Electronics For You Magazine April 2018 602of

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50 like IP orms e (platf illanc sors e n e rv S • & su urity nse fe e • Sec for d sors • Sen

April 2018 Vol. 06 | No. 12 ISSN-2454-4426

FOR FEEL-GOOD FACTOR

28-page supplement

priced `20, free for EFY Readers

Technology is changing everything around us! tech Keepfocus up-to-date with eSTYLE

Editor

38

: ramesh Chopra

Editorial : Editorial Secretary CorrESPondEnCE Phone: 011-26810601; E-mail: [email protected] miSSing iSSuES

72 Benefits of IoT vending machines for retail 75 Li-ion batteries for solar setups

: kits‘n’Spares, new delhi Phone: 011-26371661, 26371662 E-mail: [email protected]

76 Smart technology for better waste management

nEwSStand diStribution

: Ph: 011-40596600 E-mail: [email protected]

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 28 TeST & MeaSureMenT: Thermal imaging for industrial testing

90 STarTuP Zone: unique mentorship platform for skilled professionals

44 InTerVIeW: eric Wei, senior sales director, ViewSonic: “Vr and ar software will extend beyond the realm of gaming to different activities”

94 ProJecT rePorT: Business setup for PcB assembly

bEngaluru

: Ph: 080-25260394, 25260023 E-mail: [email protected]

PunE

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gujarat:

: Ph: 079-61344948 E-mail: [email protected]

54 arTIfIcIaL InTeLLIgence: When fashion meets aI

jaPan

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48 SenSorS: Selecting the right sensors for industrial applications

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT… 18 DISPLayS: oLeD displays and their applications

Printed, published and owned by ramesh Chopra. Printed at international Print-o-Pack ltd, C-4 to C-11, hosiery Complex, Phase-ii Extension, noida-201305, gautam budh nagar, uttar Pradesh, on the first day of each month and published from d-87/1, okhla industrial area, Phase-1, new delhi 110020. Copyright 2018. all rights reserved throughout the world. reproduction of any material from this magazine in any manner without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited. although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility whatsoever is taken for any loss due to publishing errors. articles that cannot be used are returned to the authors if accompanied by a self-addressed and sufficiently stamped envelope. but no responsibility is taken for any loss or delay in returning the material. EfY will not be responsible for any wrong claims made by an r. disputes, if any, will be settled in a new delhi court only.

Period Newstand Price Year (`) three 3600 two 2400 one 1200

46 InTerVIeW: renjith Pt, vice president, Livewire India: “Technology is creating new issues that would require humans to address them”

34 DeSIgn: How to improve power conversion efficiency of inverters

: j.k. media, Ph: 886-2-87726780 ext. 10 E-mail: [email protected]

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You plus

To know more, write to [email protected] or call on 011-40596666 (Extn. 214)

90 STarTuP Zone: Business transformation for the digital age

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FOR FEEL-GOOD FACTOR

A magazine that keeps you up-to-date with technology through easy-to-understand articles

If your product has a mass appeal in the Tech space, then Advertising in eSTYLE would be an ideal opportunity to provide a solution.

24 SecurITy: Security in smart applications

mumbai

SingaPorE

ready for the cloud era

SMART WORLD

baCk iSSuES, bookS, Cds, PCbs etc.

mEntS nEw dElhi : Ph: 011-26810601 or 02 or 03 E-mail: [email protected] (hEad offiCE)

Hyper-converged

infrastructure: Get To know more write to [email protected]

32 WIreLeSS: Latest wireless standards and their applications 60 Defence eLecTronIcS: optronic sensors: fundamentals and types (Part 1 of 6)

GREEN TECHNOLOGY

Do-It-Yourself

98 Vehicle tracking system based on gPS and gSM 100 Light animations using arduino and MaTLaB 102 Signal generator and inverter using ne555 timers 105 Voltage regulator as audio amplifier 106 5-Watt audio amplifier using Ta7222 107 automatic certificate generation using MaTLaB 108 Mini fridge with Peltier modules

NEWS 12 Tech news 78 Industry news 92 new Products

EFY Plus DVD efy+DVD: Handy tools for programmers and developers ........ 82

69 Solar roadways: feasible for India?

LibrecaD: a Practical Tool for 2D Designs ................................ I

MAKE IN INDIA

ZenitPcB: Handy Tools for creating netlist and PcB Layouts .... VII

84 MarkeT SurVey: energy storage: What’s driving the growth? 89 STarTuP Zone: BLDc fans breaking the efficiency ceiling

Symica: circuit Design and Simulation Tools for all ................. IV

regulars 08 : your suggestions 10 Q&a: Things you wanted to know

www.EFYmAg.com

Your suggestions

Back Issue artIcles Electronics For You (EFY) has become inevitable for hobbyists, engineers as well as students. However, I find it difficult to find specific articles in previous issues. Therefore I request EFY to provide the list of published articles based on their categories/sections (such as DIY and Tech Focus) as a PDF document for subscribers at the end of every year. A. Samiuddhin Through e-mail EFY. Thanks for your ! We are in the process of implementing your request.

Qr cODe IN eFY

In this regard, I would like to offer my services to your esteemed magazine in the form of regular articles on these specific domains. I would be glad to offer my services at no cost for the sheer joy of giving back to the magazine that I grew up reading, and also to enhance awareness on these topics in India. (My hobby project titled ‘Two-wheeler Security System’ was published in EFY 2005.) Also, given that I live in San Francisco bay area, I will be happy to cover technical events held here in the Silicon valley that I happen to attend. Kindly let me know about the next steps that you suggest. Vinay Prabhu Through e-mail EFY. Thanks a lot for writing in and sharing your ideas and appreciation for EFY. We will be more than happy to accept your technical articles for our magazines and/or websites. Plus, we would be happy to publish on our websites reports on latest technologies and solutions shared at tech events.

projects published in EFY. Ranveer Singh Bais Through e-mail EFY. You may refer to the following projects: 1. Getting Started with NodeMCU Development Board for IoT in EFY Nov. 2017 2. IoT-Smart Alert Notification Using Android App in EFY March 2017 3. IoT Based Smart Camera Using Android App and Raspberry Pi in EFY Nov. 2016 4. IoT WiFi Temperature-Logging System in EFY March 2016 5. Introduction To Smart Wi-Fi in EFY March 2016 You can purchase EFY magazine from various online stores including magzter.com, lulu.com, amazon.com and scoop.com

EFY magazine is a rich information resource that provides useful links to my topics of interest. But to visit the information on these links, I have to type or search for the same on my smartphone. Since smartphones provide instant access to the Internet, I suggest EFY to provide QR code for each link or website mentioned in the magazine.

seNsOrs MaGaZINe

Samiran Dey Indian Oil Corporation Limited Panipat, Haryana

We want to subscribe to your magazine on sensors. Please send us a sample of the magazine and also subscription charges for the same.

M. Kathiresan Through e-mail

EFY. Thanks for the ! We are considering your suggestion for implementation.

V.V. Masurekar Proprietor Shreyas Industrial Estate, Mumbai

EFY. We use gEDA, which is an open source software for circuit and PCB layout design. If you want design circuits the way these are published in EFY, some customisation is required in gEDA software.

seNsOrs aND artIFIcIal INtellIGeNce

EFY. We have published many articles on sensors in various EFY issues earlier. In fact, this January onwards, EFY has started a regular section on sensors. However, please note that we do not have a separate magazine on sensors right now.

In the last two years, a silent artificial intelligence (AI) driven revolution is unfolding right before our eyes on smartphones, fueled by sensor data that promises far-reaching disruptive consequences across domains such as privacy, security, healthcare, videography and entertainment. But, unfortunately, this is not covered much by the Indian media at large.

8

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

Iot PrOJects I am interested in smart home gadgets based on the Internet of Things (IoT). Please provide a list of IoT-based

eDa tOOl We are preparing an article on embedded live webcam for submission to EFY. Please let me know which EDA software is used to draw schematic diagrams and PCB layouts.

aNalYsIs OF traNsFOrMer The ‘Analysis of Transformer Inrush Current Using Java’ DIY software article published in February issue is a good project for a reader like me. Thanks and keep it up the good work! Gruda Kesav Through email EFY. Thanks for the !

www.EFYmAg.com

Q&A

Things You WanTed To KnoW! Ques. What factors in chargers affect battery charging speed and hoW does mah decide battery charging? syed muzammil

ans. Simple battery chargers supply constant direct current (DC) or pulsed DC power source to the battery being charged. Battery charging and discharging speeds are sometimes denoted as C or C-rate, which is a measure of the rate at which a battery is charged or discharged relative to its capacity. C-rate is not a very reliable tool but may be useful to get a rough idea of the battery’s maximum discharge current. For example, for a battery with 100mAh capacity, discharge rate of 1000mA (that is, 1A) corresponds to C-rate of 10 (per hour), meaning that such current can discharge ten such batteries in one hour. For the same battery, 50mA charge current corresponds to C-rate of 1/2 (per hour), which means this current will increase the charge state of the battery by 50 per cent in one hour. Very high charging rates can be used with only a few battery types. Generally, high charging rates are not recommended for normal batteries as the battery may get damaged due to overheating or catch fire. Some batteries may even explode. Charging protocol depends on the battery size and type. Various factors affect battery charging speed: Charger’s output current. Different chargers come with different output currents. For example, most smartphones require at least 5V, 1A supply, while tablets are charged with 2A or more current. A higher current from the charging device can speed up the battery charging process. Battery temperature. It plays an important role in battery charging. Heat is the worst enemy of batteries. High battery temperature may slow down charging or reduce lifetime of the battery. Most batteries can be charged in the temperatures range of 5°C to 45°C. However, for best results, battery temperature should be in the range of 10°C to 30°C. The ability to recombine oxygen and hydrogen diminishes when battery (nickel-based) temperature goes below 5°C. 10

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

Output quality. This refers to the noise produced by chargers. Good chargers have less noisy outputs than cheap local chargers, which results in faster charging. Rechargeable batteries—such as those in mobile phones—can store electric energy for a specific period of time (in hours). This capacity of the battery is expressed in of milli-ampere hours (mAh). Higher mAh rating means the battery can provide current for a longer time before it completely discharges. Battery capacity decreases as the rate of discharge increases. A battery can be charged with a current of about 10 per cent of the battery capacity. This can be expressed using the following relationship: Charging current= Battery capacity (in mAh)/Charging time (in hours) Let’s take the example of a battery with 1200mAh capacity. Charging current=1200mAh x (10/100)=120mA (in ideal case) Charging time for a 1200mAh battery=1200/120=10 hours

Q2. What is ham radio? What are the advantages of becoming a ham radio operator? a. samiuddhin

a2. Ham radio, also known as amateur radio, is a fun and exciting hobby involving radio transmitters and receivers. There is a large community of ham radio operators across the globe. Ham radio operators come from all walks of life, including professionals, students, politicians, truck drivers, movie stars, missionaries and others. They use radio frequency spectrum for non-commercial communication or messages, wireless experimentation, private recreation, emergency communication and other purposes. This two-way radio service for hobbyists is often very useful in emergency or disaster situations. Ham radio service is provided under Radio Regulations of the International Telecommunication Unit (ITU). National governments regulate technical and operational characteristics of signal transmissions and issue individual stations licences with

an identifying call sign. That is, ham radio operators use a call sign on the air to identify the operator and/or station. Call sign structures are prescribed by the ITU, though some countries have their own signs. The ITU has divided all countries into three regions. India is located in ITU Region 3. The ITU has assigned following call-sign blocks to India: 8TA to 8YZ, VUA to VWZ, and ATA to AWZ. For example, Indian amateur radio call-signs are VU2XY and VU2XYZ. For more information on ham radio, you may go through the following websites: https://idoc-pub.sitiosdesbloqueados.org/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="086d6c617c7b6d6b486d6e71266166">[email protected]) and should include name and address of the sender. www.EFYmAg.com

Tech News Technology UpdaTes

ISRO plans igloos on the moon Hoping to eliminate the need for International Space Station, researchers in India are discovering innovative ways to create livable spaces on the moon—the Earth’s very own natural satellite. The moon is a wasteland with extreme temperature variations and few resources. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) researchers plan to build lunar habitats on the moon with an aesthetic very similar to an igloo. These igloos will be constructed using a blend of lunar soil and assorted smart materials that will then

Lunar settlement (Image credit: Behnaz Farahi/NASA)

be fed into a 3D printer. This is an innovative approach to building structures in space, as it eliminates the need for materials to be boosted out of Earth’s gravitational field with costly rockets. ISRO hopes these long-term livable habitats will one day house scientists and researchers during their inter-space missions. According to Dr Mylswamy Annadurai, director of the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore, the goal of these structures is ultimately to protect researchers during their stay and provide a secure place for conducting research. As an added bonus, by 3D printing the bases, astronauts will no longer have to take on the arduous burden of constructing the buildings themselves while wearing cumbersome space suits. Researchers have successfully demonstrated this project at the space agency’s lunar terrain test facility. They have also mastered the creation of a lunar simulant that is 99.6 per cent similar to actual lunar soil.

Future smart devices to let you feel virtual textures and shapes Imagine your tablet allowing you to virtually feel the texture and shape of the just-released iPhone from the comforts of your home. Sounds enticing and beats a trip to the nearest Apple store, isn’t it? This is the experience that a group of researchers at Northwestern University and ’s Aix Marseille University would like you to have in future. The research team, led by professor Edward Colgate, found that in order for the touchscreens to be able to provide physical cues, it’s important to have a reduction in friction between the fingertips and the glass surface of the device. However, the mechanism behind friction reduction has been unknown so far. To find out how the system works, the scientists performed a study involving seven human participants whose fingers flicked back and forth on a glass plate specially designed 12

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

Friction reduction would play a key role in deg smart devices that provide touch (Image credit: https://pixabay.com/ smart-watchapple-technology-style-821559) www.EFYmAg.com

Tech News to reduce friction. They applied ultrasonic vibrations to the plate—known to reduce friction between the fingertips and plate. The finger motion during the vibration was measured and between the fingertips and the plate imaged. In order to avoid the moisture problem with human fingertips, the researchers also built artificial fingertips constructed of aluminium cylinder representing the bone and a sponge-like material to represent the soft tissue and repeated the experiments. For ultrasonic vibration that moves the glass surface as little as about 3 micrometres—nearly 40 times less than the width of a human hair—the scientists measured nearly 95 per cent reduction in friction force when a fingertip swiped the glass plate. And the reason for the reduction was a cushion of air trapped between the finger and the glass surface that bolstered these bounces preventing them from going out of control. Together these results show the need for a bouncing skin motion and compressed air between the fingertips and the surface that will be successful in reducing friction. This friction reduction would play a key role in deg smart devices that provide touch .

Modified, 3D-printable alloy shows promise for flexible electronics Oregon State University (OSU) researchers believe that their work in 3D printing tall (up to 10mm high and 20mm wide), complex structures with a highly conductive gallium alloy may be the key to the rapid manufacture of flexible computer screens and other stretchable electronic devices. The team put nickel nanoparticles into the liquid metal, galinstan, to thicken it into a paste with a consistency suitable for additive manufacturing. “The runny alloy was impossible to layer into tall structures,” explains Yiit Mengüç, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at OSU. “With the paste-like texture, it can be layered while maintaining its capacity to flow, and to stretch inside of rubber tubes. We demonstrated the potential of our discovery by 3D printing a very stretchy two-layered circuit, where the layers weaved in and out of each other without touching.” Additive manufacturing enables fast fabrication of intricate designs and circuitry. Researchers believe this system could show promise for electrically conductive textiles, bendable displays, wearable sensor suits and biomedical sensors.

Smart kitchen hub to keep an eye on things GE Appliances is launching an over-the-range smart kitchen hub. The 68cm (27-inch) connected display allows s to access calendars and recipes, and has two cameras: one for live video chat and the other facing the cooktop to monitor food and share images on social media. The unit, with its stainless steel or black slate frame, resembles the face of a microwave oven. But taking a cue from Samsung’s Family Hub fridge, the connected display allows 14

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

If the kitchen is the heart of the home, the range is the heart of the kitchen, says GE Appliances, making it the perfect spot for the company’s new OTR smart hub

s to access recipes and appointment calendars, and receive over-the-air software updates. Unlike the refrigerator though, whose cameras are aimed inside, the GE hub’s forward-facing lens provides multiple angles for live video chat, while a cooktop-facing shooter and onboard lighting lets home chefs share their culinary accomplishments on social media. The device, enabled by parent company Haier Group’s U+ Smart Life platform, also allows the kitchen-bound to see who’s ringing the smart doorbell without leaving the room, and to connect and communicate with other smart GE appliances, including washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, ranges and wall ovens.

High-tech, yet comfortable clothing Uncomfortable, rigid, with low air permeability—textile materials capable of conducting electricity can be awkward for day-to-day use. However, researchers at the University of Bayreuth, Donghua University in Shanghai, and Nanjing Forestry University have now developed new nonwoven materials that are electrically conductive as well as flexible and breathable. This paves the way for comfortable hightech clothes that, for example, convert sunlight into warmth, supply wearable electronic devices with electricity, or contain sensors for fitness training. www.EFYmAg.com

Tech News

Prof. Dr Andreas Greiner (left) and Prof. Dr Seema Agarwal (right) with equipment for electrospinning at the University of Bayreuth. With backlighting, one can see the thin fibres from which nonwoven materials are formed (Photo credit: Christian Wißler)

The researchers achieved these materials through a special production process. In contrast to common methods of production, metal wires were not inserted into finished textiles. Rather, the scientists modified classical electro-spinning, which has been used to produce nonwovens for many years: Short electro-spun polymer fibres and small amounts of tiny silver wires with a diameter of only 80 nanometres are mixed in a liquid. Afterwards, these are filtered, dried and briefly heated up. If the composition is right, the resulting nonwoven material exhibits a very high degree of electrical conductivity.

