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Electronics For You
April 2018 Issue
Vol. 50 No. 4
Tech Focus
Hyper-converged infrastructure: Get ready for the cloud era
Hyper-convergence is the current and potentially future course of a journey that began years ago with server and storage virtualisation to optimise the traditional siloed approach to information technology
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Smart World
Li-ion batteries for solar setups
In-built lithium-ion batteries for solar streetlights in Assam have reduced system losses by minimising wiring
| Test & Measurement
Thermal imaging for industrial testing
This article explains the role of thermal imaging cameras in industrial applications, followed by their comparison with IR thermometers, working principle and buying tips
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Smart World
Benefits of IoT vending machines for retail
Remote monitoring of vending machine operations from a single control centre provides sales and inventory figures in real time
| Smart World
Smart technology for better waste management
While Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur city uses sensorised bins to track waste collection in real time, Gujarat’s GIFT City has implemented an automated system for waste collection below ground
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Security
Security in smart applications
This article discusses threats encountered in an IoT ecosystem at different levels of connectivity and how embedded partners are enabling security
| Interview
Eric Wei, senior sales director, ViewSonic: “VR and AR software will extend beyond the realm of gaming to different activities”
The TV industry is largely impacted by the latest and upcoming display technologies. Nidhi Arora, executive editor at EFY, discusses the road ahead for TV displays and visual technology trends with Eric Wei, senior sales director, ViewSonic
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Interview
Renjith Pt, vice president, Livewire India: “Technology is creating new issues that would require humans to address them”
With new technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning conquering the world, professionals need to acquire requisite skills and knowledge to advance further in their career. Nidhi Arora, executive editor, EFY magazine, in conversation with Renjith Pt, vice president, Livewire India, discusses areas of opportunities and key to success in this field
| Design
How to improve power conversion efficiency of inverters
This article compares different inverter types and provides tips for inverter designers to ensure high-quality power at higher conversion efficiencies
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Sensors
Selecting the right sensors for industrial applications
There is a very wide variety of industrial sensors available in the market, and selecting the right sensor for an application can be challenging
| Displays
OLED displays and their applications
An overview of the current status of OLEDs along with different OLED types and their applications
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Wireless
Latest wireless standards and their applications
With newer technologies like 5G and IoT, standardisation becomes necessary for the devices to communicate with each other
| Defence Electronics
Optronic sensors: Fundamentals and types (Part 1 of 6)
Understanding optronic sensors and related sensor systems is essential to understanding design and operation of a large number of defence systems. Hence this six-part article series starts with an overview of these sensors
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Green Technology
Solar Roadways: Feasible for India?
Solar roads could put an end to India’s electricity woes. But, to make these technically and financially viable, there is a long list of challenges to overcome—ranging from indigenous solar system development to infrastructure and investment
| Make In India
Market Survey: Energy storage: What’s driving the growth?
While lack of reliable grid power was a driver for traditional energy storage systems, ambitious renewable energy goals, growth in electric vehicle sales, and need for reduction in diesel usage will boost the sales of energy storage systems throughout the country
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Do-It-Yourself
Vehicle tracking system based on GPS and GSM
Presented here is an Arduino-based system for vehicle tracking using global positioning system (GPS) and global system for mobile communication (GSM) modules. GSM modem with a SIM card used here uses the communication technique of a regular cellphone. The system can be installed or hidden in your vehicle at a suitable location. After installing this circuit, you can easily track your stolen vehicle using a mobile phone.
Download source code
| Do-It-Yourself
Light animations using Arduino and MATLAB
Light animations are visually appealing and hence widely used for advertising purposes. In this project, we present a MATLAB-based graphical user interface (GUI) approach to control the glowing pattern of a number of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Use of GUI is advantageous since the user can control illumination patterns while performing other tasks in the PC.
