EFY Magazine projects

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An effort to put up Construction projects published in Electronics For you Magazine will be done here in this thread regularly. If any other member too has any access to any construction articles from the magazine, is most welcome to post it here. All articles will include schematics, full articles with PCB layouts and codes. Thus material whatever available from the magazine will be posted here, and these are not my projects. Any claims about its non working or discussions about the same may be continued on the regular discussion forums. This thread will be exclusively for posting projects only.
Requests for any EFY published projects such as Code or other info may be continued on this thread:
EFY Magazine projects Requests Code or More
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EDIT: Ask for code or hijack this topic and your post will be deleted, and a warning given. Help keep topic clean

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Arduino-Controlled Namaste Greeting Robot (EFY April 2014)
The concept of controlling various servo motors through Arduino Uno board is introduced here with a fun project called ‘namaste robot.’ The robot turns its head by 180° and scans people in its range using an ultrasonic module. If it finds anyone nearby, it greets the person with ‘namaste’ with both hands pressing to- gether, which is the traditional Indian way of wishing people. The robot can be used in offices, shopping centres, parks and party halls where it can greet and attract people. Fig. 1 shows the author’s prototype of this robot. Please note that the ultrasonic module is mounted on the chest in author’s prototype, but during testing it was observed that if it is mounted on the eyes, it can scan a much larger area in its vicinity.

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RF-Controlled Aircraft (EFY May 2014)
Presented here is a remote-controlled aircraft project based on Arduino and 433MHz RF modules controlling a brushless DC motor and three servo motors. It comprises an Arduino-based remote control at the transmitter’s end and an Arduinobased aircraft at the receiver’s end. The aim of this project is to develop a 4-channel wireless control system. Controlling multiple servo motors using XBee RF modules is very sophisticated and robust but a bit costlier. For cheaper solution, we used a pair of simple 433MHz RF transmitter and receiver modules.

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Programmable Interval Timer for Live Shows (EFY May 2014)
Presented here is a microcontroller-based special-purpose programmable interval timer for live shows and competitions to record time while the contestants are performing. The main objective of this project is to design an accurate programmable interval timer that can be utilised in inter-college/inter-zonal/inter-university shows and competitions. In live competitions and shows, each item has a predetermined fixed minimum time, maximum time and grace time. The item being presented should complete between minimum and maximum time. Sometimes, grace time for a few seconds over and above the maximum time is allowed. If it is not completed within the stipulated timeframe, the item presented by that particular team is disqualified. One may use a stopwatch to monitor the competition  but there are chances of inaccuracy or introduction of errors while switching on the stopwatch in the beginning or switching off at the  end of a particular item. The audience or the participants can object or raise a complaint for inaccuracy in time allotment. This project comes handy to overcome these problems. It is fully automatic and programmable. It has the flexibility to program the minimum, maximum and grace time period in the database as explained in the software section.


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Car-Reversing Audio-Visual Alarm (EFY June 2014)
Here is a simple car-parking alarm circuit based on an AVR microcontroller and an ultrasonic module. The circuit will alert you while you are reversing your car for parking, if there is any obstacle, through an audio-visual alarm. The heart of the system is the 28-pin Atmel’s ATmega328, which is an 8-bit AVR microcontroller with 32kB Flash and 1024 bytes of data RAM. It has two 8-bit timers/counters, one 16-bit timer/counter, six PWM channels, 23 programmable I/O lines, programmable serial USART master/ slave SPI serial interface, a 6-channel 10-bit ADC and on-chip analogue comparator.

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Power Factor Corrector (EFY June 2014)
This project discusses the need for power factor correction and provides a suitable DIY solution that could be used for small-scale industries and establishments. When voltage and current are in phase with each other in an AC circuit, the electrical energy drawn from the source gets fully converted into another form of energy and the power factor (cosine of angle between voltage and current waveform) is said to be unity (or 100 per cent). This happens with  purely resistive loads. With inductive loads, the voltage and current do not remain in phase and the power factor drops. As the power factor drops, the system becomes less efficient. A drop from unity to 0.9 (90 per cent) in the power factor results in 15 per cent more current requirement for the same load. A power factor of 0.7 (70 per cent) requires approximately 43 per cent more current. In industrial units and establishments, most of the loads are electrical motors and air-conditioning units. These loads are inductive in nature, where the current lags the applied voltage and the power factor is termed as lagging power factor. With capacitive loads, the current leads the voltage and the power factor is termed as leading power factor. The objective therefore should be to neutralise the lagging power factor of inductive loads by connecting capacitors across the load, which have leading power factor.