New method to wake up devices As smartphone s know all too well, a sleeping device can still suck the life out of a battery. One solution for extending the battery life of wireless devices under development by researchers at Stanford University is to add a wake-up receiver that can turn on a shut-off device at a moment’s notice.

trical engineering, have developed a wake-up receiver that turns on a device in response to incoming ultrasonic signals—signals outside the range that humans can hear. By working at a significantly smaller wavelength and switching from radio waves to ultrasound, this receiver is much smaller than similar wake-up receivers that respond to radio signals, while operating at extremely low power and with extended range. This wake-up receiver has many potential applications, particularly in deg the next generation of networked devices, including so-called smart devices that can communicate directly with one another without human intervention. “As technology advances, people use it for applications that you could never have thought of. The Internet and the cellphone are two great examples of that,” said Rekhi. “I’m excited to see how people will use wake-up receivers to enable the next generation of the Internet of Things.”

Universal AI chip China is standing out in the artificial intelligence (AI) race with the development of a system-on-chip that can add AI to any gadget. Developed by researchers from Beijing-based Tsinghua University, the Thinker chip is designed to neural networks. Thus it could recognise objects in images and understand human speech. What makes the chip stand out is its ability to dynamically tailor its computing and memory requirements to meet the needs of the software being run. Also remarkable is the fact that a mere eight AA batteries are enough to power it for a year.

Thinker chip designed to handle AI tasks (Photo credit: Shouyi Yin, Tsinghua University Institute Of Microelectronics) (R) Amin Arbabian, assistant professor of electrical engineering, and (L) graduate student Angad Rekhi demonstrate their ultrasonic wake-up receiver and the circuit boards used to test its performance (Image credit: Arbabian Lab)

Angad Rekhi, a graduate student in the Arbabian Lab at Stanford, and Amin Arbabian, assistant professor of elec16

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

Low power requirements and flexible design make Thinker a unique offering in the AI field, as well as a major win for the Chinese tech sector. The chip’s versatile design allows its implementation in everything from smartphones and computers to sensors and general offerings from the Internet of Things segment. www.EFYmAg.com

displays

OLED DispLays And Their Applications

Vikram Puri is researcher in R&D Center of Visualization and Simulation, Duy Tan University, Vietnam

Fig. 1: A flexible OLED display

Dr Anand Nayyar is a professor in Duy Tan University, Vietnam

An overview of the current status of OLEDs along with different OLED types and their applications

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O

ver the last few years, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have found promising applications in flat- displays, replacing cathode ray tubes (CRTs) or LED displays. Solid-state OLEDs make it easier to fabricate flexible displays. The emission of light from materials in the presence of an electric field is called electroluminescence. In 1960s, a single crystal of anthracene helped to observe this phenomenon. Despite the huge quantum efficiency obtained with this organic crystal, no application has been reported with fascinating results. In 1987, Tang and Van Slyke from Kodak achieved efficient and low-voltage OLEDs from a p-n heterostructure device. OLEDs are thin-film organic semiconductor light-emitting devices. These consist of a thin film of organic material sandwiched between two electrodes (anode and cathode) as shown in Fig. 1. Organic electroluminescent materials are contingent upon pi-conjugated molecules

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

and are almost insulators. Light is generated when holes and electrons injected at electrodes recombine. Anode is transparent and made of indium tin oxide. Cathode is reflective and made of metal. When an external potential is applied across electrodes, positive and negative charges (holes from anode and electrons from cathode) are injected. These electrons and holes shift inside the material and recombine to form excitons, emitting photons in the process. Based on their number of layers, OLEDs can be classified as two-layer and three-layer OLEDs. In two-layer OLEDs, electrons are injected from cathode into the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital. Simultaneously, holes are injected from anode into the highest occupied molecular orbital. In three-layer OLEDs, the conductive layer is replaced with electron transport layer and hole transport layer. Compared to LEDs and LCDs, OLEDs use wide-energy-gap semiconductors and www.EFYmAg.com

displays Table I

dIfferenT Types of oled dIsplays oled type

Working

features

applications

ivematrix OLED (PMOLED)

It consists of organic layer and strips of anode and cathode that are perpendicular to each other. This intersection makes up the pixels and light is emitted.

• PMOLED displays are easy and cheap to fabricate • These are small and are used to display characters

MP3 players, mobile phones

Activematrix OLED (AMOLED)

AMOLEDs consist of full layers of cathode, organic material and anode. Thin-film transistors on anode are arranged in a matrix, which forms images with switching of pixels.

• Less power consumption • Faster refresh rate

Computers monitors, large TV screens and electronic sign boards

Transparent OLEDs (TOLEDs)

• Less power consumption TOLEDs consist of transparent components—substrate, cathode and anode. When turned on, these allow light to • Good contrast, especially when exposed to bright sunlight through in bidirectional way. TOLEDs exhibit both PMOLED and AMOLED characteristics.

Top-emitting OLEDs

Top-emitting OLEDs substrate is either opaque or reflective. This type of OLED is well suited with AMOLEDs applications due to integration of non-transparent transistor back pane.

• Higher luminance and colour purity than other OLEDs

Smart cards

Foldable OLEDs (FOLEDs)

Subtrate is made of flexible plastics or metallic foils. These OLEDs are used where the chances of breakage are high.

• Flexible and more durable • Less power consumption

GPS devices, mobile phones and large display devices (television sets)

White OLEDs

White OLEDs are constructed in large sheets. These emit white light and are brighter than fluorescent lights and incandescent bulbs.

• Less power consumption • Cost-effective and lightweight • Brighter than other OLEDs

Car lighting, flat lamps

Headup displays, laptops, mobile phones and smart windows

Table II

MIscellaneous producTs usIng oled Technology product name

specifications

Royole Rowrite notepad

It is a tablet like device manufactured by the Royole. It has an OLED screen with touch sensing.

Sony Aibo 2017

Fig. 2: Bilayer OLED

It is an LTE Powered robot that aims to replicate a real dog. Aibo’s eyes are small, round OLED displays that are used to blink and wink.

Sony HMS-3000 It is a 2D/3D head-mounted MT display for endoscopic imaging. It uses two Sony 1.8cm (0.7-inch) OLED micro displays and s 3D. Apogee Duet 2

It is a second-generation audio interface for Mac with USB2.0 interface and fullcolour OLED display. Fig. 3: OLED architecture

exhibit singlet and triplet exciton radiation phenomenon.

Architecture of an OLED An OLED consists of: 1. Substrate. Regarded as the base 20

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

of an OLED, it is made up of a thin translucent glass or foil material. 2. Anode. It is also called as emitter. Its main function is to emit electrons when a voltage is applied across terminals.

3. Organic layer. The layer above anode is c a l l e d o rg a n i c l a y e r. I t c o n tains conductive polymer made of hydrogen or carbon molecules. 4. Conductive layer. This layer is made of organic plastic molecules and helps to move holes from anode. 5. Emissive layer. This layer is made of organic materials that are different from those used in the conductive layer. It helps to transport electrons from cathode. 6. Cathode. Cathode is the topmost part of OLED displays. It injects www.EFYmAg.com

displays

Fig. 6: Digital camera with OLED screen

Fig. 7: OLED screen on wearable watch Fig. 4: Google Pixel 2 OLED display

Fig. 5: An OLED TV set

electrons when a potential difference is applied across terminals.

Applications

Fig. 8: An OLED desk lamp

OLED displays are mainly used in digital devices such as high-end television systems, computer monitors, pocket-size systems such as Android phones, media players, digital cameras, portable gaming consoles and mini-screens. Such types of applications demand high reliability and readability. OLEDs fit in as these consume less power and provide high-quality display. The current OLED technology provides remarkable colour fidelity, high

efficiency and operation stability. Products available across different categories are listed below. Mobile phones. Since year 2016 many mobile phones have been introduced with OLED screen, including Samsung A8+, Gionee S11S and M7 plus, Oppo A79 and R11 plus, OnePlus 5T, Google Pixel 2 and iPhone X. OLED TV. TV display technology has evolved from LED to OLED and QLED. At present, all companies

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are working on OLED displays to make their products smart. OLED TV models include B&O BeoVision Eclipse, Loewe Bild 4, Bild 5 and Bild 9, Toshiba X97, Skyworth W9 Wallpaper OLED and S9E, Panasonic EZ950 and EZ1000, Sony XBR-A1E Bravia and Signage 65EE5PC. Some of the companies like LG have even categorised their TV displays into flat OLED display, curved OLED display and OLED wallpaper. Digital cameras. Use of OLED displays in digital camera screens or electronic viewfinders is on the rise. The first OLED camera was Kodak LS633 in 2003. Today, there are a host of OLED models available like Canon Power Shot G1 X Mark III, Fujifilm GFX 50S and X-T2, Sony a99 Mark II and HX80, Panasonic DMC-FZ2500 and Lumix DMC-G85, and Nikon DL24-500, DL18-50 and DL24-85. Wearable devices. Wearable devices include multi-purpose tools that use advanced sensing technologies such as voice command recognition, gesture recognition, and face and fingerprint recognition. OLED technology brings advantages of thinner and curved display form factor to wearable devices. Some of the wearable devices with OLED screens are Xiaomi Mi Band 2, MIO Slice, KIGO Watch, STARVR, Fitbit Alta, I Fit Vue, Mykronoz Zefit2 Pulse and Zefit2, Moto 360 Sport, Asus Zenwatch 2, HTC Vive, Sony PlayStation VR, Razer OSVR, Garmin Vivosmart, and Huawei Talk band B1 and Talk band B2. OLED light s. OLED technology enables large-area light s. OLED displays can be used to make flexible, transparent and colour-tunable light s. OLED s emit diffused light, which is very close to natural sunlight. OLED light s from various companies include IKEA Vitsand, SKK Gooseneck, Ascend, Acuity Brands Olessence and Nomi, Workrite Ergonomics Natural OLED, Bernd Unrecht Adjust-S, Pugnale and Nylene Volker OLED Luminaire, and OTI Aerelight OLED. There are light s available from LG, Philips, Osram and Konica Minolta too. www.EFYmAg.com

security

Security In Smart applicationS

S Abhed Mishra is system applications lead, LPRF, at Texas Instruments

This article discusses threats encountered in an IoT ecosystem at different levels of connectivity and how embedded partners are enabling security

Fig. 1: Threats in an ecosystem

ecurity in smart applications has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), microservices and the Internet. This concept has the potential to impact how we live and how we work. The Internet of Things (IoT) is now the focus point for all the technological advancements and research. Every product or entity that measures something or performs a specific function locally has a scope of being connected to cloud. Companies are trying to enhance their efficiency through the IoT by logging maximum data, managing the execution and analysing the data. The IoT enabling this data collection or collation plays a pivotal role. With more and more applications being considered for refinement, the amount of data proportionately gets increased. Now imagine an entire ecosystem scoping certain points to collect data and then pushing this data to cloud, where it can be correlated and analysed to come up with more refined and defined techniques of execution. There are various points at which breach can happen, tampering the integrity of the data and its generator. This calls for a strong security system to keep the data and entire ecosystem secured. Nodes in this ecosystem can have different methods of sharing (wired or wireless) the information. The medium essentially depends on the nature of application and product. In order to build this kind of secu-

rity, one needs to identify vulnerable points in the entire system. In a closed enterprise system, things were different because of limited entry and exit points for data and access, which could be screened and validated more thoroughly. For example, you can have several firewalls for allowing an IP access to a shared folder in your local network system. There can be a MAC filtering at the router or network switch for first-level access validation into your network, followed by a name and a that is encrypted using a private key authenticated by a unique certificate. But in today’s usage scenario, where networks are becoming more ad-hoc in nature and the data exchanged on these is increasingly private and sensitive (whether it is someone’s personal messages or any enterprise’s key IP details), the threats are far more serious. This is precisely the reason why security or cybersecurity has become a primary concern globally for big technology partners. The ownership of this fight against cyber-attacks or hacking attempts lies with embedded solution partners who design the hardware and embedded application, as well as application software companies that use these products to have their designed services extended to end s. The scope of this article is limited to discussing the threats encountered in an IoT ecosystem at different levels of connectivity and how embedded partners are enabling secured solutions.

Physical When identifying vulnerable points, the first and foremost concern is a physical hack. The physical hack can be at the boot itself (when the device is powering up), by scoping the communication lines of configuration or image readout from the external memory. To prevent this, processors use secure boot option to have the key or configuration parameters read, decrypted and validated using the security key present in secure boot IC externally. Many processors now also encryption of the external flash or memory using certain certificates stored in the internal flash and programmed in the factory. 24

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www.EFYmAg.com

security The other kind of physical hack can come from detection of the external scoping of communication lines (serial interface like SPI/I2C or UART). Some processors come with inbuilt mechanisms to detect such tampering. This helps to execute internal logging of any such attempt and erase content of the external memory to protect the data and IP. All the processors and controllers with internal flash come with JTAG interface fuse-blow option to disable readout of the internal flash, protecting the IP and keys inside. This debug security has become an essential feature among all the semiconductor solutions. Processors and controllers, or wireless SOCs, have serial bootloaders, which are secured through factory-flashed key in addition to the state of certain GPIOs at power-up. Hardware watchdog is another method to prevent tampering or physical breach of the system.

Network

centre managing the encrypted keys that are negotiated between the coordinator and router in real time using the unique certificates issued by companies like Certicom, makes the link and network very secure. Not to forget the recent release of BT SIG’s BT5 standard, which opens altogether different application avenues with precise focus on long-range and secured networks. Encoded PHY uses high data rate (up to 2Mbps) with variable spreading factor (1/2/4/8) to attain long range. The standard also enables long-range encrypted beacons for data exchange without entering a connection. Many companies and developers intend to use the new BT5 physical layer for applications like tracking, location and access control. Enhanced beacon feature of BT5 allows very quick packet exchange (including the ’s location and presence) to eliminate Man in the Middle attack. Being plug-and-play in nature, Wi-Fi has become a prime focus of hackers nowadays. Every website having digital certificates authentication filters any remote IP attack or local machine malware attack by declining access to sites with unsigned

certificates or the ones using lapsed/ old certificates. Especially nodes/sensors based on IP networks like 6LowPAN (using IPv6) or Wi-Fi have an edge over other proprietary ad-hoc network nodes. The uniqueness of IP address in each node, which is factory programmed and acts as a seed in obtaining the short address in the network, eliminates the replay attack or node shadowing. Sensors using these communication standards commonly attract security attacks. But the effort of all developers and standard defining committees is commendable in making the wireless and wired networks secure enough to sustain.

Backhaul Cloud or data centres require the highest level of security as these collate all kinds of data—whether it is your personal photos, banking s, IP or key to e-lock, or your company’s financial transactions, POS terminal’s certificates, etc. Hence it won’t be wrong to say that if there is a force of hackers which works day and night to intrude into these data centres, a bigger force works 24×7 to secure it too. Secured frameworks with digital security certificates, authenticated IP access and security-certified hosted domains exchanging data through documents signed with digital signatures are just some of the methodologies to have access authenticated and filtered at every single level every time.

While physical attacks are local in nature and require full access to hardware, things become challenging when the connectivity and access are wireless—as the advantage of medium mandates the immunity to attacks too. Fig. 3 shows some of the most common standard wireless communication protocols. Hardware has its own and most important role to secured networking, which then gets coupled by the architecture and design of protocols used for net- Fig. 2: Immunity to physical hack working. The best part of these alliances to manage communication protocol standards is that these continuously work on improving the protocols to address not only the end application’s growing requirements but also supplementing the security part. With protocols like Zigbee, security for specific end applications like smart meters and smart grid takes a very important place and hence is addressed in a very particular manner. The trust Fig. 3: Some of the most common standard wireless communication protocols 26

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In short Security is one of the most crucial design requirements that needs to be considered before design development is initiated. Security in smart applications is a huge concern today. Along with opportunities, there are challenges as more and more devices the IoT. It is important and essential to be vigilant on a personal level and ensure professionally that neither loopholes are left in an IoTbased system, nor shortcuts are strived for. www.EFYmAg.com

test & measurement

Thermal ImagIng For Industrial Testing Deepshikha shukla This article explains the role of thermal imaging cameras in industrial applications, followed by their comparison with IR thermometers, working principle and buying tips

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or manufacturing and other industries using heavy electrical and mechanical machines, thermal imaging is a one-time investment in continuous machinery testing for production level and efficiency. Thermal imagers are one of the most valuable diagnostic tools for industrial applications. These identify anomalies that are invisible to the human eye, thus allowing necessary corrective measures to avoid costly system failures.

Fig. 1: High-power transmission line inspection by thermal imaging cameras (Courtesy: www.test4less.co.uk)

Fig. 2: Modern thermal imaging cameras are small, lightweight and easy to use (Courtesy: www.50northspatial.org)

Fig. 3: Inspection of a substation revealing overheated components (Courtesy: www.bsria.co.uk)

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Thermal imaging cameras record the intensity of infrared wave radiation (part of EM waves) and convert it into a visible image. This helps s to find out when and where maintenance is required. Electrical and mechanical installations tend to heat up before failure. By identifying those hot spots with a thermal imaging camera, preventive actions can be taken. This can avoid costly production breakdowns or, even worse, fire. Thermal imaging cameras can scan temperature distribution throughout the entire surface of machinery and electrical equipment without requiring . Thermal imagers find application in almost every industry including defence, manufacturing, electronics, electrical, mobile, automotive and petrochemical. Applications for electrical systems can be divided into two categories: high-voltage installations and low-voltage installations. Thermal imaging cameras can be used for inspection of high-voltage substations, switchgear, transformers and outdoor circuit breakers from a safe distance without entering the risk zone. In low-voltage installations, thermal imaging cameras help to locate hot spots of loose connections, load imbalances, corrosion, increase in impedance to current, etc. The temperature of mechanical components rises as these wear out and become less efficient. This increases overall temperature of equipment, causing these to fail. Thermal imaging cameras can monitor many mechanical systems including motors, couplings, gearboxes, bearings, pumps, compressors, belts, blowers and conveyor systems. There are many other areas where thermal imaging cameras play an important role. These include flare detection, tanklevel detection, hot spots detection in welding robots, aeronautical materials inspection, moulds inspection, and inspection in paper mills, pipe work in refractories and petrochemical installations. www.EFYmAg.com

test & measurement IR thermometers are reliable and very useful for single-spot temperature readings. However, when scanning large areas or components, these may miss critical components

that are nearing failure and need repair. Thermal imaging cameras, on the other hand, scan entire components, giving you instant diagnostic insights with the full extent

image that can be viewed on the LCD screen. Each pixel of the image is a measure of the temperature at different points. This is achieved by complex algorithms performed in the thermal imaging camera. If the resolution of an image by a camera is 60x60 pixels, it is equivalent to the use of 3600 IR thermometers at the same time.

