss and high reliability
2. Guaranteed on-resistance
characteristics at low power sup-
ply voltages and built-in diagnostic
functions
3. Excellent break-down tolerance
Renesas Electronics Corp.
www.renesas.com
Transceiver
Industrial systems designers now
have a robust IO-Link dual-channel
transceiver that
dissipates lowest
heat in the small-
est package with
MAX14827 from
Maxim Integrated.
Key advantages of
the product are:
1. Lower on-
resistance of 2.5-ohm ron (typical)
saves more than 50 per cent power
dissipation
2. Tiny WLP package saves 60 per
cent space
3. Robust 65V Abs maximum ena-
bles flexible TVS protection selection
4. High integration and configura-
bility reduce SKUs with selectable PP,
NPN and PNP output
Maxim Integrated
www.maximintegrated.com
84 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
MAKE IN INDIA
Encoder splitter
Some features of this product are:
1. Input signals
4V DC - 10V
DC/10V DC - 24V
DC and HTL/
TTL selectable by
jumpers
2. Push pull/open collector (tran-
sistor) (HTL/TTL) outputs
3. Supply voltage 24V DC at 1A
4. Output pulse voltage 3.0V DC -
12V DC adjustable or 24V DC as per
requirement
5. Each output can drive 100mA
load
6. DIN-rail mountable/housed in
an IP65 polycarbonate enclosure
Q-Log Controls and Systems
www.qlogcontrols.com
Secure microcontrollers
The 150-250 million connected cars
expected on our roads by 2020 will be
kept safe by chips like the latest secure
microcontrollers from STMicroelectron-
ics. The microcontrollers (ST32G512A
and ST33G1M2A) provide this pro-
tection by leveraging the companys
secure-technology know-how, and are
qualified to the stringent automotive
quality standard AEC-Q100.
STMicroelectronics
www.st.com
Polarised appliance inlets
The inlets ensure the position of live
contact from the
main socket into
the appliance
when cordsets
with polarised
main plugs are
used, for example, NEMA or UK
plugs. However, these cordsets must
be equipped with polarised connec-
tors C7p. The polarised inlets can also
be used with common C7 connectors,
however, polarisation is not ensured.
Type 2577 is designed for screw-on
mounting, whereas type 2579 is for
snap-in mounting.
SCHURTER Electronics India Pvt Ltd
www.SCHURTER.co.in
Quad SPI FRAM
Fujitsu Electronics has announced the
development of MB85RQ4ML, its new
FRAM product with 4Mbit of memory,
which represents the highest density in
the non-volatile
RAM market
with a quad SPI
interface. This
product operates
with a 1.8V single
power supply, using a quad
SPI interface with four I/O pins, and
can achieve data transfer rate of 54MB
per second. Its high-speed operation
and non-volatile memory make it ideal
for use in networking, RAID controller
and industrial-computing fields.
Fujitsu Electronics Pacific Asia Ltd
www.fujitsu.com
I/O controllers
Microchip Technology has announced
the new SCH322X family of I/O
controllers customised to the needs of
industrial and embedded computing
designers. This next-generation product
family features smaller packages and
long product lifecycles, and allows for
more cost-effective industrial and em-
bedded applications. SCH322X is avail-
able in both commercial and industrial
operating temperature versions.
Microchip Technology Inc.
www.microchip.com
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
Microcontroller
In comparison with earlier XMC1000
products, the new XMC1400 series of-
fers greater control performance and
additional connectivity. XMC1400
uses ARM Cortex-M0 processor and
provides comprehensive peripheral
functionality tailored carefully to
their target applications. These in-
clude actuators in industrial automa-
tion, digital power conversion for
control of LED lamps and multi-phase
electric motors and electronic control
of small combustion engines such
as those in lawnmowers, chainsaws
or generators.
Infineon Technologies India Pvt Ltd
www.infineon.com
Constant-current driver IC
Key features include:
1. Primary-side regulation
2. High voltage power MOSFET
integrated
3. High constant-current accuracy
of 3%
4. Low bills of material cost;
PF>0.5
5. Cycle-by-cycle current limiting
6. Output short/open circuit pro-
tection
7. Over-temperature protection
8. SD660X for LED spotlight,
downlight and more
Silan Microelectronics
www.silan.com.cn
Infotainment processor
Texas Instruments has announced
the addition of an entry infotainment
processor for display audio, radio/au-
dio and other cost-sensitive in-vehicle
segments to the Jacinto 6 family of
system on chips. The new DRA71x
processor is developed on the same
architecture as other Jacinto 6 devices,
enabling automotive manufactur-
ers to scale their investment without
additional R&D or significant bill of
material increases to deliver a diverse
portfolio of products with hardware
and software compatibility. The scal-
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
able performance within DRA71x
allows developers to target specific
performance for their applications
and leverage headroom using higher-
performance variants, if required,
without software modifications or
hardware changes.
Texas Instruments Inc.
www.ti.com
t&m
Digital clampmeter
27T-Auto is a 3-digit
2000-counts digital clamp-
meter having current range
up to 400A AC and volt-
age range of 600V AC and
600V DC of 25mm. Basic
accuracy for AC current is
2% rdg+3dgt, for AC
voltage 1.2% rdg+3dgt
and for DC voltage 0.8%
rdg+3dgt. In addition, it has features
like NCV, temperature, max function,
resistance, audible continuity and
diode test function.
Meco Instruments Pvt Ltd
www.mecoinst.com
Data loggers
Gipitronix has launched a series of
panel-mounted instruments including
single-channel
and multi-
channel data
loggers. These
are built using
high-quality components, unique de-
sign methodology and elaborate man-
ufacturing process for tough environ-
ments. These are available in standard
enclosures with either graphical LCD
or 7-segment LED displays.
These data loggers are useful
for many industrial and laboratory
applications that require data acquisi-
tion and analysis for ensuring and
enhancing the quality of products
and processes.
Gipitronix Pvt Ltd
sales@gipitronix.com
Video borescope
FLIR VS70 is a tough shock-resistant
videoscope that features
intuitive handset controls
that enable users
to manoeuvre the
narrow cam-
era probe into
extremely tight
spaces to deliver
sharp, vivid video and images.
Advanced inspection solutions,
expansion cameras and add-on acces-
sories enable users to expand VS70 to
address many different applications
like building inspections, industrial
maintenance, aircraft and marine
inspections, vehicle service and
HVAC repairs.
FLIR Systems India Pvt Ltd
www.flir.in
Multi-utility T&M solution
Scientech DesignLab2 is a solution
for engineers in design, application
and in-field services, as it saves
space, tests faster, troubleshoots
faster, enables large storage of
waveforms on PC and has an event
scheduler to automate testing time,
among other features. DesignLab2
aims to replace the existing big-size
lab setup into a compact, innovative,
portable, affordable and powerful
solution.
Scientech Technologies Pvt Ltd
www.ScientechWorld.com
Hipot testers
Slaughter introduces 0290 series
hipot testers,
which are
cost-effective
and easy to
use for hipot
safety testing.
Hipot 0290 series are available in four
application-specific models, namely,
0294 DC hipot, 0295 AC hipot, 0296
AC/DC hipot and 0297 AC/DC hipot
with IR measurement. All 0290-series
models are equipped with ground
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 85

continuity testing and have PC con-
nectivity through USB ports.
Varsatech Instruments Co.
www.varsatech.com, www.hipot.com
LIGHtInG
LED tubelight
Binay high-efficiency low-wattage
Quadra ES PowerLED tubelight is
designed as a retrofit replacement for
the standard 36W fluorescent tube. It
provides performance at 33 per cent
lower power consumption than other
LED tubes. It achieves this at a power
consumption of 12W, using very high-
efficiency LEDs. This achieves con-
siderable power savings. Light output
performance is equivalent to that of
the T-8 (1200mm) fluorescent tube.
Binay Opto Electronics Pvt Ltd
www.binayLED.com
Solar streetlight
The aluminium-steel housing has
lithium batteries, solar panels, circuits,
LEDs with PIR
sensors for a
compact design.
It provides uni-
form light distri-
bution, which is
soothing to eyes.
These streetlights can be mounted on
a pole in just 15 minutes. Batteries run
for 24 hours to 30 hours once charged.
These can be used at streets, gardens,
parks, roadways, pathways, parking
lots and so on.
Waa Mall LLP
www.waamall.in, www.waaree.com
Solar-LED streetlight controller
McUD171M is an automatic dusk-to-
dawn controller designed with the
86 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
New Products
latest microcontroller based technol-
ogy for providing a highly-accurate,
easy and economical solution to OEMs
making solar LED streetlights. It can
drive any load from 24W to 40W with
simple links provided. For different
types of solar street lights requirement
like 24W, 30W, 36W or 40W, the same
controller can be used by simple links
provided on board.
Macon Power Pvt Ltd
www.macon.in
mIsCeLLaneoUs
System on module
Apalis TK1 is ideal for building high-
end embedded products, which need
advanced performance or supreme
graphics, along with high-speed con-
nectivity interfaces, mostly targeting
applications in vision and GPU-
accelerated parallel processing. It is
pin-compatible with existing Apalis
systems on modules based on NVIDIA
Tegra 3 and NXP i.MX 6 quad/
dual processors.
Toradex
www.toradex.com
IP phone
Matrix presents SPARSH VP510E, an
enterprise-grade IP phone offering in-
telligent context sensitive keys, which
changes according to usage function-
alities. Key features are:
1. 240x64 pixels graphical LCD
with backlight
2. Four context-sensitive hard keys
3. Fixed function keys (with LED),
namely, Voice Mail, Mute, Do Not
Disturb, Headset and Speaker
4. Fixed function keys (without
LED), namely, Hold, Conference,
Redial and Transfer
5. Built-in 16 DSS keys for feature,
line and extension
6. Message waiting and ringer lamp
7. Headset interface: 3.5mm, RJ9
8. PC and LAN Ethernet ports
9. Power over Ethernet (IEEE
802.3af)
Matrix Comsec
www.MatrixComsec.c.com
Power supplies
RECOM extends its portfolio of
medical-certified power supplies
with two new series: RACM40 and
RACM65. Offering 40W and 65W of
power respectively, these compact
and highly-efficient power supplies
are available either as open-frame or
in semi-enclosed cases. All modules
of RACM family are equipped with
two independent protective meas-
ures for maximum patient protec-
tion, which is a must for safety in
medical technology.
RECOM Electronic
www.recom-power.com
Terra battery
Some unique features of this product
are:
Superior grid structure. High-pres-
sure die-cast spine and grid reinforces
corrosion resistance
Reinforced tubular-type separa-
tors. Specially-designed tubular pouch
achieves highest efficiency and strong
resistance to short-circuits
Highest lead amount. 20 per cent
extra pure lead amount compared to
industry standard
Terra Motors Corp.
www.terra-motors.com
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Do-it-yourself
P
DEE
SAN KASH
PRA
ALARM CLOCK-Cum-
TEMPERATURE INDICATOR
PROF. K. PADMANABHAN

A
lthough many circuits for digi- the PCB upside-down. This places of downloading a program on to the
tal clocks have been published its decimal-point LED on top-left in- chip, because it uses flash memory
in Electronics For You, this stead of bottom-right so as to show and can be programmed with 5V sup-
circuit is a PIC microcontroller (MCU) the symbol of degree (o). Hence, we ply. PICkit2 programmer is used for
based easy-to-construct gadget, which use four separate common-anode downloading the hexadecimal code on
combines a clock with a temperature LED units instead of a combo LED to the chip. Cost of 16F73 is quite low.
indicator in the same display. The display component. Port pins in the PIC chip have
display uses four 7-segment common- The MCU choice is now for the greater power capability than those
anode LEDs. It shows the clock, and more convenient PIC chip from the in the 8051 family. So driving LED
in every minute for five seconds the low-cost 16F family. This is a 28-pin segments can be made by directly
display alternates to show the tem- chip with ports a, b and c, as well connecting the segments to the port
perature in oC. An alarm facility with as several internal peripherals like pins, without any buffer IC. Thus,
buzzer is provided. timer, ADC and UART. Most impor- component count is reduced.
Clocks precision is due to the tant advantage of PIC is the ease There are several analogue-to-
20MHz high-frequency crystal that digital converter input channels. Speed
is used with PIC16F73 chip. Second Test Points of conversion is as short as 20 micro-
displays decimal point blinks every Test point Details seconds. So it is easy to connect any
second. The display for temperature analogue signal and digitise the same
TP0 0V (GND)
uses three digits from the left and for displaying with LEDs. Here, the
TP1 +5V
the fourth digit just shows oC. For analogue signal is that of temperature.
this, the fourth LED is soldered on TP2 +3.3V Texas Instruments chip LM35 is a

