SOLAR ROBOT

SESSION 2008-09

A Major Project Report Submitted to Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya Bhopal (M.P.)
In fulfillment of the requirements For the award of the degree

Bachelor of Engineering In Electrical & Electronics Engineering

Guided By: Mr. Pawan Pandey Lecturer, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

Submitted By: Arvind kurdia Chavi sharma Mohit Gaud Siddharth Sharma

Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

Malwa Institute of Technology

Nipaniya, Opposite DPS, Indore Bypass Road Indore 452016 Madhya Pradesh

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge with due courtesy, the sources consulted while doing the project. We gratefully acknowledge our profound indebtedness towards our esteemed and renowned project guide Mr. Pawan Pandey (Lect. of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, M.I.T. Indore) & Mr. O.P. Verma (H.O.D. of Electrical & Electronics Department) who despite of his busy schedule of academic pursuits always spread her valuable time in guiding us in our project. He always invited us with our problems and with her inspiring guidance only the work has been success. We shall be failing in our duty if we do not express our gratefulness to the other staff member of Electrical & Electronics Department for their help & valuable support. We are also grateful to other people who have directly or indirectly helped in completion of our project.

Our Special Regards: To our Respected Teachers. To our Beloved Parents. To our Helpful Classmates. To our Staff. To our Honorable Guides. To our Bless full H.O.D.

RAJIV GANDHI PROUDYOGIKI VISHWAVIDYALAYA BHOPAL (M.P.)

SESSION 2009

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the dissertation entitled SOLAR ROBOT Submitted by Mr. ARVIND KURDIA, Ms. CHAVI SHARMA, Mr. MOHIT GAUD, & Mr. SIDDHARTH SHARMA student of final year towards partial fulfillment of the degree of Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical & Electronics Engineering) in year 2009 from Malwa Institute of Technology, Indore (M.P.) in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Engineering is a bona fide record of the work carried out by him, during the academic semester Jan-2009 to Jun-2009.

Internal Examiner Mr. Pawan Pandey Lecturer, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

External Examiner

MALWA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INDORE, (M.P.)

SESSION 2009

RECOMMENDATION
The dissertation work entitled SOLAR ROBOT Submitted by Mr. ARVIND KURDIA, Ms. CHAVI SHARMA, Mr. MOHIT GAUD, & Mr. SIDDHARTH SHARMA towards partial fulfillment of the degree of Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical & Electronics Engineering of Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya Bhopal (M.P.) is satisfactory account of his project work under my supervision is recommended for award of the degree. Endorsed by: Mr. O.P. Verma (H.O.D.) Electrical & Electronics Engineering Malwa Institute of Technology Indore, (M.P.) Guided by: Mr. Pawan Pandey (Lect.) Department of Electrical & Electronics Malwa Institute of Technology Indore, (M.P.)

Director Dr. O.P. Bhatia Malwa Institute of Technology

Nipaniya, Opposite DPS, Indore Bypass Road Indore 452016 Madhya Pradesh

CONTENTS
CHAPTER NO. 1. 2. 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 3. 3.1 3.2 3.3 4. 4.1 5. 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 (a) 6. 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 7. 8. Introduction Beam Robotics Biology Electronics Aesthetics Mechanics Beam Robotics is divided in three Major sections Motor Drivers Solar Engines Sensors Photo popper Photovore Photovore Behaviors 1381 Voltage Trigger Description of Operation Description For Measuring The Output Characteristics Reference Characteristics Features of 1381 Applications of 1381 Component Used ICs Solar Cell Photodiode DC Motor 4700uf Capacitor Proximity Sensor Photovore PCB with Miller Engine Resistor Literature Survey Applications PAGE NO. 8 9-16

17-26

27-28 29-30

31-32

33-48

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Advantages Limitations Future Prospects Conclusion Appendix Data Sheet Bibliography

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION
Photo popper Photovore is a capable little self-contained robot that is powered entirely by solar energy, has light-sensing directional optics (eyes), and a pair of obstacle-avoidance sensors. Almost every BEAM creature makes use of a circuit called a solar engine. This is a circuit that digests the energy from a solar cell and turns it into bursts of motion. Your Photo popper Photovore uses two Miller engine solar engines, one for each motor. Controlling which circuit fires makes the Photovore track light.

PHOTOVORE

CHAPTER-2 BEAM ROBOTICS

The name BEAM is an acronym for Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics, and Mechanics. It breaks down like this:

2.1 Biology
If you're going to create something from scratch, you model it after successful designs. We steal (um, I mean borrow) many good ideas from Mother Nature. We can use some really excellent materials mother nature doesn't use, like using metals, solder, wheels, and some real splendid glues. We can't include solar cells in that list because nature turns light into food all over the place. Have you seen those tree-things lately? They've got these green, flappy things that hang in the breeze and convert light into energy (truly cool). The shape of a small Horseshoe crab originally inspired your Photovore, but it seems to have turned out looking more like a robot cockroach...

2.2 Electronics
Obviously, it's a whole lot easier for us to solder a few transistors together than it is to hook up muscle tissue and nerve bundles. Silicon electronics provides us with a practical method to create our own life-like creatures, and there's none of that messy blood 'n' guts stuff. Also, we keep our electronics simpler than most other robot construction methods. Simple, effective, and hard to get the software wrong.

2.3 Aesthetics
This is just a fancy name for Gee - that looks cool. If you're going to spend the time to construct an autonomous (self-running) robot, spend a little more time to finish it properly. Hide the wires, tighten the connections, and make the solder joints clean. Besides improving it's appearance, these qualities also will make a robot sturdier and more catproof.

2.4 Mechanics
Solid, clever mechanics by themselves can replace a microprocessor and many lines of programming. This makes a robot more damage-resistant, and able to survive the unexpected. Often a robot is based around the computer, with wheels and motors literally strapped to a frame with a computer mounted on the top. Designing BEAM robots means the mechanical layout is just as or more important than the electronics, and usually takes longer to design than anything else. This BEAM robot uses only solar energy to make its way around the environment you place it in. The solar cell used in this particular application has just enough power to run one of the motors continually in direct sunlight, but what good would this do you when the sun goes behind a cloud, or you want your robot to do something else besides spin in circles? The trick is in the use of the Solarengine. It stores the power generated by the solar cell in a capacitor, which is like a minibattery, and very efficient. When the capacitor charges up to a particular level (in this instance, between 2.9 and 3.1 volts), the Solarengine activates, and throws all the stored energy from the capacitor to the motor. This makes the motor spin good and fast, much more so than if it were connected to the solar cell by itself. BEAM Robotics is a field of robotics where the robot does not have a traditional brain (i.e.: a microprocessor), does not have a traditional power source (i.e.: a battery), and does not look anything like a "traditional" robot (i.e.: no blinking lights). No microprocessor means there isn't any programming to contend with, or worries about losing all your programming because the battery ran low. Being solarpowered and lacking an off switch means that a BEAM creature will do
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what it's designed to do as long as there is sufficient light, regardless if there's a person watching it or not. This means you can leave your robot alone for a while, and when you come back, it may be in a totally new And unexpected position (or for that matter, could be down-right missing)

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CHAPTER 3

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CHAPTER-3 BEAM ROBOTICS IS DIVED IN 3 MAJOR SECTIONS

3.1 Motor Drivers
Motor drivers are essentially small amplifiers, and turn a low current (i.e., a control signal) into a higher current, suitable for driving a motor. Motor drivers are essentially little current amplifiers; their function is to take a low-current control signal, and turn it into a proportionally highercurrent signal that can drive a motor. Note here that the control signal is likely on the order of 10 mA, and the motor may require 100's of mA to make it turn. You can think of motor drivers connecting control circuits and motors, very simply, as a "wrapper" around the motor. Schematically, the arrangement looks like this:

Fig 2 Motor Driver There are a whole slew of motor driver designs available to meet most any robotic need -- they all vary in the requirements they try to meet. There are some things to look for in a driver design, based on your requirements (bear in mind that there are always trade-offs):
1

Output power capability -- as a rule you don't want overkill here; higher-gain drivers generally also have higher power consumption, among other costs.

13

Number of circuit connections -- this is a good indication of how difficult it will be to build the circuit. This is particularly important if you're making your own PCB, since drilling lots of holes can be a pain if you don't have a drill press (and honestly, it gets to be a pain even with one). "Smoke proof" (or not) design -- unless you're amplifying a signal from a bicore, your bridge design needs to be "smoke proof". Drivers generally have two control inputs; "smoke proof" designs won't self-destruct if both control inputs are "low", or if both inputs are "high". Cost and availability of parts Size -- more-compact designs are easier to fit into an arbitrary BEAM ROBOT design. Reversibility -- most (but not all) motor driver designs allow your motor to run in both forward and reverse. Output voltage -- some drivers provide (or at least allow for) output voltages higher than the input (control signal) voltage.

4 5

Braking circuitry -- if you are using really good motors, you'll need to provide an electronic motor brake to keep the motors from moving around when no control signal is being applied.

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TRANSISTOR H-BRIDGE

3.2 Solar Engines

Solar engines are used like little power "savings accounts" -- solar power is stored until it reaches a useable level, then the power is released to drive a (cyclic) "burst" of robotic activity. At the heart of most solar-powered robots is a circuit called the solar engine The purpose of a solar engine is to act like a power "savings account" -- a small trickle of incoming energy is saved up until a useable amount is stored. This stored energy is then released in a burst, in order to drive some useful (if only sporadic and incremental) work.

