Mischievous Conducts

Slow Days

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:15:00 +0000

Damn, days have been slow nowadays. All I've been doing is attending interviews, interviews and more interviews... I hope I land a job soon. Fishing is slow, electronics is even more slow.. Dang..

Build Your Own Automated Drink Maker

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:00:00 +0000

Almost all of you have seen or used an automated drinks maker, so I presume you have a rough idea on what is an automated drink maker.

Please note that this project was my degree 2nd year group project , at Northumbria University. Even though the steps outlined below, will have sufficient information to build your own drink maker, I highly suggest you make your own or tweak this design. Electronics/Software-wise, the project is working 100%, but the mechanical mechanisms needs some serious rework.

PLEASE NOTE ALSO THAT I WILL BE ONLY EXPLAINING THE SOFTWARE PART OF THE PROJECT, AS THAT WAS MY ROLE. ATTACHED ARE THE REPORTS, WHICH INCLUDES EVERYTHING NEEDED TO MAKE THE PROJECT.

ATTACHMENT: PRELIMINARY REPORT, INTERMEDIATE REPORT(this document has the most detailed information on building the whole system, but is with a group member of mine. Once he mails me the report, i will post it here. Sorry!), FINAL REPORT

Ok, before I start, I presume you have decent soldering skills, basic PIC Microcontroller background, and also basic mechanical construction knowledge.

If you already dont have a PIC16F877A microcontroller and a PIC Programmer, please obtain these two.

The PIC16F877A can be sampled for free at http://sample.microchip.com
If you don't have a PIC Programmer, i suggest making this simple one which I have been using till now: http://feng3.cool.ne.jp/en/pg5v2.html

I used MikroBasic v4.0.0.3 to code my PIC, and EAGLE to design the PCBs.

1st, lets go through the basic operation of the drinks maker.

- The PIC acts as the brain, controlling every aspect of the drink maker.
- There are 5 slots in the drink maker, 1 for sugar, 1 for milk, 1 for hot water, and the other 2 depends on the user (eg: coffee, milo etc..)
-Once the drink maker is powered on, nothing happens until the water heater has heated up, and there is a cup present in the cup holder.
-After this, you are free to choose a preset of drinks, make your own drink, or save your own drinks.

Ok, since we have got that out of the way, lets 1st look at all the sub components of the project:

- PIC microcontroller board
- Motor driver board
- Power Supply board
- Cup Sensor board

So, the mechanical construction uses normal DC motors to release the ingredients (ex: sugar). So, lets say you would want a tablespoon of sugar, the motor is rotated in one direction for a period of time, and rotated in another direction back to its initial position. For 2 tablespoons, the above steps are done twice, and so on for more tablespoons.

A Motor controller, BA6208 (Datasheet) is used, as it can control a motor to rotate both ways. The motor controller expects a high in Ain to rotate 1 direction and a high in Bin to reverse. A high in Ain and Bin results in the motor braking. Aout and Bout are the outputs to the motor.

Thus, only logic 1(high) needs to be sent to the motor driver, and a active-high switch is used.
Ok, now back to the software. The software is nothing more then a menu system. As of such, the software can be modified to be used as a menu system for any application. Just be creative.

Here is the Block Diagrams of the operation of the software. There are only 2 buttons to operate the menu: GO and SELECT. The 3rd button, RESET is wired to MCLR pin of the PIC16F877A and resets the whole system (retaining any eeprom data saved).

Main Menu:

Shown above is the main menu structure of the program. Before entering the main menu itself, the program will ask the user to place the cup, and is he/she has done that, it will wait until the water has been heated.Once entered the main menu, the GO button will go to the next menu and the SELECT button will enter the selected menu. Below, is the flowchart for the three sub-menus; Preset Mode, Manual Mode, and Memory Mode.

Preset Mode: Once entered the Preset Mode, the GO button will advance to the next sub-menu and the SELECT button will enter the selected menu. Once entered either to Hot chocolate or Coffee, there is a conditional branch. The program will make the drink if the GO button is pressed or it will cancel the drink if the SELECT button is pressed.

Manual Mode:

Upon entering the Manual Mode menu, you will be asked to choose the number of tablespoons of hot chocolate. In this menu, the GO button will increase the number of tablespoon by 1 and the SELECT button will go to the next item. After you have chosen all the items, you will be asked to choose whether you want to make a drink or cancel the drink. GO will make the drink and SELECT will cancel the drink.

Memory Mode:
The Memory mode has two sub-menus, that is Make drink from memory and Save drink to memory. As usual, the GO button will go to the next button and the SELECT button will enter the menu. Once entered the Save drink to memory menu, the user will be asked to choose the amount of ingredients. This procedure is exactly the same as manual mode, the only exception being once you’ve finished, the user will be asked to save the drink or cancel. GO will save the drink and SELECT will cancel the drink. Once entered the Make drink from memory menu, GO will select between the 2 user memory locations and select will make the drink.