X1 = 230V AC PRIMARY TO 9V, 500mA SECONDARY TRANSFORMER

L X1

1
~ BR1 +
3
1 IC1 3
7805 TP1
R2 R3 R5
R4
DB107_ 4 1.2K 1.2K 1.2K 1.2K
2
~ C5
1000u,35V
2

T3 T4
R1 T1 T2
BC558 BC558
10K BC558 BC558
N 3
GND C1
IC2 2 0.1u
C2
LM35 VO 0.1u
Vcc 1

1 VDD 20
MCLR
2 28 DISP1 DISP2 DISP3 DISP4
RA0 RB7
TP2 3 27 8 3 8 3 8 3 8 3
R8 RA1 RB6
CA CA CA CA CA CA
1.2K 4 RA2 RB5 26 CA CA
VR1
5 25
10K RA3 RB4 5 dp a 7 5 dp a 7 5 dp a 7 5 dp a 7
6 RA4 RB3 24
7
IC3 23
RA5 RB2
9
PIC16F73 22 10 g 6 10 g
ZD1 R6 R7 OSC1 RB1 b b 6 10 g b 6 10 g b 6
3.3V 10K 10K 10 OSC2 RB0 21
11 18 f e d c f e d c f e d c f e d c
RC0 RC7
12 17 9 1 2 4 9 1 2 4 9 1 2 4 9 1 2 4
RC1 RC6
13 RC5 16
RC2
14 RC4 15
RC3
8 Vss Vss 19
PZ1
PIEZO
BUZZER
TP0
C3 XTAL1 C4
S1 S2 15p 20MHz 15p

S1 = SET TIME S2 = SET ALARM

Fig. 1: Circuit of the alarm clock-cum-temperature indicator

88 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

low-cost temperature sensor and is
connected to the analogue input pin
of the PIC chip. It can measure tem-
peratures in the range -50oC to 100oC,
but in this unit it is mounted on the
PCB only to show room temperature.
Circuit and working
Fig. 1 shows the circuit diagram of
the alarm clock-cum-temperature in-
dicator. PIC16F73 IC has its reset on
pin 1. A resistor and capacitor junc-
tion is tied to this pin to perform re-
set on applying power. The 5V power
supply is obtained from a low-voltage
transformer (X1), rectifier (BR1) and
voltage regulator IC 7805 (IC1).
Pin 20 is Vcc and pins 19 and 8
are grounded. Pins 9 and 10 are for
connecting a crystal for the oscillator.
Any crystal frequency is alright, but
it is better to use the highest 20MHz
crystal for speed. Two capacitors,
each of 15pF, are tied to the end of
the crystal to ground. This frequency
is called high speed, or HS. There is a
configuration register inside the chip,
which should be programmed for HS,
among other choices, such as XT, RC
and LP. The configuration byte we
use is 52 hex.
Port B is programmed as output
pins. Port A pins are programmed as
input pins and pin 2 (AN0) is used as
analogue input pin from temperature
sensor LM35. Port C pins 4 through 7
are used for driving the anodes of the
four LEDs.
Pin C.0 is used as input pin for
connecting switch S1 to high logic
in order to set the time of clock or
alarm time. By continuously pressing
it, time changes and the switch has
to be released immediately after the
required time is displayed.
Pin C.3 is used as another input
pin. It is used for setting the alarm
time. S2, which grounds this pin,
will set the alarm time to be the time
currently on display. Thereafter, S1 is
to be pressed to adjust to the current
clock time.
Pins C.2 and C.1 are used for sec-
onds blinking (not used here) and for
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
PARTS LIST
Semiconductors:
IC1 - 7805, 5V voltage regulator
IC2 - LM35 temperature sensor
IC3 - PIC16F73 MCU
DISP1-DISP4 - 7-segment common-anode
LED display
T1-T4 - BC558 pnp transistors
ZD1 - 3.3V zener diode
BR1 - DB107 bridge rectifier
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, 5% carbon):
R1, R6, R7 - 10-kilo-ohm
R2-R5, R8 - 1.2-kilo-ohm
Capacitors:
C1, C2 - 0.1F ceramic
C3, C4 - 15pF ceramic
C5 - 1000F, 35V electrolytic
Miscellaneous:
S1-S2 - Tactile switch
VR1 - 10-kilo-ohm trimpot
XTAL1 - 20MHz crystal oscillator
CON1 - 2-pin connector terminal
PZ1 - Piezo buzzer
BATT.1 - 9V battery
X1 - 230V AC primary to 9V,
500mA secondary
transformer
clock alarm output. A piezo buzzer of
a musical type is connected to it.
Port B pins are used for sinking
the currents from the segments of
the four LED displays. Segments of
all LEDs are connected together and
a multiplexed drive lights one LED
after another with a delay of 1ms.
Multiplexing is done by port C pins
4 through 7, which go low one after
another in sequence. This low-going
signal pulls the bases of transistors
T1 through T4 in sequence, causing
current to flow from the collector pins
to anode pins of the LEDs. Emitters
of the transistors are all tied to 5V
line. Transistors are therefore of pnp
type. We can use 2N2907 for bright
displays; BC557 can also be used.
While signal from the temperature
sensor is given to AN0 pin (2), pin 5
is connected to a supply voltage of
2.55V. This is necessary because ADC
of the chip converts to values from 0
to 255. Reference voltage is derived
from a zener of 3.3V (which has the
least temperature variation among all
zener values) and a preset. This pin
5 is programmed to be the reference
voltage pin for the ADC. This is done
by ADCON1 register bits of the chip.
By writing 01 to this register, choice
of reference voltage for the ADC to
work is from pin 5.
Since LM35 gives a linear 10mV
output for each degree of tempera-
ture, it will output a value of, say,
250mV for 25oC. This will be read
by the ADC as 25 because it is one-
tenth of the reference voltage. For a
temperature of 100oC, it will give 100
x 10 = 1000mV or 1V. This will be
shown as 100 on the ADC. Value of
ADC register ADRES is used to show
the temperature on the display.
In order to convert the ADC
value to decimal, divide the value
by ten to get the high digit; balance
or remainder will be low digit. First
three LEDs show the 3-digit tem-
perature value and the fourth digit is
programmed to show oC. Therefore
the fourth LED is turned top-down in
the PCB while soldering.
It may be noted from the circuit
diagram that order of the segments
of the LED displays is not in se-
quence while wiring port B pins. So
port B pins 0 through 7 are not wired
in sequence to segments a, b, c, d, e,
f, g and DP. Rather, order is changed
in order to ensure that PCB tracks
are easily routed. Order used is b-a-f-
g-c-d-e-DP.
It is to be understood that, ac-
cording to this connection, look-up
table for the segment code for each
and every digit displayed is to be
prepared. For example, to show
number 3, segments a, b, c, d and g
have to be made low to sink the cur-
rent and make these glow. As per the
above-mentioned order, this gives
the code as 0-0-1-0-0-0-1-1. This
byte is 23, which is the look-up table
entry for number 3.
Software
Code for the clock as well as the
temperature indicator was developed
using Oshon PIC simulator _IDE soft-
ware. It provides high-level BASIC
for code development and has all
peripherals available for simulation
of a program under development on
the computer screen.
Complete program is in .ASM for-
mat and the program code in hEX is
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 89

Fig. 2: Actual-size PCB layout for the alarm clock-cum-temperature indicator circuit
Fig. 3: Component layout of the PCB
in a hex file. Using PICkit2 program-
mer it can be entered into a fresh PIC
chip. Note that the configuration byte
is 52 hex. You use 42 hex if you want
to protect the code from being copied.
Construction and testing
An actual-size, single-side PCB of
the circuit is shown in Fig. 2 and
its component layout in Fig. 3. As-
semble the circuit on the PCB as it
minimises time and assembly errors.
90 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Do-it-yourself
Carefully assemble the components
and double-check for any error(s).
Use a proper IC base for the MCU.
CON1 is a 2-pin connector used
to connect a 9V battery. For trouble-
EFY Note
The source code of
this project is
included in this
months EFY DVD and
is also available for free
download at source.
efymag.com
shooting, verify the voltages are as
listed in the test points table.
After powering on the circuit, a de-
fault value will be displayed. Press S1
to set the desired time. After setting the
time, press S2 to set alarm time. Now,
present time will be shown on the
display. The buzzer (PZ1) will sound
at the time set for the alarm.
Prof. K. Padmanabhan is an emeritus professor at
Alagappa college of Technology, Guindy, Chennai
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Do-it-yourself
BIS
WA
J
DAS IT

Arduino Based ESP8266

wireless weB serVer
M. KATHIRESAN, A. ROBSON BENJAMIN AND C. VIJAYAN

T
he project is based on low-
cost ESP8266 Wi-Fi module.
Currently, ESP8266 is gaining
popularity in the field of electronics
because it is low-cost, reliable and
easily available in the market. Most
documents related to this module
are in Mandarin (Chinese language)
and information provided in the
data sheet is not sufficient enough
for using ESP8266 for an applica-
tion. In order to fill the gap, people
from various countries have formed
an ESP8266 community forum,
which gives necessary details about
programming and other related is-
sues concerning this module. Fig. 1: Authors prototype
ESP8266 contains a built-in 32-
bit low-power CPU, ROM and RAM. PARTS LIST
It is a complete and self-contained Semiconductors:
Wi-Fi network solution that can MODULE1 - ESP8266 module
(Sunrom part no. 4255)
carry software applications as a IC1 - 7805, 5V voltage regulator
stand-alone device or connected IC2 - LM317 adjustable voltage
regulator
with a microcontroller (MCU). The IC3 - LM35 temperature sensor
module has built-in AT Command IC4 - LM358 operational amplifier
IC5 - HCF4094 8-stage shift and
firmware to be used with any MCU store bus register
via COM port. Salient features of IC6 - MAX3232 dual EIA-3232
ESP8266 are: driver/receiver
LED1 - 5mm LED
802.11 b/g/n protocol Fig. 2: ESP8266 module
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, 5% carbon):
Direct (P2P), soft-AP R1, R6 - 220-ohm
R2 - 330-ohm
Integrated TCP/IP protocol stack
Test Points R3-R5, R7, R8 - 10-kilo-ohm
Integrated PLL, regulators and VR1 - 10-kilo-ohm potmeter
power-management units Test point Details Capacitors:
C1 - 100F, 25V electrolytic
+19.5dBm output power in TP1 +5V C2, C4-C7 - 0.1F ceramic disk
802.11b mode TP2 +3.3V C3 - 1F, 25V electrolytic
Miscellaneous:
Supports antenna diversity (Voltage measured with respect to ground) S1-S3 - Tactile (push-button) switch
Integrated low-power 32-bit MCU LCD1 - 162 character module
SDIO 2.0, SPI, UART display

Wireless SoC Circuit and working CON1

Has GPIO, I2C, ADC, SPI, PWM
Maximum frequency is 80MHz
64k bytes of instruction RAM
96k bytes of data RAM
64k bytes of boot RAM
RISC architecture
CON2
- 2-pin connector
- DB9 connector
Circuit diagrams of the main board CON3, CON4 - 8-pin base connector for
child board
and child board are shown in Figs CON5, CON6 - 8-pin header connector for
3 and 4, respectively. We have used child board
J1 - 2-pin jumper connector
ESP8266 as a stand-alone device. - USB-to-serial converter
Supply voltage for the Wi-Fi module - 7V-12V DC regulated power
supply
is 3.3 volts. Child board is to be

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 91

 Do-it-yourself

+5V +3.3V
TP1 TP2
4

15

16
QP0
16

A/VEE

K
VDD 5

4
QP1

RS
CON1 15
J1 OE
6

5
(712)V 1 IC1 IC2 QP2

EN R/W
3 3 2
R8 1
STR
7805 LM317 10K 7

6
2 QP3
D
2 C2 1 3 IC5 14

7
C1 CP QP4

D0
100u 0.1u 10 HCF4094
R1 QS2 13

8
QP5

D1
R2 220E C3 9 LCD1
330E 1u QS1
12

9
8 QP6 16X2

D2
3 GND
GND CON3 CON4

10
11
LM35

2 QP7

D3
IC3

RESET TXD
Vo 1 16
ADC
15 RXD

11
1
R3 R4 R5 2
Vs

D4
CH_PD GPIO4
3 14
10K 10K 10K GPIO16 GPIO5 16

12
4 13
C5 C6

D5
GPIO14 GPIO0
5 12 0.1u 5 VCC 2
GPIO12 GPIO2 0.1u

13
6 11 C2 VS+

D6
GPIO13 GPIO15
1 8 7 10 4 1
S1

S3

S2

VCC GND

14
OUT1 Vcc 8 9 C2+ C1+

D7
VDD

Vss
C7

VO
2 7 9 3
IN1IC4 OUT2 R2OUT C1 0.1u
BASE

1
LM358

3
3 10 IC6 T1IN 11
IN1+ IN2 6 OF
T2IN
MAX3232

5 4 3 2 1

9 8 7 6
4 5 CHILD BOARD 14
T1OUT R1OUT
12
GND IN2+
R7 13 7 VR1
10K
R1IN T2OUT 10K
6 R2IN 8
VS
C4 GND
R6 CON2
LED1
220E 15 DB9
5mm 0.1u