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The solar engine has a number of advantages:

1

A solar-powered robot can be made to work, even in relatively low light levels. Solar cell size is minimized Saves money Saves weight Allows room for the solar cell to be rugged zed

VOLTAGE CONTROLLED TRIGGER.

This is by far the predominant form of solar engine, since they are "efficient enough" for most uses, and pretty simple to build. The 1381based solar engine using a 1381 voltage detector. The 1381 solar engine uses a 1381* voltage detector IC to drive a voltage-based solar engine. The 1381 is normally used to reset CPUs and Micros when the power supply drops too low for reliable operation. So 1381s detect and switch when the input voltage crosses the rated upper and lower threshold voltages. The upper- and lower-switching voltages are slightly overlapped so that the turn-on voltage is a few hundred mV above the turn-off voltage. This hysteresis keeps input noise (around the switching threshold) from resulting in multiple output cycles as the transition occurs. The 1381 SE is designed to increase the 1381 hysteresis from 0.2 - 0.3 V to a much larger value (2 - 4.6 V). Essentially essentially dropping the turn-off voltage to zero, while allowing SE to fire at does this the 1381's rated turn-on

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Fig 4 BASIC CIRCUIT OF MILLER ENGINE

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How it works:
As the solar cell charges the (4700 uF) storage capacitor, the voltage across the capacitor increases with time. Eventually it reaches the 1381's trip point, and the 1381 applies voltage to the base of the 2N3904. Since this is an NPN transistor, it "trips" and applies current to the motor. Meanwhile, it has brought the base of the 2N3906 "low," which causes it to conduct to the 2N3904's base as well (so at this point, the 1381 is essentially out of the circuit). This state of affairs will continue until the capacitor is fully drained, at which point the 2N3906 and 2N3904 both go "quiescent," and the solar cell resumes charging the capacitor.

Fig 5 BASIC CIRCUIT OF PHOTOVORE

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3.3 Sensors
Many BEAM projects require some sensors in order to give the "critter" interesting behaviors. These range from simple contact sensors, to acoustic proximity sensors. Some are purchased as-is, or are purely mechanical (see the BEAM Pieces sensors pages), others require nontrivial circuitry. BEAMbots often have sensors to allow them to interact more fully with their environments. Sensors used in BEAMbots to date fall into one of the following categories : 3.3.1 CONTACT SENSOR: Require a "touch" to trigger. Contact sensors (as their name implies) require physical contact with some other object in order to "trigger." While this is sometimes a bit inconvenient for your 'bot (unlike proximity sensors, contact sensors won't help a 'bot avoid an obstacle before it is within "arm's reach"), it has two big advantages : 1 Contact sensors are very easy to build at home from various bits & pieces you probably already have lying around. 2 Contact sensors don't draw power until contact is made. OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE CONTACT SENSOR : Contact sensors for obstacle avoidance are essentially the electronic version of a cat's "whiskers." In most designs, a whisker is attached to one electrical contact, and this contact gets pushed into another one if the whisker touches something. You can also just mount a "whisker" to a small pushbutton switch (you can salvage some nice "soft" ones from floppy Tdrives).

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GROUND CONTACT SENSOR Some BEAMbots may want to know when a leg touches the ground. Here, you'll need some sort of a foot contact sensor. Again, you can use a "soft" pushbutton switch (preferably salvaged) for this job. You can also build a fairly simple ground contact sensor of your own. 2.3.2 PROXIMITY SENSOR -- So our bot can detect objects at some distance Proximity sensors currently come in four flavors: 1 2 3 4 IR (InfraRed) Acoustic Capacitive Inductive

INFRARED PROXIMITY SENSOR : Infrared proximity sensors work by sending out a beam of IR light, and then computing the distance to any nearby objects from characteristics of the returned (reflected) signal. There are a number of ways to do this, each with its own advantages and disadvantages: Reflected IR strength: You could build a simple IR proximity sensor out of essentially just an IR LED and IR photodiode. This simple sensor, though, would be prey to background light (i.e., your IR "receiver" would be responding to naturally present IR as well as reflected IR). Modulated IR signal: A better solution would be to modulate your transmitted IR (i.e., to send out a rapidly-varying IR signal), and then have the receive circuitry only respond to the level of the received, matching, modulated IR signal (i.e., to ignore the DC component of the received signal, and only trigger off the AC component). This method, though, is still at the mercy of the characteristics (in particular, IR reflectance) of the obstacle you're trying to sense.

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Triangulation: The best way to use IR to sense an obstacle is to sense the angle at which the reflected IR is returned to your sensor. By use of a bit of trigonometry, you can then compute distance, knowing the location of your transmit and receive elements. Needless to say, this isn't a simple sensor to build yourself. You're probably money ahead by just buying an IR proximity sensor with this logic built in. One I particularly like is the Sharp GP2D15 IR Ranger. It has a built-in detection range of 24 cm (this keeps its cost, and the complexity of your interface circuitry down), is reasonably priced, and is available from Acroname. Acroname also has an interesting article covering the operation and utilization of all the impressive Sharp IR sensors here. The GP2D15 interface is 3-wire with power, ground and the output voltage (the sensor outputs Vcc when it sees something at 24 cm distance); it requires 4.5 - 5.5 V power for operation, and eats about 50 mA of current as long as it is powered. So its Advantages are 1 its simple interface, and 2 easy, reliable sensing of obstacles at a distance. Its Disadvantages are 1 its requirement for 5 V power, and 2 its requirement for 50 mA of current regardless of whether anything is being sensed (neither of these recommend this sensor for solar-powered 'bots). If your BEAMbot's circuitry has provision for a "touch-switch" contact sensor, the GP2D15 can easily be used instead, with the addition of an NPN transistor:

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ACOUSTIC PROXIMITY SENSOR One oft-used method (at least on larger, pricier 'bots) of avoiding hazards is via sonar ranging. Here, acoustic signals ("ping"s) are sent out, with the time of echo return being a measure of distance to an obstacle. This does, unfortunately, require fairly accurate timing circuitry -- so acoustic sensors really require a processor of some sort to drive them. Also note that acoustic sensing essentially requires the use of commercial sensors, there's no real way to "homebrew" something from scratch. The most common acoustic proximity sensor is the kind used in polaroid cameras. For details on these, I'll refer you to the Acroname site's "Polaroid Sonar Ranging Primer." There's now also a "new kid on the block" -- the Devantech SRF04 UltraSonic Ranger. Acroname sells it (see their page on it here), and "Tech Geek" has a review on it here. This guy costs about twice what the Sharp IR sensors cost, but has a much wider range of sensing; it costs far less than the Polaroid acoustic rangers, is easier to interface, and draws less power.

CAPACITIVE PROXIMITY SENSOR : Your bot can also sense its distance to objects by detecting changes in capacitance around it. When power is applied to the sensor, an electrostatic field is generated and reacts to changes in capacitance cause by the presence of a target. The main disadvantage to this sensor (often called a capaciflector ) is that its usefulness is dependent on properties of the obstacles it is sensing (namely, their dielectric constant). The higher the dielectric constant (say, water), the more sensitive a capacitive sensor is to that target. The sensing distance depends on the dielectric constant of the target and the surface areas of the probe and the target.

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INDUCTIVE PROXIMITY SENSOR : Another method for sensing distance to objects is through the use of induced magnetic fields. The primary problem with this method is that it is largely confined to sensing metallic objects. Field sensors -- designed to be sensitive to various (E, RF) fields around a 'bot Field sensors aren't used much in BEAMbots yet (principally because of the power and complexity some designs require). A couple, though, have been put forward to date. Either of these (and just on a hunch, I'd suspect the 2N7000 version is easier to get parts for) should work equally well; note that the human body is a good absorber of stray RF fields, so this sensor should be a good people-detector.

Fig 6 Field Sensor

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State sensors -- give you information on various states of your 'bot -position, tilt angle, temperature, and the like State sensors tell your 'bot something about its condition -- tilt, temperature, and the like. These can be used to change your 'bot's behavior in ways (ideally) that help it protect itself and get around. A number of types of tilt switches are commercially available -- all use some sort of moving contact (in some cases a blob of mercury, in others a metal ball) to short out various contacts. You can use these to cause your 'bot to do something special if...... 1 Your BEAMbot has flipped "upside down" 2 Your BEAMbot is on a "dangerous" slope, and needs to turn in order to avoid rolling. Your BEAMbot is attempting to climb up / down a slope that is beyond its capabilities, and needs to reverse.