Choosing the best

Fig. 4: Inspection of a substation revealing overheated connections (Courtesy: www.bsria.co.uk)

Fig. 5: Suspected roller and overheated bearing (Courtesy: www.bsria.co.uk)

of problems. These are easier to use and find problems faster with higher accuracy.

How thermal imaging cameras work

Fig. 6: (L) IR thermometer and (R) thermal imaging camera (Courtesy: www.bsria.co.uk)

The hotter the object, the more its infrared radiation. Infrared energy coming from the object is focused by the optics onto an infrared detector. The detector sends this information to a sensor for image processing using complex calculations. The sensor translates the data into an

Fig. 7: Difference in emissivity causes difference in intensity of radiation (Courtesy: www.bsria.co.uk)

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Thermal imaging cameras are a long-term investment. The safety of entire installations and operating people relies on them. So you need to choose a camera that serves your purpose over a long period of time. The things you should look for are hardware, software, accessories (lens and display), after-sales services and training. As regards their use, you may face a few challenges. Honeywell experts explain these as follows: Thermal properties of materials depend on their compositions. In contrast to insulators, metals heat up quickly. Differences in thermal conductivity can lead to large temperature differences under certain circumstances. So always check the thermal conductivity of the material and its surroundings before inspection. Emissivity is another important factor that is highly dependent on material properties. It is the efficiency with which an object emits infrared radiation. You should set the right emissivity. Else, temperature measurements will be incorrect. Some materials have mirror-like reflection properties, especially if these are polished or non-oxidised metals. These reflections can lead to misinterpretation of the thermal image. Therefore choose the right angle to avoid such reflections. Ambient temperatures can mislead the actual temperature readings. High ambient temperature may increase temperature of the entire object, thus masking the actual hot spots. Low ambient temperature may cool down the hot spots. The right combination for the best detection is high resolution, low thermal sensitivity, high accuracy and LED lights in your camera. www.EFYmAg.com

wireless

Latest Wireless standards And Their applications nidhi arora With newer technologies like 5G and IoT, standardisation becomes necessary for the devices to communicate with each other

Fig. 1: Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model (Image source: http://media. techtarget.com)

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he cool quotient of communication devices is increasing immensely as we advance towards newer wireless means for connectivity. The need to update benchmarks for these systems also arises alongside. The latest wireless communication technology standards have to adhere to the requirements and ensure better security and quality than the previously adopted standards. According to Bipin Pradeep Kumar, co-founder and director, Gaia Smart Cities, “Standardisation is a complex subject that needs to be looked at different levels. At the communication level, apart from Wi-Fi, unlicenced long-range technologies like Sigfox and LoRaWAN are being adopted widely. Then there are several short-range technologies as well, like Zigbee and z-wave. All these technologies should be able to coexist. On the protocol side, there are so many options. Prominent among them is MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport), which is an ISO20922 standard.”

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Device-to-device communication standard Direct device-to-device (D2D) communications technology is being considered to provide low-power, high-data-rate and lowlatency services to 5G network s. Rajan Mathews, director general, Cellular Operators Associations of India (COAI), says, “The latest iteration of mobile broadband technology, 5G, will bring in new unique network and service capabilities.” “It will be a thousand times faster than 4G and will provide Internet access in areas that have not yet been tapped because of various roadblocks,” he adds. 5G is hopping to a new level where innumerable devices can be connected to each other using D2D standard and where security breach is extremely difficult. This D2D technology would be beneficial even when the network is out of range. A wide array of sensor networks can be used for home security systems, energy grids and entertainment. Basically, 5G is 4G technology integrated with worldwide wireless web. Currently, in of bandwidth, it offers more than 1Gbps as against 4G’s 200Mbps. “We are very excited about the possibilities this opens up in of network architecture, particularly in view of 5G’s aim to connect new industries and empower unique service scenarios,” said Woojune Kim, vice president and head of next-generation strategy, Samsung Electronics, in a press release. D2D standard was introduced by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)—one of the most powerful standardisation bodies in the world. 3GPP brings together seven different telecom development associations, namely, Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB), Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), China Communications Standards Association (CCSA), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI), Telecommunications Technology www.EFYmAg.com

wireless WIRED LINk MASSIVE MIMO LINkS WIRELESS LINkS RESOURCE LINk CONTROL PLANE PLANE COMMUNICATION LINk CR-Cognitive Radio VLC-Visible Light Communication LOS-Line of Sight MIMO-Multiple Input Multiple Output E-Control Plane Entity UPE- Plane Entity NI-Network Intelligence NFV-Network Function Virtualisation NW-Network XaaS-Network Functionalities as a Service D2D-Device to Device Communication

Fig. 2: The Internet of Things (Image source: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org)

Association of Korea (TTA) and Telecommunication Technology Committee, Japan (TTC).

IEEE 802 The largest executed and adopted standard for wireless communication, IEEE 802 mainly works on Layers 1 and 2 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model. Almost the complete set of standards within IEEE 802 consists of the present and future packet networks. IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee consists of about a thousand participants. IEEE 802 standard addresses different ranges, from personal-area networks to local-area networks, metropolitan area networks and regional-area networks. These, however, are not restricted by size so far. IEEE 802 standard finds numerous 5G and other applications:

1. IEEE 802 projects and decides architecture, internetworking, security, network management, time-sensitive networking and protocol layers above Layer 2. 2. IEEE develops standards for Ethernet environments like data centres, wide-area networks and automobiles. 3. IEEE 802.11ad and P802.15.7 extremely high level of throughput under 5G. IEEE 802.11ah is best suited for spectrum under 1GHz, with focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) . 4. The IEEE 802.21 working group is creating the P802.21.1 standard to provide media-independent services such as home energy management system, software-defined radio access networks, radio resource management and device-to-device communication.

The bottom line

With ever-increasing number of communication channels 802.15.4c Sub-GHz WiFi a n d d ev i c e s, IEEE 802.11 Wireless PHY for China 802.11a/b/g/n LAN (WLAN) standardisation 802.11ah (sub-GHz) 802.15.4e-2012 becomes necesMAC Enhancement IEEE 802.15 802.15.1 Bluetooth sary to bring evePersonal Area Network (PAN) rything together. 802.15.4f 802.15.4 Low Rate PHY for RFID WPAN Else, we will live IEEE 802.16 Wireless (2003-2006-2011) Broadband Access in a world where 802.15.4g-2012 amendment Smart 802.15.6 Body Area everything Utility Networks Networking IEEE 802.22 Wireless communicates Regional Area Networks within itself but 15.4m Study Group 802.15.7 Visible Light TV White Space Communications fails to deliver amendment for everything else! Fig. 3: IEEE Standards (Image source: https://image.slidesharecdn.com) www.EFYmAg.com

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design

How To Improve Power Conversion effiCienCy Of inverters Deepshikha shukla

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This article compares different inverter types and provides tips for inverter designers to ensure high-quality power at higher conversion efficiencies

Block diagram of the conversion process in an inverter (Source: http:// engineering.electricalequipment.org)

nverters convert DC electricity from sources like solar s, batteries and fuel cells into AC electricity. Their power-handling capacities like input voltage, output voltage and frequency depend on their design. Inverters require a stable DC power source that can supply enough current for the required power demand. Apart from the design, the input voltage of an inverter depends on its intended application as follows: 1. 12V DC for smaller consumer and commercial inverters 2. 24V, 36V and 48V DC for home energy systems 3. 200-400V DC for photovoltaic solar s 4. 300-450V DC for electric vehicle battery packs in vehicle-to-grid systems 5. Hundreds of thousands of volts for high power transmission systems A wide range of applications including portable consumer devices, hybrid/electric vehicles, industrial control systems and solar power systems are driving the demand for inverters as these ensure a high-efficiency and high-reliability power source. Inverters help to save energy over conventional on/off control. Their faster switching enables more precise temperature control and reduced audible noise (in fan motors). Use of semiconductors in inverters helps to boost performance, minimise power losses and optimise thermal management.

Inverter/Charger AC Main

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Applications of inverters

+ AC In AC Out

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AC Outlet (AC Load)

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– Battery

Inverters find diverse applications due to their D C - t o - AC c o n version function. Uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems utilise inverters with

a set of batteries to supply backup power when the mains power is not available. Inverter technology is advancing further, and many types of inverters are being manufactured and designed to serve different needs. Other than for emergency backup power in homes, inverters are also used in some aircraft systems (to convert a portion of the aircraft DC power into AC), electric motor speed control, refrigeration compressors, power grid-tied solar power systems, induction heating, electric shock devices, etc.

Types of inverters Different types of inverters are available for different applications: multilevel inverters, voltage source inverters, sinewave inverters, modified sinewave inverters and squarewave inverters. Voltage source inverters provide the required range of output voltage or current and frequencies. As these ranges are either positive or negative, voltage source inverters are known as two-level inverters. Multilevel inverters synthesise a near sinusoidal voltage from several levels of DC voltages. Minimum harmonic distortion is their main advantage. Most of the pure sinewave inverters have good accuracy and very high load capacity, but these are complex in design and expensive. They power devices with less power loss and less heat generation. Sinewave inverters can be used for providing backup power to battery chargers, electric drills, electric tubelights, digital clock radios and other sensitive electronics. The third and fifth harmonics in the output of a squarewave inverter may burn power and severely impact the efficiency of devices. These inverters are used in low-cost AC motor drives, induction heating units and electronic ballasts for fluorescent lamps. Modified sinewave inverters can be used for most household electrical devices. However, these have a large amount of power efficiency loss due to significant harmonic www.EFYmAg.com

design frequencies. Also, as these inverters rely on the input power waveform for a clock timer, they will not work properly. Talking of advantages, modified sinewaves have very low harmonic distortion compared to the other waveforms. These inverters run inductive loads like microwave ovens and motors correctly; reduce audible and electrical noise in audio amplifiers, TVs, fans, fluorescent lights, fax machines and game consoles; and prevent crashes in computers, and glitches and noise in monitors.

Techniques to improve power conversion Pulse-width modulation technique is used to power applications like electric tubelights, kitchen appliances, power tools, TV sets, radios, computers and many more electronics gadgets. This technique provides much cleaner AC power than modified sinewave and squarewave inverters. However, there are two major requirements: keeping inverter boxes watertight and using components that can withstand high temperatures. It is necessary to develop a system that can detect failure of any micro inverter and isolate it immediately. Some of the techniques to improve power conversion efficiency of inverters are listed below: 1. To achieve zero-voltage switching, use an auxiliary inductor and two auxiliary switches in a singlephase inverter with neutral-point clamped topology and fixed-frequency PWM control. This can help to improve inverter efficiency. 2. To reduce total harmonic distortion as well as to control output voltage, use sinusoidal pulse-width modulation technique. 3. To improve the voltage, current or capacity level of power-conversion systems, connect multiple standardised modules in series or parallel at the input/output. 4. It is possible to protect inverters from inrush and over current automatically by adding clamp circuits to the resonant capacitance in parallel. High powerconversion efficiency can be achieved by regenerating the clamp current to the input voltage source. 5. To achieve near-zero common-mode voltage generation for a three-phase inverter, neutral-point diode-clamping is used. This solves desynchronisation issue of the balanced inverter. 6. A current-source-type four-switch inverter based on switch multiplexing technique can be used to reduce the input low-frequency current ripple as well as DC capacitor requirement. It is proved to be inputripple-free and more efficient, and its size is much smaller because the DC capacitor size can be reduced significantly.

Way forward We are moving towards solar power but it is still a developing technology with less than one per cent of consumers having access to it. So inverters are here to stay for at least next 50 years, strengthening the case for their improvement to make these more efficient. www.EFYmAg.com

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Hyper-Converged InfrastruCture Get Ready For The Cloud Era

H Janani Gopalakrishnan Vikram is a technically-qualified freelance writer, editor and handson mom based in Chennai

Hyper-convergence is the current and potentially future course of a journey that began years ago with server and storage virtualisation to optimise the traditional siloed approach to information technology

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yper-convergence is basically an emerging technology in which the server, storage and networking equipment are all combined into one software-driven appliance. Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) can be managed comfortably through an easy-to-use software interface. Typically, a hyper-converged platform uses standard off-the-shelf servers and storage, and a virtualisation hypervisor that helps abstract and manage these resources conveniently. A simple operational structure makes this infrastructure flexible, easy to scale and manage. HCI is gaining traction not just in enterprises but also with others who can benefit from heavy computing without complex management, such as professional racers! Training and racing is usually data-intensive. Racers need information like speed, acceleration and torque in real time to understand how they are performing and how they need to proceed. One mistake could cost not just a victory but a life too! Racing speed depends on the speed and reliability of the data processing and analytics that takes place behind the scenes. Last year, Formula One racing team Red Bull Racing replaced its legacy systems with HPE Simplivity hyper-converged infrastructure, achieving 4.5 times faster performance, increased agility and lower TCO through the move.

A few quick facts about HCI At the outset, hyper-convergence might sound similar to all the virtualisation stuff you have read about in the past. So, let us

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

(Image source: www.daly.com)

tech focus

first set out some facts about HCI before rounding up the latest updates: 1. Nutanix, a leader in HCI, defines that the technology streamlines deployment, management and scaling of data centre resources by combining x86-based server and storage resources with intelligent software in a turnkey software-defined solution. 2. HCI combines compute, storage and network together as a single appliance. It can be scaled out or expanded using additional nodes. That is, instead of scaling up the traditional way by adding more drives, memory or Us to the base system, you scale out by adding more nodes. Groups of such nodes are known as clusters. 3. Each node runs a hypervisor like Nutanix Acropolis, VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V or Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), and the HCI control features run as a separate virtual machine on every node, forming a fully distributed fabric that can scale resources with addition of new nodes. 4. Since most modern HCI are entirely software-defined, there is no dependency on proprietary hardware. 5. HCI does not need a separate team as it can be managed by any IT professional. This makes it ideal for small and medium enterprises. 6. HCI is different from the traditional server and shared-storage architectures. It also differs from the previous generation of converged infrastructure. 7. HCI is not the same as cloud computing! www.EFYmAg.com

tech focus 8. Scale-out and shared-core are two of the keywords you are bound to encounter when reading about HCI. Basically, most HCI implementations involve multiple servers or nodes in a cluster, with the storage resources distributed across the nodes. This provides resilience against any component or node failure. Plus, by placing storage at the nodes, the data is closer to compute than a traditional storage area network. So, you can actually get the most out of faster storage technologies like nonvolatile memory express (NVMe) or non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM). The scale-out architecture also enables a company to add nodes as and when required rather than investing in everything upfront. Just add a node and connect it to the network, and you are ready to go. The resources are automatically rebalanced and ready to use. A lot of hyper-converged implementations also have a shared core, that is, the storage and virtual machines compete for the same processors and memory. This reduces wastage and optimises resource usage. However, some experts feel that in some special cases, s might have to buy more equipment to run the same workloads. 9. It’s true that HCI is great for small enterprises as it can be used without fuss and hassles, but it can be used by really large data centres too. Leading companies have on record hyper-convergence case studies where more than a thousand HCI nodes are installed in a single data centre. 10. In a recent survey, research leader Forrester found that the most common workloads being run on hyperconverged systems are: database, such as Oracle or SQL server (cited by 50 per cent); file and print services (40 per cent); collaboration, such as Exchange or SharePoint (38 per cent); virtual desktop (34 per cent); commercial packaged software such as SAP and Oracle (33 per cent); analytics (25 per cent); and Web-facing workloads such as LAMP stack or web servers (17 per cent). 11. During a recent talk, Dell EMC European chief technology officer for converged and hyper-converged infrastructure, Nigel Moulton, said that “mission-critical applications live best in converged infrastructures.” He justified his view by saying that many mission-critical applications such as ERP are architected to rely on the underlying hardware (in the storage area network) for encryption, replication and high availability. In HCI on the other hand, many of these things come from the software stack. Instead of looking at the move to HCI as all-or-none, he suggested that organisations take a practical look at it. If an application can work on HCI, companies must make the move as and Some leading players when their exist Nutanix i n g h a rd wa re  HPE’s Simplivity reaches end of  Cisco Systems life. The rest can  NetApp remain on tradi Dell EMC and VMware tional hardware  Pivot3 o r c o n ve rg e d www.EFYmAg.com

ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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tech focus

The Dell EMC VxRail hyper-converged infrastructure appliance with Intel Xeon processors (Courtesy: Dell EMC)

systems. He also added that by the end of this year, feature-sets of traditional hardware, converged and hyper-converged will align and it will be difficult to even see the differences.