Fig. 3: Circuit diagram of the main board of the low-cost ESP8266 based Wi-Fi Web server

transmitting, other-
1 16
wise, voltage may be
RESET TXD
2 15
inaccurate.
ADC RXD
3
CH_PD 14 All digital input/
GPIO4
4
GPIO16 GPIO5
13 output (I/O) pins
5 12
are protected from
GPIO14 GPIO0
over-voltage with a
6 11
GPIO12 GPIO2
snap-back circuit con-
CON5 7 10
GPIO13 GPIO15 CON6
nected between the
8 9
VCC GND pad and the ground.
MODULE1 Snap-back voltage
ESP8266 MODULE is typically 6V and
holding voltage is
CHILD BOARD Fig. 5: Preferences window of Arduino IDE 5.8V. This provides
Fig. 4: Circuit diagram of the child board for the protection from over-
circuit shown in Fig. 3 through resistor R5 and push-button voltage and ESD. Output devices are
S2 is provided for manual reset. also protected from reverse voltage
mounted on the main board. Programing mode pin 12 (GPIO0) is with diodes. LED1 is connected to
CON2 is used for COM port in- connected to 3.3V through R3, and pin 11 (GPIO2). Pin 6 (GPIO12) is
terface for connecting the module to S1 is used to bring the module to connected to 3.3V through R4 and
a PC and the module is programmed programing mode. Pin 3 (CH_PD) is provided with a push-button (S3) for
using a USB-to-serial converter. If connected to 3.3V through R8. debugging purposes.
physical COM port is available on ESP8266 also integrates a general- Every supplier of Wi-Fi modules
the PC, USB-to-serial converter is purpose 10-bit resolution ADC (pin follows a different pattern for output
not necessary. 2). It is typically used to measure pin arrangment. So no standard
ESP8266 module has 16 pins. voltage from the sensor or battery. PCB pattern can be followed. Read-
Pin 1 (RESET) is connected to 3.3V It cannot be used when the chip is ers of EFY can design their own

92 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

 PCB. Authors of this
article have purchased
ESP8266 module (Sun-
rom model no. 4255)
from Sunrom Technol-
ogies and the PCB is
designed to suite their
requirement.
An application has
been implemented to
measure room tem-
perature using LM35
teperature sensor
and an LED control
(on/off) using a Web
browser. LM35 is a
Fig. 6: Web page window calibrated temperature
sensor, whose sensitiv-
ity is 10 milli-volt/1C, but one can
build customised projects also.
ESP8266 can be used in home
Fig. 7: EFY logo automation, mesh networks, indus-

Fig. 8: Actual-size PCB pattern of the main board

Fig. 9: Component layout of the main board

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 93


trial wireless control, IP cameras,
sensor networks, smart power plugs,
baby monitors, wearable electron-
ics, security ID tags, position system
beacons and location-aware devices.
Software
In this project we have used Ar-
duino IDE for compiling and load-
ing programs. ESP8266 community
has developed a suitable plugin for
ESP8266 to use with Arduino IDE.
The plugin supports three types
of ESP8266 Wi-Fi boards. These
are generic ESP8266 board, node
MCU ESP8266 board and OLIMEX
ESP8266 development board.
Installing the ESP8266 Arduino
Addon. Install Arduino IDE (1.6.5
version). Launch Arduino IDE and
open preferences window from
FilePreferences option (Fig. 5).
Choose Additional Boards Managers
URLs: field and enter http://Arduino.
esp8266.com/stable/package_esp-
8266com_index.json. Click OK.
Open Boards Manager from
ToolsBoard: Arduino UnoBoards
Manager and scroll down to find
ESP8266 by ESP8266 Community.
Highlight the field and Install button
will appear. Click it. The process
will take nearly 30 minutes with an
Internet connection.
The software is simple. setup()
routine initalises the hardware by
configuring the serial port, GPIO2
pin as output and GPIO12 as input.
setupWiFi() routine configures the
wireless section. loop() routine han-
dles requests from the client.
Function size_t
sendProgmem(WiFiClient client,
const char progmem[], size_t size),
sends data to the client. array IN[ ]
corresponds to the Web page (Fig.
6), image[ ] array corresponds to
EFYLOGO (Fig. 7) and ES[ ] array
corresponds to the module (Fig. 2).
Arrays are created using file-to-
array converter software hexy. It is
free and can be downloaded from
the Internet. While creating the ar-
ray, remove image extension jpg for
94 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Do-it-yourself
Fig. 10: Actual-size PCB pattern of the
child board
Fig. 11: Component layout of the child board
Fig. 12: USB-to-serial UART converter
decoding purpose. All jpg files have
been included in this months DVD.
Suitable routines are included to
change and store SSID and password.
After configuration of ESP8266 is
done for Wi-Fi, an 8-bit serial shift to
parallel-shift register program using
HCF4094 is used for LCD interface.
Construction and testing
An actual-size, single-side PCB for
the main board is shown in Fig. 8
and its component layout in Fig. 9.
An actual-size, single-side PCB for
the child board is shown in Fig. 10
and its component layout in Fig.
11. IC6 to be soldered to the bottom
side after proper identification.
Install USB-to-serial UART con-
verter (Fig.12) driver software and
perform loopback test.
Select Generic ESP8266 Board
EFY Note
The source code of
this project is
included in this
months EFY DVD and
is also available for free
download at source.
efymag.com
Module from ToolsBoard: Arduino
Uno. Arduino IDE will accept your
board and you can fuse the program
using Upload button. To fuse the pro-
gram into the module, connect the
COM port (CON2) of the main board
to your PC through serial-to-USB
converter and select as well as note
down the emulating virtual COM
port number.
Power-on the main board. Hold-
ing Program button S1 (GPIO0)
down, press Reset button (S2) down.
Release Reset and then release S1
(GPIO0) button. Now ESP8266 will
enter into program mode. Click Up-
load button and the program will get
compiled and generated bin file will
load into the module.
Power-off the main board and
power-on your Wi-Fi dongle. Open
hyperterminal (X-CTU hyperterminal
has been used in EFY Lab) on the
PC with baud rate 115200 and select
COM port. Hold S3 down and power-
on the main board. You will get a
prompt for entering SSID and pass-
word. Release switch and enter SSID
and password of your Wi-Fi network
seperated by comma. Click Enter.
SSID and password will be stored in
the EEPROM.
For subsequent use, you need
not use S3. When Wi-Fi is connect-
ed, IP address of ESP8266 module
will be displayed in LCD1. Launch
the browser with the IP address. You
will get a Web page as shown in Fig.
6. Buttons marked as LEDON and
LEDOFF are for switching on and
off LED1. Appliances like fans and
motors can be switched on and off
with a suitable relay driver circuit
using optocouplers connected to pin
11 (GPIO2). Status of pin 6 (GPIO12)
and temperature readings are dis-
played using AJAX scripts without
refreshing the entire Web page.
M. Kathiresan is a retired sub-divisional engineer,
mobile services, BSNL, Madurai
A. Robson Benjamin is associate professor of phys-
ics at The American College, Madurai
C. Vijayan is associate professor of physics at
S. Vellaichamy Nadar College, Madurai
WWW.EFYMAG.COM

Programming The Mizar32 Board
in Lisp programming Language
T
his article aims to revive
Lisp programming language
for native, interactive and
incremental microcontroller (MCU)
program development by running a
dialect of Lisp (PicoLisp) as virtual
machine on the target. It also dem-
onstrates the power of Lisp through
execution of expressive Lisp pro-
grams on a 32-bit MCU.
Lisp offers a practical mathemat-
ical notation to write computer pro-
grams, mostly influenced by lambda
calculus. It is still the most-favoured
programming language for artificial
intelligence research.
Dynamic languages like Lisp
have been in existence as a ver-
satile tool for rapid application
development. Many interesting,
practical embedded solutions have
been developed so far with such
languages, supported as part of
a virtual machine (VM). Fig. 1
shows the system architecture of a
natively-programmable, digitally-
controlled system.
With the above architecture, it
is possible to write abstract, self-
adapting, middle-level drivers for
hardware modules on the MCU.
This enables the possibility of plat-
form-independent, native embedded
software development.
Lisp is the second-oldest high-
level programming language (the
first being FORTRAN). Linked lists
are one of its major data structures.
A program written in Lisp is con-
structed with lists. One of the most
interesting properties of this lan-
guage is its homo-iconic nature.
Although projects like PICOBIT
and ARMPIT Scheme already imple-
ment a compact Lisp programming
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
Do-it-yourself
RAMAN GOPALAN
APPLICATION
USER SHELL
VM LAYER
HARDWARE
Fig. 1: General MCU software system with a
VM layer
language for an MCU, there are
many reasons to consider PicoLisp
for programming MCUs.
PicoLisp is constructed as a VM.
It is written in portable C and is eas-
ily extendable. After much research
and programming to narrow down
on a Lisp implementation, PicoLisp
was chosen as a VM for the follow-
ing reasons:
1. Dynamic data types and struc-
tures
2. Formally homo-iconic
3. Functional programming
paradigm
4. An interactive REPL(read-
eval-print loop)
5. Pilog, a declarative language
with semantics of Prolog in
PicoLisp
6. Small memory footprint
7. Permissive, non-copyleft free
software licence
At the lowest level, PicoLisp pro-
grams are constructed from a single
data structure called cell. A cell is
a pair of machine words, which are
traditionally called CAR and CDR in
Lisp terminology. These words can
represent either a numeric value
(scalar) or address of another cell
(pointer). All higher-level data struc-
SAN
THE I
O
tures are built out of these cells.
Basic data types that PicoLisp
supports are numbers, symbols and
lists. As a result, it is one of the
fastest Lisp dialects available, since
only fewer options are checked at
runtime to parse a value.
PicoLisp in addition supports
an integrated database system. This
is a huge advantage for embedded
system applications that require
a convenient facility to perform
data transactions.
Overall logical software structure
for running full-fledged PicoLisp
on the MCU is shown in Fig. 2. It
shows the communication between
PicoLisp VM and various other mod-
ules in code base.
The code base remains highly
portable across various platforms
and architectures simply by using
the following key principles:
1. Code that is platform-independ-
ent is common code and should
be written in portable ANSI C as
much as possible. PicoLisp itself
is a part of the common code sec-
tion and is written in this way.
2. Code that is not generic (mostly
peripheral and CPU-specific code)
must still be made as portable
as possible by using a common
interface that must be imple-
mented by all platforms on which
PicoLisp runs. This interface is
called platform interface.
3. Platforms vary greatly in capabil-
ities. The platform interface tries
to group only common attributes
of different platforms.
Platform interface is declared
in inc/platform.h header file from
source distribution. It is a collection
of various components like UART,
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 95