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CHAPTER 4

25

CHAPTER-4 PHOTOPOPPER PHOTOVORE

The Photopopper Photovore is a capable little self-contained robot that is powered entirely by solar energy, has light-sensing directional optics (eyes), and a pair of obstacle-avoidance sensors. Almost every BEAM creature makes use of a circuit called a Solar engine. This is a circuit that digests the energy from a solar cell and turns it into bursts of motion. Your Photopopper Photovore uses two Miller engine Solar engines, one for each motor. Controlling which circuit fires makes the Photovore track light. This BEAM robot uses only solar energy to make its way around the environment you place it in. The solar cell used in this particular application has just enough power to run one of the motors continually in direct sunlight, but what good would this do you when the sun goes behind a cloud, or you want your robot to do something else besides spin in circles? The trick is in the use of the Solar engine. It stores the power generated by the solar cell in a capacitor, which is like a mini-battery, and very efficient. When the capacitor charges up to a particular level (in this instance, between 2.9 and 3.1 volts), the solar engine activates, and throws all the stored energy from the capacitor to the motor. This makes the motor spin good and fast, much more so than if it was connected to the solar cell by itself. To make the Photopopper phototropic (attracted to light), the robot has to decide which direction has the most light. This Photovore design uses a pair of light-sensors arranged like a bridge to make this decision. Think of it this way: Imagine a level seesaw with a water bucket at each end. When a rain Cloud comes near, it starts filling the buckets with water, but the one nearest the cloud fills up faster. As soon as the one-bucket fills, it makes it's end touch down and spill out. Using this analogy, the buckets are the light-sensors, the rain cloud is the source of light, and the spilling out is the signal for the proper solar engine to trigger. You will be able to set the see-saw point using the trimmer potentiometer so your Photopopper will go straight towards light sources. Or if you want, you can tweak it so that it will prefer to turn one way versus the other simply by changing the way the two light-sensors balance each other on their electronic see-saw. The light-sensors are very good at what they do. They're

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designed to view a 100 degree angle, and will not let the Photopopper get itself caught in a shadow while there are better sources of light nearby. One of my favourite pastimes when I torment (um, I mean observe) my Photopoppers is to herd them around their cage using a shadow cast by my hand, or a book. Sometimes they aren't tricked, and will try to jump through the shadow to where the light looks better! The touch-sensors you will be building will give the Photopopper the ability to avoid obstacles in its way that it didn't see with the optics. These sensors work in a simple manner - they shut off the Solarengine controlling the motor on the opposite side. When the Photopopper bumps into something against it's left sensor, it makes sure the left motor activates first. This makes the Photopopper pivot around the right motor until the sensor comes free, and then the robot continues on it's merry way. There is an exception to this rule, and that is when both sensors have been activated. Unfortunately, the Photopopper isn't smart enough to know how to back out of a trouble spot, so in this case it will ignore the touch-sensors and try to bully it's way through the obstacle with brute force. It may not seem like it would have a chance against another BEAMbot or obstacle in a display area, but it will probably surprise you. Slow, but steady, consistent attempts can prove to work quite well. Just don't blame it for knocking your flower vase off the shelf (it was the cat's fault -honest!).

Fig 7 Circuit of Photopopper

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4.1 PHOTOVORE BEHAVIORS

Your Photopopper is designed to exhibit two main behaviours: Lightseeking and Obstacle avoidance. The primary goal of any Phototropic (light-seeking) robot is to find and maintain access to a source of light (it's primary source of energy). The secondary goal is to keep from getting stuck. Your Photopopper is equipped with optical sensors to find the light, and touch sensors to avoid any immediate obstacles. Interestingly enough, the optical sensors can sense obstacles by the shadow they cast, so your Photopopper may occasionally surprise you with their adeptness.

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1381 BASED PHOTOPOPPER: A collection of photopopper circuits based on the 1381 voltage detector

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CHAPTER 5

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CHAPTER-5 1381 VOLTAGE TRIGGER

MN1380 Series

Pin Descriptions Pin No. Symbol Function Description 1 OUT Reset signal output pin 2 VDD Power supply pin 3 VSS Ground pin

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OVERVIEW The MN1380 series are elements that monitor the power supply voltage supplied to microcomputers and other LSI systems and issue reset signals for initializing the system after the power is first applied or for preventing runaway operation when the supply voltage fluctuates. There is a choice of three output types: CMOS output, Nchannel open drain output, and inverted CMOS output. There are also three package types: M, TO-92, and a mini type for surface mounting. Choose the ideal element for your application from the series' wide selection of detection ranks (17 ranks between 2.0 and 4.9 volts), output types, and package types.

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33

5.1 DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION

Fig 10 Description of Operation

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Notes
1 Output cannot be specified for power supply voltages under 1.5 V because operation is not guaranteed for that range. 2 VDL: Detection voltage for drop in power supply voltage VDH: Detection voltage for rise in power supply voltage tOL : Time lag between the time that the power supply voltage reaches the detection voltage (VDL or VDH) and the time that the output pin (OUT) goes to "L" level. tOH : Time lag between the time that the power supply voltage reaches the detection voltage (VDL or VDH) and the time that the output pin (OUT) goes to "H" level. These characteristics for the N-channel open drain output are when a load resistor is connected between the OUT and VDD pins.

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5.2 Description Characteristics

For

Measuring

The

Output

Fig 11 Circuit for measuring output characteristics

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DESCRIPTIONFOR MEASURING THE I/O CHARACTERISTICS:

Fig 12 Description for measuring I/O characteristics

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5.3 REFERENCE CHARATERISTICS:

Fig 13 Reference Characteristics

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39

40

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5.4 FEATURES OF 1381:

Three-pin element requiring no adjustment Wide selection of detection ranks (17 ranks between 2.0 and 4.9 volts) Highly precise detection voltage Detection voltage with hysteresis characteristic DVD = 50 mV for ranks C to K DVD = 100 mV for ranks L to U Low current consumption: IDD = 1mA (typ.) for VDD = 5 V Low fluctuation in detection voltage with temperature (typ. 1 mV/C) Wide selection of output types: CMOS output, Nchannel open drain output, and inverted CMOS output Wide selection of package types: M, TO-92, and a mini type for surface mounting.

(A) APPLICATIONS OF 1381 :

Battery checkers Power outage detectors Level discriminators Memory backup systems Microcomputer reset circuits Reset circuits for other electronic circuits

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CHAPTER 6

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CHAPTER-6 COMPONENT USED

6.1 ICs

Fig 14 ICs

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Types There are various "-trope" BEAMbots, which attempt to achieve a specific goal. Of the series, the phototropes are the most prevalent, as light-seeking would be the most beneficial behaviour for a solar-powered robot.
1

Audiotropes react to sound sources. 1.1 Audiophiles go towards sound sources. 1.2 Audiophobes go away from sound sources.

Phototropes ("light-seekers") react to light sources. 2.1 Photophiles (also Photovores) go toward light sources. 2.2 Photophobes go away from light sources.

Radiotropes react to radio frequency sources. 3.1 Radiophiles go toward RF sources. 3.2 Radiophobes go away from RF sources.

Thermotropes react to heat sources. 4.1 Thermophiles go toward heat sources. 4.2 Thermophobes go away from heat sources.

BEAMbots have a variety of movements and positioning mechanisms. These include :

1

Sitters: Unmoving robots that have a physically passive purpose. 1.1 Beacons: Transmit a signal (usually a navigational blip) for other BEAMbots to use. 1.2 Pummers: Display a "light show". 1.3 Ornaments: A catch-all name for sitters that are not beacons or pummers.

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Squirmers: Stationary robots that perform an interesting action (usually by moving some sort of limbs or appendages). 2.1 Magbots: Utilize magnetic fields for their mode of animation. 2.2 Flagwavers: Move a display (or "flag") around at a certain frequency. 2.3 Heads: Pivot and follow some detectable phenomena, such as a light (These are popular in the BEAM community. They can be stand-alone robots, but are more often incorporated into a larger robot.). 2.4 Vibrators: Use a small pager motor with an off-centre weight to shake themselves about.

Sliders: Robots that move by sliding body parts smoothly along a surface while remaining in contact with it. 3.1 Snakes: Move using a horizontal wave motion. 3.2 Earthworms: Move using a longitudinal wave motion.

Crawlers: Robots that move using tracks or by rolling the robot's body with some sort of appendage. The body of the robot is not dragged on the ground. 4.1 Turbots: Roll their entire bodies using their arm(s) or flagella. 4.2 Inchworms: Move part of their bodies ahead, while the rest of the chassis is on the ground. 4.3 Tracked robots: Use tracked wheels, like a tank.

Jumpers: Robots which propel themselves off the ground as a means of locomotion. 5.1 Vibrobots: Produce an irregular shaking motion moving themselves around a surface. 5.2 Springbots: Move forward by bouncing in one particular direction.

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Rollers: Robots that move by rolling all or part of their body. 6.1 Symets: Driven using a single motor with its shaft touching the ground, and moves in different directions depending on which of several symmetric contact points around the shaft are touching the ground. 6.2 Solarrollers: Solar-powered cars that use a single motor driving one or more wheels; often designed to complete a fairly short, straight and level course in the shortest amount of time. 6.3 Poppers: Use two motors with separate solar engines; rely on differential sensors to achieve a goal. 6.4 Miniballs: Shift their centre of mass, causing their spherical bodies to roll.

Walkers: Robots that move using legs with differential ground contact. 7.1 Motor Driven: Use motors to move their legs (typically 3 motors or less). 7.2 Muscle Wire Driven: Utilize Nitinol (nickel - titanium alloy) wires for their leg actuators.

Swimmers: Robots that move on or below the surface of a liquid (typically water). 8.1 Boatbots: Operate on the surface of a liquid. 8.2 Subbots: Operate under the surface of a liquid.