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Web-Based Device Controller With Arduino Board (EFY July 2014)
Arduino board can also be used to control electrical devices and appliances over the Internet. Just by clicking a few buttons on a webpage, the devices can be operated from a remote location. For this the board needs to be Ethernet-enabled using Ethernet shield. This project illustrates the point by using Wiznet W5100 Ethernet shield to control a servo motor and an LED. The circuit is built around Arduino UNO board (board1), Arduino Ethernet shield (shield1) and servo motor.

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Arduino-Based FM Receiver (EFY July 2014)
This project is of an FM radio based on Philips TEA5767 digital radio-receiver module. The radio receiver uses I2C interface with Arduino UNO development board. The TEA5767 module offers such features as stereo or mono outputs, radio station scanning and signal strength indication.

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Quiz Game Controller (EFY July 2014)
This PIC16F877A microcontroller-based quiz controller, designed for up to six players or teams, is suitable for school and college quiz competitions. It is similar to a fastest-finger-first system in which the player who presses the button first gets the first chance to answer the quiz. Here, each team is assigned a unique number and provided with a pushbutton switch. As soon as a question is asked by the quiz master, any of the participating teams can press the button and give the answer within the allotted time. A buzzer sounds and a big 12.7cm (5-inch) 7-segment display shows the number of the team that presses their pushbutton switch first.

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Mini Rechargeable Power Supply (EFY August 2014)
Presented here is a robust, compact and hand-held power supply that delivers 9.2V and 5V up to 1A (approx.) and 3.3V up to 500mA. It also includes  female A-type USB connector so you can power and charge other equipment such as mobile phones. Four white LEDs are included to enable its use as a torch-light as well. The circuit uses a single rechargeable 3.7V Li-ion battery pack (normally used in mobile phones and MP3 players). It uses dedicated Li-ion charging IC which monitors undercharge and overcharge conditions to safely charge the Li-ion battery pack. The circuit not only indicates the charging status but also shuts off the load when the battery is discharged to a certain level. The power supply is so versatile that it accepts input from various power sources like DC wall adaptors, USB or a solar panel to charge the 3.7V battery. Even if the battery is fully discharged, it can power the load from external power source without disturbing the output regulation and charging of the battery.

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Sequential Tilt-Motion Lock (EFY August 2014)
Here is a project for locking and unlocking with a tilt sensor by tilting it in a defined sequence. It uses an accelerometer module to detect the tilt  motion. If the sequence matches with the predefined motion sequence, the lock opens. You can build this lock for a briefcase, ballot box, portable cashbox or even as a door-lock using suitable mechanical arrangement. The circuit is built around Arduino Uno board (Board1), accelerometer module
 (ACC.1), solenoid lock/electric strike and a few other components.

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Celestial Weight Calculator (EFY Sept 2014)
Whether you are a science fiction fan, a space enthusiast or one of the millions who have watched astronauts gamboling about the moon’s surface,
you may have wondered how much you would weigh on other planets in the solar system. The weight depends on the gravitational forces acting on the object, which vary from planet to planet. The Newton’s law of universal gravitation says that everything that has mass attracts every other thing that has mass, pulling with a force which is directly proportional to the product of the two masses of the objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance separating their centres. The designed embedded system takes a weight on earth and shows the weights on other celestial bodies of our solar system. The device is designed and constructed using microcontroller AT89S52. It can give better understanding about gravity. The system calculates the mass and acceleration due to gravity (g) for other celestial bodies and displays the corresponding weight (force).

