Switches are the most basic electronic component. A switch creates a break (disconnection) in a circuit to stop the flow of current. The break has almost infinite resistance because in theory it should have as much resistance as the air between the gap in the connection. Switches are said to be open when there is a gap between the contractors inside of them that disallows the flow of current. On the other hand, a switch is said to be closed when the contractors are contacting one another which enables the flow of current within the circuit. A switch is always either open or closed although some switches can have additional connections that can be closed depending on the position of the switch.
Besides the simple type of switches that are only either open or closed (on or off) there are also many other configurations that that allow a switch to select one of several circuits depending on its position.
The simplest type of switch is the single pole single throw (SPDT). The SPDT switch has two terminals that are either connected or disconnected. Another type of switch is the single pole double throw (SPDT). SPDT switches can select one of two connections to turn on. Many times these switches will be labeled with the abbreviations NC, NO, and COM; these stand for normally open (NO), normally closed (NC) and common (COM). These are the normal connections that are the default state of the switch.
Besides the simple type of switches that are only either open or closed (on or off) there are also many other configurations that that allow a switch to select one of several circuits depending on its position.
The simplest type of switch is the single pole single throw (SPDT). The SPDT switch has two terminals that are either connected or disconnected. Another type of switch is the single pole double throw (SPDT). SPDT switches can select one of two connections to turn on. Many times these switches will be labeled with the abbreviations NC, NO, and COM; these stand for normally open (NO), normally closed (NC) and common (COM). These are the normal connections that are the default state of the switch.
A transformer is a component that transfers current from one circuit to another in order to increase or decrease electrical voltage. The transfer occurs through the process of induction where electromagnetic fields induce current in a conductor.
A transformer can be broken down into three main parts: a primary winding, secondary winding, and a core. When current is applied to the primary winding the result is the production of a magnetic field. The magnetic field causes current to be produced in the secondary coil. Turn ratios are the ratio of turns in each winding. The turn ratio determines the properties of the transformer. If the primary winding has more turns than the secondary winding then the voltage is decreased. On the other hand if the primary winding has fewer turns than the secondary winding then the voltage will be increased. Transformers that increase voltage are called "step up" transformers while ones that decrease voltage are called "step down" transformers. The turn ratio can be used to calculate how much the voltage will be altered. To do this divide the number of turns on the primary winding by the number of turns on the secondary winding and multiply this by the input voltage. This will give you the output voltage of the transformer.
- FIRST - an acronym meaning "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology". This is an organization and robotics competition founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 in order to develop ways to inspire students in engineering and technology fields.
- Forward chaining - a process in which events or received data are considered by an entity to intelligently adapt its behavior.
- Factory Automation - the process of integrating industrial machinery with the help of control software in order to increases efficiency, productivity, quality and decreasing costs.
- Fanuc - this company manufactures most of the automated systems such as robots to industries in North and South America.
- Feedback - signals from a robot that describe conditions as they actually exist, rather than as the computer has directed them to exist.
- Fixed Automation - (Hard Automation) an automated system that is controlled electronically and is designed to make simple, straight or circular motions. Systems such as these are usually used for producing items in situations where minimal flexibility is required.
- Flexibility - the diversity of the types of jobs that a robot is capable of doing.
- Flexible Automation - the the feature of a robot that allows it to be reconfigured in order to allow it to do a task other than what it is designed for.
- Fully Constrained Robot - the number of equality constraints on the robot that are equal to the number of independent joints.
- Emergent behavior - a complicated resultant behaviour that emerges from the repeated operation of simple underlying behaviours.
- End-effector - An accessory device or tool specifically designed for attachment to the robot wrist or tool mounting plate to enable the robot to perform its intended task. (Examples may include gripper, spot-weld gun, arc-weld gun, spray- paint gun, or any other application tools.)
- Envelope (Space) Maximum - The volume of space encompassing the maximum designed movements of all robot parts including the end-effector, workpiece, and attachments.
- Equality constraint – A restriction that requires the displacement or motion of the robot to be equal a specified value.
- Explosive ordnance disposal robot - A mobile robot designed to assess whether an object contains explosives; some carry detonators that can be deposited at the object and activated after the robot withdraws.
These are just some tips for when you solder electronics.
- Replace tip if necessary - I don't do this very often but some cheap soldering irons can ware out over only a few weeks of use. You will know if you need to replace your tip because it will look disfigured almost like it melted.
- Clean the tip with a sponge - do this while the soldering iron is hot. Simply use a damp sponge to wipe away any carbon (black) and excess solder. The result will be a nice shiny tip.
- Soldering paste or flux can be used to help solder attach to some surfaces but this is not always necessary.
- Make sure you are using good solder. Some solder contains impurities and may not bond well to the materials that you are using. I have had good luck with 60/40.
Do and Don't:
- Do: Good solder joint (shiny, smooth)
- Don't: Bad solder joint (dull, lumpy)
- Degrees of freedom - the extent to which a robot can move itself; expressed in terms of Cartesian coordinates (x, y, and z) and angular movements (yaw, pitch, and roll).