Fliers: Robots that move through the air for sustained periods. 9.1 Helicopters: Use a powered rotor to provide both lift and propulsion. 9.2 Planes: Use fixed or flapping wings to generate lift. 9.3 Blimps: Use a neutrally-buoyant balloon for lift.

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Climbers: Robot that moves up or down a vertical surface, usually on a track such as a rope or wire.

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6.2 Solar Cell

Fig 32 Solar Cell

Description:
This epoxy-encapsulated polycrystalline solar cell offers 6.7V and 31mA in a 37x33mm package. These are mounted on sturdy fiberglass backing, with color-coded polarity solder tabs. As for performance, it offers 6.1V at 23mA in its 37x33mm package. After using your solar cells for a couple of bots I noticed that they can be altered to provide about 3.3v at near 80ma (in full sun) by cutting the bus connector on the back to electrically separate the two sides of the cell and then to cross-connect the two sides of the bus to the + and - contacts. This puts the two sides in parallel. A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that converts sunlight directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Sometimes the term solar cell is reserved for devices intended specifically to capture energy from sunlight, while the term photovoltaic cell is used when the light source is unspecified. Assemblies of cells are used to make solar panels, solar modules, or photovoltaic arrays. Photovoltaic is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells in producing electricity for practical use. The energy generated this way is an example of solar energy (also called solar power).

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TIMELINE OF SOLAR CELL

The term "photovoltaic" comes from the Greek (phs) meaning "light", and "voltaic", meaning electric, from the name of the Italian physicist Volta, after whom a unit of electrical potential, the volt, is named. The term "photo-voltaic" has been in use in English since 1849. The photovoltaic effect was first recognized in 1839 by French physicist A. E. Becquerel. However, it was not until 1883 that the first solar cell was built, by Charles Fritts, who coated the semiconductor selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold to form the junctions. The device was only around 1% efficient. Sven Ason Berglund had a number of patents concerning methods of increasing the capacity of these cells. Russell Ohl patented the modern junction semiconductor solar cell in 1946, which was discovered while working on the series of advances that would lead to the transistor. The modern age of solar power technology arrived in 1954 when Bell Laboratories, experimenting with semiconductors, accidentally found that silicon doped with certain impurities was very sensitive to light [citation needed].Daryl Chapin, with Bell Labs colleagues Calvin Fuller and Gerald Pearson, invented the first practical device for converting sunlight into useful electrical power. This resulted in the production of the first practical solar cells with a sunlight energy conversion efficiency of around 6 percent. The solar battery was first demonstrated on April 25, 1954. The first spacecraft to use solar panels was the US satellite Vanguard 1, launched in March 1958 with solar cells made by Hoffman Electronics. This milestone created interest in producing and launching a geostationary communications satellite, in which solar energy would provide a viable power supply. This was a crucial development which stimulated funding from several governments into research for improved solar cells. In 1970 the first highly effective GaAs heterostructure solar cells were created by Zhores Alferov and his team in the USSR.Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD, or OMCVD) production equipment was not developed until the early 1980s, limiting the ability of companies to manufacture the GaAs solar cell. In the United States, the first 17% efficient air mass zero (AM0) single-junction GaAs solar cells were manufactured in production quantities in 1988 by Applied Solar Energy Corporation (ASEC). The
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"dual junction" cell was accidentally produced in quantity by ASEC in 1989 as a result of the change from GaAs on GaAs substrates to GaAs on Germanium (Ge) substrates. The accidental doping of Ge with the GaAs buffer layer created higher open circuit voltages, demonstrating the potential of using the Ge substrate as another cell. As GaAs singlejunction cells topped 19% AM0 production efficiency in 1993, ASEC developed the first dual junction cells for spacecraft use in the United States, with a starting efficiency of approximately 20%. These cells did not utilize the Ge as a second cell, but used another GaAs-based cell with different doping. Eventually GaAs dual junction cells reached production efficiencies of about 22%. Triple Junction solar cells began with AM0 efficiencies of approximately 24% in 2000, 26% in 2002, 28% in 2005, and in 2007 have evolved to 30% AM0 production efficiency, currently in qualification.

HIGH EFFICIENCY CELL

High efficiency solar cells are a class of solar cell that can generate electricity at higher efficiencies than conventional solar cells. While high efficiency solar cells are more efficient in terms of electrical output per incident energy (watt/watt), much of the industry is focused on the most cost efficient technologies, i.e. cost-per-watt. Many businesses and academics are focused on increasing the electrical efficiency of cells, and much development is focused on high efficiency solar cells.

THEORY
Simple explanation 1. Photons in sunlight hit the solar panel and are absorbed by semiconducting materials, such as silicon. 2. Electrons (negatively charged) are knocked loose from their atoms, allowing them to flow through the material to produce electricity. Due to the special composition of solar cells, the electrons are only allowed to move in a single direction. The complementary positive charges that are also created (like bubbles) are called holes and flow in the direction opposite of the electrons in a silicon solar panel. 3. An array of solar cells converts solar energy into a usable amount of direct current (DC) electricity.
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PHOTOGENERATIORN OF CHARGE CARRIERS

When a photon hits a piece of silicon, one of three things can happen: 1 The photon can pass straight through the silicon this (generally) happens for lower energy photons, 2 The photon can reflect off the surface, 3 The silicon can absorb the photon, if the photon energy is higher than the silicon band gap value. This generates an electron-hole pair and sometimes heat, depending on the band structure. When a photon is absorbed, its energy is given to an electron in the crystal lattice. Usually this electron is in the valence band, and is tightly bound in covalent bonds between neighboring atoms, and hence unable to move far. The energy given to it by the photon "excites" it into the conduction band, where it is free to move around within the semiconductor. The covalent bond that the electron was previously a part of now has one fewer electron this is known as a hole. The presence of a missing covalent bond allows the bonded electrons of neighboring atoms to move into the "hole," leaving another hole behind, and in this way a hole can move through the lattice. Thus, it can be said that photons absorbed in the semiconductor create mobile electron-hole pairs. A photon need only have greater energy than that of the band gap in order to excite an electron from the valence band into the conduction band. However, the solar frequency spectrum approximates a black body spectrum at ~6000 K, and as such, much of the solar radiation reaching the Earth is composed of photons with energies greater than the band gap of silicon. These higher energy photons will be absorbed by the solar cell, but the difference in energy between these photons and the silicon band gap is converted into heat (via lattice vibrations called phonons) rather than into usable electrical energy.

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CHARGE CARRIER SEPARATION

There are two main modes for charge carrier separation in a solar cell: drift of carriers, driven by an electrostatic field established across the device 2 diffusion of carriers from zones of high carrier concentration to zones of low carrier concentration (following a gradient of electrochemical potential).
1

In the widely used p-n junction solar cells, the dominant mode of charge carrier separation is by drift. However, in non-p-n-junction solar cells (typical of the third generation solar cell research such as dye and polymer solar cells), a general electrostatic field has been confirmed to be absent, and the dominant mode of separation is via charge carrier diffusion.[16] THE p-n JUNCTION The most commonly known solar cell is configured as a large-area p-n junction made from silicon. As a simplification, one can imagine bringing a layer of n-type silicon into direct contact with a layer of p-type silicon. In practice, p-n junctions of silicon solar cells are not made in this way, but rather, by diffusing an ntype dopant into one side of a p-type wafer (or vice versa). If a piece of p-type silicon is placed in intimate contact with a piece of n-type silicon, then a diffusion of electrons occurs from the region of high electron concentration (the ntype side of the junction) into the region of low electron concentration (ptype side of the junction). When the electrons diffuse across the p-n junction, they recombine with holes on the p-type side. The diffusion of carriers does not happen indefinitely however, because of an electric field which is created by the imbalance of charge immediately on either side of the junction which this diffusion creates. The electric field established across the p-n junction creates a diode that promotes charge flow, known as drift current, that opposes and eventually balances out the diffusion of electron and holes.

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EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT OF A SOLAR CELL

Fig 16 Equivalent Circuit of solar cell

SCHEMATIC SYMBOL OF SOLAR CELL:

Fig 17 Schematic symbol of solar cell

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LIFESPAN
Most commercially available solar cells are capable of producing electricity for at least twenty years without a significant decrease in efficiency

COST
Cost is established in cost-per-watt and in cost-per-watt in 24 hours for infrared capable photovoltaic cells.

SLICING COST
University of Utah engineers devised a new way to slice thin wafers of the chemical element germanium for use in the most efficient type of solar power cells. The new method should lower the cost of such cells by reducing the waste and breakage of the brittle semiconductor.

LOW COST SOLAR CELL

The schematic symbol of a solar cell To understand the electronic behavior of a solar cell, it is useful to create a model which is electrically equivalent, and is based on discrete electrical components whose behavior is well known. An ideal solar cell may be modeled by a current source in parallel with a diode; in practice no solar cell is ideal, so a shunt resistance and a series resistance component are added to the model. The resulting equivalent circuit of a solar cell is shown on the left.

