BITS Pilani Electronics Instrumentation Monthly 1

8/8/2019 BITS Pilani Electronics Instrumentation Monthly 1

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NUTS & VOLTS is Instrumentation Forum’s periodic Wall Mag through which we shall

keep you informed about the latest happenings, future prospects and trivia from the fields

of electronics, instrumentation, communication, science and technology. This shall also

serve to be your one stop destination to know about the ongoing activities of the Forum.

So keep reading, stay updated!

THE EDITORIAL TEAM

ABHISHEK ANAND, NIKHIL R,

AYUSHI KANSAL, MANAS KHANNA, SURABHI MAHATA



Cartography is a fast declining disci-

pline. Today, you get a pocket-sizedgadget that will tell you exactly where

you are on Earth at any moment. As

long as you have a GPS receiver and a

clear view of the sky, you'll never be

lost again.

• GPS is a Constellation of 27 Earth-

orbiting satellites (24 in operation and

three extras).

• It was developed by the U.S. Military,

implemented as a military navigation

system, but soon opened it up to eve-

rybody else.

• Each satellite is solar-powered and

they circle the globe making two com-

plete rotations every day.

• Orbits are arranged so that at any-

time, anywhere on Earth, at least four

satellites are “visible”.

• When distance from 4 satellites are

known, 4 spheres can be drawn with thesatellites as centers and the distances as

radii and these spheres would intersect at

a unique point which is the location of the

receiver.

• Three spheres will intersect even if your

numbers are way off, but four spheres will

not intersect at one point if you've meas-

ured incorrectly.

• The GPS receiver figures the distance

and location of these satellites by analyzing

high-frequency, low-power radio signals

from the GPS satellites. Better units havemultiple receivers, so they can pick up

signals from several satellites simultane-

ously.

So, the next time you’re out shopping, do

check these portable and useful gadgets.

P A G E 1

Global Positioning System (GPS)The GPS Receiver

A GPS receiver is a hand held device

whose job is to locate four or more of the

GPS satellites

• It figures out the distance to each, and

uses this information to deduce its own

location.

• Position Measurement is done through

the process of “Trilateration”.

5 Electronics Tools You Should Know

VACUUM SUCTION PEN PLACEMENT TOOL

Little parts can be hard to pick up. That's where this comes in handy! Push the

button to expel the air, touch down on a flat surface and release the button toform suction.

Works great for just long enough to get your part where it needs to be. Inter-

changeable suction cups allow you to work with different sized parts.

RESISTOR LEAD FORMING TOOL

You can bend your resistor leads by hand. We know. But, resistor benders

are fabulous for getting the leads bent squarely enough to go easily through

the holes in your PCB or perf board. It helps keep your board looking neat,

and keeps the resistors from sticking too far above the board. It makes sure

that your resistors are bent to exactly the correct length, so that they go

through the hole on the first try, without any fuss. The tool itself is just a

piece of injection-molded plastic, with slots on both sides for different sizes

(i.e., power rating), and for different total lead lengths. You hold the resistor

in the appropriately sized slot and bend the leads down.



Across:

4 What happens to a fuse when too large

current flows through it. (5)

5 An LED emits this. (5)

6 I get this if I divide voltage by current.(10)

7 Color of "live" wire. (5)

9 The unit of energy used by the ESB. (12)

11 The unit of electric Current (6)

Down:

1 Does not allow electricity to flow

through it easily. (9)

2 The unit of potential difference. (4)

3 Continuously changing current. (11)

8 A device that allows current to flow in

one direction only. (5)

10 The unit of power. (4)

The Electronics Crossword : Easy

CHIP INSERTER

This tool is designed to insert a DIP chip into a circuit board even though the

leads are bent outwards, as they chip. come from the factory. You slide the chip

into the end of the tool, put it where it goes, and press the button to push it

into the board. When aligned correctly, they do a good job of putting evenpressure across the chip.

IC LEAD STRAIGHTENER TOOL

When you get chips, the leads aren't quite parallel, so they don't quite fit in a

socket or PCB without some prebending. A quick squeeze of this crimper, and

they fit perfectly. By performing the straightening role, it eliminates the pri-

mary need for the DIP insertion tool, which is to straighten the leads as they

are inserted. Accommodates two different widths of DIP ICs in a variety of

lengths.

IC POPPER

When you are scavenging parts off of boards, you need a way to get the chips

off. Slide the very fine wire ends under surface mount components to lift

them off while using hot air to melt the solder.

P A G E 2



Apple’s iPod Touch-Screen

P A G E 4I S S U E 1

A touch-screen interface for port-

able electronics device is something

that can sense when an object, such

as a person's finger, when it is ap-

proaching. When an object is

sensed, the touch-screen interface

may perform an action such as dis-

playing a "virtual scroll wheel,"

navigation pad or virtual keypad.

Alternatively, the touch-screen

interface described could be

adapted to work with Apple's

current iPod menu interface, al-

lowing users to employ a stylus or

their finger to navigate through

and select menu items on an

iPod's display screen.

Figure 1

During operation, the light from

the emitter 40 hits the object 38

and scatters when a object is pre-

sent above the I/O surface 32. At

least a portion of the scattered

light is reflected towards the de-

tector 42. The increase in light

intensity is read by the detector

42, and this is interpreted by a

controller to mean an object is

present. If no object is present,

the light is not reflected back to-

wards the detector.

Figure 2

It is a diagram of an I/O platform

50, in accordance with one embodi-

ment of the present invention. The

I/O platform 50 includes an I/O

surface 52 including any number of

I/O devices 54 in any number of

combinations. The I/O platform 50

also includes a capacitive sensing

circuit 56 for detecting the pres-

ence of an object 58 in close prox-

imity but spaced apart from the I/O

surface 52 (non contact). The ca-pacitive sensing circuit 56 works by

detecting changes in capacitance in

an area 60 above the I/O surface

52. As should be appreciated, when

an object (e.g., finger) is placed in

the sensing area 60, the value of the

capacitance changes due to the fact

that the finger has different dielec-

tric properties than air. Any

changes can therefore be used to

determine the presence of the ob-

ject 58 above the I/O surface 52.

Apple and several

other companies

have been sued

for patent

infringement by

Tsera, a Texasbased business

that is claiming to

have invented the

touchpad used

today in many

media devices.

FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2

For feedbacks/contributions, contact: Abhishek Anand, Editor, Instru Forum

Crossword Answers: Across: 4. Melts, 5. Light, 6. Resistance, 7. Brown, 9. KilowattHour, 11. Ampere.Down : 1. Insulator, 2. Volt, 3. Alternating, 8. Diode, 10. Watt.

Optimist: The glass is half full. Pessimist: The glass is half empty.Micro Electronics Engineer: That glass is twice as large as it needs to be.

BITS Pilani Electronics Instrumentation Monthly 1

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