INFINEONS XMC4500
TARGET
MCUs
INTERFACE PLATFORM
IMPLEMENTATION MODULES
[src/platform/xmc4/platform.c]
INTERFACE
PLATFORM
UART
COMMON
NEWLIB STUBS,
CODE
PICOLISP CORE
DEVICES
[src/picolisp] [src/newlib]
Fig. 2: Software system architecture for PicoLisp
SPI and timers. Each component
has an identifier, which is a number
that identifies that component in
PicoLisp. Generally, numbers are
assigned to components in their
natural order. For example, Port A
will have identifier value 0, Port B
will have 1 and so on.
Similarly, second SPI interface
(SPII) of the MCU will probably
have an identifier value of 1. Pin
0 in Port 1 on Infineon XMC4500
will be called P1_0 in PicoLisp.
Similarly, pin 27 in Port B on Atmel
AT32UC3A0256 will be called PB_27
(notice the single opening quote).
Some issues
PicoLisp cannot be directly com-
piled for a 32-bit RISC machine.
There are many issues to address
before one can use PicoLisp REPL
over UART or TCP/IP interface on
the MCU. For instance, supporting
programs such as memory allocators
are required for PicoLisp to function
correctly. We use Newlib C library
and implement stubs of code for the
memory allocator. We have to deal
with issues like routing plain I/O
over UART or TCP/IP interface of
the MCU.
We also require support for a
multimedia card memory interface
to store PicoLisp programs. We
can then load PicoLisp programs
at runtime. This implies a requisite
96 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Do-it-yourself
PLATFORM INTERFACE
DRIVERS IMPLEMENTATION
PIO PWM TMR CPU ADC
[inc/platform.h]
HW ABSTRACTION XMODEM
TCP/ULP STACK
LAYER
[src/xmodem.c] [src/ulp]
[src/modules]
for a file system. We also need to
implement stubs of code for file I/O
support over SPI protocol. For the
file system, we use FatFs FAT file
system module.
Once all supporting programs are
in place, getting PicoLisp to run on
the MCU is then fairly straightfor-
ward. On account of its small size, it
can be easily embedded on an MCU
in less than 256kB of flash. It can
also be easily compiled for a given
architecture with a toolchain like
GNU gcc. Currently, a Python based
build system called SCons is being
used to compile the code base.
Booting PicoLisp on the MCU
Given below is the sequence of
events that occur after the MCU is
powered up. The platform-initialisa-
tion code is executed. This program
does very low-level platform setup,
copies ROM contents to internal
RAM, zeroes out BSS section, sets
up the stack pointer and long jumps
to the main function.
1. The main function calls the
platform-specific initialisation
function and returns a result that
can be either a value indicating
success or failure. If it fails, main
instantly gets blocked. A debug-
ger can then inspect the internals
of the state machine.
2. The main function then initial-
ises the rest of the system: ROM
STMICROS STM32F103RE
PLATFORM PLATFORM
MODULES DRIVERS
[src/platform/stm32/platform.c]
ETH
SHELL ROM FILE BUFFERS,
[src/shell.c] SYSTEM SYSTICK
file system, XMODEM and termi-
nal support.
3. If files /rom/autorun.l or /mmc/
autorun.l exist, these are ex-
ecuted. If one file is found before
the other, it terminates further
execution of the other file and the
context jumps to the next step.
If it returns after execution, or if
files are not found, boot process
continues with the next step.
4. If boot parameter is set to stand-
ard and the shell was compiled
in the image, it is started. In the
absence of the shell, standard
PicoLisp server is started.
PicoLisp for MCUs
PicoLisp can be compiled to either
support a user console over UART
(the default and by far the most
popular) or a console over TCP/IP. It
can run on a wide variety of MCUs.
Some practical aspects of using
PicoLisp are listed below:
1. Code base is hardware independ-
ent. It proves to be extremely
portable across different architec-
tures.
2. Programs in PicoLisp are highly
adaptable, field programmable
and re-configurable for a variety
of practical applications.
3. Programming the MCU follows
a very natural iterative process
because PicoLisp permits the
user to develop programs in an
WWW.EFYMAG.COM

Fig. 3: Mizar32 development board
interactive and incremental way.
The code supplies various tools
to aid in native Lisp program-
ming (like an onboard vi-clone
text editor and XMODEM imple-
mentation to share files).
4. PicoLisp is a very extensible piece
of software. Adding support for
newer peripherals or modules is a
naturally-smooth process.
5. Code bears a royalty-free, permis-
sive, non-copyleft free software
licence. This permits code reuse
within a proprietary digital base.
Examples with Mizar32 board
Mizar32 development board (Fig. 3)
is a low-cost, stackable multi-board
computer designed and produced
under Free Hardware Licence by
SimpleMachines. It is composed of
a base module with Atmel AVR32
AT32UC3A0256 system-on-chip pro-
cessor running at 66MHz with 32MB
of SDRAM, 64kB SRAM, 256kB of
flash memory, SD card slot, USB
port and JTAG connector. A range of
add-on boards can be stacked on its
bus connectors to provide a serial
port, a character based LCD display,
VGA/mouse/keyboard/audio board,
Ethernet and so on.
It runs PicoLisp as its standard
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
software, allowing fast production of
custom solutions.
Mizar32 is shipped with PicoLisp
interpreter programmed into flash,
including support for the optional
TCP/IP networking module.
Mizar32 can also be programmed
by the end user with different,
customised versions of PicoLisp,
FreeRTOS or with other stand-alone
programs.
Once we have PicoLisp run-
ning on the board, you can access
all MCU peripherals from Lisp.
There are three Mizar32 variants,
namely, A, B and C. These use
AT32UC3A0512, AT32UC3A0256 and
AT32UC3A0128 chips, respectively.
SDRAM interface is the same for all
three, which is 32MB. The difference
is in flash size. Otherwise, the board
layout, memory layout is the same.
Let us now see two examples:
Toggling LED. A simple PicoLisp
program (led.l) is listed below that
toggles an LED using a user button
on Mizar32 board. Quoted sym-
bols PB_29 and PX_16 are PicoLisp
symbols that correspond to pin 29 on
Port B and pin 16 on Port X, respec-
tively. Parsing of these values is done
in the generic PIO Lisp module (via
hardware-abstraction layer). Tran-
sient symbols *pio-output* and *pio-
input* are used to set directions to
the port pins. A simple infinite loop
reads the button on the input pin and
toggles the LED if pressed.
# A sample for user-buttons.
# Declare pins
(setq led PB_29 button PX_16)
# A simple delay function
(de delay (t)
(tmr-delay 0 t) )
# Make sure the LED starts in
# the off position and enable
# input/output pins
(de init-pins ()
(pio-pin-sethigh led)
(pio-pin-setdir *pio-output* led)
(pio-pin-setdir *pio-input* button) )
# And now, the main loop
(de prog-loop ()
(init-pins)
(loop
(if (= 0 (pio-pin-getval button))
(pio-pin-setlow led)
(delay 100000)
(pio-pin-sethigh led)
(delay 100000) ) ) )
(prog-loop)
Reaction timer. This program
(timer1.l) measures the time taken
to press a key on the keyboard after
the program is run. Time will be
displayed on the terminal. Try it a
few times and then see results. Also
compare results with others who
have tried this before you:
# A reaction timer in picolisp
(de reaction-timer ()
(prinl Welcome to the reaction timer.
When I say Go!, enter a character.)
(prinl Press q [Enter] to quit.)
(setq
timer *tmr-sys-timer*
answer )
(until (=T answer)
(println Ready?)
# Wait for a random time
from 2 to 5 seconds
(tmr-delay timer (+ 2000000 (rand 1
3000000)))
(println Go!)
(setq
start-time (tmr-read timer)
answer (read) # wait for them to
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 97

enter any character
end-time (tmr-read timer) )
(println You reacted in (tmr-
gettimediff timer start-time
end-time)
microseconds) ) )
Testing the examples
We have stored the above two
source codes (led.l and timer1.l) in
a memory card as explained in this
section. To test these two examples,
you need Hempl software along
with gcc, SCons, dfu-programmer
and minicom software running on
your Linux system. For this, follow
the steps given below:
Installing Hemple software. Get
the latest Hempl distribution from
github. Make a working directory,
say, hacking, for this on your Linux
machine (Ubuntu version 13.04)
$ cd hacking
$ git clone www.github.com/
simplemachines-italy/hempl.git
$ cd hempl
Now, you should be in Hempl
directory.
Installing gcc for AVR32. We
require a gcc for AVR32 device.
Get that from www.en.wikibooks.
org/wiki/Hempl/Compiling_Hempl.
Select Install an AVR32 cross-com-
piler/Fetching and unpacking the
toolchain. Follow the instructions
and get the toolchain installed.
Place the toolchain in home di-
rectory. It could be something like:
/home/avr32-gnu-toolchain-linux_x86/
From Hempl directory, make sure
the toolchain is in the environment
path. Now, do a simple export PATH.
$export PATH=$PATH:HOME/raman/avr32-
gnu-toolchain-linux_x86/bin
And to check if gcc is running:
$avr32-gcc --version
It will show the version of gcc.
Installing SCons. Install SCons
using the following command:
$ sudo apt-get install scons
Compiling and generating hex
codes. From Hempl directory, do the
following to compile the code base.
For compiling AT32UC3A0256 de-
98 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Do-it-yourself
vice, enter the following command:
$ scons cpu=at32uc3a0256 board=mizar32
toolchain=avr32-gcc prog
This step will produce the ma-
chine code for running PicoLisp on
Mizar32 board. The compilation will
take a few minutes. When done, a
hex file called hempl_at32uc3a0256.
hex will be generated. This hex
file will be burnt into the MCU on
Mizar32 board. To understand how
to flash the program, refer www.
en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Hempl/Flash-
ing_firmware
Installing dfu-programmer
software. Use a program called dfu-
programmer. The MCU on Mizar32
board comes with dfu bootloader.
It occupies 8kB on the MCUs flash
memory. Please note that a switch
(SW2) is required to put the chip in
program mode. As soon as we give
the following command, program
starts running.
$ sudo dfu-programmer at32uc3a0256 start
Note. Before programming the
device, power on Mizar32 board (or
press reset button SW1) while hold-
ing the user button (SW2) depressed.
For details, refer Mizar32 quick-start
guide available on the Internet.
Installing minicom. To work with
this from the shell, install a terminal
emulator called minicom. It works
like a charm on GNU/Linux system.
To install this, give the command:
$ sudo apt-get install minicom
There is a need to configure the
minicom session with the following:
baud rate: 115200, eight data bits,
parity none, one stop bit using fol-
lowing command:
$ sudo minicom -s
Now we are able to talk to our
MCU via minicom. Search for the
device in /dev. In our case, the
device is in /dev/ttyACM0. Confirm
the registration by doing a dmesg on
your GNU/Linux. Enter following
command:
$ sudo minicom -D /dev/ttyACM0
With this, we are actually com-
municating with our MCU in serial
over USB mode.
EFY Note
The source code of
this project is
included in this
months EFY DVD and
is also available for free
download at source.
efymag.com
Enter few commands like ls or
cat and see your shell.
Hempl#
You can fire PicoLisp session like
this:
Hempl# picolisp
You can write PicoLisp interac-
tively.
The other option is to invoke
PicoLisp with a file argument stored
in the micro-SD memory card. In
this example, we have stored the
source codes in the memory card in
.l formats (led.l and timer1.l). The
SD card is then inserted into the slot
provided on Mizar32 board.
To run toggle_LED code led.l,
give the following command:
Hempl# picolisp /mmc/led.l
To see output, press the user
button (SW2). The blue LED light
on the board will glow and will go
off when you release the button.
Next, open the minicom and run the
reaction timer code (timer1.l) and
give the command:
Hempl# picolisp /mmc/timer1.l
After getting the : symbol, type
the following:
:(reaction-timer)
Please note the parenthesis. It is
the syntax used to invoke Lisp func-
tion defined in timer1.l.
As soon as you run timer1.l,
press any key on the keyboard.
Time displayed on the terminal is
the recorded time for showing how
fast your hand is. You can press the
key as many times as you would
like and the corresponding time will
be displayed on the terminal.
Raman Gopalan is a volunteer
programmer at SimpleMachines,
Italy, and is currently hacking
on PicoLisp for the Mizar32
computer
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Do-it-yourself
S.C
DW .
IVE
DI

Simple RF Based Code LoCk

SHASHWAT MISHRA

T
his simple radio frequency Address bits A0 to A7 of IC1 are
Circuit and working
(RF) based code lock incorpo- set to 11111111 via switch DIP1. Pro-
rates a pair of 433MHz ready- The circuit has a transmitter and grammed address and data are com-
made RF transmitter and receiver a receiver. The transmitter circuit bined and then transmitted together
modules. It is a remote-controlled shown in Fig. 1 is built around through 433MHz RF module (TX1).
and code-protected locking system. 433MHz RF transmitter module Address of the transmitter has to
The code is fixed, hence it is easy (TX1), encoder HT12E (IC1) and a match with the address of the receiver
to implement and requires very few other components. to successfully receive data.
less power. Signal transmission starts as Receiver circuit shown in Fig. 2
soon as you switch consists of 433MHz RF module (RX1),
on the circuit using decoder HT12D (IC2), 5V voltage
TP1 ANT.1 switch S1. HT12E regulator 7805 (IC3), transistors BC548
S1 R1
POWER 1M encoder IC1 gener- (T1) and BD139 (T2 and T3), two so-
C1 DIP1 C2
ON/OFF
15 16 18 100n
FOR 8WAY 100n ates eight address lenoid locks connected across connec-
DIP SWITCH
CON1 OSC2 OSC1 Vcc 1 1 16 TP2
bits and four data tors CON3 and CON4 and a few other
FOR A0
12V
17
DOUT
2 2 15 bits, and employs components. Coded signal transmitted
A1
14
TE 3 3 14 amplitude shift by the transmitter is processed by
ON OFF A2
keying (ASK) mod- decoder IC2 at receiver side. Address
DATA
GND

ANT
Vcc

13 4 4 13
AD11 A3
5 4 IC1 1 2 3 4 ulation. The code bits A0 to A7 of IC2 are set to 11111111
5 12
HT12E A4 5
6 3 12
AD10
6 6 11
TX1 is programmed using DIP switch DIP3.
A5 FOR 433MHz
7 2
11 7 7 10 TRANSMITTER
using address lines. If the received address bits match
8 1
AD9 A6
8 9
MODULE Data pins AD8 to 11111111, transmitted data will be
DIP2 8

FOR 4WAY
10
AD8
A7
AD11 are con- available across data pins (D8 through
9
DIP SWITCH GND
OFF ON nected to dual-in- D11) of IC2. Here, 11111111 is the fixed
TP0
GND
line package switch code but can be changed by altering
DIP2 to set data for the address bits as per requirement.
Fig. 1: Transmitter circuit of the RF based code lock transmission. Flashing of LED1 indicates that
a valid signal has
been received at
ANT.2 TP4 the receiver. It will
R3 3 IC3 1