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8V, 44Ma Polycrystalline Solar Cell

Description: This big brother of the 37 X 33 Solar Cell is also an epoxy-encapsulated polycrystalline solar cell, but this one offers 8 volts and 44mA in a 37 x 66mm package! Epoxy protects the 14 cells mounted on a PCB back plane, making these very robust. You won't risk breaking these like the old Panasonics Sunbeams. These new cells also feature footprint on the backside for installing a user supplied parallel-wired zener diode for overvoltage protection

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6.3 Photodiode:
A photodiode is a type of photo detector capable of converting light into either current or voltage, depending upon the mode of operation. Photodiodes are similar to regular semiconductor diodes except that they may be either exposed (to detect vacuum UV or X-rays) or packaged with a window or optical fiber connection to allow light to reach the sensitive part of the device. Many diodes designed for use specifically as a photodiode will also use a PIN junction rather than the typical PN junction.

Fig 19 Photodiode schematic symbol

Some photodiodes will look like the picture to the right, that is, similar to a light emitting diode. They will have two leads, or wires, coming from
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the bottom. The shorter end of the two is the cathode, while the longer end is the anode. See below for a schematic drawing of the anode and cathode side. Under forward bias, conventional current will pass from the anode to the cathode, following the arrow in the symbol. Photocurrent flows in the opposite direction. Principle of operation

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
A photodiode is a PN junction or PIN structure. When a photon of sufficient energy strikes the diode, it excites an electron, thereby creating a mobile electron and a positively charged electron hole. If the absorption occurs in the junction's depletion region, or one diffusion length away from it, these carriers are swept from the junction by the built-in field of the depletion region. Thus holes move toward the anode, and electrons toward the cathode, and a photocurrent is produced.

PHOTOVOLTAIC MODE
When used in zero bias or photovoltaic mode, the flow of photocurrent out of the device is restricted and a voltage builds up. The diode becomes forward biased and "dark current" begins to flow across the junction in the direction opposite to the photocurrent. This mode is responsible for the photovoltaic effect, which is the basis for solar cellsin fact, a solar cell is just an array of large area photodiodes.

PHOTOCONDUCTIVE MODE
In this mode the diode is often reverse biased, dramatically reducing the response time at the expense of increased noise. This increases the width of the depletion layer, which decreases the junction's capacitance resulting in faster response times. The reverse bias induces only a small amount of current (known as saturation or back current) along its direction while the photocurrent remains virtually the same. The photocurrent is linearly proportional to the illuminance. Although this mode is faster, the photovoltaic mode tends to exhibit less electronic noise. (The leakage current of a good PIN diode is so low < 1nA that the JohnsonNyquist noise of the load resistance in a typical circuit often dominates.)

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OTHER MODES OF OPERATION

Avalanche photodiodes have a similar structure to regular photodiodes, but they are operated with much higher reverse bias. This allows each photo-generated carrier to be multiplied by avalanche breakdown, resulting in internal gain within the photodiode, which increases the effective responsivity of the device. Phototransistors also consist of a photodiode with internal gain. A phototransistor is in essence nothing more than a bipolar transistor that is encased in a transparent case so that light can reach the base-collector junction. The electrons that are generated by photons in the base-collector junction are injected into the base, and this photodiode current is amplified by the transistor's current gain (or hfe). Note that while phototransistors have a higher responsivity for light they are not able to detect low levels of light any better than photodiodes.Phototransistors also have slower response times.

MATERIALS
The material used to make a photodiode is critical to defining its properties, because only photons with sufficient energy to excite electrons across the material's bandgap will produce significant photocurrents. Materials commonly used to produce photodiodes include. Material Silicon Germanium Wavelength range (nm) 1901100 4001700

Indium gallium arsenide 8002600 Lead sulfide <1000-3500

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Because of their greater band gap, silicon-based photodiodes generate less noise than germanium-based photodiodes, but germanium photodiodes must be used for wavelengths longer than approximately 1 m. Since transistors and ICs are made of semiconductors, and contain P-N junctions, almost every active component is potentially a photodiode. Many components, especially those sensitive to small currents, will not work correctly if illuminated, due to the induced photocurrents. In most components this is not desired, so they are placed in an opaque housing. Since housings are not completely opaque to X-rays or other high energy radiation, these can still cause many ICs to malfunction due to induced photo-currents.

FEATURES Response of a silicon photo diode vs wavelength of the incident light Critical performance parameters of a photodiode include: Responsibility: The ratio of generated photocurrent to incident light power, typically expressed in A/W when used in photoconductive mode. The responsively may also be expressed as a quantum efficiency, or the ratio of the number of photo generated carriers to incident photons and thus a unit less quantity. Dark Current The current through the photodiode in the absence of light, when it is operated in photoconductive mode. The dark current includes photocurrent generated by background radiation and the saturation current of the semiconductor junction. Dark current must be accounted for by calibration if a photodiode is used to make an accurate optical power measurement, and it is also a source of noise when a photodiode is used in an optical communication system. Noise Equivalent Power: (NEP) The minimum input optical power to generate photocurrent, equal to the rms noise current in a 1 hertz bandwidth. The related characteristic detectivity (D) is the inverse of NEP, 1/NEP; and the

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specific detectivity () is the detectivity normalized to the area (A) of the photo detector, . The NEP is roughly the minimum detectable input power of a photodiode. When a photodiode is used in an optical communication system, these parameters contribute to the sensitivity of the optical receiver, which is the minimum input power required for the receiver to achieve a specified bit error ratio. APPLICATIONS: P-N photodiodes are used in similar applications to other photo detectors, such as photoconductors, charge-coupled devices, and photo multiplier tubes. Photodiodes are used in consumer electronics devices such as compact disc players, smoke detectors, and the receivers for remote controls in VCRs and televisions. In other consumer items such as camera light meters, clock radios (the ones that dim the display when it's dark) and street lights, photoconductors are often used rather than photodiodes, although in principle either could be used. Photodiodes are often used for accurate measurement of light intensity in science and industry. They generally have a better, more linear response than photoconductors. They are also widely used in various medical applications, such as detectors for computed topography (coupled with scintillates) or instruments to analyze samples (immunoassay). They are also used in pulse oximeters. PIN diodes are much faster and more sensitive than ordinary p-n junction diodes, and hence are often used for optical communications and in lighting regulation. P-N photodiodes are not used to measure extremely low light intensities. Instead, if high sensitivity is needed, avalanche photodiodes, intensified charge-coupled devices or photo multiplier tubes are used for applications such as astronomy, spectroscopy, and night vision equipment and laser range finding.

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6.4 DC Motor
The brushed DC motor is one of the earliest motor designs. Today, it is the motor of choice in the majority of variable speed and torque control applications. Advantages
1 2 3 4

Easy to understand design Easy to control speed Easy to control torque Simple, cheap drive design

Easy to understand design The design of the brushed DC motor is quite simple. A permanent magnetic field is created in the stator by either of two means:
1 2

Permanent magnets Electro-magnetic windings

If the field is created by permanent magnets, the motor is said to be a "permanent magnet DC motor" (PMDC). If created by electromagnetic windings, the motor is often said to be a "shunt wound DC motor" (SWDC). Today, because of cost-effectiveness and reliability, the PMDC motor is the motor of choice for applications involving fractional horsepower DC motors, as well as most applications up to about three horsepower. At five horsepower and greater, various forms of the shunt wound DC motor are most commonly used. This is because the electromagnetic windings are more cost effective than permanent magnets in this power range. Caution: If a DC motor suffers a loss of field (if for example, the field power connections are broken), the DC motor will immediately begin to accelerate to the top speed which the loading will allow. This can result in the motor flying apart if the motor is lightly loaded. The possible loss of field must be accounted for, particularly with shunt wound DC motors. Opposing the stator field is the armature field, which is generated by a changing electromagnetic flux coming from windings located on the
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rotor. The magnetic poles of the armature field will attempt to line up with the opposite magnetic poles generated by the stator field. If we stopped the design at this point, the motor would spin until the poles were opposite one another, settle into place, and then stop -- which would make a pretty useless motor! However, we are smarter than that. The section of the rotor where the electricity enters the rotor windings is called the commutator. The electricity is carried between the rotor and the stator by conductive graphite-copper brushes (mounted on the rotor) which contact rings on stator. Imagine power is supplied: The motor rotates toward the pole alignment point. Just as the motor would get to this point, the brushes jump across a gap in the stator rings. Momentum carries the motor forward over this gap. When the brushes get to the other side of the gap, they contact the stator rings again and -- the polarity of the voltage is reversed in this set of rings! The motor begins accelerating again, this time trying to get to the opposite set of poles. (The momentum has carried the motor past the original pole alignment point.) This continues as the motor rotates. In most DC motors, several sets of windings or permanent magnets are present to smooth out the motion. Easy to control speed Controlling the speed of a brushed DC motor is simple. The higher the armature voltage, the faster the rotation. This relationship is linear to the motor's maximum speed. The maximum armature voltage which corresponds to a motor's rated speed (these motors are usually given a rated speed and a maximum speed, such as 1750/2000 rpm) are available in certain standard voltages, which roughly increase in conjunction with horsepower. Thus, the smallest industrial motors are rated 90 VDC and 180 VDC. Larger units are rated at 250 VDC and sometimes higher. Specialty motors for use in mobile applications are rated 12, 24, or 48 VDC. Other tiny motors may be rated 5 VDC. Most industrial DC motors will operate reliably over a speed range of about 20:1 -- down to about 5-7% of base speed. This is much better performance than the comparable AC motor. This is partly due to the simplicity of control, but is also partly due to the fact that most industrial
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DC motors are designed with variable speed operation in mind, and have added heat dissipation features which allow lower operating speeds. Easy to control torque In a brushed DC motor, torque control is also simple, since output torque is proportional to current. If you limit the current, you have just limited the torque which the motor can achieve. This makes this motor ideal for delicate applications such as textile manufacturing. Simple, cheap drive design The result of this design is that variable speed or variable torque electronics are easy to design and manufacture. Varying the speed of a brushed DC motor requires little more than a large enough potentiometer. In practice, these have been replaced for all but sub-fractional horsepower applications by the SCR and PWM drives, which offer relatively precisely control voltage and current. Common DC drives are available at the low end (up to 2 horsepower) for under US$100 -- and sometimes under US$50 if precision is not important. Large DC drives are available up to hundreds of horsepower. However, over about 10 horsepower careful consideration should be given to the price/performance tradeoffs with AC inverter systems, since the AC systems show a price advantage in the larger systems. (But they may not be capable of the application's performance requirements). Disadvantages
1 2 3 4 5

