Need a Project. Ideas?

[wolverine7230]

Hey guys,

I'm 15, and live in the UK. I have been 'donated' £50 from grandparents to go towards a science type project. I am into electronics, know a fair amount of theory and am experienced for my age. I have no idea what kind of thing I should do. I also enjoy programming, so that is something that could be included.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
-wolverine

 

[Anon_LG]

15 also.

See here. You will need to compile it yourself though, download codeblocks and hit build and run.

That is one option for ideas, if you want ideas now, that would depend on your skill level. What languages are you into? Are you an analogue, digital or power electronics type of person, or a bit of all? Give us an idea of your past projects and we can think of a project slightly more advanced that incorporates additional skills. How far £50 goes depends, what kind of equipment do you have access to?

 

[wolverine7230]

I'm fine with any type, analogue, digital, power, whatever. I have access to a LOT of tools through a friend of the family. When I first came to electronics, I started with stuff like clocks, but now I have done loads of stuff with motors and microcontrollers, like remote control cars, and some stuff with my raspberry pi and LCDs.

Thanks for your time,
-wolverine

 

[Anon_LG]

OK, I ran the program a few times and here are some suggestions:

Serially interfaced quadcopter with AVR
Random access memory investigator
Wireless blind monitoring system
Swarm digital cat food dispenser

Those are mostly illudicrous.

Some real suggestions now. It sounds as though you have done quite a bit, and most projects would not be too difficult. If you are competent at making, have you tried hacking? Have you got anything lying around that is broken or has potential for expansion? For example, at my hackspace we are working on re-doing an arcade cabinet, I found some EL inverters from some scanners that we disassembled and I am going to incorporate these.

If you are going to make something, then I would suggest a FM transmitter + receiver project. Search the hackaday archives for FM 101, the hacker shows you how to design a simple FM transmitter using a VCO and a few discretes. A commercial radio's circuitry may be utilised to receive. Are you familiar with PCB design? This project is only really doable with a PCB as the inductor must be linked to the VCO through a low inductance path.

The above is what I would be doing right now, but I am caught in a flight simulator build with school. You are from the UK, you would not by any chance be involved in a flight simulator competetition at the moment, would you?

It is very difficult to select a theme for a project, which is why I made Project Generator.

I hope this helps,

 

[wolverine7230]

Hmmmmmm... Things I have lying about.... I have an old phone handset, an old kindle, an old RC helicopter that doesn't work anymore, my old DS, and I could probably dig up some other bits from the attic. I have an old laptop, but I don't think my parents would be happy with me taking that apart, but hacking/modding it would likely be fine to some extent.

And no, I'm not involved in a flight simulator contest.

 

[Anon_LG]

Oh, relatively new stuff then. The laptop is not a good option due to it's highly undocumented nature (assuming it is not a commodore). Phone would also be difficult to make anything of.

The kindle, you could redo that by integrating a new battery, charging circuitry and making an inductive wireless charger. The same with the helicopter. The helicopter could include a GPS module that automatically flies the helicopter to, or at least near to, the charging pad when the battery runs low. You would first have to diagnose the helicopter's current problems.

I thought it unlikely that you would be involved in the competition, its rather small.

The above are some more ideas. Really, the easiest things to hack are those with the most general initial functionality. Items that are in cases are convenient, this leaves room to hide circuitry. I was think more along those lines when I asked whether there was anything lying around, but I did not make that clear. Do you have anything that may be automated? Blinds area good one, i.e., open when the light level outside is great enough. Or do you have any items with basic functionality that you may add computing power to, for example, a clock or a keyboard?

There are so many ideas that it is hard to pick one. And what you pick is entirely dependant on your personal preferences.

 

[wolverine7230]

The issue with the helicopter is that the rotor a are bent, unfortunately. I like the idea of a 'smart room' though. I guess I could add a vocal activation system for my light, and add a lights system to my desk. Unfortunately, we only have curtains in my house, and could you just expand on the ideas with the kindle and helicopter? They sound cool but not entirely sure what you mean.