DIP3
D1, D2 = 1N4007 DIODE
1K
LED1
7805 not flash if there is
C4 C3
RX1 FOR 8WAY 2 100u a mismatch of the
100n
433MHz RECEIVER DIP SWITCH 1 A0 18 25V addresses of IC1
Vcc
MODULE 16 1 R2 T1
2
A1 OSC1
16
47K BC548 and IC2.
15 2
3 15 R4 In this circuit
DATA
DATA

A2 OSC2
GND
GND

GND
ANT

14 3
Vcc

Vcc

10K S2 we have used only

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
4
A3 VT
17 D1 D2 RESET/
13 4 IC2 POWER data pins 10 (D8)
5 14 TP7 CON3 CON4 ON/OFF
A4
12 5 HT12D DIN and 13 (D11) of IC2,
TP5 6 13
11 6
A5 D11 T2 which drive the two
BD139
10 7
7
A6 D10
12
solenoid locks con-
GND
9 8
8
A7 D9
11
TP6 CON2 nected across CON4
9
GND D8
10
FOR and CON3, respec-
12V
ON OFF R5 R6 tively.
TP3 T3
10K 10K
BD139 Make AD8 and
AD11 of IC1 high in
CON3 = FOR 12V SOLENOID LOCK2 CON4 = FOR 12V SOLENOID LOCK1 order to make D8
Fig. 2: Receiver circuit of the RF based code lock and D11 high, re-

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 99

 Do-it-yourself
spectively. You can also connect two secure type lock). Reset the lock by PARTS LIST
more locks at D9 and D10 of IC2 switching S2 or S1 off and on again. Semiconductors:
along with relay driver transistors. IC1 - HT12E encoder
Once solenoid is activated, Construction and testing IC2 - HT12D decoder
IC3 - 7805, 5V voltage regulator
output remains latched and lock An actual-size, single-side PCB T1 - BC548 npn transistor
remains open (because it is a fail- pattern of the transmitter circuit is T2, T3 - BD139 npn transistor
LED1 - 5mm LED
shown in Fig. 3 and D1, D2 - 1N4007 rectifier diode
its component layout Resistors (all 1/4-watt, 5% carbon):
in Fig. 4. An actual- R1 - 1-mega-ohm
R2 - 47-kilo-ohm
size, single-side PCB R3 - 1-kilo-ohm
pattern of the receiver R4-R6 - 10-kilo-ohm
circuit is shown in Capacitors:
C1, C2, C4 - 100nF ceramic disk
Fig. 5 and its compo- C3 - 100F, 25V electrolytic
nent layout in Fig. 6. Miscellaneous:
Both circuits require TX1 - 433MHz transmitter module
RX1 - 433MHz receiver module
12V regulated power CON1, CON2 - 2-pin terminal connector
Fig. 3: Actual-size PCB pattern of the transmitter circuit supply. After assem- CON3, CON4 - 2-pin connector
S1, S2 - On/off switch
bling the circuit on the ANT.1, ANT.2 - 10cm-15cm-long single-
PCBs, enclose these in strand wire antenna
two separate plastic DIP1, DIP3 - 8-way DIP switch
DIP2 - 4-way DIP switch
boxes. Before using - 12V solenoid lock1
the circuit, verify - 12V solenoid lock2
- 12V regulated power
voltages are as per the supply/12V battery
test points given in
the table.
Suppose you want
Test Points
to open solenoid lock1
Fig. 4: Component layout of the PCB shown in Fig. 3 connected across Test point Details
TP0, TP3 0V (GND)
TP1, TP4 12V provided switches S1
and S2 are on
TP2 Train of pulses
TP5 5V
TP6, TP7 4V-5V when data is received

CON4. For this, set data bits AD8 to

AD11 to 1000 using DIP2. Push all
three pins 11, 12 and 13 (except pin
10) of IC1 to ground. Now, to open the
lock, power on the receiver circuit us-
Fig. 5: Actual-size PCB pattern of the receiver circuit ing S2; D8 through D11 should go low.
Next, switch on the transmitter cir-
cuit. In the receiver, D8 of IC2 will go
high and transistor T3 will conduct,
which, in turn, will open solenoid
lock1 at CON4. You can remotely op-
erate the solenoid lock from a distance
of 30 metres or more depending on
the RF modules used.

Shashwat Mishra is pursuing

BE from BIT Mesra. His
interests include designing
electronics circuits
Fig. 6: Component layout of the PCB shown in Fig. 5

100 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

 Do-it-yourself
S.C
DW .
IVE
DI

Lid-Monitoring
SenSor Module
T.K. HAREENDRAN

I
f you need a lid-monitoring sen- when a toolbox is being opened or of two conductive elements (poles)
sor for an application, this is the tampered with, among other things, and a conductive free mass (rolling
circuit you have been looking which can be used in conjunction ball), encapsulated in the same case.
for. One application for such sensors with a microcontroller (MCU) based When the tilt sensor is oriented so
would be in the security market. For monitoring device. that that end is downwards, the
example, construction companies Here is a simple lid-monitoring mass rolls onto the poles and shorts
need more ways to combat tools sensor module circuit realised using these, acting as a switch throw.
theft. Construction toolboxes typi- an inexpensive mercury-free tilt Working principle of SW-520D tilt
cally remain on a construction site switch. The standalone roller-ball- sensor is shown in Fig. 2.
when the workers leave, making type tilt sensor senses tilt angle/ Rest of the circuit is based on a
these easy targets for theft. Lid-mon- movement, and its overall response misused LM393 (IC1) configured
itoring sensors can be used to detect is very fast. as a simple RC op-amp comparator
timer. In idle state, voltage is applied
Table I: Tilt Sensor and Circuit and working across the R1-C1 combination, pro-
Circuit Output A look at Fig. 1 will convince you ducing a typical RC charging signal
Tilt sensor/input Pin 2 of output socket
that the circuit diagram of the
lid-monitoring sensor module is PARTS LIST
socket (CON1) (CON2)
pleasantly simple. Admittedly, a Semiconductors:
Off/open High IC1 - LM393 comparator
roller-ball-type tilt sensor (SW-520D) D1 - 1N4148 signal diode
On/short Low
is used here. Such a device consists T1 - BC557 pnp transistor
LED1-LED3 - 5mm LED
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, 5% carbon):
R1, R4, R5 - 10-kilo-ohm
LED1 R2, R3, R6 - 1-kilo-ohm
CON5 R4 STATUS
R1 VR1 - 10-kilo-ohm preset
5V 10K
10K 1 OUT1 8 LED2 Capacitors:
Vcc
R2 POWER CON2 C1, C3 - 100F, 16V electrolytic
VR1 OUT2 7
2 IN1
CON1 1K Vcc C2 - 0.1 ceramic disk
10K A1 IN2 6
FOR TILT 3 OUT Miscellaneous:
IN1 A2 CON1 - 2-pin connector
SENSOR 4 5 GND
GND IN2 CON2-CON4 - 3-pin connector
A C1 R3
IC1 C2 CON5 - 2-pin connector terminal
B 100u 1K
0.1u RL1 - 5V, 1 C/O relay
16V LM393
- 5V DC regulated power
GND supply

Fig. 1: Circuit of the lid-monitoring sensor module

Fig. 2: Tilt sensor and its working Figs 3 and 4: Proposed enclosure and its placement

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 101


that is fed to the non-inverting input
(pin 3) of IC1.
As capacitor C1 charges to a
value above IC1s reference volt-
age, IC1s output (pin 1) turns from
low to high, disabling current flow
through the pull-up resistor (R4) and
through the LED (LED1). Time delay
can be controlled by changing values
of R1/C1 or by adjusting the value
of trimmer resistor (VR1) connected
to the inverting input (pin 2) of IC1.
As a result, output of IC1, available
through the middle pin (OUT) of
the MCU-compatible output socket
(CON2), is high (H) in idle state.
When the tilt sensor, linked to the
T1
BC557
R5
Vcc 10K
OUT
GND
LED3
CON3 RELAY
ON
D1
1N4148
R6
1K
GND
Fig. 5: Circuit diagram of the electromechanical switch
Do-it-yourself
input socket (CON1), is activated by existing piece of equipment. Fig. 4
a valid-tilt, C1 is discharged through shows the proposed mounting plan
the tilt switch and a new time cycle of the lid-monitoring sensor module.
occurs. Now, output of IC1 changes Although the circuit is designed
to low (L) state, making LED1 to for interfacing with an MCU unit, in
glow for a finite time, here around many cases it will be necessary to
one second. Table I may be easier to provide an electromechanical switch
understand than the schematics. at the output such that an external
electrical load can be switched with
Construction and testing great galvanic isolation. An electro-
A small circuit board can hold magnetic relay can often be used
nearly all components. After every- for this purpose as shown in Fig.
thing has been properly connected 5. Since relay contacts are used for
together, you can fit everything into switching, load can be of any type:
an enclosure, shown in Fig. 3. The high voltage, low voltage, resistive,
finished system can be installed on capacitive or inductive.
any surface. For greater accuracy, An actual-size, single-side PCB
the system could for the lid-monitoring sensor mod-
be mounted using ule is shown in Fig. 6 and its com-
C3
mechanical threading, ponent layout in Fig. 7. Similarly, an
100u magnets or adhe- actual-size, single-side PCB for the
16V sives, depending on electromechanical switch is shown
RL1
5V, 1C/O
the type of surface in Fig. 8 and its component layout
RELAY N/O it is being mounted in Fig. 9. You can interface the MCU
N/O POLE to. Note that a PCB unit with this circuit through CON2.
N/C
design allows the If the MCU unit is not used, con-
CON4
N/C
RELAY
system to be built in nect CON2 to CON3 of the electro-
OUTPUT a very compact form, mechanical switching unit. This unit
which can be an im- works off a 5V, regulated DC power
portant factor if it has supply. Enclose both PCBs of the
to be fitted into an sensor module and the switching
unit in a box.

Design Idea+
This circuit is ideal for applica-
tions sensing closure of an as-
sortment of different lids and/
or caps. Next example could
be to sense whether the gas-
filling lid and the gas cap of an
automobile are in place or not.
Fig. 6: Actual-size PCB pattern of the lid-monitoring Fig. 8: Actual-size PCB pattern of the
Demand for such systems is
sensor electromagnetic switch increasing because gas-filling
lids and gas caps can remain
open due to carelessness of the
vehicle operator or of a service
attendant. Any potential arc or
spark in and around the gas
could ignite the fuel.

T.K. Hareendran is
founder and promoter
of TechNode Protolabz
Fig. 7: Component layout of the PCB shown in Fig. 6 Fig. 9: Component layout of the PCB shown in Fig. 8

102 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

 I Do-it-yourself
SAN
HE O
T

CON5
FOR
I2C
Configurable

LED4

560E
560E
LED3

R6
R5
RS232 To TTL

1
SDA 2
3
4
SCL
LED2

560E
To I2C AdApToR

R4
4.7K
R3
PETRE TZV PETROV

4.7K
R2
R

560E
LED1

R1
S232 signals cover a much configurations. CON2
longer distance than standard is a single-line con-

12
10
TTL and I2C signals. Also, nector from which

8
6
4
2
RS232 signals have better noise im- RS232 signals can be

7405
IC2
munity. RS232 is a well-known stan- taken for interfacing

N2
N1

N4

N6
N3

N5
Vcc

GND
dard supported by many popular in- external circuits.

7
14
tegrated circuits (ICs) and therefore MAX232 (IC1)
is still widely used. Sometimes we is a dual driver/re-

11

13
1

9
3
want to send TTL and I2C signals ceiver that includes

10K
R8

S2
over a longer distance. This article a capacitive voltage
describes how these signals can be generator to sup-
extended through RS232 lines. ply TIA/EIA-232-F
10K

S1
R7

voltage levels from

Circuit and working 4WAY DIP

5
8

6
a single 5V supply.

ON
Fig. 1 shows the circuit of configu- It has two receivers
DIP2

OFF
1

4
rable RS232 to TTL to I2C adap- and two transmit-
tor. RS232 signals are available on ters compatible with

FOR TTL
the standard 9-pin connector, also RS232 signals.
2
3
4
5
6
1
CON3

known as DB9 connector (CON1). TTL equiva-

16V
C3
1u

1u,16V
There is a wide variety of configura- lent signals from

C2
tions available for RS232 signals on the interface are
10

14

13
5

different peripherals. So we have available at CON3.