Expensive to produce Can't reliably control at lowest speeds Physically larger High maintenance Dust

How a DC motor works A DC motor works by converting electric power into mechanical work. Forcing current through a coil and producing a magnetic field that spins the motor accomplishes this. The simplest DC motor is a single coil apparatus, used here to discuss the DC motor theory.

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The voltage source forces voltage through the coil via sliding contacts or brushes that are connected to the DC source. These brushes are found on the end of the coil wires and make a temporary electrical connection with the voltage source. In this motor, the brushes will make a connection every 180 degrees and current will then flow through the coil wires. At 0 degrees, the brushes are in contact with the voltage source and current is flowing. The current that flows through wire segment C-D interacts with the magnetic field that is present and the result is an upward force on the segment. The current that flows through segment A-B has the same interaction, but the force is in the downward direction. Both forces are of equal magnitude, but in opposing directions since the direction of current flow in the segments is reversed with respect to the magnetic field. At 180 degrees, the same phenomenon occurs, but segment A-B is forced up and C-D is forced down. At 90 and 270-degrees, the brushes are not in contact with the voltage source and no force is produced. In these two positions, the rotational kinetic energy of the motor keeps it spinning until the brushes regain contact. One drawback to the motor is the large amount of torque ripple that it has. The reason for this excessive ripple is because of the fact that the coil has a force pushing on it only at the 90 and 270 degree positions. The rest of the time the coil spins on its own and the torque drops to zero. The torque curve produced by this single coil, as more coils are added to the motor, the torque curve is smoothed out. The resulting torque curve never reaches the zero point and the average torque for the motor is greatly increased. As more and more coils are added, the torque curve approaches a straight line and has very little torque ripple and the motor runs much more smoothly. Another method of increasing the torque and rotational speed of the motor is to increase the current supplied to the coils. This is accomplished by increasing the voltage that is sent to the motor, thus increasing the current at the same time.

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SYNCHRONOUS Synchronous DC motors, such as the brushless DC motor and the stepper motor, require external commutation to generate torque. BRUSHLESS Brushless DC motors use a rotating permanent magnet in the rotor, and stationary electrical magnets on the motor housing. A motor controller converts DC to AC. This design is simpler than that of brushed motors because it eliminates the complication of transferring power from outside the motor to the spinning rotor. Advantages of brushless motors include long life span, little or no maintenance, and high efficiency. Disadvantages include high initial cost, and more complicated motor speed controllers.

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6.5 4700uf CAPACITOR:

General information of 4700uf capacitor 1 It has low leakage current. 2 Long life. 3 Wide operating temperature range. 4 Pin spacing is 7.7 mm. 5 Body height is 32 mm. 6 Diameter is 16mm.

Applications:
Capacitors have many uses in electronic and electrical systems. They are so ubiquitous that it is a rare electrical product that does not include at least one for some purpose. System Energy Storage A capacitor can store electric energy when disconnected from its charging circuit, so it can be used like a temporary battery. Capacitors are commonly used in electronic devices to maintain power supply while batteries are being changed. (This prevents loss of information in volatile memory.) In car audio systems, large capacitors store energy for the amplifier to use on demand. Pulsed power and weapons Groups of large, specially constructed, low-inductance high-voltage capacitors (capacitor banks) are used to supply huge pulses of current for many pulsed power applications. These include electromagnetic forming, Marx generators, pulsed lasers (especially TEA lasers), pulse forming networks, radar, fusion research, and particle accelerators. Large capacitor banks (reservoir) are used as energy sources for the exploding-bridgewire detonators or slapper detonators in nuclear weapons and other specialty weapons. Experimental work is under way using banks of capacitors as power sources for electromagnetic armour and electromagnetic railguns and coilguns.

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Power conditioning
Reservoir capacitors are used in power supplies where they smooth the output of a full or half wave rectifier. They can also be used in charge pump circuits as the energy storage element in the generation of higher voltages than the input voltage. Capacitors are connected in parallel with the power circuits of most electronic devices and larger systems (such as factories) to shunt away and conceal current fluctuations from the primary power source to provide a "clean" power supply for signal or control circuits. Audio equipment, for example, uses several capacitors in this way, to shunt away power line hum before it gets into the signal circuitry. The capacitors act as a local reserve for the DC power source, and bypass AC currents from the power supply. This is used in car audio applications, when a stiffening capacitor compensates for the inductance and resistance of the leads to the lead-acid car battery.

Power factor correction:

In electric power distribution, capacitors are used for power factor correction. Such capacitors often come as three capacitors connected as a three phase load. Usually, the values of these capacitors are given not in farads but rather as a reactive power in volt-amperes reactive (VAr). The purpose is to counteract inductive loading from devices like electric motors and transmission lines to make the load appear to be mostly resistive. Individual motor or lamp loads may have capacitors for power factor correction, or larger sets of capacitors (usually with automatic switching devices) may be installed at a load center within a building or in a large utility substation.

Noise Filters & Snubbers:

When an inductive circuit is opened, the current through the inductance collapses quickly, creating a large voltage across the open circuit of the switch or relay. If the inductance is large enough, the energy will generate a spark, causing the contact points to oxidize, deteriorate, or sometimes weld together, or destroying a solid-state switch. A snubber capacitor across the newly opened circuit creates a path for this impulse to bypass the contact points, thereby preserving their life; these were commonly found in contact breaker ignition systems, for instance. Similarly, in smaller scale circuits, the spark may not be enough to damage the switch but will still radiate undesirable radio frequency interference (RFI), which a filter capacitor absorbs. Snubber capacitors are usually employed with a
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low-value resistor in series, to dissipate energy and minimize RFI. Such resistor-capacitor combinations are available in a single package. Capacitors are also used in parallel to interrupt units of a high-voltage circuit breaker in order to equally distribute the voltage between these units. In this case they are called grading capacitors. In schematic diagrams, a capacitor used primarily for DC charge storage is often drawn vertically in circuit diagrams with the lower, more negative, plate drawn as an arc. The straight plate indicates the positive terminal of the device, if it is polarized (see electrolytic capacitor).

Motor starters
In single phase squirrel cage motors, the primary winding within the motor housing isn't capable of starting a rotational motion on the rotor, but is capable of sustaining one. To start the motor, a secondary winding is used in series with a non-polarized starting capacitor to introduce a lag in the sinusoidal current through the starting winding. When the secondary winding is placed at an angle with respect to the primary winding, a rotating electric field is created. The force of the rotational field is not constant, but is sufficient to start the rotor spinning. When the rotor comes close to operating speed, a centrifugal switch (or currentsensitive relay in series with the main winding) disconnects the capacitor. The start capacitor is typically mounted to the side of the motor housing. These are called capacitor-start motors, and have relatively high starting torque. There are also capacitor-run induction motors which have a permanently-connected phase-shifting capacitor in series with a second winding. The motor is much like a two-phase induction motor. Motor-starting capacitors are typically non-polarized electrolytic types, while running capacitors are conventional paper or plastic film dielectric types.

Signal processing
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The energy stored in a capacitor can be used to represent information, either in binary form, as in DRAMs, or in analogue form, as in analog sampled filters and CCDs. Capacitors can be used in analog circuits as components of integrators or more complex filters and in negative feedback loop stabilization. Signal processing circuits also use capacitors to integrate a current signal. Tuned circuits Capacitors and inductors are applied together in tuned circuits to select information in particular frequency bands. For example, radio receivers rely on variable capacitors to tune the station frequency. Speakers use passive analog crossovers, and analog equalizers use capacitors to select different audio bands. The resonant frequency f of a tuned circuit is a function of the inductance (L) and capacitance (C) in series, and is given by: where L is in henries and C is in farads.