How HCI differs from traditional virtualisation, converged infrastructure and cloud computing In the beginning there was just IT infrastructure, no virtualisation. Enterprises spent a lot on buying the best IT components for each function, and spent even more on people to implement and manage these silos of technology. Then, there came virtualisation, which greatly optimised the way resources were shared and used without wastage by multiple departments or functions. In the last decade, we have seen converged infrastructure (CI) emerging as a popular option. In CI, server, storage and networking hardware are delivered as a single rack, sold as a single product, pretested and validated by the vendor. The system may include software to easily manage hardware components and virtual machines (VMs), or third-party hypervisors like VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V or KVM. As far as the customer is concerned, CI is convenient because there is just a single point of and a single bill. Chris Evans, a UK-based consultant 40

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

in virtualisation and cloud technologies, describes it beautifully and humorously in one of his blogs, where he says that in CI there is just one throat to choke! While this single product stack approach is ideal for most enterprises, there are some who want to do it themselves. This could be because they need heavy customisation or have some healthy legacy infrastructure that they do not want to discard. Given the required time and resources, one can also build a CI out of reference architectures. Here, the vendor gives you the reference architecture, which is something like an instruction manual that tells which supplier platforms can work together well and in what ways. So, the vendor tests, validates and certifies the interoperability of products and platforms, giving you more than one option to choose from. Thereafter you can procure the resources and put them together to work as a CI. Enter HCI. What makes the latest technology ‘hyper-converged’ is that it brings together a variety of technologies without being vendoragnostic. Here, multiple off-the-shelf data centre components are brought together below a hypervisor. Along with the hardware, HCI also packages the server and storage virtualisation features. Term ‘hyper’ also stems from the fact that the hypervisor is more tightly integrated into a hyperconverged infrastructure than a

converged one. In a hyper-converged infrastructure, all key data centre functions run as software on the hypervisor. The physical form of an HCI appliance is the server or node that includes a processor, memory and storage. Each node has individual storage resources, which improves resilience of the system. A hypervisor or a virtual machine running on the node delivers storage services seamlessly, hiding all complexity from the . Much of the traffic between internal VMs also flows over software-based networking in the hypervisor. HCI systems usually come with features like data de-duplication, compression, data protection, snapshots, wide-area network optimisation, backup and disaster recovery options. Deploying an HCI appliance is a simple plug-and-play procedure. You just add a node and start using it. There is no complex configuration involved. Scaling is also easy because you can add nodes on the go, as and when required. This makes it a good option for SMEs. Broadly speaking, CI can be considered a hardware-focused approach, while HCI is largely or entirely software-defined. CI works better in some scenarios, while HCI works for others. Some enterprises might have a mix of traditional, converged and hyper-converged infrastructure. The common thumb rule today is that when organisations don’t have a big IT management team and want to invest only in a phased manner, HCI is an ideal option. They can add nodes gradually depending on their needs and manage the infrastructure with practically no knowledge of server, storage or network management. However, they lose the option of choosing specific storage or server products and have to settle for what their vendor offers. For organisations with more critical applications that require greater control over configuration, a converged system is better. CI offers more choice and control, but s might have to purchase the software themselves, which means more time, money and effort. www.EFYmAg.com

tech focus

Hyper-convergence combines computing, storage, networking and virtualisation into one easy-tohandle software-defined system (Courtesy: Nutanix)

Finally, even though HCI is a software-defined architecture that brings the convenience of cloud to your enterprise infrastructure, it is not a term that can be used synonymously with cloud computing. The two are quite different. Cloud is a service—it provides infrastructure, platform and software as a service to those who need it. It could be private, public or hybrid, and herein starts the confusion, as many people mistakenly think that hyper-convergence and private cloud are one and the same. Hyper-convergence is merely a technology that enables easy deployment of infrastructureas-a-service in your private cloud by addressing many operational issues and improving cost-efficiency. It is an enabler, which prepares your organisation for the cloud era, and not the cloud itself!

The bring-your-ownhardware kind According to a recent Gartner report, software-only “bring-your-ownhardware” hyper-converged systems have become significant and are increasingly competing with hyperconverged hardware appliances. Gartner research director Jon MacArthur explained in a web report that “Most of the core technology is 42

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starting to shift to software. If you buy a vSAN ReadyNode from Lenovo or Cisco, or HPE, or your pick of server platform, they are all pretty much the same. Customers are evaluating vSAN and ReadyNode, not so much the hardware. Dell EMC VxRAIL is a popular deployment model for vSAN, but so is putting VMware on your own choice of hyper-converged hardware.” Special needs like those of the military and the sophistication level of s are some of the factors that influence the decision in favour of implementing HCI as a software stack rather than a pre-packaged solution.

Major players Gartner predicts that the market for hyper-converged integrated systems (HCIS) will reach nearly $5 billion (24 per cent of the overall market for integrated systems) by 2019 as the technology becomes mainstream. Nutanix, a pioneer in this space, offers a range of hardware systems with different numbers of nodes, capacities of memory and storage, different processors, etc. These can run VMware vSphere or Nutanix’s own hypervisor system called Acropolis. The company excels at ing large clusters of HCI

deployments—scaling up to 100 node clusters—which are easy to use and manage. Nutanix tempts customers with the idea of a full-stack infrastructure and platform services through “One OS, One Click.” Prism is a comprehensive management solution, while Acropolis is a turnkey platform that combines server, storage, virtualisation and networking resources. Calm is for application automation and lifecycle management in Nutanix and public clouds, while Xpress is designed for smaller IT organisations. Xi Cloud Services help extend your data centre to an integrated public cloud environment. Nutanix also has a community edition that lets you evaluate the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform at no cost! Companies like Cisco and HPE are strengthening their foothold by acquiring start-ups in the space. Cisco bought Springpath, whose technology powers Hyperflex—Cisco’s fully-integrated hyper-convergence infrastructure system. HPE acquired Simplivity, one of the major competitors of Nutanix. HPE Simplivity products come with a strong, customdesigned platform called OmniStack, which includes a host of features like multi-site data management, global de-duplication, backup, snapshots, clones, multi-site data replication and disaster recovery and WAN optimisation. Pivot3 also finds a place amongst the most popular HCI players. Last year, the company launched Acuity, which it claims to be the first priorityaware, performance-architected HCI solution with policy-based management. Acuity’s advanced quality of service (QoS) makes it possible to simply and predictably run multiple, mixed applications on a single platform. Dell EMC offers VxRail and XC series of HCI solutions based on its PowerEdge servers powered by Intel processors. Last year, it released hyper-converged appliances that include Intel’s 14-nanometre Xeon SP processors, along with VMware’s vSAN and EMC’s ScaleIO. Dell EMC offers Nvidia GPU accelerators in both VxRail and XC solutions. www.EFYmAg.com

tech focus Apart from the regular HCI infrastructure, some start-ups are also coming up with innovative solutions, which some trend-watchers describe as HCI 2.0! NetApp, for example, has an option for those who want to keep their servers and storage separate—either to share the storage with non-HCI systems or to off-load certain tasks to dedicated servers. NetApp HCI uses SolidFire technology to deliver clusters with dedicated storage and compute nodes. Companies like Pivot3, Atlantis Computing and Maxta also offer pure software HCI solutions.

nutanix Dell eMc

www.EFYmAg.com

vMware

hpe cisco huawei pivot3

scale computing

AI and machine learning may create demand

stratoscale Microsoft

Datacore aBiliTy To execuTe

It is interesting to note that Dell EMC is pushing NVIDIA GPU accelerators in its HCI solutions not just for video processing but also for running machine learning algorithms. Chad Dunn, who leads product management and marketing for Dell EMC’s HCI portfolio, explains in a media interview, “All the HCI solutions have a hypervisor and generally in HPC you’re going for a bare-metal performance and you want as close to real-time operations as you possibly can. Where that could start to change is in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). You typically think of the Internet-of-Things intelligent edge use cases. There’s so much data being generated by the IOT that the data itself is not valuable. The insight that the data provides you is exceptionally valuable, so it makes a lot of sense not to bring that data all the way back to the core. You want to put the data analytics and decision-making of that data as close to the devices as you can, and then take the valuable insight and leave the particularly worthless data out where it is. What becomes interesting is that the form factors that HCI can get to are relatively small. Where the machine learning piece comes in is what we expect to see and what we’re starting to see is people looking to leverage the graphical processor units in these platforms.” Incidentally, in November 2017, Nutanix’s president Sudheesh Nair

leaDers

challengers

hTBase

niche players coMpleTeness of vision

visionaries as of January 2018

The growth in software-based hyper-convergence has re-positioned many players in the Gartner Magic Quadrant this year (Source: Gartner)

also spoke about how AI and machine learning are becoming extremely important for customers, at the company’s .Next conference. He explained: “If we have a customer who is prototyping an autonomous car, that car generates almost 16TB of data per day, per city. An oil rig generates around 100TB per rig in the middle of an ocean with no connectivity. There is no way you can bring this data to the cloud—you have to take the cloud to the data, to where the data is being created. But moving information from the datacentre to the cloud creates manageability issues, and AI can be a better option. That’s where machine learning and artificial intelligence have a big part to play.” Companies have to work out ways to store all that information such that you can easily access it and run analytical models to get predictive behaviour. This surge in demand for AI and machine learning provides a real opportunity for HCI.

Five good reasons why CIOs are moving to HCI and why IT guys should stay on top of the tech Although hyper-convergence as a concept has been around for more than five years, it is obviously gaining a lot of momentum now with everybody talking about it and the spate of acquisitions. And it is not without real benefits as it: 1. Is ‘really’ quick and easy 2. Does not require a big team to manage it 3. Reduces cost of ownership 4. Makes it easy to launch and scale on-the-go 5. Improves reliability and flexibility of the data centre As we mentioned earlier, HCI is not the panacea for all your infrastructure management problems. But if you need new infrastructure or have to replace an existing one, do ask yourself whether an HCI system can do the job. If it can, go for it because it can ease your and cost headaches quite a bit! ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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IntervIew Display Technologies

“Vr And Ar SoftwAre Will Extend Beyond The Realm Of GAminG To different ActiVitieS” Eric WEi

sEnior salEs dirEctor, Viewsonic

The TV industry is largely impacted by the latest and display technologies. Nidhi Arora, executive editor at EFY, discusses the road ahead for TV displays and visual technology trends with Eric Wei, senior sales director, ViewSonic

Q. What are the features of new visual solutions in the market?

A. Platforms that keep your communication secured with 265bit encryption, identity protection and unauthorised usage lock with Intel’s vPro technology have been introduced to the various display products. Professional LCD monitors come with 99 per cent sRGB. These are also four-side frameless, meaning these can be used as a video wall without sacrificing colour reproduction. Auto-pivot allows for an easy ‘daisy chain.’

Q. How do these features benefit end s?

A. These features along with the Intel Unite platform allow IT s to manage up to thousands of conference rooms (including conference room devices, configurations and software settings, as well as power on/off switch) remotely and securely. This makes them extremely important for organisations and individuals dealing with critical content and data.

Q. What’s next for visual products with these features?

A. We are looking at better experience on the software front. ViewSonic’s ViewBoard annotation software and ViewCast software are consistently being tested and updated to assure better experience 44

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and better collaborative solutions for business partners.

Q. What applications are driving a change in underlying display technologies?

A. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications have become instrumental in the evolution of the visual technology industry. AR and VR software have garnered immense popularity and are revolutionising the gaming and entertainment industry. According to experts and research firms such as Digi-Capital, AR and VR software market will reach up to $18.9 billion by 2025.

Q. What new display technologies have been introduced in the market in the last one year?

A. Numerous new technologies have been launched in the market. For instance, VR devices come in different shapes and sizes these days. Moreover, there have been new products such as reality handsets. Also 4K screens and high dynamic range (HDR) technology have been developed for consumers. We are entering a new era of wireless connectivity and 4K resolution. These innovations will provide s an immersive and grand viewing experience.

Q. are the related standards and frameworks in place?

A. In the last one year, the Telecom Regularity Authority of

India (TRAI) has introduced recommendations and frameworks for various aspects ranging from quality of service and mobile applications to consumer protection and business transactions. These frameworks are positive for the industry as a whole, as there is a detailed guideline on how applications should be developed equally for competitors to avoid unscrupulous activities.

Q. What inventions will make it to the mainstream in the near future?

A. Compared to 2017, there will be an increase in investment on artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. AI is considered as the future of the industry. Also the day is not far off when self-driving cars will become available for mainstream use. Moreover, VR and AR software will extend beyond the realm of gaming to different activities. For instance, these software can be used to manipulate 3D objects.

Q. What’s the road ahead for visual technologies and applications?

A. The visual technology industry and application model development are on a strong upward trajectory. There are constantly new innovations, applications and technologies being developed and introduced into the market. The technology industry as a whole with its various categories is one of the fastest growing sectors in the global economy. www.EFYmAg.com

IntervIew Machine Learning

Renjith Pt

vice PResident, LivewiRe india

Q. what are the machine learning opportunities across industries?

“Technology Is Creating new Issues That Would Require humans To address Them” With new technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning conquering the world, professionals need to acquire requisite skills and knowledge to advance further in their career. Nidhi Arora, executive editor, EFY magazine, in conversation with Renjith Pt, vice president, Livewire India, discusses areas of opportunities and key to success in this field

A. According to marketsandmarkets, jobs market in machine learning is expected to grow annually at 44.1 per cent from US$ 1.03 billion in 2016 to US$ 8.81 billion by 2022. Organisations worldwide are adopting machine learning solutions to enhance customer experience and gain a competitive edge in their business. Technological advancement and huge data generation/storage are some of the market drivers. In BFSI sector, machine learning is used for fraud and risk management, investment prediction, customer segmentation, digital assistance, compliance management and credit underwriting. In retail sector, it is used for inventory planning, segmentation and targeting, customisation management, recommendation engines and cross-channel marketing. Healthcare and life sciences sector uses machine learning for disease identification and diagnosis, image analytics, drug discovery/manufacturing, personalised treatment, clinical trial research and epidemic outbreak prediction. Manufacturing sector applications include predictive maintenance, demand forecasting, revenue estimation, supply chain management and root cause analysis. Telecommunication sector uses machine learning for customer analytics, network optimisation, network security, digital 46

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assistance and marketing campaign analytics. Energy and utilities sector uses it for renewable energy management, power/energy usage analytics, smart grid management, seismic data processing and carbon emission. Government and defence sector applications include threat intelligence, autonomous defense system, sustainability and operational analytics.

Q. does that mean loss of jobs for humans?

A. A McKinsey report states, “As ever more of the analogue world gets digitised, our ability to learn from data by developing and testing algorithms will only become more important for what is now seen as traditional businesses.” Technologies such as machine learning, big data, artificial intelligence and automation are increasingly shaping the future of IT jobs. Repetitive and tedious jobs will get automated, but machines will always need humans. Technology is creating new issues that would require humans to address them. Also, human imagination or ingenuity can never be undermined.

Q. what are the challenges coming along?

A. Automation is stealing midlevel jobs. Moreover, machine learning and artificial intelligence are data hungry. In order to get more and more

data, we are now venturing into the privacy of individuals. Individuals should be made aware of rules and regulations on data collection and sharing. They should become more sensible on what they share or post on social media.

Q. what are the requisite skills to succeed in this space?

A. A few of the important skills for machine learning professionals include computer science fundamentals and programming skills, programming languages like R and Python, Minitab and Tableau tools, probability and statistics, data modeling and evaluation, software engineering’s best practices and storytelling capabilities. The demand for data scientists is growing and it is projected to exceed supply by more than 50 per cent this year.

Q. what’s the eligibility to enroll for machine learning courses?

A. We recommend this training for developers who want to become data scientists, analytics team managers, business analysts, information architects and analytics professionals who want to explore machine learning or artificial intelligence. Graduates looking to build a career as well as experienced professionals who want to gain more insights in their field of work can also opt for these courses. www.EFYmAg.com

sensors

selecting the right sensors For Industrial Applications SANI THEO There is a very wide variety of industrial sensors available in the market, and selecting the right sensor for an application can be challenging

I

ndustrial sensors cover almost all the sensor categories including proximity, position, velocity, level, temperature, force and pressure. These find application in extremely diverse areas including industrial process control, energy, aviation, safety and security, automobiles, healthcare and building automation to name a few. Sometimes sensors form the core elements of products and solutions. These are an important part of the products that define quality, efficiency and safety of the intended application. From bare semiconductor chips and transmitters to complex systems, sensor solutions and technologies exist across the entire value chain. This article covers characteristics of sensors used in industrial process control and monitoring, including wireless sensors, followed by introduction to some leading manufacturers of industrial sensors.

Industrial process control

Fig. 1: Industrial process control and automation (Image courtesy: https://www. halvorsen.blog)

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Industrial process control involves monitoring and control of machinery, systems and processes across a large number of industries including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, energy, water, oil and gas, plastic, paper, and food and beverages. The modern industrial processing and manufacturing systems are highly automated, ensuring that raw materials and energy are

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

consumed in an efficient manner. There are many parameters to be monitored and controlled including pressure, temperature, level, flow rate, humidity, dust, corrosives, explosives, liquids and gases. Sensors are the first element in a process control and measurement system. Precise control and accurate displacement/position measurement in extremely small scales such as nanometres and picometres has become increasingly significant during the last few years. The main performance criteria for industrial sensors are sensitivity, resolution, compactness, long-term stability, thermal drift and power efficiency.

Some of the sensors used in industrial process control Proximity sensors. These can be mechanical, optical, inductive and capacitive. They are widely used in industrial automation like conveyor lines for counting and jam detection, machine tools for safety interlock and sequencing. They are also used in detecting the presence or absence of objects. Mechanical sensors are basically mechanical switches for on/off operations. Optical sensors could be light sources like light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and phototransistors. These sensors are essentially non- type with no moving parts. They are small, fast-switching, and insensitive to vibration and shock. However, they require alignment, can be blinded by ambient light conditions, and may require clean, dust- and water-free environment. Inductive and capacitive proximity sensors generally have a short range but are very robust and reliable. Inductive sensors use magnetic properties to detect the presence of metal objects. Capacitive sensors are normally used to detect the capacitance caused by non-metallic objects. Po s i t i o n s e n s o rs . Th ese include encoders and linear variable differential transformers www.EFYmAg.com

sensors (LVDTs). Encoders are digital sensors commonly used to provide position for actuators. These consist of a glass or plastic disk that rotates between a light source (LED) and a pair of photo-detectors. Plastic disk is encoded with alternate light and dark sectors, so pulses are produced as the disk rotates. LVDTs consist of a magnetic core that moves in a cylinder. These are commonly used for position in servomechanisms, automated measurement, and many other industrial and scientific applications. Force sensors. Force and pressure sensors usually act as transducers; these generate signals as a function of the pressure being imposed on them. Force-sensing resistors are two-pin force sensors whose resistance changes when a force, pressure or mechanical stress is applied on the sensor surface. FN3050 sensor from TE Connectivity is a rugged force load cell, highly suited for process industry and test bench applications. Vibration/acceleration sensors. Ceramic piezoelectric sensors or accelerometers are most commonly used to detect vibration. Triaxial accelerometers are used in mobile systems, cars, turbines and aircrafts. These provide vibration information and position data. Inertial measurement units measure linear and angular motion usually with gyroscopes and accelerometers. These are widely used in aircraft and missile navigation and guidance. Level sensors. These sensors are very common in industrial process control. Selection of a suitable level sensor

Fig. 2: Capacitive and inductive proximity sensors (Image courtesy: https://cdn.automationdirect.com)

depends on its size and geometry. Industrial process control includes hydrostatic and optical level sensors, ranging from simple limit-value detection to precision continuous level sensing. Hydrostatic sensors can be installed as submersible sensors for positioning in the fluid or with a screw thread for attachment to the exterior tank wall.