 

[Anon_LG]

Of course. I assume that your are fine taking the kindle apart to gain experience, I have one myself, I have not yet attempted disassembly though. One second thoughts, disassembley is not necessary, unless the battery requires replacement or you wish to integrate the charging system into the existing case.

You will need two inductively coupled cores. Either you can buy a prebuilt system, re-house it for greatest convenience, and potentially modify circuitry to specification or you can make your own. How you would make your own (efficient) induction pair, I am unsure, this would likely involve a lot of experimentation. Obviously, you would need some sort of pulse generation transmitter side, and rectification circuitry and smoothing received side. I found this, all that I can say is it is excellent and this guy knows what he is talking about. The charging rate is not particularly fast however you may be able to increase the power through the transmitter transistor's collector - emitter.

What electronic components do you have, for example, on your desk. Pick them up and try and think of a novel use for them. It is hard to know what others are capable of building when their inventories are unknown. I know exactly what I could build, because I know what experience I have and the parts I have access to. For all I know, all of your parts could have been used up in earlier projects and you have only a few LEDs lying about or you could have an effectively unlimited supply of just about everything.

One project that I played with other the weekend with was ambient EM emmision harvesting. I am about to add the project to the project logs section. You need a ground connection, a foot square of aluminium foil, a full wave rectifier, a smoothing capacitor and a load. Connect one of bthe ac input sides of the rectifier sides to ground and one to the aerial. Connect the capacitor to the rectifier output terminals. The full wave rectifier requires four diodes, Google it.This does not produce a lot of power, but is an interesting proof of concept. The only reason that I made this circuit was because I had a roll of foil in my room and knew that I had a large supply of tantulum capacitors and diodes.

Any of this sound at all interesting?

 

[wolverine7230]

A wireless charger is a good idea... Could I use it for things other than Kindle? This really isn't an area I have looked at before, but LOVE the idea!

As for components I have. I tend to just get what I need from Maplin or online, I just don't have the space to keep spares of stuff.

Taking apart the kindle is fine, the screen is damaged and I have a new one so...

I think I may have a look at how much the wireless charger will cost, and then see if I have any money left over for other things.

And yes, your project does sound very intriguing.

Thanks

 

[Anon_LG]

Yes, the wireless charger could be used to power absolutely anything. Of course, it is only designed for relatively low current consumption applications, so you could not power a home appliance for example, with a charger system hobbyist constructed.

If you included a voltage regulator for 5 volts, the charger could be used to charge almost any USB powered device. Of course, the idea is that the charger stay attached to the device to be charged, as otherwise you might as well plug the device into a wired connection each time.

Maplin is excellent, I get over 75% of my components from there.

If you find something specific, given this idea, continue the thread and we could walk through it if required. Try the kindle with it first, if the screen is broken then at least if something goes wrong it may be eliminated next time.

 

[wolverine7230]

A walkthrough would be great. I am happy for the kindle to be used as the 'test', as it still charges, and if it works, I can use it on my new kindle, my phone, and maybe some other stuff. In the future I want to make a quadcopter, and would probably make another one for that. (How much would the parts for a decent quadcopter cost?)

And is everything I will need for this project available from Maplin or eBay (I don't agree with the ethics of Amazon and refrain from using it unless absolutely necessary).

Thanks for all your help so far!

 

[Anon_LG]

Excellent. Once you have one working, several more will are easy to make.

How much would the parts for a decent quadcopter cost?

There are a LOT of variables in that question. Depends on the size, how much time you have on your hands and how much you make yourself. Do you have access to a 3d printer? The chassis will come in at probably under £10 (scientific approximation), if you were to 3d print it. Motors, you will need four, the size and quality of motor will depend on the mass, drag and the acceleration you desire. For a *small* quad, the motors could cost anywhere from £5 to £20 total. The electrochemical cell, too variable to be worth mentioning, and the control circuitry can be negligible to top dola, so to speak.

As for are all of the parts available from preferred suppliers, at least 90% will be. Whether all will be, remains to be seen once the project is underway. Mapping is decent for discretes, but control IC's you may need element 14 for.