Sensing
Most capacitors are designed to maintain a fixed physical structure. However, various factors can change the structure of the capacitor; the resulting change in capacitance can be used to sense those factors. The effects of varying the physical and/or electrical characteristics of the dielectric can also be of use. Capacitors with an exposed and porous dielectric can be used to measure humidity in air. Capacitors are used to accurately measure the fuel level in airplanes; as the fuel covers more of a pair of plates, the circuit capacitance increases. Capacitors with a flexible plate can be used to measure strain or pressure. Industrial pressure transmitters used for process control use pressuresensing diaphragms, which form a capacitor plate of an oscillator circuit. Capacitors are used as the sensor in condenser microphones, where one plate is moved by air pressure, relative to the fixed position of the other plate. Some accelerometers use MEMS capacitors etched on a chip to measure the magnitude and direction of the acceleration vector. They are used to detect changes in acceleration, eg. as tilt sensors or to detect free fall, as sensors triggering airbag deployment, and in many other applications. Some fingerprint sensors use capacitors. Additionally, a user can adjust the pitch of a theremin musical instrument by moving his hand since this changes the effective capacitance between the user's hand and the antenna.

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Study on Super capacitor Energy Storage Technology and its Application in Power System: The role of energy storage in power systempower system : Energy management, requiring to provide minutes to hours power supply; Bridging power, requiring to provide minutes power supply; Power quality, requiring to provide seconds to minutes power; Possible energy storage technology for power quality technology: SMES: high voltage, long life, suited for several seconds discharge, but stationary, expensive for constructing and operating; Battery: low cost, but short cycle life, need maintenance and replacement; Flywheel: durable, but stationary; Super-capacitor: performance between battery and traditional capacitor, seems to be promising technology for energy storage.

Super-capacitor technology:
Aqueous symmetric technology Inexpensive, low energy density, low operating voltage, difficult to design balance circuit; Companies: ELIT, ECOND, Shuang-Deng, etc; Aqueous asymmetric technology High energy density, higher operating voltage and more expensive than aqueous symmetric; Companies: ESMA, Shuang-Deng, AO-WEI; Organic symmetric technology Wide operating temperature, high energy density, highly sensitive to over voltage, expensive than aqueous; Companies: Maxwell, NESS Capacitor, Panasonic, Ji-Xing, etc;

Feature of the Super Super-capacitor

Low impedance compare with battery Quickly charge/discharge (up to 1000A)
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High life cycle (up to 500000 cycled times) Operating temperature range (-30-70 ) Environment friendly

Limitations
Linear discharge voltage prevents use of the full energy spectrum; Low energy density Cells have low voltages: 1V-3V for all technology; High self discharge Current remarkable improvement of super--capacitor performance Nano gate capacitor by Okamura Lab. and JEOL Ltd. Energy density: 50-70Wh/kg Charging/discharging in extremely short time Very long cycle life Super Super-capacitor energy storage technical problems Energy storage stack Low cell voltage and low cell energy, cell stacking is required to obtain necessary voltage, power and duration, balance circuit between cells is needed; Energy storage system Cell voltage is linear and drops evenly from full voltage to zero volt, DC/DC converter is needed to attain constant voltage and power during discharging.

4700F/ 16V ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITOR

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Description:
We haven't seen many other 4700F /16V Electrolytic capacitors this electrically large this physically small! Dimension: 12.7mm dia. x 25mm long

6.6 PROXIMITY SENSOR

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Fig 21 Proximity Sensor

Description:
A proximity sensor is a sensor able to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. A proximity sensor often emits an electromagnetic or electrostatic field, or a beam of electromagnetic radiation (infrared, for instance), and looks for changes in the field or return signal. The object being sensed is often referred to as the proximity sensor's target. Different proximity sensor targets demand different sensors. For example, a capacitive or photoelectric sensor might be suitable for a plastic target; an inductive proximity sensor requires a metal target. The maximum distance that this sensor can detect is defined "nominal range". Some sensors have adjustments of the nominal range or means to report a graduated detection distance. Proximity sensors can have a high reliability and long functional life because of the absence of mechanical parts and lack of physical contact between sensor and the sensed object. IEC 60947-5-2 defines the technical details of proximity sensors. A proximity sensor adjusted to a very short range is often used as a touch switch. Looking for a pair of touch sensors suitable for your next BEAM project but don't want trip the ones off your Photopopper kit? Here - use this identical set instead!

6.7 Photovore PCB with Miller Engine

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Fig 22 Photovore PCB with Miller engine

Description:
This PCB can be used to create a Photovore using a Miller Engine to detect light and avoid obstacle. The PCB is very thin and flexible which will help in mounting motors at an angle.

6.8 RESISTOR
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Fig 23 Resistor A resistor is a two-terminal electronic component designed to oppose an electric current by producing a voltage drop between its terminals in proportion to the current, that is, in accordance with Ohm's law: V = IR Resistors are used as part of electrical networks and electronic circuits. They are extremely commonplace in most electronic equipment. Practical resistors can be made of various compounds and films, as well as resistance wire (wire made of a high-resistivity alloy, such as nickel/chrome). The primary characteristics of resistors are their resistance and the power they can dissipate. Other characteristics include temperature coefficient, noise, and inductance. Less well-known is critical resistance, the value below which power dissipation limits the maximum permitted current flow, and above which the limit is applied voltage. Critical resistance depends upon the materials constituting the resistor as well as its physical dimensions; it's determined by design. Resistors can be integrated into hybrid and printed circuits, as well as integrated circuits. Size, and position of leads (or terminals) are relevant to equipment designers; resistors must be physically large enough not to overheat when dissipating their power. The ohm (symbol: ) is a SI-driven unit of electrical resistance, named after Georg Simon Ohm. Commonly used multiples and submultiples in electrical and electronic usage are the milliohm, kilohm, and megohm.

75

RESISTOR MAKING
Most axial resistors use a pattern of colored stripes to indicate resistance. Surface-mount resistors are marked numerically, if they are big enough to permit marking; more-recent small sizes are impractical to mark. Cases are usually tan, brown, blue, or green, though other colors are occasionally found such as dark red or dark gray. Early 20th century resistors, essentially uninsulated, were dipped in paint to cover their entire body for color coding. A second color of paint was applied to one end of the element, and a color dot (or band) in the middle provided the third digit. The rule was "body, tip, dot", providing two significant digits for value and the decimal multiplier, in that sequence. Default tolerance was 20%. Closer-tolerance resistors had silver (10%) or gold-colored (5%) paint on the other end.

FOUR BAND RESISTOR

Four-band identification is the most commonly used color-coding scheme on all resistors. It consists of four colored bands that are painted around the body of the resistor. The first two bands encode the first two significant digits of the resistance value, the third is a power-of-ten multiplier or number-of-zeroes, and the fourth is the tolerance accuracy, or acceptable error, of the value. Sometimes a fifth band identifies the thermal coefficient, but this must be distinguished from the true 5-color system, with 3 significant digits. For example, green-blue-yellow-red is 56104 = 560 k 2%. An easier description can be as followed: the first band, green, has a value of 5 and the second band, blue, has a value of 6, and is counted as 56. The third band, yellow, has a value of 104, which adds four 0's to the end, creating 560,000 at 2% tolerance accuracy. 560,000 changes to 560 k 2% (as a kilo- is 103). Each color corresponds to a certain digit, progressing from darker to lighter colors, as shown in the chart below.

76

1st Color band Black 0 Brown 1 Red 2

2nd band 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

3rd band (multiplier) 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 10-1 10-2

4th band (tolerance)

Temp. Coefficient

1% (F) 2% (G)

100 ppm 50 ppm 15 ppm 25 ppm

Orange 3 Yellow 4 Green 5 Blue 6

0.5% (D) 0.25% (C) 0.1% (B) 0.05% (A)

Violet 7 Gray 8

White 9 Gold Silver None

5% (J) 10% (K) 20% (M)

Preferred values

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Early resistors were made in more or less arbitrary round numbers; a series might have 100, 125, 150, 200, 300, etc. Resistors as manufactured are subject to a certain percentage tolerance, and it makes sense to manufacture values that correlate with the tolerance, so that the actual value of a resistor overlaps slightly with its neighbors. Wider spacing leaves gaps; narrower spacing increases manufacturing and inventory costs to provide resistors that are more or less interchangeable. A logical scheme is to produce resistors in a range of values which increase in a geometrical progression, so that each value is greater than its predecessor by a fixed multiplier or percentage, chosen to match the tolerance of the range. For example, for a tolerance of 20% it makes sense to have each resistor about 1.5 times its predecessor, covering a decade in 6 values. In practice the factor used is 1.4678, giving values of 1.47, 2.15, 3.16, 4.64, 6.81, 10 for the 1-10 decade (a decade is a range increasing by a factor of 10; 0.1-1 and 10-100 are other examples); these are rounded in practice to 1.5, 2.2, 3.3, 4.7, 6.8, 10; followed, of course by 15, 22, 33, and preceded by 0.47, 0.68, 1. This scheme has been adopted as the E6 range of the IEC 60063 preferred number series. There are also E12, E24, E48, E96 and E192 ranges for components of ever tighter tolerance, with 12, 24, 96, and 192 different values within each decade. The actual values used are in the IEC 60063 lists of preferred numbers. A resistor of 100 ohms 20% would be expected to have a value between 80 and 120 ohms; its E6 neighbors are 68 (54-82) and 150 (120-180) ohms. A sensible spacing, E6 is used for 20% components; E12 for 10%; E24 for 5%; E48 for 2%, E96 for 1%; E192 for 0.5% or better. Resistors are manufactured in values from a few milliohms to about a gigaohm in IEC60063 ranges appropriate for their tolerance. Earlier power wirewound resistors, such as brown vitreous-enameled types, however, were made with a different system of preferred values, such as some of those mentioned in the first sentence of this section.