Industrial wireless sensors Most traditional sensors usually require a wire or cable to connect with the external instruments. The cable can be copper wire, twisted pair or fibre optic. However, transmission line cables cause signal and power losses. Also, wired network installation is cumbersome and takes much time. Wireless sensors offer flexibility of installation, resulting in improved process monitoring and control and also reduced installation and maintenance costs.

Sensor Node Gateway Sensor Node

Fig. 3: Typical multi-hop wireless sensor network architecture (Courtesy: https://commons.wikimedia.org)

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In industrial applications, wireless data transmission has been around for a long time. Monitoring temperatures, flow rates, levels and pressure parameters through wireless technology is becoming a popular trend in industrial applications. With the advent of Internet of Things (IoT), wireless sensor networks are deployed in some critical industrial applications. Wireless sensors used in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) effectively address the needs of various industrial applications. Many companies have been focusing on integrating miniature and lowpower wireless radio with sensors. Wireless modules with pressure, flow, and temperature monitoring and control options are being developed to reduce installation and cable costs in large commercial and industrial buildings. Recent advances in electronics have enabled the roll-out of miniature, lowpower and multi-functional sensors that are suitable for short-distance industrial applications. Smart sensors connected through wireless link or wireless sensor network provide unprecedented opportunities for various industrial monitoring and control applications including the environment. Wireless sensing of acceleration, vibration and velocity provides a more effective way of preventing equipment failures. Wireless sensors are not only wearable but also provide advantages of real-time, continuous, long-distance sensing and ease of operation. There are many technologies used for wireless data transmission, including mobile phones, Zigbee, GPS, Wi-Fi, www.EFYmAg.com

sensors Leading manufacturers of industrial sensors               

Analog Devices Broadcom Digi International Honeywell International Infineon Technologies Libelium NXP Semiconductors Omron Corporation Robert Bosch GmbH ROHM Semiconductor Sensirion STMicroelectronics TE Connectivity Texas Instruments Vishay Intertechnology

satellite, IR, RF and Bluetooth. All industries are different and so are their exact requirements and applications. Hence various standards for sensor connectivity are defined by industrial alliances like HART and Zigbee to meet the requirements of various industrial applications. ZigBee operates at 2.4GHz with data rate of 250kbps. Depending on power output and environmental characteristics, outdoor line-of-sight range of these sensors may be up to 1500 metres. IoT application standards like IEEE 802.15.4 and Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) enable a wide range of devices and applications.

Industrial applications of wireless sensors Monitoring machinery and equipment. Wireless sensor networks are deployed to monitor machinery condition-based maintenance. Wireless sensors enable easy access to inaccessible locations, rotating machinery, hazardous or restricted areas, and mobile equipment, which otherwise are difficult to access using wired technology. Data logging. Wireless sensors are also employed to collect data for environmental monitoring—for example, monitoring the temperature inside a fridge or monitoring the water level in the overflow tank of a nuclear power plant. Water management. Wireless sensors are suitable for monitoring the quality of underground or surface water and preventing wastage 52

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of water. Especially for remote areas having limited infrastructure, wireless sensor networks are ideal as these are fast to deploy and least intrusive for the local environment. Chemical process monitoring. The concentration distribution of materials during chemical processing can be monitored and controlled using sensors networks. Individual sensor nodes can communicate with other nodes to provide an overall picture of the process. The information may include temperature, pressure, impedance, pH and dissolved gases.

Leading industrial sensor manufacturers There are many manufacturers in the industrial sensors space, including a few from India. Some major semiconductor manufacturers like Texas Instruments, NXP Semiconductors, Analog Devices, STMicroelectronics and Vishay Intertechnology also manufacture sensors for various industrial applications. Companies like Honeywell International Inc. develop wireless monitoring and control products focused on industrial applications. ROHM Semiconductor offers a broad portfolio of industrial sensors including proximity sensors, light sensors, Hall sensors, capacitive and MEMS sensors. TE Connectivity offers different types of sensors for a wide range of industries including automotive, industrial, medical, appliance and defence. Plug & Sense devices from Libelium are unique sensors that connect with the most common industrial communication protocols like RS-232, RS-485, Modbus, current loop and CAN bus. These are useful for a wide variety of applications including industrial sensing and automation, military, automobile and remote factory management.

To sum up Different types of sensors are available for different industrial application requirements. Selecting the right sensor is important for various industrial process control applications. Smart wireless sensors are becoming popular to address various issues in modern industrial applications. www.EFYmAg.com

artificial intelligence

When Fashion Meets ai

A Deepak Halan is associate professor at School of Management Sciences, Apeejay Stya University

AI programs are becoming an efficient assistant for human stylists. These can handle more attributes, process large amounts of data faster and learn s’ styles more accurately

mong all the domains of human creativity, human fashion behaviour modelling is one of the biggest challenges given its random nature due to erratic irrationality, individual uniqueness, craziness in selection and adoption, cultural dependence, and individual and cultural distinctiveness. According to a survey, 93 per cent senior business executives feel that selection and promotions of employees are affected by their fashion and clothing choices. To monitor and track the fashion sense, significant time and effort is required. Moreover, employing fashion experts and stylists is cost-intensive, and competent experts and professionals are difficult to get. Artificial intelligence (AI) artist program AARON, created in 1937 by artist Harold Cohen, was the first profound connection between AI and the human creativity. There are many benefits of using AI programs for fashion deg. AI fashion program can process large amounts of data faster, learn s’ style more accurately, memorise and process s’ , store descriptions of s’ items, and help s become more organised and efficient.

Evolution of AI AI is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, more so intelligent computer programs. In layman’s language, if a computer performs a function that is deemed to be intelligent

Fig. 1: ELIZA—an interactive program based on a very basic level of AI (Source: www.scaruffi.com)

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for humans, we can say the computer has intelligence—an amalgamation of knowledge and reasoning power. AI has come a long way from the demo of the first running AI program, the Logic Theorist (LT) in 1956, to creation of ELIZA (an interactive program capable of participating in a discussion in English on any subject) in 1965, to the 1990s’ key advances in machine learning, intelligent tutoring, case-based reasoning, multi-agent planning, scheduling, uncertain reasoning, data mining, natural language understanding and translation, vision, virtual reality, games, etc. 1997 saw The Deep Blue—an IBM supercomputer that beat the world chess champion Garry Kasparov. By the late 1990s, web crawlers and other AI-based information extraction programs became indispensable in widespread use of the worldwide web.

Convergence of AI and fashion Applying AI in the field of human creativity has been one of the greatest challenges for software engineers. Fashion changes with culture and time. For instance, Asian fashion style is quite different from European. A complete styling task requires a large number of attributes, including event, clothes, shoes, accessories, makeup and hairstyling. A stylist is also very personal. AI stylist programs consider three major components: 1. Visual garment representation—a garment database that stores garment items by categories 2. Computational styling, which process-

Fig. 2: How fashion evolved through decades (Source: https:// fashionthroughthedecades.wordpress.com) www.EFYmAg.com

artificial intelligence product or innovative design. In 2000, fashion design assistant system used genetic algorithms. Later, decision trees with genetic algorithms came into use to model individuals’ clothing. In 2008, stylists started implementing category learning and Fig. 3: AI programs have the ability to execute a fashion styling task with a simplified model (Source: http://techstory.in) neural networks in an intelligent clothing shopping assistant system and computer vision techniques with vector Cyan machine classifiers to discover the semantic correlations between attributes. In the past, RGB HSI studies have been conducted Fig. 4: Relationship between RGB and HSI colour models (Source: http://slideplayer.com) to understand, detect and prees styling rules and assigns popular- dict fashion trends and fashion cycles ity to individual items and completed from the perspectives of both the looks theory and the application. These 3. Fashion trend tracking—a learn- studies generally focused on predicting ing component that reads s’ feed- trends in colour fashion of clothing. back and adjusts weight in the style Later, an expert system was developed engine based on the popularity rank to assist stylists with information on of a completed look and opinions new colour trends. AI models were also on styling looks used to predict fashion colour trends Computer vision techniques can with the help of an expert system. extract attribute information from AI programs are becoming an an image and AI techniques such as efficient assistant for human stylists. semantic mapping enable the program Earlier, stylists used colour harmony to deal with tricky attributes such as evaluation between garment pieces fabric. AI programs have the ability to to consider the four basic attributes— execute a fashion styling task with a colour, outline, print and fabric. An AIsimplified model. based program is capable of handling more attributes such as event, clothes, AI-based stylist program shoes, accessories, makeup and hairConceptually, fashion can be defined styling. Complete fashion design usuas a two-dimensional concept, an ally includes details such as a top with object and a process. The fashion a bottom or dress, shoes, accessories, object can be thought of as a specific bags, hairstyles and makeup. www.EFYmAg.com

ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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artificial intelligence Initialisation Fashion Personality Quiz

Quiz Report

Style Engine

Database

Interface - Mix-Matching

Clothing Table

Formal

Pink

Stying Rules

Shoes Table

Pair Table Pairview Table

Interface - Score Event Dress Colour Colour

Colour

Learning Components Input

Output

Middle Layer

Like

Dislike

Wear

Colour Shoes

Interface - Score

Colour Size

Design

Dress

Shoes

White Long

Silver

Round

Open toe

Final Score

High

0.76

Reset

Fig. 5: Schematic overview of Smart Fashion architecture

There are four popular applications of an AI-based stylist program: 1. Internet-based human stylist consultant services for putting communication between clients and stylists on the Internet. It helps to improve the flexibility and accessibility of styling work. 2. Virtual fitting systems to fill one of the major gaps between e-commerce and retail stores. It enables customers to go through the product line, watch over product reviews and gain more confidence about the item being purchased. 3. Recommender system implementations in e-commerce to recommend new items based on s’ browsing histories. 4. Online fashion communities to provide a platform for people to share, gain and communicate fashion inspiration and shopping information online.

How AI helps in fashion design Garment representation. As mentioned earlier, a set of basic features such as colour, shape, print and fabric is used to describe garments. Computer vision techniques automatically recognise the first three features. Colour is represented in RGB (red, green and blue) format, which is later 56

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converted into HSI (hue, saturation and intense) model. Shape is easily extracted using computer vision techniques and print of a garment is considered in its loudness. Loudness is defined by the frequency of colour changes in the garment and also by changes in placement on the garment. Fabric is the most complex aspect as even humans have trouble in recognising a fabric just by looking at it. One

possible solution for tricky attributes like fabric is stylistic semantic correlations between clothing attributes. Systems learn correlations between attributes and then intelligently fill in missing values. For example, for a formal dress there is a high possibility of it being made of silk, whereas casual wear such as t-shirts are more likely to be made of cotton. vector machine classifiers are applied on all attributes to determine how useful these attributes would be in prediction. Then, the system makes predictions based on the inference of different attributes and mutual dependency relations. Colour harmony evaluation. Matsuda Colour Coordination (MCC) developed by Yutaka Matsuda is used to evaluate the harmony rate between colours. A total of 80 colour schemes (8 hue types and 10 tone types) are used. A colour scheme is considered harmonious if there are many samples in the system. Each individual has a unique style preference. An intelligent style system can instantaneously adapt from a standard colour scheme to suit a ’s personal preference. Linguistic labels (neutral, a little, slightly, fairly, very and extremely) are added on the colour scheme and presented as fuzzy sets, respectively. The system adapts to a ’s preference during its inter-

questionnaire 1. What is your height? A. Short; B. Medium; C. Tall 2. How will you describe your body figure? A. Balanced; B. Sinewy; C. Hourglass; D. Broad; E. Stocky 3. Describe your face feature? A. Even; B. Angular; C. Rounded; D. Youthful; E. Sharp 4. What is your hair style? A. Moderate to short in length, well groomed, controlled & smooth; B. Long with curves and curls; C. Short with feather cut around the face; D. Soft and bouncy, and never straight; E. “Gibson Girl” style; F. Sleek, geometric or asymmetrical cuts; G. Tousled, loose, windblown; H. Short cropped boyish cuts. 5. How will you describe your shoulder and hips? A. Evenly proportioned; B. Curvy with rounded shoulder; C. Inverted triangle 6. What your eyes look like? A. Evenly shaped; B. Angular and pointed; C. Large; D. Soft and round 7. What your lips look like? A. Moderate, evenly shaped; B. Thin, angular and delicate; C. Full, luscious and thick 8. What your feet look like? A. Small; B. Average; C. Large (Source: www.ai.uga.edu) www.EFYmAg.com

artificial intelligence D e a r Wat s o n

IBM’s cognitive computing system Watson has, thus far, been marketed primarily to the retail side of the fashion industry, however, the technology could prove to be an invaluable tool on the business (supply) end. Using the timeless Little Black Dress as an example, here are some common conundrums along the fashion vertical that Watson could provide the quick and easy answers to—by Nivara Xaykao DeSIGN What are the trending womenswear silhouettes for Spring 2016?

maRketING What are the most popular websites for middle-income career women between the ages of 35 and 50?

SouRcING I need to make a dress similar to Little Black Dress Co. Style # 123 out of a cotton-blend woven for under $10 per garment. What are my options?

pRoDuct DevelopmeNt What black cotton wovens do we currently have approved in bulk at our factories?

meRcHaNDISING Among what sizes do sleeveless, above-the-knee dresses sell best?

pRoDuctIoN I need a last-minute order completed for delivery by mid-March. What factories are available during Chinese New Year to work on the order?

Fig. 6: The possible applications of Watson across the apparel product lifecycle (Source: www.nivaraxaykao.com)

action with the . Shape, prints and fabric styling. The next requirement in fashion styling is to identify attributes like shape, print and fabric. Style principles of these attributes change with time and heavily depend on individual preferences. For example, for wearing prints, the style trend used to be only one pattern piece at a time. Later, wearing two patterns with similar shades became trendy. Other features which affect the styling are occasion and cultural background. The stylist needs to look at a number of features from different categories and classify items based on his experience and fashion sense. Updated style rules are a great data source to keep track of changes in fashion trends. Fashion trend tracking. The stylist program needs to be highly sensitive to fashion trends. Fashion trend forecasting is vital for success in the fashion industry and always poses a bigger challenge than prediction of other fields. The highest variable is the human value. In the fashion process, new trends start becoming popular slowly before trendsetter adoption and then reach a peak of fast social majority acceptance. These decline dramatically thereafter owing to reasons such as newer trends arrival and boredom www.EFYmAg.com

setting in the trend after peak. There are two types of fashion forecasting. One concentrates on current fashion objects and makes predictions on fashion colour trends. The other is based on a longer vision, for example, black and white are never out of date regardless of season or occasion. Attempts to predict fashion colour trends with AI techniques have seen great success. AI is capable of modelling individual boredom as memory factor of an object and memory parameter as the number of times it is used. Greater frequency of usage means more memories, and thus higher boredom and less utility. AI methods include: 1. Fuzzy logic. It utilises uncertainty and approximate reasoning and works closer to human brain, providing outputs as straightforward like or dislike. 2. Artificial neural networks (ANNs). This is a learning method, resembling animal nervous systems, mapping input to a target output by adjusting weights. It is suitable for modelling complex styling tasks with multiple features. 3. Decision trees. This method is used in human decision-making models and includes tree-structured graphs that represent attributes as ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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artificial intelligence internal nodes and outcomes as branches. 4. Knowledge-based systems. These are programs that represent knowledge and solve complex problems by reasoning out how knowledge artefacts are related or not related. These are used to show relationships between features in fashion styling. 5. Genetic algorithms. These are search techniques that look for approximate or exact solutions to optimisation problems. They are guided by a fitness function.

The learning component trains artificial neural network to learn s’ personal preferences and adjusts the final score. The system allows s to customise a fashion look and then evaluate it. This feature provides a shopping guide to inform s’ purchase plans. Smart Fashion provides a numeric

evaluation for preferences. The system is initialised by the taking a fashion personality questionnaire. The output of the questionnaire is stored in the system. So s can restart the program by clicking Reset button, avoiding the need to retake the quiz. The questionnaire is described in the box below. For each style, the system has a set of default database and styling rules. Using style rules, the Smart Engine pairs up dress and shoes, assigns initial scores to each pair and creates a ‘pairs’ table in the database. Two main outSmart Fashion: A simple AI puts of the system are: A recommender fashion styling system system to recommend s’ fashion Generally, fashion styling involves looks based on interactions and the following seven steps: Choosing an evaluation system to evaluate s’ a theme, selecting a primary colour, customised looks with a score that mixing and matching clothing pieces, assists s’ shopping plans. selecting accessories, model or client System learning predicts a pair’s fitting, hair styling and makeup. AI score based on correlations between computer modelling program usually scores and item attributes. The dataFig. 7: Fabric flowers dress embedded with includes the following functions: Rep- LEDs under the Marchesa label that changes set is prepared and pre-processed. For resentation of the garments computa- colours (Source: https://qz.com) example, all the dresses and shoes tionally (focuses on fashion object), are collected in typical standard style detection, tracking and forecasting from various sources such as websites fashion trends (about fashion process) and designers’ collections. All clothand modelling human stylist behaving items and shoe items are assigned iour (a mixture of both). a number of attributes, which are Smart Fashion is a machine learncompiled in tables. Standard rules ing application that recommends fashare created for the database. Every ion looks by learning preferences rule interprets a binary (positive or through Multilayer Perceptron model. Fig. 8: Moda Rapido t-shirts from Myntra designed negative) relationship between pairs of The system scores s’ customised using AI (Source: http://blog.myntra.com) attributes. Boredom, one of the major style looks based on fashion factors in fashion model, is trends and s’ personal created in fashion styling style history. for wearing the same looks Smart Fashion system several times. So, a count comprises five major comof ‘wear’ is added in the ponents for fashion styling program as a parameter of task: Initialisation program, boredom. database, smart engine, The output of the Smart learning components and Engine is a pair table for each interface. It uses artievent, which stores the pair ficial neural networks to data and score, and pair’s learn preferences. It views, which stores ‘like’ creates a database containand ‘dislike’ data. The data ing, say, 32 dresses and for ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ is cre20 shoes for four different ated based on the learning events, encodes a standard components and evaluation style rules engine, generbased on the selected attribates more than 500 looks utes. The learning task is and ranks them by a final completed using a number of score in descending order. Machine Learning algorithms The score indicates how and data preprocessing to fashionable each look is Fig. 9: Visual recognition, behaviour, NLP and brand data as inputs to predict the final score based based on s’ . analyse and forecast (Source: https://vue.ai) on correlation with item 58

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

www.EFYmAg.com

artificial intelligence attributes. Learning rate, a mathematical measure, is a decreasing function of time as the process is very inefficient in the beginning when we are learning to do something new. The efficiency gets better with more practice.