By looking through the block diagrams, I hope you understand how the menu system works.

Get the source code HERE, and the hex file HERE.

MCU Board Schematic:

MCU Board PCB Design:

Get the Schematic HERE and PCB Design HERE.

Pics of the final product:

Please feel free to contact me should you have anything to ask.

Upcoming Devils

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 19:54:00 +0000

Here are my puppies. They are about 1 1/2 months old, and they are the devil in the making... Already starting to terrorize anything and everything, much like me :-)

Dont be fooled by their cute look, these gals are devils!

Motto:

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:12:00 +0000

"We keep moving forward, opening up new doors, doing new things, meeting new people, because we are curious.... And curiosity leads us down new paths, one which you will settle down in."

My personal motto from now on. NO more regretting about the past and stuff like that.

Failed attempt at making a light following robot

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:24:00 +0000

In an attempt to make a line following robot, something went horribly wrong. At first i thought i had wired the motors wrong, cuz all it was doing was making rounds. After switching the motor wiring, i ended up it being worse. Now the rounds were even tighter. Reverting back to the original wiring, i finally realised, even though the 2 motors were identical looking, it was spinning at 2 very different speeds.

The result, a 'dumb-dog' robot... chasing its tail. Hahah! Enjoy the failure video.

Fishing after 5 months of break!

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:54:00 +0000

Due to my final year in my degree, i have not been fishing for 5 months! God i cant even think its been so long. My casting skills have rusted. So, after i finished my degree, of course, even before getting drunk, i went fishing 1st. Disappointment. 2nd time the next day. Disappointments again.

After a series of bad luck, the good 'ol tarpons decided to change my luck. If only for 20mins plus, i had 3 takes, 1 'terlepas' when the tarpon did its jumping out of the water stunt, and 1 tarpon. My fren who was with me had about the same results. I used live bait, cuz its been so long since i was casting, and i wish to start back at this!

Anyway, here are the pics. Too bad the water gate was opened after a while, and the current was so strong it started to bring mini-islands of weeds. So no more fishing after that. Packed up and went back, satisfied with this days results.

Catch of the day!
My friend with his catch
The location: Byram, Nibong Tebal
The location: Byram, Nibong Tebal
The location: Byram, Nibong Tebal

Build a PC Fan controller + VU Meter in a 5.25" bay

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:33:00 +0000

All of you must have seen the vast number of available Fan Controllers available. Take Vantec Cooling for example, they have many controller panels, not only for managing fans but for other purposes as well.

So, the question is, why would one want to build a fan controller if it can be bought? There are many answers to that, but the 1 main thing is that it is unique. No other person has that installed if you DIY. This is (i think) what drives modders to mod.

So, back to the Fan Controller. The main goal was to build a 4x2 (4 busses x 2 fans per bus) fan controller. As the idea took shape, i realised that i had lots of more free space to add more stuff. So, i added a VU meter and a Hard Disk reading indicator just for the bling of it.

Now, lets go back to the steps on how i made it. Mind you, the Fan Controller circuit is not mine. I just got it from the net years ago and made slight changes to it. The PCB design is my own though. The VU meter circuit is very easy to design, based on the datasheet.

These are the stuff you are going to need to make the Fan Controller:

4 x 2.2k potentiometer
5 x 5mm LEDs (1 for power indicator and the other 4 for each bus power indicator)
4 x LM317T Variable Voltage Regulator
5 x 180 ohm resistors
4 x 240 ohm resistors
8 x 3 pin connector(to connect the fans)
1 x 4-pin molex connector (male)

Sorry but i lost the circuit diagram, but it is easy to make out from the PCB design.

PCB Design (Component Placement)

PCB Design (Layout)

PCB Design (Layout + Component Placement)
After you have completed this, please remember to Heat Sink ALL the LM317Ts. If not they WILL overheat and shut down.

Eagle File: PCB

Now for the VU Meter

You will need:

1 x LM3915 Dot/Bar Display Driver. NOTE: LM3914 can be used too, but LM3914 is linear,
whereas the 3915 is dB, 3dB/step, making a better looking outcome.
10 x LED (any colour)
1 x 2.2k resistor
2 x 10k resistor
2 x 1uf electrolyte capacitor
2 x IN4148 fast switching diodes
2 x 2pin connectors (1 for power, another for input)

Schematic

PCB design (Component Placement)

PCB design (Layout)

PCB Design (Component Placement + Layout)
EAGLE Schematic and PCB Design: Schematic, PCB

Putting it all together:

This part is not described in detail because it is up to the users imagination. I will just show you a pictorial guide of how I managed to do it.