CHAPTER-7
78

LITERATURE SURVEY

We have been surveying through the various robots-systems and the sources that run them. As we all are encountering with the shortage of energy sources we thought to implement a robot system that can run through a renewable source of energy. The most easily available form of renewable source of energy is the solar energy that can be used at any place as well as at any planet in our solar system. For implementing our thoughts and giving it a successful shape we had gone through various sites, technical papers and tech-fests on robot systems so that we may get best results out of it. With help of all these sources we had successfully completed it, it can be used or can provide service for number of years that is for twenty long years without any interruption and obstruction.

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CHAPTER-8 APPLICATIONS
Greenhouse Heating:
Farms also can use solar energy to heat greenhouses. Commercial greenhouses typically rely on the sun to supply their lighting needs.

Space and Water Heating:

Livestock and dairy operations often have substantial air and water heating requirements.

Electricity:
Solar electric, or photovoltaic (PV), systems can be used on farms and ranches to power electrical fencing, lighting, and water pumping.

Crop and Grain Drying:

Using the sun to dry crops and grain is one of the oldest and most widely used applications of solar energy.

Industrial application:
For many years, Solar Energy has been the power supply of choice for Industrial applications, where power is required at remote locations. This means in these applications that solar power is economic, without subsidy. Most systems in individual uses require a few kilowatts of power. The earliest significant application of solar cells was as a back-up power source to the Vanguard I satellite in 1958, which allowed it to continue transmitting for over a year after its chemical battery was exhausted Sunlight can be converted into electricity using photovoltaic (PV), concentrating solar power (CSP), and various experimental technologies. PV has mainly been used to power small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to off-grid homes powered by a photovoltaic array.

CHAPTER-9
80

ADVANTAGES
Solar energy remains popular because it is both a renewable and clean source of energy. These advantages along with the hope that eventually nations can use solar power to decrease global warming ensure its popularity.

1 Renewable
Solar energy is a true renewable resource. All areas of the world have the ability to collect some amount of solar power and solar power is available for collection each day.

2 Clean
Solar energy is non-polluting. It does not create greenhouse gases, such as oil based energy does, nor does it create waste that must be stored, such as nuclear energy. It is also far more quiet to create and harness, drastically reducing the noise pollution required to convert energy to a useful form. Residential size solar energy systems also have very little impact on the surrounding environment, in contrast with other renewable energy sources such as wind and hydro electric power.

3 Low Maintenance
Solar panels have no moving parts and require very little maintenance beyond regular cleaning. Without moving parts to break and replace, after the initial costs of installing the panels, maintenance and repair costs are very reasonable. 4 Solar cells require very little maintenance, greatly because there are no moving parts that must be maintained. 5 The energy and heat from the sun is free. Once solar panels or solar thermal collectors are set up, there are no electrical expenses necessary to power them. 6 Solar cells can last a lifetime. 7 Solar power is incredibly versatile. A variety of inventions may be powered by it, including cars, water heaters, fountains, buildings, and satellites. 8 In remote locations, solar power may be a more realistic energy option than running large lengths of electrical wires to connect to a grid.

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9 Overall, it seems that solar power is simply a more harmonious energy resource. To obtain other energy sources, there is a requirement of harvesting fossil fuels, animal matter, or plant matter. Meanwhile, sunlight continually hits the earth in large amounts regardless of whether it is being utilized as an energy resource or not. Focusing solely on the application of solar power, instead of its application in addition to seeking out and obtaining the raw resource, omits an unnecessary step.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF SOLAR POWER FOR RESIDENTIAL USE:

Although the benefits of solar power as an individual entity are fairly complex, currently using solar power is seldom feasible for residences. The cost of a system to service a home and store energy for use when the panels cannot produce energy is prohibitive for most common homeowners. Even if budgetary constrictions are disregarded, it is often difficult to find a technician who can complete repairs if they are needed. However, for those homeowners who are interested in supporting and using solar power, a solar powered roof vent or attic fan should be strongly considered. Attic fans, no matter how they are powered, can save significant amounts of energy through helping to moderate the temperature within a home attic fans. Although slightly more costly than electric powered units, are incredibly cost effective once energy savings are factored into the purchase. Solar powered outdoor lights are also incredibly popular for homeowners who are interested in solar technology. In some conditions, they are the only reasonable choice for lighting an area. They are also popular with homeowners who do not want to add to the electrical load of their homes.

CHAPTER-10 LIMITATIONS
82

Solar power remains rare in many countries due to some fairly significant drawbacks: 1 Cost The largest problem of using primarily solar energy is the cost involved. Despite advances in technology, solar panels remain almost prohibitively expensive. Even when the cost of the panels is ignored, the system required to store the energy for use can also be quite costly. 2 Weather Dependent Although some solar energy can be collected during even the cloudiest of days, efficient solar energy collection is dependent on sunshine. Even a few cloudy days can have a large affect on an energy system, particularly once that fact that solar energy cannot be collected at night is taken into account. 3 Geographic Limitations While some areas would benefit from adapting solar power, other parts of the world would receive little benefit from current solar systems. Solar panels still require direct sunlight to collect large amounts of power, and in many areas of the world there are few days that would efficiently power a system.

CHAPTER-11 FUTURE PROSPECTS

83

As explained in detail in this report this project has various features that can be used in various applications. However vast number of enhancements can be done to add new features in it and to make it more versatile, with more advantages and more user friendly. We know that any new technology is incomplete if it cant be used or remodeled depending on future. So a number of advancements that can be made to our projects in future for better use are as follows: -

1.

We can add a camera to it to gather picture informations of any location that cannot be interpreted by manpower. Solar cell of more efficiency, voltage and current ratings can be used to make it work under dim lights also. We can use micro-controllers with it to store any kind of information to provide a back-up facility to it.

2.

3.

Automatic application of breaks and safety devices can also be take place at the time of detection of object. By connecting Output of our circuit to them.

CHAPTER-12 CONCLUSION
84

IN our attempt to make this project we finally conclude that solar energy is the most suitable form of energy, which we have tried to facilitate in our circuit as it is, renewable form of energy and it gives a longer life i.e. almost twenty years to it. Also one of the most important features of it is that it does not work blindly; it has the facility to avoid any kind of obstacle that is encountered by it, by the help of sensors (proximity sensors). Here we have tried to build a circuit that can monitor the obstruction as well as find its own ways to collect any kind of important information without any interruption. We have used solar cells, sensors and 1381miller engine system, which makes our project most, sophisticated one and also provides it with advanced features.

CHAPTER-13 APPENDIX
85

ROBOT: A robot is a mechanical or virtual artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an electro-mechanical system. TRANSISTOR: A transistor is a semiconductor device commonly used to amplify or switch electronic signals. A transistor is made of a solid piece of a semiconductor material, with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current flowing through another pair of terminals. RESISTANCE: The electrical resistance of an object is a measure of its opposition to the passage of a steady electrical current. An object of uniform cross section will have a resistance proportional to its length and inversely proportional to its cross-sectional area, and proportional to the resistivity of the material. CAPACITANCE: In electromagnetism and electronics, capacitance is the ability of a body to hold an electrical charge. Capacitance is also a measure of the amount of electric charge stored (or separated) for a given electric potential.

SOLAR CELL:

86

A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that converts sunlight directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Sometimes the term solar cell is reserved for devices intended specifically to capture energy from sunlight, while the term photovoltaic cell is used when the light source is unspecified. Assemblies of cells are used to make solar panels, solar modules, or photovoltaic arrays. Photovoltaics is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells in producing electricity for practical use. The energy generated this way is an example of solar energy (also called solar power). VOLTAGE TRIGGER: This is by far the predominant form of solar engine, since they are "efficient enough" for most uses, and pretty simple to build. The 1381based solar engine using a 1381 voltage detector. The 1381 solar engine uses a 1381* voltage detector IC to drive a voltage-based solar engine. The1381 is normally used to reset CPUs and Micros when the power supply drops too low for reliable operation. PHOTO DIODE: A photodiode is a type of photo detector capable of converting light into either current or voltage, depending upon the mode of operation. DC MOTOR: A DC motor works by converting electric power into mechanical work. Forcing current through a coil and producing a magnetic field that spins the motor accomplishes this. The simplest DC motor is a single coil apparatus, used here to discuss the DC motor theory. The voltage source forces voltage through the coil via sliding contacts or brushes that are connected to the DC source. SENSORS: Many BEAM projects require some sensors in order to give the "critter" interesting behaviors. These range from simple contact sensors, to acoustic proximity sensors. Some are purchased as-is, or are purely mechanical (see the BEAM Pieces sensors pages), others require nontrivial circuitry.

CHAPTER-14
87

DATA SHEET

88

89

90

91

92

93

2n3906

94

95

96

CAPACITOR4700uf

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

IC 1381

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

4vsolarcell

115

116

117

ZENERDOIDE

118

119

CHAPTER-15 BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.faircild.com www.robosoft.com www.wikipedia.com www.scienceworld.com www.electronicsforu.com 6. Applied Electronics by R. S. Sedha 7. Microelectronics by Sedra & Smith
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

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