How AI is helping to increase the business AI has two main applications in fashion: One is styling and creating clothes and the other is helping fashion business houses predict current and future trends to create clothes that are in high demand and enable a highly personalised shopping experience for customers. AI can help retailers to leverage massive amounts of unstructured data to improve and personalise the online shopping experience. At present, fashion brands and retailers are dependent on a limited amount of data to forecast the products to order and then the products to discount or replenish towards the end of the season. A wrong prediction results in revenue loss due to mark-downs, wastage and discounted selling of items. AI can help a retailer to align product stocks with demand, and also display products for maximum sales generation by analysing large amounts of data—for example, browsing and shopping history of customers. Stylumia is an AI-powered tool that can interpret a huge amount of data collected from videos, e-commerce sites, social media, etc. Its s have reported 200-400 per cent jump in revenue growth and about 25 per cent reduction in inventory. Fashion leaders such as Vero Moda, W, Jack & Jones and Pepe Jeans regularly use Stylumia to predict consumers’ likes and dislikes. IBM’s Watson is partnering with The North Face to offer guided shopping online. The AI system asks shoppers questions on factors such as gender, time of year and product details to deliver customised recommendations. Marchesa, a high-end French label, has created a cognitive dress using AI tools. The dress changes colour according to the live comments made by clients on their social media s. www.EFYmAg.com

The fashion industry is increasingly embracing the latest developments in AI to increase e-commerce productivity, improve retail experience, and provide promotional campaigns and clothes themselves. India is also waking up to AI-enabled fashion. Designers Falguni and Shane Peacock have unveiled a collection in collaboration with IBM-Watson. Myntra has launched a popular line of machinedesigned t-shirts, called Moda Rapido, which have been developed using in-house AI platform RAPID. Vue.ai by Mad Street Den, an AI company in Bengaluru, provides personalised style recommendation to shoppers.

Looking ahead Image recognition apps such as Snap Fashion and ASAP54 are available to build search engines. Imagine a taking a picture of someone wearing a dress that he has liked, or something as abstract as a painting, and the image-recognition search engine searching the huge database of products that can be bought to make available the desired or similar items. This online shopping experience could be overwhelming for customers. As online shopping continues to grow, it is imperative for companies to utilise tools that can help them attract and retain customers. AI can serve as a communication platform to update customers on collection releases and product availability. It can provide interactive storytelling and unique digital experiences with the help of creative algorithms. Also, it can strengthen e-commerce by tracking s’ preferences and giving them a customised shopping experience. An AI machine will crunch fashion data related to millennial, current colour and silhouette trends, trend forecasts for the next season, what movie stars are wearing and such similar information, and suggest in a matter of seconds several options to choose from. In comparison, a fashion deg team working manually will take many days to come up with such suggestions. In fact, some experts feel that artificial intelligence systems have now reached a stage where they could well replace the human fashion stylists! ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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defence electronics Part 1 of 6

OPTRONIC SENSORS Fundamentals And Types

O Dr Anil Kumar Maini was formerly a scientist and director of Laser Science and Technology Centre (DRDO)

ptronic sensors constitute the heart of a variety of systems ranging from simple gadgets like light meters to the most complex of military systems like precision-guided munitions, laser rangefinders, target trackers, remote sensing systems, navigation sensors, sniper and explosive detectors, fibre-optic and laser-based communication systems, night vision devices, Lidar and spectroscopic sensors. While individual photosensors such as PIN photodiodes and avalanche photodiodes find applications in military optronic systems including laser rangefinders and target designators, Lidar sensors and navigation sensors, sensor arrays such as complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS), charge-coupled device and avalanche photodiodes are at the core of imaging sensor systems including Ladar sensors, night vision devices, laser and imaging infrared seekers.

Types of photosensors Nakul Maini is a postgraduate in optical engineering from University of Bristol (UK), currently working as analyst with Ericsson

Understanding optronic sensors and related sensor systems is essential to understanding design and operation of a large number of defence systems. Hence this six-part article series starts with an overview of these sensors

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Photosensors are classified into two major categories: Photoelectric and thermal. Photoelectric sensors are further of two types: Devices that depend on the external photo effect for their operation and devices that make use of some kind of internal photo effect. Photo-emissive sensors are based on external photo effect. Common photo-emissive sensors include non-imaging sensors such as vacuum photo cells and photomultiplier tubes, and imaging sensors such as image intensifier tubes. Photoconductors and junction-type photosensors use internal photo effect. Photoconductors are bulk semiconductor devices whose resistance decreases with increase in incident light intensity. These are also known by the name of photoresistors, light-dependent resistors and photocells. Junction-type photosensors are further amplifying and non-amplifying type. Amplifying-type junction photosensors include phototransistors, photothyristors and photo-field-effect transistors (FETs). Non-amplifying types of junction photosensors include photodiodes, solar cells, CMOS

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

and charge-coupled devices. CMOS and charge-coupled device are imaging sensors. The category of thermal sensors includes thermocouple (or thermopile) type sensors, bolometric sensors and pyroelectric sensors. Thermal sensors absorb incident radiation and operate on the resulting temperature rise, whereas photoelectric sensors are based on quantum effect. Compared to photoelectric sensors, thermal sensors are sluggish in their response to the incident radiation. However, these offer a much wider operational wavelength band than photoelectric sensors.

Characteristic parameters Major parameters used to characterise the performance of photosensors include responsivity, noise equivalent power (NEP), sensitivity (usually measured as detectivity or D*), quantum efficiency, response time and noise. Responsivity is the ratio of electrical output to radiant light input determined in the linear region of response. It is measured in amperes per watt (A/W) or V/W if the photosensor produces a voltage output rather than a current output. Responsivity is a function of the incident radiation’s wavelength and band-gap energy. Spectral response is a related parameter. It is a curve that shows variation of responsivity as a function of wavelength. Most photoelectric sensors have a narrow spectral response, whereas most thermal sensors have a wide spectral response. As an example, spectral responses of silicon, germanium, indium-galliumarsenide photodiodes are in the range of 200-1100nm, 500-1900nm and 700-1700nm, respectively, in comparison to thermistors’ 0.5-10μm. Silicon photodiodes exhibit a response from ultraviolet through visible and into near infrared part of the spectrum. With silicon having band-gap energy of 1.12eV at room temperature, its spectral response peaks in the near infrared region between 800nm and 950nm. Peak responsivity figures for silicon PIN photodiodes are in www.EFYmAg.com

defence electronics

response (A/w)

the range of 0.4-0.6A/W in 0.7 HigH speed/Low noise comparison to avalanche pho0.6 bLue todiodes’ 40-80A/W. Thermal norm 0.5 sensors have poorer responsivuv ity than photoelectric sensors. 0.4 For instance, the responsivity 0.3 of pyroelectric sensors is in the 0.2 range of 0.5-5μA/W. The shape of the spectral 0.1 response curve of silicon photo0.0 sensors, particularly in blue and 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 wavelength (nm) UV parts of the spectrum, can be altered by choosing an appropri- Fig. 1: Spectral response of silicon photodiode ate manufacturing process. Fig. 1 shows typical spectral response titanium dioxide can reduce surface curves of normal, blue-enhanced and recombination. UV-enhanced, and low-noise silicon Anti-reflection coatings may photodiodes. Low-noise spectral be used to enhance responsivity to response corresponds to photodiabout 25 per cent at the required odes’ photovoltaic mode of operation wavelength, but this leads to reduced wherein no external bias is applied efficiency at other wavelengths that to the photodiode. Since dark current these reflect. Package window also is a function of bias voltage magniplays an important role in shaping tude, photovoltaic mode of operation the spectral response. The standard eliminates dark current as a source of glass window absorbs wavelengths noise. In this case, NEP will be lower, shorter than 300nm. For UV detecthereby allowing greater sensitivity at tion, a fused silica or UV transmitting lower wavelengths but at the cost of glass window is used. Various filter slightly lower responsivity at higher windows are also available to tailor wavelengths. the spectral response for an applicaSilicon becomes transparent to tion. Optical filters can also be added radiations of longer than 1100nm to change the spectral response. A wavelength. On the contrary, wavecommon example is the use of a lengths in ultraviolet region are specific filter to modify the normal absorbed in the first 100nm thickness silicon response to approximate the of silicon. Even the most careful surspectral response of the human eye. face preparation leaves some surface Due to improved charge-coldamage, which reduces collection lection efficiency in photodiodes, efficiency for this wavelength. High responsivity increases slightly with absorption coefficient of silicon in applied reverse bias. It also exhibits blue- and UV-enhanced spectral dependence on temperature variaregion leads to carrier generation tions due to variation in band-gap within heavily doped p+ (or n+) energy. The band-gap energy varies surface of P-N and PIN phoinversely with the change in temtodiodes. This causes rapid decrease perature. in quantum efficiency of this region The term ‘responsivity’ should due to shorter lifetime and surface not be confused with ‘sensitivity’. recombination. Sensitivity is the lowest detectable Spectral response of photodiodes light level that is typically determined in blue- and UV-enhanced region is by detection noise. It is also sigenhanced by minimising near-surface nificantly influenced by the required recombination. This is achieved by detection bandwidth. Also, a photousing techniques such as thin and sensor should ideally be operated in a highly graded p+ (or n+ or metal spectral region where its responsivity Schottky) s, lateral collection is not far below the highest possible to minimise percentage of heavilyvalue, because this leads to the lowest doped surface area and ivation possible detection noise and thus to layer. A ivation layer such as a high signal-to-noise ratio and high silicon nitride, silicon dioxide or sensitivity. www.EFYmAg.com

Noise equivalent power (NEP) is the input power to a sensor that generates an output signal current equal to the total internal noise current of the device, which implies signalto-noise ratio of 1 (one). In other words, it is the minimum detectable radiation level of the sensor. Noise power and thus noise-equivalent power 1100 depend on the assumed detection bandwidth. If one were to use the full detection bandwidth of a device to compute NEP, the NEP would not allow a fair comparison of sensors with different bandwidths. Therefore it is a common practice to assume a bandwidth of 1Hz, which is usually far below the detection bandwidth. NEP is usually specified in units of W/√Hz rather than watts. Detectivity of a sensor is the reciprocal of its NEP. Sensors with higher value of detectivity are more sensitive. Detectivity, like NEP, depends upon noise bandwidth and sensor area. To eliminate these factors, a normalised figure of detectivity, referred to as D* (Dee-star), is used. It is defined as the detectivity normalised to an area of 1cm2 and noise bandwidth of 1Hz. Quantum efficiency is the ratio of the number of photoelectrons released to the number of incident light photons absorbed. It is the percentage of input radiation power converted into photo current. It is expressed as rise/fall time parameter in photoelectric sensors and as time constant parameter in thermal sensors. Rise and fall times are the time durations for the output to change from 10 per cent to 90 per cent, and 90 per cent to 10 per cent of the final response, respectively. Rise/ fall time parameter determines the highest signal frequency to which a sensor can respond. Time constant is defined as the time required by the output to reach 63 per cent of the final response from zero initial value. Noise is the most critical factor in deg sensitive radiation detection systems. Noise in these systems is generated in photosensors, radiation sources and post-detection ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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defence electronics circuitry. Photosensor noise mainly comprises Johnson noise, shot noise, generation-recombination noise and flicker noise. Johnson noise, also known as Nyquist noise or thermal noise, is caused by thermal motion of charged particles in a resistive element. The RMS value of noise voltage depends on the resistance value, temperature and system bandwidth. Shot noise in a photosensor is caused by the discrete nature of photoelectrons generated. It is related to the statistical fluctuation of both the dark current and the photo current. It depends on the average current through the photosensor and system bandwidth. It is the dominant source of noise in the case of photodiodes operating in photoconductive mode. Generation-recombination noise is caused by fluctuation in current generation and recombination rates in a photosensor. This type of noise is predominant in photoconductive sensors operating at infrared wavelengths. Flicker noise, or 1/f noise, occurs in all conductors where the conducting medium is not a metal and all semiconductor devices that require bias current for their operation. Its amplitude is inversely proportional to the frequency. Flicker noise is usually predominant at frequencies below 100Hz.

Photoconductors Photoconductors—also referred to as photoresistors, light-dependent resistors (LDRs) and photocells—are semiconductor photosensors whose resistance decreases with increase in incident light intensity. These are bulk semiconductor devices with no p-n junction. The resistance change in a photoconductor is of the order of 6 decades, ranging from few tens of mega-ohms under dark conditions to few tens or hundreds of ohms under bright light conditions. Other features include wide dynamic response, spectral coverage from ultraviolet to far infrared, and low cost. However, photoconductors have response time of the order of hundreds of milliseconds. Commonly used materials for photoconductors are cium-sulphide (CdS), lead-sulphide (PbS), lead64

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Fig. 2: Some representative packages of photoconductors

divider arrangement comprising a fixed resistor and photoconductor. A fixed DC voltage is applied to the potential divider and the voltage appearing across either the fixed resistor or the photoconductor is taken as a measure of light intensity. A better option would be to use the photoconductor in conjunction with an operational amplifier wired either as a trans-impedance amplifier or voltage-mode amplifier. This gives better responsivity and higher output voltage.

Photodiodes

Fig. 3: Spectral characteristics of photodiodes

Fig. 4: PIN photodiode

selenide (PbSe), mercury-ciumtelluride (HgCdTe) and germaniumcopper (Ge:Cu). Inexpensive CdS photoconductors are used in many consumer items like camera light meters, clock radios, security alarms, street lights and so on. On the other hand, Ge:Cu cells are used for infrared astronomy and infrared spectroscopy. Fig. 2 shows some representative photoconductors. Photoconductors are further classified as intrinsic or extrinsic depending upon whether an external dopant has been added or not to the semiconductor material. Intrinsic photoconductors operate at shorter wavelengths as electrons have to jump from valence to conduction band. Extrinsic photoconductors have a spectral response covering longer wavelengths. A simple application circuit using a photoconductor would be a potential

Photodiodes are junction-type semiconductor light sensors that generate current or voltage when p-n junction in the semiconductor is illuminated by light of sufficient energy. Spectral response of the photodiode is a function of the band-gap energy of the material used in its construction. Photodiodes are mostly constructed using silicon, germanium, indium-gallium-arsenide (InGaAs), lead-sulphide (PbS) and mercurycium-telluride (HgCdTe). Fig. 3 shows spectral characteristics of these photodiodes. Types of photodiodes. Depending upon construction, there are several types of photodiodes. These include p-n photodiodes, PIN photodiodes, Schottky-type photodiodes and avalanche photodiodes. p-n photodiodes comprise a p-n junction. When light with sufficient energy strikes the photodiode, its electrons are pulled up into conduction band, leaving behind holes in valence band. These electron-hole pairs occur throughout p-layer, depletion layer and n-layer materials. When the photodiode is reverse biased, photo-induced electrons move down the potential hill from p-side to n-side. Similarly, photoinduced holes add to the current flow by moving across the junction to p-side. Shorter wavelengths are absorbed at the surface, while longer wavelengths penetrate deep into the diode. p-n photodiodes are used for precision photometry applications like medical instrumentation, analytical instruments, semiconductor tools and industrial measurement systems. www.EFYmAg.com

defence electronics In PIN photodiodes, an extra high-resistance intrinsic layer is added between p and n layers (Fig. 4). This reduces the transit or diffusion time of photo-induced electron-hole pairs, which, in turn, improves the response time. PIN photodiodes feature low capaci-

Fig. 5: PIN photodiodes in different configurations and packages

Fig. 6: Application circuit of photodiode in photovoltaic mode

tance and therefore high bandwidth, which makes them suitable for highspeed photometry as well as optical communication applications. Single-element PIN photodiodes, quadrant photodiodes, and one- and two-dimensional arrays of photodiodes find extensive application in a variety of sensor systems for military applications. Prominent among these include laser warning sensor suites on armoured fighting vehicles and airborne platforms, laser seekers in laser-guided munitions, laser receivers in laser communication systems and focal-plane arrays in Ladar sensors. Photodiodes and photodiode arrays integrated with peripheral components such as low-noise preamplifier circuits are also available in a single package. Fig. 5 shows single, quad and two-dimensional arrays of PIN photodiodes in some of the more common package configurations. Photodiodes are available in many more packages including customised ones. In Schottky type photodiodes, a thin gold coating is sputtered onto the n-material to form a Schottky-effect p-n junction. Schottky photodiodes have enhanced UV response. Avalanche photodiodes are highspeed, high-sensitivity photodiodes utilising an internal gain mechanism that functions by applying a relative-

(a)

(c)

(b)

(d)

Fig. 7: Application circuits of photodiodes operating in photoconductive mode www.EFYmAg.com

ly higher reverse bias voltage than PIN photodiodes. These have fast response times similar to that of PIN photodiodes. Also, responsivity of avalanche photodiodes (40-80A/W) is around 100 times more than silicon PIN photodiodes (0.4-0.6A/W). Moreover, avalanche photodiodes offer an excellent signal-to-noise ratio that is comparable to the value offered by photomultiplier tubes. Hence these are used in a variety of applications requiring high sensitivity, such as long-distance optical communication and optical distance measurement. Military laser rangefinders based on time-offlight principle have their receivers’ front end invariably employing a silicon or indium-gallium-arsenide avalanche photodiode depending upon whether it is an Nd:YAG laser rangefinder or an eye-safe laser rangefinder. Just like PIN photodiodes, avalanche photodiodes are available as single detectors as well as linear or two-dimensional arrays in similar package configurations. Photodiodes can be operated in two modes: photovoltaic and photoconductive. In photovoltaic mode, no bias voltage is applied and due to the incident light, a forward voltage is produced across the photodiode. In photoconductive mode, a reverse bias voltage is applied across the photodiode. This widens the depletion region, resulting in higher speed of response. As a thumb rule, all applications requiring a bandwidth less than 10kHz can use photodiodes in photovoltaic mode. For all other applications, photodiodes are operated in photoconductive mode. Moreover, the linearity of a photodiode improves when it is operated in photoconductive mode. However, noise current of the photodiode increases when it is operated in photoconductive mode. This is due to the reverse saturation current, referred to as dark current, flowing through the photodiode. The value of dark current is typically in the range of 1-10nA at a specified reverse bias voltage. When the photodiode is operated in photovoltaic mode, dark current is zero. ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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defence electronics Application circuits A commonly used application circuit employing PIN photodiode in photovoltaic mode is shown in Fig. 6. The output voltage is given by Idet×R, where Idet is the current through the photodiode. Fig. 7 shows four possible circuits of PIN photodiodes in photoconductive mode. Fig. 7(a) shows the basic circuit with no amplification. In Fig. 7(b) the operational amplifier is used as a voltage amplifier, whereas in Figs 7(c) and (d) the operational amplifier

is used in transimpedance mode. For the circuit in Fig. 7(b), output voltage and effective resistance across the photodiode are (Idet×R) and R, respectively. Idet is the current flowing through the photodiode. Output voltage and effective resistance across the photodiode in Figs 7(c) and (d) are (Idet×Rf) and Rf/A, respectively, where Idet is photodiode current and A is open-loop gain of the operational amplifier. Circuits in Figs 7(c) and (d) offer better linearity. Avalanche photodiodes are also connected in a similar manner as discussed above, except that a much higher reverse bias voltage is required for their operation. Also, their power consumption during operation is much higher than PIN photodiodes and is given by the product of input signal, sensitivity and reverse bias voltage. Hence a protective resistor is added to the bias circuit (Fig. 8) or a current-limiting circuit is used.