 

[wolverine7230]

And then I would want to add a camera and probably a couple of other bits to it. Maybe the GPS auto fly to charging pad thing you suggested for the RC Heli.

 

[cjdelphi]

Maybe something completely different?

http://tronixstuff.com/2013/01/31/tutorial-arduino-and-the-msgeq7-spectrum-analyzer/

I'm going to build one using coloured LEDs under empty milk/vodka/booze bottles...

Except i'm going to have it light up the room with mine

 

[wolverine7230]

Heh, I think the copter would probably be best left until I have a bit more money to spend on it. Would it be possible to provide a list of parts I'll need for the wireless charger, and a method? I attempted to watch the video but my internet is just terrible at the moment!

Thanks for all your help,
-David

 

[Anon_LG]

Sorry for the long delay, caught up in various homeworks.

Are you familiar with the 555 astable circuit? You will need to generate pulses using one of these at the sender end. Feed the pulses into a power, N channel depletion mode MOSFET, for much the same action as you would expect from an NPN bipolar. The MOSFET is preferable as it has lower switching losses, something that is important in switching circuitry. You may want to research the workings of inductive power transfer if you have not done so already. Attach the drain to the inductor, the source to ground/common and the other lead of the inductor to the positive supply.

On the receiver side, attach the leads of the receiving inductor to the alternating current input terminals of a full wave rectifier. Add a large value (~10000uf) electrolytic capacitor to the pertaining DC output terminals of the full wave rectifier. This will smooth the pulsating DC current exiting the terminals. Finally, to reduce the voltage to applicable levels, and smooth the "bumpy" DC you now get, use a voltage regulator.

Make sure that you use power components, but when selecting them, remember only as much power can come out the other side as went in.

If there is anything that needs clearing up? if so, I am happy to provide.

 

[rickselectricalprojects]

Science type project? electrolysis rust removal? that's scientific and it may be handy.
If it is for a science fair then make something impressive. People who aren't into electronics will not find a motor controller or a flashing led impressive. people like colors. i like colors. maybe make something with leds? When i cant find anything that i want to build there is always something to build with leds. Maybe a led cube if you have the patience. You can make led cubes with out much circuitry using an arduino. Or you could build an led matrix or mess around with an rgb led strip.
There are so many things you can do with leds.
It already sounds like you have found and planned a project but if you ever cant think of something to make, think about leds.

 

[Rich Man]

Hey guys,

I'm 15, and live in the UK. I have been 'donated' £50 from grandparents to go towards a science type project. I am into electronics, know a fair amount of theory and am experienced for my age. I have no idea what kind of thing I should do. I also enjoy programming, so that is something that could be included.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
-wolverine

In 1957 Popular Electronics magazine (out of print) published an article for constructing a "rudimentary computer" that could play the old parlor game of "21". It utilized a five deck mechanical stepping relay to do it's "calculations" and a series of 21 lights, By pushing a 'player' button, a player could light one, two or three lights. Then, a 'machine' button would be pushed and the machine would also light one, two or three lights, The object of the game was not to be trapped into having to light the last, or 21st lamp. Unless you knew the secret, the machine would invariably win.
The secret lies in the fact that there are five groups of four within the number 21 (5x4=20) with one, the 21st lamp, left over. If the 'player' lights one, the 'machine' lights three. If the 'player' lights two, the 'machine' lights two, and if the 'player' lights three, the machine lights one. Whatever number the player chooses, the machine chooses a number to add up to four. This would seem to be a natural for modern day components such as processors, ICs and LED's. If you, or anyone you know, could come up with a circuit to update this game, I would be interested also.

 

[Anon_LG]

The modern version of this would certainly no longer use discretes, unless as a training excerise, a piece of art or aesthetics. This could probably be done in under thirty assembly instructions with an AVR now. Would be interesting to see though.

Noughts and crosses is another one, again, may be done with discretes or a uc. For something a little more advanced, you could try to write you own draughts algorithm. This would certainly be suited to a program rather than discrete logic components.