IC1 T2IN

R1IN
T1OUT
C2+

R2OUT

VS
C2

provided CON2 and a 4-way or These signals drive

MAX232

8-pin DIP switch (DIP1) for various LED1 through LED4

GND
Vcc

15
16

through gates N1,

R1OUT

T2OUT

R2IN

PARTS LIST
T1IN
VS+

C1+

C1

N4, N5 and N6 of
Semiconductors: hex inverter 7405
11
2

12

IC1 - MAX232 driver

1u,16V

IC2 - 7405 hex inverter (IC2) for visual

4WAY DIP
C1

indications. The 7405

5

LED1-LED4 - 5mm LED

8

6
16V

ON
C4
1u

Resistors (all 1/4-watt, 5% carbon): should be with low

DIP1

OFF

R1, R4-R6 - 560-ohm

input current and
1

R2-R3 - 4.7-kilo-ohm
R7, R8 - 10-kilo-ohm capable of driving 9 8 7 6
COMPORT
FOR DB9

Capacitors: the LEDs.

C1-C4 - 1F, 16V electrolytic
CON1

C5 - 100F, 16V electrolytic Switches S1 and

GND

5 4 3 2 1
C6, C7 - 0.33F ceramic disk S2 are used to manu-
Miscellaneous: ally check the signals
CON1 - DB9 COM port connector
2
3
4
5
6
1

RS232

on LED1 and LED2

CON2

CON2, CON3 - 6-pin berg strip connector

FOR

CON4 - 2-pin connector terminal when DIP2 pins 1

CON5 - 4-pin berg strip connector
and 8 and pins 3 and
CON4
FOR

S1, S2 - Toggle on/off switch

0.33u

0.33u
100u
16V
5V

6 are shorted. DIP2

C6

C7
C5

DIP1, DIP2 - 4-way DIP switch

- 5V DC regulated power is used to provide
supply
different configura- Fig. 1: Circuit of configurable RS232 to TTL to I2C adaptor

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 103


Fig. 2: Actual-size PCB pattern of configurable RS232 to TTL to I2C adaptor
Fig. 3: Component layout of the PCB
tions for TTL to I2C converter built
around inverters N2 and N3 of IC2.
I2C signals are available on CON5.
Vs+ and Vs at pins 2 and 6
respectively of IC1 are the two test
points where the voltage levels
obtained should be around 9V. These
voltages are produced internally by
MAX232 and should be within speci-
THE COMPLETE MAGAZINE ON OPEN SOURCE
104 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Do-it-yourself
fied limits as stated in the data sheet.
The circuit requires a 5V DC
regulated power supply and be-
low 100mA of current to operate.
You may use a small transformer
providing around 10V/100mA and a
7805 regulator for the power supply.
Regulator IC should be mounted on
a heat-sink having thermal resis-
Your favourite Magazine on
Open Source is now on the Web, too.
OpenSourceForU.com
tance below 30oC/W.
You can provide two appro-
priate connectors at the power
supply output: one for the adaptor
circuit and another for the digital
or embedded circuit for interfacing
TTL or I2C signals.
Construction and testing
An actual-size, single-side PCB
pattern of configurable RS232
to TTL to I2C adaptor circuit is
shown in Fig. 2 and its component
layout in Fig. 3. After mounting
all components on the PCB, check
proper connections again in the
circuit. Connect the 5V DC power
supply source to CON4 to power
on the circuit.
Next, connect connector DB9
to the computer and send digital
signals from serial communication
software (for example, Hyper-
Terminal) to the circuit. If none
of the LEDs glow, check proper
connections on DIP1 and DIP2
and ensure that transmit (pin 3)
and receive (pin 2) pins of DB9
are connected to the appropriate
pins. Otherwise, toggle S1 and
S2; LED1 and LED2 should glow,
respectively.
If everything is working fine,
you may transmit any digital
signals, either TTL or I2C or RS232,
from DB9 to CON3 and CON5.
Petre Tzv Petrov was a researcher
and assistant professor in
Technical University of Sofia
(Bulgaria) and expert-lecturer in
OFPPT(Casablance), Kingdom of
Morocco. Now he is working as
an electronics engineer in the
private sector in Bulgaria
Follow us on Twitter@LinuxForYou
WWW.EFYMAG.COM

live streaming
Using Raspberry Pi
I
magine you are talking to your
friend who works in another
country and at the same time you
are streaming your plush drawing
room images to him or her on the
computer. For streaming images you
would need an Internet connection
and then use of the port-forwarding
technique explained in this article.
But, is it a big deal? Skype or a
similar messaging program does the
same thing through the Internet. The
only difference is that the process pre-
sented here is simple and has mini-
mum footprint or load on bandwidth.
Port forwarding, or live stream-
ing, allows the network to flow
contents of a defined port to the
outside world. It allows network
administrators to use one IP address
for all external communications on
the Internet. It is useful for home
network users who may wish to run
a Web server or gaming server
on network.
How to get started
You need a Windows or Linux
computer with a camera and an
old mobile phone with an Inter-
net connection to live stream your
video over the Internet. You can also
use Raspberry Pi (Raspi) in place
of a computer.
For testing live-streaming videos
using Raspi with Raspbian OS, use
Motion software and configure mo-
tion.conf file as explained below.
Get the software ready. To start
with, you should have a working
Raspi on a local network with Inter-
net access.
Next, update Raspi using the
following commands. This ensures
that you have the latest software and
drivers installed.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
Do-it-yourself
SOMNATH BERA
$sudo apt-get update
$sudo apt-get upgrade
Install Motion. We use a fairly
lightweight application known as
Motion, which is capable of access-
ing the USB camera, getting images
and streaming these via the built-in
Web server. Motion can also track
and trigger events when motion is
detected in video frames.
$sudo apt-get install motion
Plug in webcam. Plug in the
webcam and ensure that everything
is working fine by typing lsusb com-
mand. The name of your webcam
manufacturer should be visible on
the terminal, which means Raspi
has recognised your webcam.
$lsusb
Configure software. Now, basic
configurations are required in mo-
tion.conf file as follows:
sudo nano /etc/motion/motion.conf
Daemon = off to on vision to work both ways. The most-
width 640
height 480
framerate 30
Go to # Live Webcam Server sec-
tion and make the following changes:
webcam_localhost = on to off In almost all router administration
webcam_port 8081
webcam_quality 50
webcam_maxrate 15 (if you have which allows driving of contents from
good bandwidth, you can make
this 30)
Start software. To ensure that
Motion service actually starts as a
daemon, change configuration set-
ting as given below.
$sudo nano /etc/default/motion
Change, value start_motion_
daemon=no to yes Set the port (say, 8081, 8082,
Now, you can start Motion ser-
vice to stream webcam images by
typing the following command:
$sudo service motion start
KATNIDHI
& NHURI
SAHIRAJ A
AY
After about 30 seconds, browse a
Web interface using a web browser,
say, Mozilla Firefox, on the same
computer or another computer
on the same network, and en-
ter the IP address along with the
port number of your Raspi, say,
http://192.168.123.100:8081
If you can see the live-streaming
video, it means everything is working
fine on the network.
Port forwarding
Now, try to access the live-streaming
video from any other available
network using port forwarding. To
enable this on your home broadband
router for Raspi on port 8081, follow
the steps given below.
A router provides the route be-
tween the Intranet and the Internet.
Most routers are set to work one way,
although almost all routers have pro-
popular route set to operate is from
the Internet to the Intranet. For exam-
ple, you are watching a Web page and
sending mail, and all traffic is from
the outside world to the inside.
pages, there is port-forwarding facil-
ity that helps create the traffic route,
the Intranet to the Internet.
The router does not see which
computer to use for reverse traffic
flow; it only sees which port to allow
for traffic flow.
Open Advanced page (of your mo-
dem or routers administration page)
and click on Port Forwarding.
5678, 8083 and so on) and associ-
ate the IP address of Raspi. This port
will drive its contents to the Internet.
In our case, anyone can view the
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 105

contents by calling public IP ad-
dress along with port 8081.
But the problem still re-
mainswhich computers IP
address should be entered on
the browser page?
For that, find out the IP ad-
dress of the modem or router
obtained from the Internet
service provider at that point of
time. For that, go to the status
page of router again and find
out its external IP address (say, Authors old mobile phones connected to a laptop
http://a1.a2.a3.a4). This is your for live streaming
public IP address.
Now, you can share this IP ad-
dress along with the port number
with your friend. He or she can
enter this IP address plus port num-
ber on the browser to access your
live-streaming video.
Note that, this IP address may
undergo changes many times in a
day, as most home connections have
a dynamic public IP address. So
106 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Do-it-yourself
keep track of it before enabling port
forwarding.
The easiest way to get an exter-
nal IP is to use an old mobile with
a SIM card along with an Internet
pack, and go online. Run ifconfig at
command prompt; you will get the
external IP address for the laptop
or Raspi.
The old mobile acts as a mo-
dem to get connected with the
Internet for reverse traffic flow.
Since the modem in the phone
is primitive in nature, it has no
firewall. When an old mobile
is connected to the Internet
it gets a public IP address
(202.54.x.x or 132.56.x.x) un-
like 192.168.x.x or 10.10.1.2.
In short, if your friend wants
to access your live-streaming
video through your computer,
he or she can type, say, http://
a1.a2.a3.a4:8081 on the browser
or VLC player of his or her
computer or mobile phone. And you
can talk on your old phone as you
look at the live-streaming video on
your computer.
Somnath Bera is an avid
user of open source software.
Professionally, he is a thermal
power expert and works as
additional general manager
at NTPC Ltd
WWW.EFYMAG.COM