Solar cells

Fig. 8: Application circuit using avalanche photodiode

Fig. 9: Operating principle of a solar cell

Solar cells operate very similar to photodiodes in photovoltaic mode. These operate on the principle of photovoltaic effect. As mentioned above, due to photovoltaic effect, an open-circuit voltage develops

across a p-n junction when it is exposed to light, which is solar radiation in the case of a solar cell. This open-circuit voltage leads to the flow of electric current through a load resistance connected across it (Fig. 9). As shown in Fig. 9, the impinging photon energy causes generation of electron-hole pairs. These electron-hole pairs either recombine and vanish, or start drifting in opposite directions with electrons moving towards n-region and holes moving towards p-region. The accumulation of positive and negative charge carriers constitutes the open-circuit voltage. This voltage can cause a current through the external load or, when the junction is shorted, a short-circuit current whose magnitude is proportional to the input light intensity. The voltage output and the current delivery capability of an individual solar cell are very small for use as an electrical power input to any system. As an example, a typical solar cell would produce 500mV output with load current capability of about 150mA. A series-parallel arrangement of solar cells gives the desired output voltage with required power delivery capability. Series combination enhances the output voltage, while parallel combination enhances the current rating. Fig. 10 shows some representative solar cell s. Solar cell efficiency is the ratio of maximum electrical solar cell power to the radiant light power on the solar cell area. The efficiency figure for some crystalline solar cells is in excess of 20 per cent. Silicon is most commonly used semiconductor material for solar cells. Both crystalline and amorphous forms of silicon are used for the purpose. Another promising material for solar cells is gallium-arsenide (GaAs). Gallium-arsenide solar cells, when perfected, will be light-weight and more efficient.

Photoemissive sensors Fig. 10: Different package styles of solar cells

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Photoemissive sensors rely on external photo effect, wherein photo-generated electrons travel beyond physiwww.EFYmAg.com

defence electronics cal boundaries of the material. Some of the commonly used photoemissive photosensors include vacuum photodiodes, photomultiplier tubes and image-intensifier tubes. P h o t o m u l t i p l i e r t u b e s a re extremely sensitive photosensors operating in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared spectrum. These have internal gain of the order of 108 and can detect even a single photon of light. They are constructed from a glass vacuum tube that houses a photocathode, several dynodes and an anode. When incident photons strike the photocathode, electrons are produced as a result of the photoelectric effect. These electrons accelerate towards the anode and in the process, electron multiplication takes place due to secondary emission from dynodes. Salient features of photomultiplier tubes include low noise, high-frequency response and large active area. By virtue of these features, photomultiplier tubes are used in nuclear and particle physics,

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Fig. 11: Representative photomultiplier tube

reference junction

sensing junction

millivolt meter

Fig. 12: Thermocouple having two junctions

astronomy, medical imaging and motion-picture film scanning. Fig. 11 shows a representative photomultiplier tube.

Thermal sensors Thermal sensors absorb radiation, which causes a change in temperature and hence physical or electrical property of the sensor. In other words, thermal sensors respond to

any change in their bulk temperature caused by the incident radiation. Thermocouple, thermopile, bolometer and pyroelectric sensors are thermal sensors. Thermal sensors lack the sensitivity of photoelectric sensors and are generally slower in response, but these have a wider spectral response. Most of these sensors are ive devices, requiring no bias.

Thermocouples and thermopiles Thermocouple sensors are based on Seebeck effect, that is, temperature change at the junction of two dissimilar metals generates a proportionate EMF. Commonly used thermocouple materials are bismuth-antimony, iron-constantan and copper-constantan. Their temperature coefficients are 100μV/°C, 54μV/°C and 39μV/°C, respectively. To compensate for changes in the ambient temperature, thermocouples generally have two junctions: measuring junction and reference junction (Fig. 12).

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defence electronics Fig. 14 shows some representative thermocouples. The responsivity of a single thermocouple is very low and therefore to increase the responsivity, several junctions are connected in series to form a thermopile (Fig. 13). Thermopiles are series combination of around 20-200 thermocouples. Spectral response of thermocouples and thermopiles extends into the far-infrared band up to 40μm. These are suitable for measurements over a large temperature range up to 1800K. However,

Fig. 13: Thermopile

Fig. 14: Thermocouples

thermocouples are less suitable for applications where smaller temperature differences need to be measured with great accuracy, such as 0-100oC measurements with 0.1oC accuracy. For such applications, thermistors and RTDs are more suitable.

Bolometers Bolometers are the most popular type of thermal sensors. The sensing element in bolometers is a resistor with high temperature coefficient. While in photoconductors direct photon-electron interaction causes a change in the conductivity of the material, in bolometers the increased temperature and temperature coefficient of the element cause the resistance change. Bolometers can be further categorised as metal bolometers, thermistor bolometers and low-temperature germanium bolometers. Metal bolometers uses metals such as bismuth, nickel and platinum with temperature coefficient in the range of 0.3-0.5 per cent/°C. Thermistor bolometers are the most popular and find applications in burglar alarms, smoke sensors and other similar devices. Their sensor is a thermistor, which is an element made of manganese, cobalt and nickel-oxide. Thermistors have high temperature coefficient of up to 5 per cent/°C. The temperature coefficient varies with temperature as 1/T2. Thermistors are classified

Fig. 15: Voltage mode operation of a pyroelectric sensor

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Fig. 16: Current mode operation of pyroelectric sensor

as negative-temperature-coefficient (NTC) and positive-temperaturecoefficient depending upon whether their temperature coefficient of resistance is negative or positive.

Pyroelectric sensors Pyroelectric sensors are characterised by spontaneous electric polarisation, which is altered by temperature changes as light illuminates them. These are low-cost, high-sensitivity devices that are stable against temperature variations and electromagnetic interference. Pyroelectric sensors only respond to modulating light radiation and produce no output for a CW incident radiation. Pyroelectric sensors operate in two modes: voltage and current. In voltage mode (Fig. 15), voltage generated across the entire pyroelectric crystal is detected. In current mode (Fig. 16), current flowing on and off the electrode on the exposed face of the crystal is detected. Voltage mode is more commonly used than current mode. Voltage-mode pyroelectric sensors are generally integrated with a field-effect transistor. A shunt resistor (RS) in the range of 1010 to 1011 ohms is added to provide thermal stabilisation. External connections include a power supply and load resistor R L . The output voltage appears across RL. Modulation frequency in current-mode operation can be much higher than in voltagemode operation. Hence it is much easier to separate the signal from the ambient temperature drift. To be continued... www.EFYmAg.com

Green technoloGy Decision Makers’ Connect

Solar roadwayS: Feasible For India? Paromik Chakraborty Solar roads could put an end to India’s electricity woes. But, to make these technically and financially viable, there is a long list of challenges to overcome— ranging from indigenous solar system development to infrastructure and investment

“People don’t want to do that (build houses or offices) near a nuclear power plant. So, there’s quite a big keep-out zone, and when you factor the keep-out zone into , the solar s put on that area would typically generate more power than that nuclear power plant.” —Elon Musk

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ndia is moving full throttle on solar projects. This has set the stage for higher domestic manufacturing and thus lower cost of solar products. With consistent availability of sunlight throughout the year (for about 300 days), one of the most unique proposals is the implementation of solar surfaces for roads in India. This has the potential to generate massive megawatts of energy that can power numerous buildings and other infrastructure. However, developing solar roads is not easy and requires more clarity and planning on many aspects before implementation.

The benefits Solar bike stretch in the Netherlands

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A few years ago, ideas were invited to install rooftop solar s on the roads of Gujarat to generate electricity from solar

energy. One proposal came from the Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) to install solar s across 205km of the Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway to generate 104 megawatts of electricity. The energy generated could be used to power the highway infrastructure, light the roads and also run a bit of the ading buildings. The project is in planning stage. Roads with solar surfaces can immensely transform the Indian power situation. Bhargav Vyas, vice president, PV Power Tech, says, “Implementation of solar roadways should start from the highways in India. It will be easier to receive permission and work quickly in those areas. As the exposure to sunlight will be much stronger than in closed areas, energy generation will be substantial.” India faces the problem of electricity shortage even today. Power is yet to be introduced in some regions. Certain reports suggest around 240 million Indians still live in the dark, ranking India among countries with one of the highest unelectrified populations in the world. Implementation of projects like solar roads can substantially improve the situation. While solar street lights and solar rooftops are being deployed rapidly, extensive solar surface on roads can become the central point for powering a larger proportion of national infrastructure. In the long run, such projects can massively reduce the use of grid energy, cut down fossil fuel consumption exponentially and bring down the national carbon footprint dramatically. If developed with good-quality resilient material, solar roads can eliminate the frequent damage-and-maintenance that is associated with pavement roads. This would save a lot of istrative fund, adding to the payback period on the investment. Issues of potholes, electronics for you | april 2018

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Inauguration of solar roads in (Source: nbcnews.com)

water puddles and poor-quality roads would decrease. Solar structures for roads have not been explored much even at global scale. There have been a few cases of solar road installation in the recent years that have started to deliver. In 2014, the Netherlands chiseled a small stretch of biking road with solar material. It was a test drive of solar roads, covering only 70 metres. The setup consists of durable solar trapping material, engraved inside glass coating, with more layers of materials to create friction while driving. Annually, the 70m stretch generates 70kWh energy per square metre of road. Energy generation in the first six months was 3000 kilowatthour (kWh), enough to run two small households for a year. After one complete year, the total energy production amounted to 9800kWh, which is enough to power three average-scale Dutch households annually. The project was expanded by 20m in 2016 and is still under further expansion. While this was a comparatively smaller project, solar roads saw a larger implementation for the first time in in 2016. One kilometre of a highway in Tourouvre au Perche village is covered by 2800sq.m of 70

april 2018 | electronics for you

solar s, protected under coats of resin, polymer and silicon. Every day, more than 2000 cars (including heavy vehicles) drive over this road. Yet, the road has been successfully able to carry this extent of load without any hiccups. It is also resistant to the heat generated regularly. Annual electricity generation is 280 megawatt-hours (MWh), which is sufficient to power streetlights and other ading infrastructure in the area. Notably, the village receives less-than-moderate sunlight throughout the year. That

said, 280MWh electricity generation per year across 1km length is quite impressive. The French istration is planning road expansions to power a substantial fraction of the country’s public properties as well as residential constructions with the help of solar energy captured by these roadways. China has also ed the race by deg its own solar roads. Last year, in the Jinan region, it revealed 1km stretch of a two-way road, embedded with 5875sq.m solar surface. The road is expected to generate one million kilowatt-hours of power in a year. This energy, sufficient to power about 800 homes in China, will be used to power various infrastructures including streetlights, billboards, surveillance cameras and even toll booths in the area. An intelligent heat-capture system of the solar setup will also keep snow accumulation in check during winters.

The challenges Solar road technology is in nascency with more players slowly ing the movement. All the aforementioned projects have been successful, but their execution was far from easy. The first major challenge is the huge cost of investment. The 1km long French project cost nearly $6 million. China’s project cost $458 per square metre, which totals to approximately

Solar surface on a China road (Source: www.news.cn) www.efymag.com

Green technoloGy $2.8 million for the whole installation. LED Lighting Usable Glass Surface These figures suggest nearly 90 times Energy the cost of a normal solar rooftop (in Structure China, solar s for general use cost $5 per sq.m). Base Layer/Recyclable Materials If India decides to pave the foundation of solar roadways, the country will run into similar cost burdens. Therefore the amount of energy Water Collecting Basin generation in return needs to be wellcalculated to ensure quick paybacks. Representative image of the constitutive layers of a solar road, where the electronic structure The second concern is about and the base layer help in collection and distribution of captured energy while other layers act as elements optimal solar capture. The essence of solar s lies in the amount of good. Five-seven years down the line, solar energy captured on their bed, solar manufacturing is in developmenrenewable energy utility in India will which is maximised by tilting s tal stages. be extremely improved and technoloin accordance with the direction of the Vyas says, “India does not have sun. Solar surfaces on roads will lie the raw material production capacity gies like solar roads will become as a flatbed. Therefore it needs to be for photovoltaic cells. This is why the feasible.” Increased domestic manufacturverified whether these will be able to percentage of imports is so high.” ing would also add to the advantage. absorb enough energy in this position Time taken in legal permissions without the ability to tilt. Additionally, regarding land and other parameters Vyas continues, “China has been numerous coatings above the solar may also add to the list. All these chal- providing solar structures at lower cost than India so far. With the govsurface to hold the load of vehicles lenges need to be addressed before ernment set to impose an import daily may affect its solar acceptance. going ahead with solar road projects. tariff on solar equipment, we will If unchecked, this will have a direct Way to go see a substantial decrease in readyimpact on the ROI. Given all the challenges in solar made Chinese s usage. Indian Vinesh Kumar, senior managerroad implementation, there is a lot to companies will have to manufacture projects, SunGarner Energies, says, “There will be major concern about be thought out and tested before going as well as research domestically. This safety and quality of s. Efficiency ahead with a commercial application. will change the paradigm of solar depends on the cell quality. To get The present cost estimations of such implementation and also promote optimal efficiency in such technology, projects direct us towards generic advanced applications like solar the cell quality has to be topnotch solar rooftops and usage as roadways”. Vivek Vashista, senior engineer, and protective coatings should also the economical solution for now. However, with more research and ABB India, believes solar roads complement the cell.” Another focus area should be mainstream implementation, these will be viable in India. “In fact, our R&D team is already looking into such the driving safety. Vehicle tyres materials would become cheaper. Vyas believes, “In of tech- projects. The return on investment is require a slightly rough surface to balance between acceleration, breaks nology and expansion, India is doing definitely a key focus area and will be assured,” he shares. and directions, aided by Elaborating on ROI, the friction between the Vinesh adds, “The ROI tyre and the road. In the will depend on the investattempt to make the solar ment amount and volume surface absorb maximum of the project. The level sunlight, roughness of the of energy generation and surface might get comproefficiency of the material mised. So constructors will also be major conmust pay attention to the tributors. On an average, composition of the coatthe payback period can be ing material. expected as eight years.” In addition, infrastrucIf successfully impleture might prove to be a mented, these projects challenge since arrangcan solve a lot of real-life ing such solar structures problems in India today. It requires some fine-tuned is a decision of investing operation with technical big in view of long-term knowhow. Imports may benefits. add to the cost since local India has great scope for leveraging solar energy through its highways www.efymag.com

electronics for you | april 2018

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72 Benefits Of IoT Vending Machines For Retail

75 Li-ion Batteries For Solar Setups

76 Smart Technology For Better Waste Management

System Level Solutions Research | Design | Development | Manufacturing

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Benefits Of IoT VendIng MachInes For ReTaIl  Remote monitoring of vending machine operations from a single control centre provides sales and inventory figures in real time

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achine-to-machine (M2M) learning and the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies present a lot of opportunities to increase business efficiency. One such opportunity exists in the retail vending machines segment. A medium to large retail facility in India, with an average weekly footfall of about 2000, requires four to six vending machines for basic products. The entire setup including software, 72

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

hardware and related services costs ` 1.5 to ` 3 million. So far, the Indian retail segment has been highly labour-dependent, requiring a lot of manual procedures. ability and inventory management are areas of high concern for the industry. Smart vending machines address all such problems, while promising high returns on investment. The global intelligent vending

machines market is expected to grow at 38 per cent annually up to 2021, reaching 13.34 billion US dollars by 2021—according to international research organisation Technavio.