Download source code
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eStyle Buyers’ Guide
Beat The Summer With The Right Inverter Air-Conditioner
To pick the most energy-efficient AC, first ensure you are comparing models from the same category—an inverter AC with another inverter AC, not with a non-inverter AC. Then, among all ratings, go for the highest score
| Artificial Intelligence
When fashion meets AI
AI programs are becoming an efficient assistant for human stylists. These can handle more attributes, process large amounts of data faster and learn users’ styles more accurately
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EFY Plus DVD
LibreCAD: A Practical Tool for 2D Designs
Computer-aided design (CAD) software play an essential role in creating design sketches—be it for small lab projects or industrial applications. If you want to digitally draw designs for your project, LibreCAD comes as a handy CAD tool. Forked out from the QCAD Community Edition project, it can run on multiple operating systems including Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS and OS X. Written in C++, this free open source software is fully customisable with active support from the developer community. Documentation and guides are sufficiently available for users and developers alike.
| EFY Plus DVD
ZenitPCB: Handy Tools for Creating Netlist and PCB Layouts
For professional electronic circuit designers and even DIYers who want to test their design before physically animating it, ZenitPCB can be a great tool. This Windows-compatible PCB design suite allows designs with up to 1000 pins.
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eStyle First Look
Some New Gadgets!
• 60cm LED TV
• Bluetooth Speaker
• In-ear Earphones
• Wireless Sports Earphones
• Android TV
• Robotic Vacuum Cleaner
• Soundgear
| eStyle Smart Home
Smart Homes, Smarter Lifestyle
Home automation makes it easier to run your household while enabling you to live comfortably and luxuriously. As a segment, it is growing gradually, and awareness and acceptance levels are increasing amongst consumers. In the near future, smart homes may become the default choice for home buyers
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eStyle Healthcare
Gadgets To Track Your Health
A list of gadgets that work together with your smartphone to help you stay fit and avoid costly visits to doctors for checkup and treatment
| Make In India
StartUp Zone: BLDC fans breaking the efficiency ceiling
With the vision to develop smart home appliances that not only solve India’s energy crisis but also bring in a wonderful experience and comfort to end customers, Manoj Meena and Sibabrata Das founded Atomberg Technologies to manufacture highly energy-efficient ceiling fan ‘Gorilla.’
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Make In India
StartUp Zone: Business transformation for the digital age
Kliento Technologies helps enterprises redefine their businesses for the digital age. Through innovative technology solutions built around digital, IoT, cloud, automation, analytics, infrastructure management and engineering services, it solves complex business problems for its customers.
| Make In India
StartUp Zone: Unique mentorship platform for skilled professionals
Founded by Deepak Goel, KarmaCircles is a unique peer-to-peer mentoring, networking and skill building platform where members of a community can give and receive professional help seamlessly. Communities include universities, alumni associations, corporates, co-working spaces, etc. One can create affinity groups, search extensively among members, ask queries, schedule time with each other, and publicly thank each other for their time and help. The community admin can get analytics on the effectiveness of communication, and achieve goals such as peer mentoring, fund-raising and engagement.
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Make In India
PROJECT REPORT: Business setup for PCB assembly
PCB assembly and design is a perfect opportunity for entrepreneurs who have a good electronics knowhow. This business can be started with a relatively small infrastructure and capital investment
| Do-It-Yourself
Automatic certificate generation using MATLAB
MATLAB is a versatile tool that can automate many tasks. Presented here is a MATLAB code to generate certificates for workshops, conferences, symposiums, etc. Conventionally, educational institutions and companies use specialised tools for report cards and certificates generation on a large scale. This MATLAB code can be extended to generate analysis reports for large data sets as well.
Download source code
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Tech News
ISRO plans igloos on the moon
Hoping to eliminate the need for International Space Station, researchers in India are discovering innovative ways to create livable spaces on the moon—the Earth’s very own natural satellite. The moon is a wasteland with extreme temperature variations and few resources. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) researchers plan to build lunar habitats on the moon with an aesthetic very similar to an igloo. These igloos will be constructed using a blend of lunar soil and assorted smart materials that will then be fed into a 3D printer. This is an innovative approach to building structures in space, as it eliminates the need for materials to be boosted out of Earth’s gravitational field with costly rockets.
| Industry News
Indian languages can add 205 million new Internet users
Potential 205 million Internet non-users are likely to go digital if the Internet is provided in a language of their choice—according to a report published jointly by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar IMRB.