Game Station entry Card
Software Using RFID Tags
I
n this article we describe how
to create a game station entry
card so that a player can enter
the game station only once using
that card.
A radio-frequency identification
(RFID) reader, a few RFID tags, an
ARM LPC2138 development board
as hardware and Visual Studio 2013
as the software programming tool in-
stalled on a PC running Windows OS
Fig. 1: Board connection to laptop using USB and RFID
reader connected to board
Fig. 2: Console Application selection
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
Do-it-yourself
SOHINI MITRA
are used to create this software. To
limit the scope, this article does not
deal with details of the hardware.
Software program
C# (or C sharp) program is used for
coding on Microsoft Visual Studio
2013 environment. The software
collects data from an RFID tag/card
through an RFID reader and writes
it to the COM port that is opened
by C# program (a console
application). The program
can automatically detect
any passive RFID tag.
Transmit (TX) pin of
the RFID reader is con-
nected to RXD1 (pin 34) of
LPC2138 chip (not shown
here). When an RFID tag is
swiped against the reader,
data is first sent to LPC2138
board. A set of four LEDs
on the board glows to in-
dicate detection of signals.
If the card is swiped again
SAN
PRA DEEP
KAS
H
another set of four LEDs will glow
to alert the user. Depending on the
tag number read by the program,
the number of times the card is
swiped by a particular player gets
displayed on the computer screen.
LPC2138 board from Robokit is
used here for serial communication
and to drive the LEDs for indication.
Baud rate of serial communication is
set to 9600. Note that, you can use
any other board that has a mini-
mum of two UARTs, with first UART
interface to a PC and second to an
RFID reader. Connect the board to
a PC using USB-to-serial converter
as shown in Fig. 1. Pin 19 (TXD0)
and pin 21 (RXD0) of LPC2138 chip
are connected to receive (RX) and
transmit (TX) pins of USB-to-serial
converter, respectively.
Source code for LPC21XX
development board (arm_lpc2138_
rfid_0v2) and a test application for
the setup generated after building
the project, driver software (driver1_
ch340 and cp210x_vcp_windows) are
included in this months EFY DVD.
Designing the software
application
1. Open Visual Studio 2013 in
administrator mode (if not in said
mode by default).
2. Select New Project to create a
new application.
3. A dialog box will open. Under
Visual C#, choose Console Applica-
tion as shown in Fig. 2.
4. Provide solution name as Con-
soleApplication1, and click OK.
5. Copy and paste the code pro-
vided in source.efymag.com or in the
DVD (accompanying EFY Plus), on
the screen provided to write C# code.
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 107
 Do-it-yourself
strings and re-
moves all empty
entries. As and
when a new RFID
number enters
the list, the RFID
reader sends info
to LPC2138 and it
counts the num-
ber of entries.
Fig. 3: Changing platform target to x86
Testing
1. Connect RFID
reader to a USB
port of your
system. Check
the correct port
number from
Fig. 4: Output screen for console on PC showing Menu option Computer
ManageDevice
ManagerPorts
Fig. 7: Port number in Device Manager as shown in
Fig. 7.
sub-routine, stores all 2. Run ConsoleApplication1
available COM port executable file found in bin folder of
Fig. 5: Output screen showing console window before swiping names and writes all this project.
the RFID tag on RFID reader available port names in 3. Select COM port available on
a buffer. Serial port is your system. Choose the correct
configured with baud port number.
rate of 9600bps, parity 4. Once the port number is
as none, 8-bit data and selected, application will open the
one stop bit. It creates port. If it fails to open, it will give
an asynchronous event error message Unable to Open Port.
(it is a secondary thread If successful, it will display the mes-
of the main program) sage COM27 is now open (COM27
Fig. 6: Output screen showing console window after swiping and activates every time may be different in your system) as
the RFID tag on RFID reader a serial device sends shown in Fig. 5.
data to the computer 5. Once the desired port opens,
6. Save the code, build it and and then opens the COM port. swipe any passive RFID tag against
run it. The program reads the RFID the RFID reader. When the tag is
7. It may give the error message number from the RFID tag and prints swiped for the first time, a set of four
A 64-bit debugging operation is tak- it in Console window on a PC. LEDs on LPC2138 board will light up.
ing longer than expected. Program appends incoming RFID 6. If the tag is swiped again, an-
8. To solve this, right-click on numbers to StringBuilder object and other set of LEDs will light up and
Solution. Go to PropertiesBuild. removes Newlines and converts to the number of times swiped will get
Change platform target to x86 as strings. It adds strings to a list of displayed on console window of the
shown in Fig. 3. screen of PC as shown in Fig. 6 to
9. Click on Start Debugging icon alert the user that the same card has
to run ConsoleApplication1 again. been used earlier.
10. Console will be generated as EFY Note
shown in Fig. 4. The relevant source
code and drivers of this
Sohini Mitra is a system
Software algorithm project are included in engineer at IBM India Pvt Ltd
this months EFY DVD in Kolkata
The program first starts the main
and are also available for
free download at source.
108 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU efymag.com WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Price
` 29,995
FIRST Look ESTYLE
Compiled by
nehA chAudhAry
DSLR from Canon
Adding fun to photography
EOS 1300D uses an 18MP APS-C size sensor and DIGIC
4+ image processor. It has abundant auto-shooting features
and is compatible with over 70 EF/EF-S lenses, allowing
you to take beautiful photos like a pro, regardless of the
subject and genre. Wi-Fi and NFC compatibility allows
easy file transfer to other devices. The camera features a
860mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery, with a rated
voltage of 7.4V DC.
F&D introduces multimedia
Bluetooth speakers
An affordable yet powerful speaker system
F&D A180X features a wide range of connectivity options
including Bluetooth 4.0, RCA to pair with TV sets and DVD
players, built-in digital FM radio with memory to store up
to 100 favourite stations, USB flash drive connectivity and
SD card slot to allow convenient access to music playlists,
a 3.5mm line-in for connection to portable media play-
ers, smartphones, laptops and tablets and control of the
speaker system with a fluorescence full-function wireless
remote. The product is qualified by SIG certification. Its
Bluetooth operation ranges up to 15 metres.
Price
` 3990
110 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
Price
` 15,999
u-JAYS on-ear headphones
launched in India
A seamless blend of balanced sound, lasting
comfort and effortless aesthetics
Swedish u-JAYS is designed to let the ear cups and ear cush-
ions work together as an acoustic system. In addition to the
custom-developed 40mm dynamic speaker with Japanese
silk diaphragm, vent holes covered with acoustic tuning
filters are evenly distributed 360 around the speaker. This
feature optimises airflow through the system, resulting in
greatly improved details and a deeper bass response.
The device comes with a full-feature three-button
remote in black or white with different metal finishes to
match your smartphone and computer. It can be opti-
mised for iOS, Windows or Android. It features 100dB
SPL at 1kHz sensitivity, 32-ohm at 1kHz impedance and
10Hz-20,000Hz frequency response. It comes in four
colour variants, namely, black on black, black on gold,
white on silver and white on gold.
Fitbit Blaze smart fitness watch
launches in india
A smartwatch designed with fitness in mind
Fitbit Blaze is a smart fitness watch that helps you maximise
every workout every day, with continuous heart rate and
simplified zonesall without an uncomfortable chest strap.
It features a connected GPS; simply connect Fitbit Blaze
with the GPS on your phone to map your routes and see
run stats like pace and duration on display. You can start a
FitStar workout on your tracker and get step-by-step instruc-
tions and coaching right on your wrist.
The watch supports multi-sport modes like running,
biking and cardio, uses SmartTrack to
automatically recognise and record
exercises for you, so you will get
credit for a workout even if you
forget to log it, gives on-screen
summary of each workout after
you complete it, has a hi-res colour
touchscreen with a variety of faces
Price
to choose from, five-day battery ` 19,999
life and many more features.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Price
` 45,899
on
amazon.in

GizMo ByTes
Wizikey launches Android app
MP-CL1 mobile projector from Sony Wizikey, a news tracking and analysis
Turns any surface into an hd theatre website, released its Android app on Google
Play Store. With the new app, you can track
This new projector from Sony has a no-lens structure, which makes it com- relevant news in less than five seconds,
pact and lightweight. You can project your favourite movies, TV shows, games compare and analyse with competition in
and home movies wirelessly, or via HDMI or MHL. The projector features less than 30 seconds on a curated database
1920720 HD (aspect ratio of 16:9) quality and auto-focus environment, any- of more than 150 news publications. It will
also help you get a quick trend analysis on
where you go. Simply choose the image size to suit the situation, with a flex-
your brand keywords and news coverage
ible screen size ranging from short throw for a 101.6cm (40-inch) image, up to
alerts in real-time.
a 305cm (120-inch) screen image when pulled back. Either way, you can count
on a bigger image at a shorter distance. Swachch Paryatan app to keep
MP-CL1 features laser technology that focuses a tight beam of light for heritage sites clean
every pixel of the image to maintain a sharp image from up close or far
The government of India has launched a
away. The sharp image remains in focus even on curved walls and other mobile app that will enable travellers to send
challenging environments. pictures of dirty spots at tourist places to
the authorities for immediate action as part
of Clean India Mission. The app has been
Price
Smartphone from Intex ` 18,500 made available for 25 heritage monuments
including Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri,
Smartphone with a twist Humayuns Tomb, Qutab Minar and Red Fort.
The new smartphone from Intex allows
you to switch between apps without App to avail short-term loans
a hassle. Multi-tasking has been made To avail a short-term personal loan, you
easier with 1.3GHz quad-core processor need to log on to EarlySalary app through
combined with 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM your social media account of, say, Facebook
or LinkedIn, answer a few questions about
(includes memory used for the operating
yourself and upload your PAN number and
system and apps) and Android Lollipop
bank statements. Within ten minutes, the
5.1 with 3G to surf faster. credit would be underwritten digitally. With
The 5MP twist camera changes the Air purifier from these details, the company would be able to
conventional way you capture memories
with just a twistroll on to take perfect
Crusaders access your credit history, which would help
it determine whether to lend or not and fix
selfies. The smartphone has a 12.7cm For pure air and healthy living your credit limit.
(5-inch) display with a resolution of
480x854, This air purification system Fabric mobile app for
2200mAh is based on the principal of developers on the go
lithium-ion photo-catalytic oxidation using Twitters Fabric mobile app makes life
battery with a UV, along with 0.3 micron, easy for app developers, as they no longer
standby time high-grade, high-efficiency par- need to rely on desktops and laptops for
of 275 hours, ticulate air and carbon filters to updates and health of their apps. The
neutralise dust, pollen, allergen, app uses push notifications if something
GPS, Blue-
is critically affecting ones app without
tooth 2.0 and smoke, odour, bacteria, virus,
Price sending tedious emails about the issues.
` 5199 many other other micro-organisms and toxic It helps keep all critical data in a single,
features. It gases such as formaldehyde. intuitive dashboard. Users can adjust the
comes in It features a washable EPS frequency of notifications and even select a
black and elementary filter, photo-catalyst mute button if they choose to, and can read
white col- filter, UV lamp and negative and write comments on issues from within
ours. ions, among others. the mobile app.

The prices, features and specifications are based on information provided to us, or as available on various websites and portals. EFY cannot vouch for their accuracy.

WWW.EFYMAG.COM ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 111

 Buyers GUIDE ESTYLE

Selecting An Appropriate
Rooftop SolaR SyStem
I
ndia is blessed with abundant sunshine
for most of the year. Switching to solar
energy is therefore an extremely logical
option. Solar energy is more economical
and environment-friendly as compared to
non-renewable sources of energy like coal
and petroleum. The government of India
has launched training programmes, framed
solar net-metering guidelines as well as
Ruchira Prasad
was working announced other incentives to promote the
as a senior use of solar energy.
correspondent at
EFY until recently Selecting the right product is critical for
the smooth running of daily operations.
This guide will assist you in making an
informed decision.
What solar panels are
Solar panels (also called photovoltaics) are
primarily rectangular silicon devices that
can convert light into electricity. These com-
prise several solar cells, which are spread
over a large area that can work together to
offer sufficient power for it to be deemed
useful. Efficacy of solar panels depends on
how well these face the sun.
Solar cells are available in all sizes,
colours and power ratings. Applications that
require minimal amount of power (20W to
40W) include solar lamps, lanterns, torches
and so on. Rooftop installations require pan-
els with heavier output of 150W to 300W
or even more.
These are of the following two types:
Crystalline-silicon panels. These include
monocrystalline and multi-crystalline pan-
els. The former produce higher amount of
power and are costlier than the latter.
Thin-film panels. These are used in
building integrated photovoltaic applica-
tions, where these become a part of the
building structure.
Factors that determine price
Price of a solar panel can vary from ` 30/
kW to ` 60/kW. An imported module can
cost about ` 40/kW to ` 45/kW. Good ones
manufactured in India can cost ` 30/kW
to ` 32/kW (for bulk transactions). Retail
price of a module producing 3W - 40W
may vary between ` 60/kW and ` 90/
kW and modules producing 50W - 300W
between ` 55/kW and ` 60/kW.
Price of solar panels varies according to
type, wattage, brand and testing standards,
as explained below.
Type. Thin-film panels cost less than
crystalline silicon panels.
Wattage. Panels that have a higher
power output have a higher price as these
produce more electricity.

SOME SOLAR PANEL BRANDS AND THEIR KEY FEATURES

SuKam
Key Lowest yearly degradation
features rate
Optical low iron tempered
glass for strong permeability
and shock resistance
Heavy-duty anodised
aluminium frame for enduring
high load forces, scratch
resistance, corrosion-
resistance and weatherproof
surface
Tata BP Solar Vikram Moser Baer Alpex
High fill factor Bloomberg Multi-layered back sheet provides weatherable barrier to Robust modules as
for improved Tier 1* modules, high performance in rugged environments around 4mm glass is used
energy-conversion Positive the world, high dielectric performance, superior partial instead of the usual
efficiency power output discharge and electrical insulation 3.2mm
Electroluminescence tolerance Sturdy anodised aluminium frame design with twin wall Green modules
tested for micro- Excellent low- profile, and water drainage holes ensure superior torsional manufactured using
cracks light response resistance and longevity in adverse conditions wind power
Torsion and Global recog- Bill of materials successfully tested for environmental tests Lower structural cost
corrosion-resistant nition as per IEC-61215 for each MW of capac-
with anodised Exceptional low power tolerance ensures customers actually ity owing to low weight
aluminium frame get the module power outputs they expect of modules

*Bloomberg defines a Tier 1 solar manufacturer as one who has provided products to five different projects, which have been financed non-recourse by five different
(non-development) banks in the past two years