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XBee-Controlled Aircraft (EFY September 2014)
This is a remote-controlled aircraft project based on Arduino and XBee modules. The aircraft’s movement is controlled through a brushless DC motor and three servo motors. It has an XBee-based remote control at the transmitter end and an Arduino-based aircraft at the receiver end. The aim of  his project is to develop a 4-channel wireless remote control (RC) system with one XBee each in transmitter and receiver.  Transmitter section is driven by a 3.7V battery and receiver section by an 11.1V LiPo battery. 11.1V is used to power the brushless DC motor (or BLDC motor) through ESC  module. The Arduino board1 receives power supply from 11.1V battery at its Vin input pin. The four potentiometers in transmitter section are used for sending different control signals to the receiver section through RF modules. Control signals received in the receiver are processed by microcontroller in the Arduino, which in turn controls a BLDC motor and the servo motors for rudder, aileron and elevator of the aircraft.

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Weather-Forecast Monitoring System (October 2014)
Weather forecasts play an important role in our day to- day life. A good weather monitoring system helps in better planning and any preparations that may be required in case of adverse weather. This project deals with the construction of a weather display system using low-cost components so that any electronics hobbyist can build it. Instead of using sensors to gather the weather data, the project gets the information from professional weather stations located around the world through an international weather data provider.

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RFID Based Access Control Using Arduino (October 2014)
Radio frequency identification (RFID) is used in many applications. Here, we present an access control system based on EM-18 RFID reader module and Arduino UNO board. RFID is a non-contact, automatic identification technology that uses radio signals to identify, track, sort and detect a variety of objects including people, vehicles, goods and assets without the need for direct contact or line-of-sight contact (as found necessary in bar code technology). RFID technology can track movement of objects through a network of radio-enabled scanning devices over a distance of several metres. A device called RFID tag, or simply a tag, is a key component of the technology.


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Automated Plants Watering System (EFY November 2014)
During summers, most people are too lazy to water the potted plants on their rooftop gardens every day. Explained in this section is a simple and exciting plant watering system that you can build yourself in just a few hours. It is an Arduino based automatic plant waterfeeder system that uses a soil moisture sensor. The circuit comprises an Arduino UNO board, a soil moisture sensor, a servo motor, a 12V water pump and an L293D (IC1) motor driver IC to run the water pump. You can power the Arduino board using a 7V to 12V wall wart or plugin adaptor or solar panel. You need a separate 12V battery or power supply or solar panel for the pump motor.

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LED Scrolling Display (EFY November 2014)
Most outdoor LED displays and some indoor LED displays are built around individually- mounted LEDs. A cluster of red, green and blue diodes is driven together to form a full-colour display. In a dot-matrix LED display, the LEDs are wired together in rows and columns to minimise the number of pins required to drive them. For example, an 8×8 matrix of LEDs, shown in Fig. 1, would need 64 I/O pins—one for each LED pixel. By wiring all  nodes together in rows (R1 through R8) and cathodes in columns (C1 through C8), the required number of I/O pins is reduced to 16. Each LED is addressed by its row and column number. In Fig. 1, if R4 is pulled high and C3 is pulled low, the LED in the fourth row and third Most outdoor LED displays and some indoor LED displays are built around individually- mounted LEDs. A cluster of red, green and blue diodes is driven together to form a full-colour display. In a dot-matrix LED display, the LEDs are wired together in rows and columns to minimise the number of column will turn on. Alphabets and numerals can be displayed by fast scanning of either rows or columns. In this project, column scanning has been used.

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PLL FM transmitter (EFY December 2014)
This is a circuit that offers a challenge to electronics enthusiasts and hobbyists—an FM transmitter that uses readily available components and covers the FM broadcast band in 100kHz steps. The frequency drift is controlled by phase-locked-loop (PLL) method, making transmission frequency rock-solid all the time, just like commercial stations. Using DIP switches, simply punch in the frequency on which you wish to broadcast, and you are on the air.

First it was Rapidshare and now it is filecloud which ateup all my collection. 4shared is still supporting free storage and thus here onwards all links of my collection will be limited 4shared only.

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Long delay timer with real time clock display (EFY December 2014)
Often we forget to switch-off the water pump on time and it results in overflow of water from the overhead tank. Fortunately, there are many solutions vailable for switching-off the motorautomatically. Most water-level controllers require a level monitoring system for the tank, which is not so easy to install due to complicated electrical connections. One of the simplest alternatives is a countdown timer circuit described here. This circuit shows the realtime clock in hours, minutes and seconds, with AM/ PM on LCD display. It eliminates the use of additional peripherals like DS1307 RTC and I2C bus programming. Thus, cost of the circuit is reduced significantly as compared to other real-time clock circuits.