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EFY Plus DVD
EFY+DVD: Handy tools for programmers and developers
The following software, besides other, can be found in the DVD accompanying EFY Plus edition of this magazine
| EFY Plus DVD
Symica: Circuit Design and Simulation Tools for All
Symica software suite makes IC design easy and accurate. By including various tools including schematic editor, simulator (using SPICE), waveform viewer and analyser, it provides a complete ecosystem to design and develop electronic systems.
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eStyle Caretakers
Assistive Technology Making Life Easier
Technology today may not be able to help the blind see or the speech-impaired speak but it can surely convey their message and provide help when needed. Many companies around the world are developing products and technologies to help persons with disabilities to complete everyday tasks. A few of them are listed below.
| eStyle Buyers’ Guide
3D Printing Pens For You And Your Kids
3D printing pens are a low-cost alternative to 3D printers that let you draw and create objects from your imagination
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eStyle Fitness
Innovative Gym Gears For A Smart Workout
Gym accessories have seen some of the most innovative upgrades in the last few years. Fitness trackers are quite popular, but do you know there are more interesting gears—like a fluid container that tells whether you are hydrated enough, or a gadget that can measure your muscle-to-fat ratio? Here are some of the most interesting gym gears that can prove to be super-beneficial.
| eStyle Car Aids
In-Car Gadgets To Help You Drive Easy And Safe
Parking during office hours is like solving calculus equations! It’s good to have someone help with directions while fitting your car into that tight spot. But what happens if you are on your own? In this article, we cover gadgets that become your second set of eyes and ears on the road. These can guide you while reverse parking, tell whether your car needs servicing or even help you stay awake if you are driving late at night
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Do-It-Yourself
Signal generator and inverter using NE555 timers
Often we require a squarewave signal generator with adjustable frequency, almost equal high and low output pulses and adjustable amplitudes. Here we present a simple, useful and low-cost signal generator built around NE555 timers. Using external switches, you can control or select frequency ranges as per your requirements. However, use of frequencies below 30kHz is recommended.
| Do-It-Yourself
Voltage regulator as audio amplifier
LM338 voltage regulator can also be used as an audio amplifier. The output voltage can be controlled by varying the IC’s reference voltage (pin 1), which is reflected as the output signal in the speaker. The IC can handle up to 5amp current.
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Do-It-Yourself
5-Watt audio amplifier using TA7222
Here is a simple 5-watt mono audio amplifier using IC TA7222 that drives a 4-ohm speaker using a 9V battery or a 9V DC adaptor. You can also make a stereo amplifier by using two identical circuits.
| Do-It-Yourself
Mini fridge with Peltier modules
It was in the middle of 1821 when J.T. Seebeck discovered that if two dissimilar metals connected at two different points are held at different temperatures, a microvoltage develops. This phenomenon is called Seebeck effect. Some years later, Peltier discovered that if a voltage is applied to a thermocouple, one junction of the thermocouple heats up while the other cools down. Opposite of the Seebeck effect is called the Peltier effect.
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eStyle Artificial Intelligence
Virtual Assistants For Your Home
Exercising regularly to stay fit is the topmost New Year’s resolution for many. However, every year, most of us fail miserably at following it. This year, however, has been quite different for me. Siri, my personal assistant (courtesy iPhone), seems to have made its personal goal that I achieve my fitness target. It does everything for me—wake me up early, play the right music for me while guiding me with my workout schedule and then keep a calorie count for everything that I eat. Life with Siri is bliss!
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Issue...
Sensors
Sensors for defense
Tech Focus
Sensors (platforms like IP500)
Market Survey
Security & surveillance
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