112 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM


TABLE II
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VARIOUS SOLAR PANELS
Property Monocrystalline Multi/polycrystalline Thin-film terrestrial PV mod-
Efficiency Highest
Cost Highest
Area occupied per kW Lowest
High temperature performance Poor
Generation in diffused light Average
Why select only the
correct solar panel
You must select the right panel to:
Ensure optimum energy is derived
from the panels
Avail the governments schemes
Reduce electricity bills in the long run
Reduce your carbon footprint
Ensure long-term benefits
Brand. Good brands command a
higher price, while cheap, imported
Chinese panels cost less.
Testing standards. Panels that
conform to government approv-
als and testing standards meet a
minimum amount of performance
and safety conditions; hence, are
costlier.
Key pointers for selecting
the right solar panel
Heat tolerance and temperature
co-efficient of solar panels. This
means that if a panel is rated as
100W, it should generate 100W
under standard test conditions. In
case the maker says that the panels
have a tolerance of 5 per cent,
it implies that the same panel can
give either 105W or even 95W.
Hence, you must ensure that your
solar panel has a positive tolerance
mentioned on the datasheet.
Temperature. Generally, panels
are rated as per standard test condi-
tions, that is, 25C. If temperature
is higher than this, panels may give
less than the rated output.
Government and third-party
certifications. These are as follows:
1. Panel-type certifications
2. Crystalline silicon terrestrial
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
PV modules: IEC
61215/ IS 14286
3. Thin-film
Moderate Lowest ules: IEC 61646
Moderate Lowest Also, panels
Moderate Highest must conform to
Poor Better IEC 61730 part I
Average Better requirements for
construction and
part II requirements for testing and
safety qualifications.
Warranty and guarantee. Indian
manufacturers give one to five years
warranty. Some also give linear per-
formance guarantee, which is even
better. A good panel should last as
much as 25 years and perform fault-
lessly for at least ten years.
Installation costs. Although cost
of a solar panel constitutes 70 per
cent of the total cost of the solar
power system, there is also an ad-
ditional installation cost that must be
kept in mind before doing a budget
calculation. More the power required
by your operations, more will be the
number of panels to be installed. This
will lead to higher cost.
Location and condition of the
panel. Ensure that the panel is fac-
ing sunlight as even a single partial-
ly-shaded panel adversely impacts
the output of all solar panels in the
system. Keep the panels free of dust
to avoid shading. The panels should
be kept at an angle that will help in
harvesting optimum energy from the
sun.
Voltage. Most solar panels are
designed to provide 16V, which can
be used to charge a 12V battery.
Robust design. It must be made
of tough material to withstand ex-
treme climatic conditions.
Financial assistance. To comply
with the governments net-metering
guidelines, each household should
ideally install solar panels capable
of generating at least 1kW of solar
energy.
The buyers guide titled Wireless Printers for
Home announced for this issue earlier will be
published later.
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 113
 do-it-yourself
Turn Your PC into a tV
A
s PC monitors become
larger, cheaper and of better
quality, many people are
moving from the traditional TV
set to a multi-use computer. With
TV-streaming services, on-demand
content and TV tuners getting
popular, you can have all your
media in one place by turning your
PC into a TV.
Now, you do not have to choose
between your link to the World
Wide Web and your favourite tel-
evision series. With a few devices,
you can turn an old computer into
a new TV. It will not only save you
money, but also reduce needless
electronic waste. But how do you
go about turning a PC into a TV?
Let us find out.
Feed the TV signal. Physically
install your hardware to give your
114 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
ESTYLE
EFY BUREAU
The external TV tuner box can
Things you need easily be installed by connecting to
An old computer with at least 10GB your computers USB port, but the
of free hard drive space and a connection is slower, giving you a
reasonably fast processor; more lower-resolution image.
storage room if you plan to record
your favourite shows
Install the TV tuner software.
Install the software that comes with
A TV tuner or USB based tuner box
your tuner onto your PC. The soft-
ware will allow you to control the
computer screen a TV signal. This channels and volume through a re-
can be done using a number of mote control. It could even enable
devices. Which one you choose will you to record live TV shows on
depend on how much you want to your computers hard drive. Insert
spend and the quality of your PC. the disc provided with your hard-
Next, choose between a TV tuner ware and follow the instructions to
card (with or without a graphics properly install the software.
card, depending on your computers Channel surf. You are now
capabilities) and an external TV ready to surf TV channels on your
tuner box. The TV tuner card needs computer screen since you now
to be installed by a professional, have legal access to TV shows
so it will provide you with a clear that cannot be streamed on the
connection to most TV channels. Internet.
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 product categories index
Products Page No. Products Page No. Products Page No. Products Page No.
Automation & Robotics Arrow Electronics India Pvt Ltd............................11 Materials (Including Chemicals & Consumables) Solar Products

Eita Technologies ............................................. 125 Digi-Key Electronics ............................................ 3 Progressive Engineers .....................................116 Janice industries ............................................... 125

NIMBUS TECHNOLOGIES .............................. 126 Element14 India Pvt Ltd ....................................... 1 Systellar Innovations .........................................118

Techno Power .................................................. 125 LWI Electronics Inc. ........................................... 23 Optics & Optoelectronics WAA MALL LLP ................................................ 122

Microchip Technology Hong Kong Ltd ................ 59 Binay Opto Electronics Pvt Ltd ..................... 14, 15

Batteries & Power Supplies Mouser Electronics (India) Private Buljin Elemec Pvt Ltd ....................................... 124 Test & Measurement Equipment (Including

BB Battery India Co. Pvt Ltd .............................. 21 Limited ............................................................... 7 Indicators & Monitors)

Digital Promoters (I) Pvt Ltd ............................. 124 PCBs, Assemblies & Sub Assemblies CM Envirosystems Pvt Ltd ................................. 33
Renesas Electronics India Pvt Ltd ...................... 39
Kandhari Photo Electronics P Ltd .................... 125 Circuit Systems India Ltd ................................... 33 Dinteck.............................................................. 125
S.M. Semiconductors ....................................... 125
Minmax Technology Co. Ltd ............................... 41 Sahasra Electronics Pvt Ltd .............................117 FLIR Systems India Pvt Ltd ........................ 81, 121
SMD Electro Components ................................ 121
Mornsun Guangzhou Science & Technology Sunanda Enterprises ....................................... 124 Good Will Instrument Co. Ltd ........................... 130
ST Microelectronics Marketing Pvt Ltd ............... 29
Co. Ltd ............................................................... 9 Keysight Technologies India Pvt Ltd ................. 2, 5

National Controlling & Equipments ................... 124 Plugs, Sockets & Connectors Meco Meters Pvt Ltd............................... 53, 55, 57
Display Systems
Piyush Electronics & Electricals (P) Ltd............ 121 Anand Enterprises ........................................... 124 NANJING GLARUN ATTEN Technology
Electronic Assembly ........................................... 32
Sakthi Accumulators Private Ltd ...................... 125 Auro Controls ....................................................116 Co. Ltd ............................................................. 27
KAMS Enterprises ............................................ 125
Shavison Electronics Pvt Ltd .............................113 SIGLENT Technologies Co. Ltd .......................... 35

Srishti Electronics ............................................ 124 Reseller and Distributors Tektronix India Pvt Ltd ...................................... 132
Industrial & Manufacturing Equipment
AqTronics Technologies Pvt Ltd ......................... 19
Furukawa (Thailand) Co. Ltd .............................. 51
Cabinets, Enclosures & Accessories Arrow Electronics India Pvt Ltd............................11 Training and Certification Institutes
Indium Corporation ............................................. 81
Shrey Plastic Moulders .................................... 124 Digi-Key Electronics ............................................ 3 CADD Centre Training Services
Indus Robotics & Automation Research
SPM Electronics And Systems ......................... 126 Element14 India Pvt Ltd ....................................... 1 Private Limited ................................................115

Universal Electronic Agencies ..........................118 Pvt Ltd ............................................................116 LWI Electronics Inc. ........................................... 23 ERT Tech.Services ........................................... 124

Max Technology & Co. ....................................... 37 Mouser Electronics (India) Private Limited ........... 7 I 3 Technologies.................................................. 45

Components (Including Active & Passive)

Alcon Electronics Private Ltd .............................. 17 IT Products Safety & Security Products Transformers

AqTronics Technologies Pvt Ltd ......................... 19 MathWorks ........................................................ 47 Schurter Electronics (I) Pvt Ltd ..........................119 Jai Mata Electronics ......................................... 124

EFY Magazine Attractions During 2016

MONTH TECHNOLOGY FOCUS MARKET SURVEYS BUYERS GUIDE eSTYLE BUYERS GUIDE
FOR ELECTRONICS LABS
January Latest Technologies for Enabling Connectors and Terminals Development Boards Microwave Ovens Under ` 10,000
the Internet
February Drones Security and Surveillance Desktop Power Supplies 126cm (50-inch) Flat-Panel Televisions
March Intuitive Gesture Control Test and Measurement Noise Meters Blood-Pressure Monitors
Equipment
April Latest Display Technologies Solar Industry Digital Multimeters Wireless Printers for Homes
May Solid-State Storage 3D Printers 3D Printers Under ` 100,000 Fitness Wristbands
June Affordable Virtual Reality The Internet of Things Wi-Fi and Radio Frequency Modules Earphones
July Connected Homes and Appliances Home Automation Budget-Friendly Oscilloscopes Wireless Routers for Homes
August Self-Driving Cars LED Lighting LED Chips and Bulbs Low-Priced Tablets
September Solar Cells to Inverters: Whats New Strategic Electronics Soldering/Desoldering Stations 3G/4G Dongles
October Sensors Consumer Electronics LCD and OLED Display Modules Smart Televisions
November The Internet of Things Medical Electronics Desktop PCB Manufacturing Equipment Blood-Sugar Monitors
December Materials: 3D Printing to Solar Panels Materials and Chemicals Motors and Drives Low-Priced Laptops

128 APRIL 2016 | ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM


Client name Page No.
Alcon Electronics Private Ltd. (www.alconelectronics.com)....................17
Alive .......................................................................................................127
Anand Enterprises .................................................................................124
AqTronics Technologies Pvt. Ltd .............................................................19
Arham Electronics & Electricals (Nimra Products) ................................125
Arrow Electronics India Pvt Ltd ............................................................... 11
Aura Emergency Systems .....................................................................126
Auro Controls (www.aurocontrols.com) ................................................. 116
BB Battery India Co. Pvt Ltd ....................................................................21
Binay Opto Electronics Pvt Ltd (www.binayLED.com) ......................14, 15
Buljin Elemec Pvt Ltd (www.flexiblepcb.com)........................................124
CADD Centre Training Services Private Limited ................................... 115
Circuit Systems India Ltd ........................................................................33
CM Envirosystems Pvt. Ltd......................................................................33
Design in India .........................................................................................32
Digi-Key Electronics (www.digikey.com)....................................................3
Digital Promoters (I) Pvt Ltd...................................................................124
Dinteck ...................................................................................................125
EB Corporate .........................................................................................127
EFY Group: IEW 2017 .......................................................................70, 71
EFY Group: Subscription Form ...............................................................67
EFY Group:3 people ..............................................................................120
EFY Group:iotshow.in ...........................................................................131
Eita Technologies ..................................................................................125
Electronic Assembly (www.lcd-module.de)..............................................32
Elektro Power Systems..........................................................................126
Element14 India Pvt Ltd.............................................................................1
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
advertisers index
Client name Page No.
ERT Tech.Services.................................................................................124
FLIR Systems India Pvt. Ltd. (www.flir.com) ...................................81, 121
Furukawa (Thailand) Co. Ltd ...................................................................51
Good Will Instrument Co. Ltd (www.goodwill.com.tw) ..........................130
I 3 Technologies .......................................................................................45
Indium Corporation (www.paigegroup.com) ............................................81
Indus Robotics & Automation Research Pvt Ltd ................................... 116
ISOFT..................................................................................................... 118
Jai Mata Electronics ...............................................................................124
Janice industries ....................................................................................125
KAMS Enterprises..................................................................................125
Kandhari Photo Electronics P Ltd ..........................................................125
Keysight Technologies India Pvt Ltd (www.keysight.com) ....................2, 5
Kits N Spares ...........................................................................................25
LED Expo .................................................................................................45
LEDAsia.in ...............................................................................................31
LEDbazaar.in............................................................................................87
LWI Electronics Inc. (www.livewireinfo.com) ...........................................23
Martin Electronic Devices & Instruments...............................................123
MathWorks ...............................................................................................47
Max Technology & Co. (www.maxtechnoloindia.com) ............................37
Meco Meters Pvt Ltd (www.mecoinst.com) .................................53, 55, 57
Microchip Technology Hong Kong Ltd. (www.microchip.com) ................59
Minmax Technology Co. Ltd (www.minmax.com.tw)...............................41
Mornsun Guangzhou Science & Technology Co. Ltd. ..............................9
Mouser Electronics (India) Private Limited ................................................7
NANJING GLARUN ATTEN Technology Co. Ltd. ...................................27
Would You
Like More
DIY Circuits?
Client name Page No.
National Controlling & Equipments ........................................................124
NIMBUS TECHNOLOGIES ...................................................................126
PIC GmbH (www.pic-gmbh.com) ............................................................13
Piyush Electronics & Electricals (P) Ltd (www.pact.in)..........................121
Progressive Engineers........................................................................... 116
Renesas Electronics India Pvt Ltd. ..........................................................39
S.M. Semiconductors.............................................................................125
Sahasra Electronics Pvt Ltd (www.sahasraelectronics.com) ................ 117
Sakthi Accumulators Private Ltd ............................................................125
Schurter Electronics (I) Pvt Ltd .............................................................. 119
Shavison Electronics Pvt Ltd (www.shavison.com)............................... 113
Shrey Plastic Moulders (www.shreyplasticmoulders.com)....................124
SIGLENT Technologies Co. Ltd...............................................................35
SMD Electro Components (www.smdelectro.com) ...............................121
SPM Electronics And Systems (spmelectronics.com) ..........................126
Srishti Electronics (www.acedigital.co.in) ..............................................124
ST Microelectronics Marketing Pvt Ltd ....................................................29
Sunanda Enterprises .............................................................................124
Systellar Innovations (www.systellar.in)................................................. 118
Techno Circuit Systems .........................................................................126
Techno Power (www.technopowersystems.com)..................................125
Tektronix India Pvt Ltd (www.tektronix.com)..........................................132
Times Internet Limited ...........................................................................109
Universal Electronic Agencies (www.easternradio.co.in) ...................... 118
WAA MALL LLP .....................................................................................122
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU | APRIL 2016 129