Breadboard testing is done 1st to ensure everything is working before starting on PCB construction:
Both boards done, and fan controller fixed to perspex( note that i have used fibre optic cable to route the light from the leds to the panel, that way you get a neat 1mm display of each led, and not the bulky 5mm leds):

Now fixing all the parts to a unused cdrom player casing (note that i added a DIY kit running leds for the hard disk led):

Done at last! Now, the video of the breadboard testing and the testing of the final product: It works like a charm!

Breadboard Testing:

VU Meter Test:

Panel Final Test:

Please note that this is the way I constructed this. There are tons of ways that you can construct this. This can also be done in a floppy drive bay, but things will get cramped. Anyway, if anyone does actually do this, i'd love to hear from you!

EAGLE

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:43:00 +0000

Also known as Easily Applicable Graphics Layout Editor, EAGLE is one of the easiest schematics capture and PCB design tool available for the hobbyist and professional alike. I just wanted to give an intro to this software, as most of my circuits and pcb designs are based on this software. The best part is, there is a free version available, with limitations though, but nothing that the hobbyist will complain about.

Compared to OrCad or Protel, EAGLE will take you only 20% of the effort needed to get used to it. Its easy, straight forward, and it has an extensive library support. The best part is it is available for linux, windows and Mac OS too! The newest version available is:

EAGLE v4.16r2, and there is a beta version available for testing.

First, get EAGLE here: EAGLE V4.16R2

Then, read the manual to get accustomed to it(important!): Manual

and also the tutorial: Tutorial

After these steps, you'll be making professional looking PCBs in no time!

Gotta hit the sack now. Tomorrow i'll post some schematics, and some PCB designs of my previous works.

Unexpected Catch

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:39:00 +0000

Finally, after transferring all the stuff on multiply to here, now i can actually post my real '1st' post!

During a prawning session on 22/04/07, i had this unexpected visitor which made my balls reach my throat, due to me using ultralight. A nice +-20mins fight!

PICS:

Previous fishing pics from multiply: Fishing around taiping mining ponds... (01/04/07)

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:30:00 +0000

Previous fishing pics from multiply: CWS 2nd Gathering (25/03/07)

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:15:00 +0000

Clearwater Sanctuary MFN Unofficial gathering!

Previous fishing pics from multiply: Some of the fishing lately... (20/03/07)

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:54:00 +0000

A collection of odd fishing, from penang island shore fishing to air kuning...

Previous fishing pics from multiply: Taiping "Duck Farm" Mining Pond continued... (18/02/07)

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:46:00 +0000

More, more and more cichlids!

again...
close up.
and again...
close up
the killer bait + the annoying fish.
my 1st PB!!!
another angle
close up.

Previous fishing pics from multiply: Taiping "Duck Farm" Mining Pond Trips..... (25/12/06)

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:55:00 +0000

Well, here are the catches from my few trips to the taiping "duck farm" trips... Lots of cichlids there. Whole lotta fun using ultralight! Then there are the haruan bonuses and the foul hook-up tongsan bonuses also!

My fren with a biggie
Caught on 1" micro grub!
Tilapias...
god these cichlids are everywhere!
close up
foul hook-up tongsan! nearly broke my light outfit!
again...
close up
and again...
close up
must be some cichlid hybrid.
tilapia, again...off you go.
haruan on gulp!
close up.
1st and last catch of the day after 2 hrs casting.
close up. nearing the 1.5kg mark.

Previous fishing pics from multiply: Sigh... Tarpon hunting less productive nowadays

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:37:00 +0000

1st and last tarpon (19/12/06)

Close up view

Tarpon for the day (20/12/06)

Close up view

Morning Tarpon (21/12/06)

Previous fishing pics from multiply: Sunday (11/12/06) Fishing Report

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 07:40:00 +0000

1st smallish tilapia

2nd tilapia, almost 1kg

Biggest catch of the day

Another shot

Yummy!

Previous fishing pics from multiply: 4th Tarpon hunting session

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 07:34:00 +0000

Previous fishing pics from multiply: 3rd Tarpon hunting session (26/11/06) @ Byram

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 06:28:00 +0000

Previous fishing pics from multiply: 2nd Tarpon hunting session (25/11/06) @ Byram

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 06:15:00 +0000

Tarpon Back-2-Back

Previous fishing pics from multiply: 1st Tarpon hunting session (23/11/06)

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 06:04:00 +0000

Making the switch

noreply@blogger.com (suresh13) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 06:02:00 +0000

Well, it was time for me to make the switch from multiply to blogger. Me, I'm a google lover. I love anything from google. Now, to transfer all my pics from multiply to here, man this is gonna take some time.