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Wireless Gesture-Controlled Robot (EFY January 2015)
In this project we are going to control a robot wirelessly using hand gestures. This is an easy, userfriendly way to interact with robotic systems and robots. An accelerometer is used to detect the tilting position of your hand, and a microcontroller gets different analogue values and generates command signals to control the robot. This concept can be implemented in a robotic arm used for welding or handling hazardous materials, such as in nuclear plants.

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Ultrasonic Radar Model Using Microcontroller ATmega128 (EFY February 2015)
Radar systems have a number of defence as well as civil applications. Air traffic control uses radars to track aircrafts on the ground and in the air, and to guide planes for smooth landings. Police use radars to detect the speed of passing vehicles. Geologists use radars to map the Earth and other planets. Military uses these for surveillance. Meteorologists use radars to track storms, hurricanes and tornadoes. The list is endless. A radar system consists of a transmitter that transmits a beam towards the target, which is then reflected by the target as an echo signal. The reflected signal is received by a receiver. This receiver processes the received signal and provides such information as the presence of a target, distance, position (moving or stationary) or speed, which is displayed on a display unit.

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Mini offline UPS (EFY March 2015)
Most of the systems are powered by AC mains. Uninterrupted power supply systems (UPSes) are there as a back-up to power the systems when mains supply is interrupted due to a power cut. A UPS differs from a standby generator in that it will provide near-instantaneous power by supplying the energy stored in batteries. In an online UPS, batteries are always connected to the inverter, which is always on, so that no transfer switches are necessary when power disruption occurs. In an offline UPS, the inverter circuit is switched on when mains are not there. UPSes are available off-theshelf, and one can select the system as per one’s requirement, back-up time being one requirement. However, one can construct a UPS of one’s own choice. Here is a circuit of an offline UPS, which a hobbyist can make at a reasonable cost. The capacity of the UPS is 350VA, so it can be used for any equipment with a load below 350VA. The UPS can be upgraded to 1kVA by making just a few changes.

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Wireless hotel ordering system (EFY April 2015)
Traditional ordering systems consist of waiters handing over the menu to customers and taking orders from them. The waiter's performance is defined by the speed at which the order gets processed, and it might get delayed at times. In the wireless ordering system, there is no waiter to take the order. Everything related to the waiter is done by the microcontroller (MCU) and a wireless transmitter. The customer can start ordering as soon as he or she is seated comfortably at the table. The delay caused by the waiter is eliminated in this system.

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Fire Extinguishing Robot (EFY May 2015)
Fire is like a double-edged sword. Discovery of fire stands as a milestone in the history of mankind. Fire fighters try their best to fight and extinguish fires when in need. But at the household level, it is observed that if the fire can be extinguished at an early stage, many major accidents can be averted. The aim here is to build a robot that can detect and extinguish fire.

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Home Automation System (EFY May 2015)
In this era of digital revolution, we are surrounded by smart devices that are capable of making decisions on their own without much human intervention. Our home can also be made smart by implementing a real-time home automation system that monitors parameters like power consumption and human presence. Home automation may include centralised control of electrical devices including lightings, appliances andsecurity. Presented here is a touch-control based home automation system that can control up to six electrical devices. It also has a separate keyboard interface module for troubleshooting and system settings. This system consists of closely-networked Atmel’s ATmega8, which is an AVR based microcontroller with 512 bytes EEPROM on a 28-pin DIP package, 1024 bytes internal SRAM and 8kB internal flash memory. The complete system is assembled in a small, portable central processing unit (CPU) chassis for an aesthetic look and uninterrupted 24x7 usage.

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GPS Master-Slave Clocks With RF Link (EFY june 2015)
We see public clocks displayed at many locations like office buildings, conference halls, control rooms and so on. Many are just independent clocks displaying Indian Standard Time (IST). The problem is that all the clocks show a slightly different time, none of which may be accurate. Master-slave clocks that are used for tripping analysis are good but are not GPS clocks, whereas GPS clocks are used only in switchyards and other sensitive locations where precise timing is required. Therefore to get precise time, you either have to rely on the time shown on your Internet-enabled mobile.

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