- Delta robot - a tripod linkage, used to construct fast-acting manipulators with a wide range of movement.
- Dexterity - the measure of a robot's ability to follow complex paths.
- Drive Power - The energy source or sources for the robot actuators.
- Dynamic model - the mathematical model for a robot that describes its motions and the forces that cause them.
- Karel Čapek - a Czech author who coined the term 'robot' in his 1921 play, Rossum's Universal Robots.
- Combat robot - a hobby or sport event where two or more robots fight in an arena to disable each other.
- Cruise missile - a robot-controlled guided missile that carries an explosive payload.
- Cyborg - also known as a cybernetic organism, a being with both biological and artificial (e.g. electronic, mechanical or robotic) parts.
- Base Link - the stationary base structure of a robot arm that supports the first joint.
- Bionics - also known as biomimetics, biognosis, biomimicry, or bionical creativity engineering is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology.
- Burn-In: Burn-In is a robot testing procedure where all components of the robot are operated continuously for an extended period of time. This is done to test movement, and movement programming of the robot at early stages to avoid malfunctions after deployment.
The photo above is of NGC7026, a planetary nebula located approximately 6000 light years away from Earth. To the naked eye it appears as a single point of light in the constellation of Cygnus but when viewed with the Hubble Space Telescope a glorious aura of vivid colors emerge.
This photo was selected by my cousin, Linda Morgan-O'Connor from an archive of Hubble photos that have never been viewed by the public. Linda is an amazing artist, and scientist and her photo has been selected as a part of Hubble’s Hidden Treasures Competition. I would like to nominate my cousin's photo and ask for your votes. To vote just go to http://www.spacetelescope.org/projects/hiddentreasures/vote/ht2012/ and select the photo on the page that is the same as the one above. Then scroll to the bottom and enter your email address to verify the submission.
- Actuator - an electric, pneumatic, or hydraulic motor that translates control signals into mechanical movement.
- Aerobot - a robot capable of independent flight on other planets.
- Android - a humanoid robot.
- Arduino - a type of open source single-board microcontroller.
- Artificial intelligence - the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it.
- Automaton - an early self-operating robot, performing exactly the same actions, over and over.
- Autonomous vehicle - a vehicle equipped with an autopilot system, which is capable of driving from one point to another without input from a human operator.
A inductor is an electrical component that stores energy in its magnetic field. Inductors are very simple components that are usually nothing more than a conductive material made into a coil in order to increase the magnetic field. When the current flowing through an inductor changes, creating a time-varying magnetic field inside the coil, a voltage is induced, which opposes the change in current that created it. Inductors are used in electronics where current and voltage change with time. Inductors are used to delay and reshape alternating currents.
Inductance is the property that materials have that causes current to be generated when a change occurs in the current flowing. This the result of magnetic field forming around a current-carrying conductor which tends to resist changes in the current. Electric current through the conductor creates a magnetic flux proportional to the current. A change in this current creates a corresponding change in magnetic flux which, in turn, by Faraday's law generates an electromotive force (EMF) that opposes this change in current.
Inductance is a measure of the amount of EMF generated per unit change in current. For example, an inductor with an inductance of 1 henry produces an EMF of 1 volt when the current through the inductor changes at the rate of 1 ampere per second. The number of loops, the size of each loop, and the material it is wrapped around all affect the inductance. For example, the magnetic flux linking these turns can be increased by coiling the conductor around a material with a high permeability such as iron.
- From Wikipedia
Types of Inductors:
Ideal inductors - these have inductance but no resistance or capacitance. Ideal inductors do not dissipate or radiate any sort of energy.
Real inductors - these behave as resonant circuits because they are self-resonant.
Edit:
In an electrical circuit, resonance occurs at a particular frequency when the inductive reactance and the capacitive reactance are of equal magnitude, causing electrical energy to oscillate between the magnetic field of the inductor and the electric field of the capacitor.
Resonance occurs because the collapsing magnetic field of the inductor generates an electric current in its windings that charges the capacitor and the discharging capacitor provides an electric current that builds the magnetic field in the inductor, and the process is repeated. An analogy is a mechanical pendulum.
At resonance, the series impedance of the two elements is at a minimum and the parallel impedance is a maximum. Resonance is used for tuning and filtering, because resonance occurs at a particular frequency for given values of inductance and capacitance. Resonance can be detrimental to the operation of communications circuits by causing unwanted sustained and transient oscillations that may cause noise, signal distortion, and damage to circuit elements. - From Wikipedia
In order to save power it is often necessary for a robot to shut down for long periods of time. This action is analogous to human sleep in all aspects accept for one detail; the robot cannot wake up on its own if it is shut down completely. Intervention is required in order to wake the robot up. To handle this I am working on a independently operating system that will activate when the robot is shut down. This separate system will listen for sudden changes in the robot's environment. When something is detected the robot will be activated.
I'm looking to create a sensor board that generates a single output signal from the several sensors attached to it. The board will measure light, sound, and acceleration amounts while the robot is shut off. I am considering using an Arduino Nano to listen for the changes in the sensors which will make it a lot easier to detect them because the only thing I have to do is worry about the programming aspect of it.
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