Case study: Q3 Technologies A company wanted to introduce new cutting-edge products and technologies that allow people to communicate with systems and hardware in the retail space. www.EFYmAg.com

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The company wanted to develop a system that could communicate with machines, devices and systems. The company envisioned to tap the fast-growing vending machine market by providing remote tracking Cellular for a network of vending machines Access Provider so that distribution companies could effectively plan trips for refilling the entire supply chain. Ethernet or Q3 Technologies office in Gurgaon Wireless Ethernet was engaged to customise, design and develop the vending machine Vending Machine remote management application on Network top of the client’s core machine-tomachine (M2M) protocol. This wireHandheld less technology would allow s to monitor vending machines from a single control centre. IoT framework The technical systems and application requirements of the company were analysed and an application 3. Insert/edit/remove vending was designed to ensure all the needs machine. The mobile app allows and objectives were covered. For s to insert, edit or remove vendM2M communication, it used the ing machine devices. While creating BitXml M2M protocol, which was the vending machine device entity, specifically designed to provide a they can map the Box ID with the strong syntactical and semantic particular vending machine. The Box foundation to M2M communication. ID is the gateway manager’s unique It was an XML-based language, thus ID, which is installed on the actual providing easy readability. As the vending machine. protocol was Meta-coded in XML, Q3 4. /edit/remove vending designed a parser to parse the XML machine operators. The mobile app schema language, get details allows s to regisabout vending machine, and ter/edit/remove vendMany of the company’s the data to the dataing machine operaoperations run 24x7. As base server. tors. After ing the vending machine Features of the mobile the operators, it allows gets a secured source application include: them to map the vendproduct, required items 1. Wallet/card top up. ing machine operaare available at any time without exposure to Home page of the mobile tors to their respective misuse. app contains two sections: locations (POS) and wallet/card and top up. clients. Whenever a scans or In web application manually puts a vending too, the GUI intermachine code, the code gets valiface allows s to /edit/ dated through an API. The is remove vending machine operators able to connect with the machine and insert/edit/remove vending only if a valid vending machine code machines. In addition, the control is entered. interface allows s to add, 2. View the latest transaction. remove and organise the gateway, The mobile app allows s to see modify parameters, and manage the latest transaction (executed in notifications and events. s can the vending machine) and wallet see real-time data like alerts, warnbalance. It also provides the feature ing and sales on their dashboard to recharge the wallet and top up. along with the available latest firmTransactions could be wallet payware, which is installed on gateway ments, credit card payments or top manager. up payments. s are also able to set product 74

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

Internet Crane WMS Data Center

Alarm Reporting

Credit Card Processing Center

Vending Operator

prices, where applicable, and out of stock alerts for each vending machine in the field. They can send some commands to the connected vending machine device using the web services and EVADTS protocols and receive sales data, alarm and warning data through web services and EVADTS protocols. The middleware system parses the received raw data into meaningful data and inserts it into the main database. Specific benefits of the Q3 solution include: 1. Real-time usage reporting via smartphone or personal computer, as every transaction is automatically tracked and recorded at the level. 2. Many of the company’s operations run 24x7. As the vending machine gets a secured source product, required items are available at any time without exposure to misuse. 3. Improved assortment segmentation eases profiling of single machine consumption, which increases the profitability and service level.

To conclude The retail industry is slowly but steadily opening up to the use of smart vending solutions. This opens doors for IoT hardware, software and related service solution providers to offer customised solutions for enterprises. —Nidhi Arora, executive editor, EFY www.EFYmAg.com

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Li-ion Batteries For Solar Setups  In-built lithium-ion batteries for solar streetlights in Assam have reduced system losses by minimising wiring

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atteries play a crucial role in solar setups. There are different types of battery technologies available for solar energy storage. Operational advantages and costs associated with each of these options directly impact the payback period of solar setups. While lead-acid batteries are undergoing substantial improvements with refinement of technology, lithium-ion batteries keep going strong in the market. Conventional flooded lead-acid batteries are inexpensive. Dr Kushant Uppal, founder and CEO, Intelizon Energy, shares, “Lead-acid batteries are heavy and large in size. This creates some challenges in commercial applications like solar streetlights, where these batteries are installed externally on the pole. As lead-acid batteries need regular maintenance, these need to be installed at accessible heights. This makes them vulnerable to theft. Maintenance also adds to operational expenses.” Lead-acid batteries can discharge up to 80 per cent. That means these cannot be drained out completely when in use. Moreover, the time taken for charging is quite high at around 9-11 hours. However, these batteries have some positive aspects too. Ankit Bajpai, executive director, EPC, Trisun Sant India, says, “The cost of maintaining lead-acid batteries is nominal. If maintained well, these batteries can provide a longer life of operation, which can go up to five years per battery.”

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Zonstreet with in-built lithium battery in Assam before flooding (left) and post flooding (right) (Courtesy: Dr Uppal)

The new normal in the market are lithium-ion and lithium ferrophosphate batteries. Uppal explains, “Lithium-ion batteries have a high energy density and are maintenancefree. Therefore there are no running costs associated with these. Moreover, they weigh just one-third of what an equivalent capacity of lead-acid battery will weigh. This makes them easy to install and therefore less prone to theft and damage.” Ankit says, “Lithium batteries allow full charge consumption during usage. Moreover, these batteries have a lifespan of 3 to 3.5 years, which is higher than majority of lead-acid batteries. However, lithium-ion batteries cost at least 25 per cent higher than lead-acid batteries.” Among other battery technologies, gel batteries are making their presence felt all around. These are valve-regulated lead-acid (VLRA) batteries, which offer significant advantages over their conventional lead-acid counterparts. Biju Bruno, managing director, Greenvision Technologies, says, “Gel batteries are part of the lead-acid ecosystem, but are well-developed and mature. While conventional flooded tubular lead-acid batteries cost 30 per cent less, gel batteries provide better operations with less maintenance.” However, gel batteries have low thermal tolerance, which means these can malfunction if overheated. Additionally, they are highly sensitive to overcharging and may result in operational failures. Lithium-ion batteries cost much higher than conventional lead-acid or

even gel batteries. Bruno says, “Typically, lithium-ion battery packs cost approximately ` 25,000 per kW compared to ` 10,000 for gel batteries.” However, given their advantages, lithium-ion batteries are still the best bet.

Case Study: Li-ion batteries for solar LED streetlights in Assam Assam receives heavy rainfall throughout the year. Choice of the battery proved to be a challenge for solar LED streetlights installed in a remote region of the state. The adverse weather conditions shortened the expected lifespan of lead-acid batteries used, requiring their replacement every six months. This greatly added to the running expenses. There was yet another big challenge. Uppal says, “On cloudy days, solar energy generation drops to below 50 per cent. Along with that, there was major energy loss due to the long cables connecting the battery to the and use of low-efficiency (typically 70-75 per cent) chargecontrollers. Also, it was critical to have a separate solar , which is installed facing south for the best charging efficiency.” To address these challenges, Intelizon Energy provided streetlights with in-built lithium-ion batteries. They call this solution Zonstreet. Uppal explains, “The lithiumion setup reduced system losses by minimising wiring. We implemented high-efficiency (>95 per cent) chargecontrollers, which further improved the figure. Lithium technology enabled the right battery sizing, which ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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improved system reliability. It also brought autonomy in optimal power storage and distribution.” As a result, the local istration was able to greatly reduce operational and vigilance cost for their streetlights. Solar power storage has been consistent and the setup has been running with minimal hiccups for nearly three years.

What experts say Bruno says, “The initial cost is a major factor for consumers in their choice of battery. The energy storage market for solar is still dominated by flooded tubular lead-acid batteries, as these are the cheapest among all the technologies. The selection is seldom based on the additional costs involved in maintenance. There is a small fraction of customers who understand the total cost of ownership and would opt for a lithium-ion or a gel battery, depending on their requirement. The other important points to consider are easy availability, warranty and after-sales services.” —Paromik Chakraborty, technical journalist, EFY

Smart Technology For Better Waste Management  While Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur city uses sensorised bins to track waste collection in real time, Gujarat’s GIFT City has implemented an automated system for waste collection below ground

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ustainability and the level of living in a city can be judged through many factors. One of them is how city wastes are disposed 76

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

The concept of smart bins in smart waste management (Source: dqweek.com)

of or recycled. Specifically, for a densely populated country like India, waste generation is a major environmental concern. The country generates around 133.8 kilotonnes of solid waste every day, of which about 91 kilotonnes gets collected and only 25.9 kilotonnes is treated. While public awareness and education can bring down these figures, an effective waste management system can provide the much needed results. Sensorised bins, automatic waste transportation, zero water discharge and many other solutions have been introduced for better waste management in India. Such waste management technologies help prevent piling up of excessive waste in an area. Sensors configured in waste collection bins offer real-time monitoring of the piled-up waste. This allows waste management authorities to send their clearance squad to the mentioned location and collect the pile without delay. As a result, overall hygiene and cleanliness of the area increases exponentially. Additionally, it reduces the time and effort required to travel to each bin and check the collection level manually. Real-time navigation system for waste-collection vehicles ensures all collection bins in the specified area are collected—that too by covering the shortest route. This greatly cuts down fuel expenses and manual efforts. It can even allow municipali-

ties to cut down resources. Many smart solutions allow automatic sorting of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. Automatic separation of waste like plastic, metal and glass can make the waste filtration process for recycling much easier. As a result, environmental damage due to non-biodegradable waste can be prevented. Manual sorting takes time and effort. More importantly, it is hazardous for human health and needs to be avoided. Overall, smart waste management systems, if installed properly, can reduce financial burden for municipalities by up to 50 per cent. This includes resource requirement, transport cost, labour cost, activity monitoring and more. Additionally, smart waste management systems provide a streamlined ability to contractual workers. Smart systems can allow municipal authorities to enroll them formally, keep better track of their whereabouts and record their activities. The IoT in waste management is no longer a far cry. Smart waste systems are already in place throughout the globe and in India as well. For instance, the city of Jamshedpur has maintained zero liquid discharge from its sewage water wastes. Ashish Mathur, MD, Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company (JUSCO), explains, “Jamshedpur www.EFYmAg.com

smart of world internet things is aThe citysystem wheresolution 40 million litres of to mitisewage waste collected every gating something like this is today is treated at tertiary level and brought implement secure boot for the back in the city for non-potable main PLC U. This isuse a way of auusage—for example, of industhenticating the firmware and only trial waste water for irrigation. For accepting software thatare hasnot a valid areas of the city that condigital Depending on we nected signature. to the main sewage line, the you could haverequirements, set up local plants that also collect sewage from the areas, treat it and encrypt the firmware. giveSecurity it back processing to the localdemands inhabitants for reuse. This is our Zero Liquid can easily overwhelm the MIPS Discharge project, and we believe of a traditional PLC U or even that sustainable technologies create latency issues. This is bestlike this should be taken up by every city done by off-loading the security to see long-term improvement.” functions a low-cost, Mathurtoput forwardoff-themore realshelf secure microprocessor that is time waste management solutions built for these “We functions, as shown a as examples, have patented in Fig. 6. The system herewe technology where allshown the roads uses an external secure construct are built usingmicroprowaste plastics. Moreover, Jamshedpur has more cessor to validate the firmware’s than 15signature. biogas stations that recycle digital biodegradable to generate All the abovewaste examples use usable biogas.” keys to enable authentication, also adopted but Jamshedpur this raises thehas question of key sensorised bins, which track the protection. Physical security of an

www.EFYmAg.com 50 March 2017 | ElEctronics For You

level of waste collection in real time. JUSCO is on theSPI verge of activating Serial Flash Main Storing LoRaWAN for Device better Controller connectivity maintenance of these smart FW systems. Many solution providers are suggesting waste collection below the ground. An example is set by the PowerGujarat International Finance-Tec MAXQ1050 Management (GIFT)ICCity—a business district in Gujarat which has been included as a model city inofsmart city campaign. Fig. 6: Secure boot the main PLC U It has introduced the country’s first automatedkey waste infraencryption is ofcollection prime considstructure. Instead of trash bins, eration in many applications, since it uses inlets for waste collection. The there is no security once the key inlets connect to large underground is compromised. suction pipe networks that end up physical intoToaproperly central address collection hub. Any security, several issues be the amount of garbage putmust through considered. Thesethrough include athe physical inlets is sucked pipes mechanism for hub. generating into the central At the random collection inlet, athe waste is separated into biokeys, physical design that prevents degradables and non-biodegradables. covert electronic interception of a under expansion key The that project is being iscommunicated and has resulted in no open between authorised agents, andwaste a and garbage in the city, no unpicked secure method of storing a key that waste piles in an area and no manual protects against clandestine physical

intervention for waste collection. The and mechanical probing. infrastructure won multiple awards at Various secure key-storage devicCMO Asia 2017 in Singapore. es provide system designers a host Countries throughout the world of rangetechniques from packageto arefeatures using that unique design to external-sensor interfaces manage their wastes. Australia has and internal architectures. installed twocircuit types of smart bins: Big These requirements were developed Belly and Smart Belly. These bins can by American military in the form detect their waste-collection levelofin real time, segregate reusable waste FIPS 140 standard, and many chip from non-reusable waste at the point vendors provide very comprehensive of collection, and compostthat biodegradtamper-proof capabilities can be able waste on the spot. used in ICSes. Colombia has come up with an exciting idea of to engage citizens in The future the IoTitssecurity waste-recycling process. To promote There be otherwastes approaches to returnmay of reusable like plastic security as well, and as you begin to bottles and bags, it has introduced realise important security is in Ecobothow reverse vending machines. aEach connected time factories citizensenvironment, return reusyou eventually coalesce around ablewill waste to this bin, the machine them with vouchers or couaawards few approaches. pons that can used for shopping, The IIoT in be manufacturing is movies and so on. project is in high demand, and This is a growing running successfully, attracting more trend. Security will also eventually citizens towards going green! grow to cover vulnerabilities, but —Paromik Chakraborty, technical journalist, EFY the need is already here.

ElEctronics For Youwww.EFYMag.coM | April 2018 77

Industry News Make in india

Indian languages can add 205 million new Internet s Potential 205 million Internet nons are likely to go digital if the Internet is provided in a language of their choice—according to a report published tly by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar IMRB. The report estimates 335 million out of the total 481 million Internet s in India are non-unique s in Indic (Sanskrit and its modern Indian descendants), of which 193 million (58 per cent) are from urban India and 141 million (42 per cent) from rural India. The term non-unique

refers to the fact these s do not access the Internet only in Indic; but that only a small proportion of their usage is in Indic. According to the report, a relatively higher proportion of Indic content consumption can be observed in rural India (76 per cent), while in urban India over 66 per cent Internet s access the Internet in Indic. Indic content consumption is higher in socio-economically weaker sections, as is evident from the fact that both in urban and rural India, SEC D/E have around 80 per cent s accessing Indic content.

As devices spread, voice shopping expected to soar With voice assistants showing up in more homes and other venues, the voice shopping market will grow from the current $2 billion a year to $40 billion by 2022, according to a survey of current device owners by OC&C Strategy Consultants. The survey was conducted on 1500 owners of smart speakers like Google Home and Amazon Echo in the United States. Artificial intelligence (AI) assistants are spreading to more devices in the home and to environments

like cars and workplaces. In fact, in the next four years, 55 per cent of US households are forecast to have a smart speaker, according to Juniper Research. Voice shopping is most commonly used for grocery shopping, which makes up 20 per cent of shopping among survey respondents. That’s not a complete surprise considering that more than 50 per cent of Amazon Echo speakers are used in the kitchen. Grocery is followed by entertainment (19 per cent), electronics (17 per cent) and clothing (8 per cent).

On The Move Nayyar appointed Sony India’s MD Sunil Nayyar has become the first Indian to be appointed as managing director for Sony India. In this new role, he will be responsible for spearheading the overall growth and profitability of the company within the region. He held the position of sales head from April 2006 till April 2015 prior to moving to Sony North America as head of retail experience, the position which he held from May 2015 till March 2018.

Prof. Mukherji s Unicorn as advisor IIT Bombay Prof. Soumyo Mukherji has ed Unicorn India Ventures as an advisor in Investor Committee. He brings domain expertise in ESDM, bioengineering and nanotechnology. In the new role, he will guide the team in making investment decisions in ESDM sector, which includes companies working in technologies like robotics, cyber security, IoT, nanotech and medical devices.

BEL wins 4 PRCI awards

Awards

Navratna defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has won four Corporate Collateral Awards of the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) for its theme song video, corporate brochure, annual diary and ment (hoarding). The awards were presented at the 12th PRCI Global PR Enclave 2018 held at Pune.

Philips Lighting introduces LiFi and intends to change company name Philips Lighting is now offering Light Fidelity (LiFi)—a technology in which high-quality LED lighting provides broadband Internet connection through light waves. With this, it has become the first major lighting company to LiFi-enable regular office luminaires. 78

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“While radio frequencies are becoming congested, the visible light spectrum is an untapped resource with a large bandwidth suitable for stable simultaneous connection of a vast array of Internet of Things devices. Being a lighting company, we ensure

BEL corporate communication team comprising Ashish Kansal (sr DGM), Hari Haran (DGM) and Naveen Namboodiri (manager) receiving PRCI Corporate Collateral Awards for BEL from Dilip Kamble, minister of state for Social Justice and Special Assistance, government of Maharashtra

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Industry news Calendar of Forthcoming Electronics Fairs/Exhibitions/Seminars/Events Name, Date and Venue

Topics

address for details

HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair April 13-16, 2018 October 13-16, 2018 Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center

Electronics expo

Website: www.hktdc.com/ hkelectronicsfairae

KPCA Show 2018 April 24-26, 2018 Kintex, Korea

International electronic circuits show

Website: http://www.kpcashow.com

CE China 2018 May 3-5, 2018 Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center, China

International trade show for consumer electronics

Website: www.cechina-ifa.com/en

4th Smart Cities India 2018 Expo May 23-25, 2018 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Exhibition on smarter solutions for a better tomorrow

Website: www.exhibitionsindia.com

3rd India-Taiwan Electronics Summit June 1, 2018 Taipei

Summit on electronics system design and manufacturing

Website: www.elcina.com

JPCA Show 2018 June 6-8, 2018 Tokyo, Japan

48th international electronic circuits exhibition

Website: http://www.jpca.net/ show2018/en/exhibition/index.html

Robotics & AI Summit June 18-19, 2018, Boston, USA Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC) Boston, MA

Summit on the power of AI and robotics in manufacturing

Website: www.robobusiness.com/ conference/robotics-ai-summit

ConnecTechAsia June 26-28, 2018 Singapore

Exhibition and summit on key technologies such as IoT, cloud/big data, cyber-security, TVEverywhere, ProAudioTech, SatComm, 5G and more!

Website: www.ConnecTechAsia.com

SES 2018 July 5-6, 2018 Bengaluru

9th strategic electronics (defence and aerospace) summit

Website: http://ses-india.in/.asp

Automation Expo 2018 Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2018 Bombay Convention & Exhibition Center, Goregaon East, Mumbai

13th international exhibition & conference on automation

IED Communications Ltd Website: www.automationindiaexpo.com

IFA Berlin Aug. 31-Sept. 5, 2018 Berlin Exhibition Center (Expo Center City),

International trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances

Website: http://b2b.ifa-berlin.com

China International Optoelectronic Exposition September 5-8, 2018 Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center Shenzhen, China

Leading exhibition for precision optics in China

Website: http://www.cioe.cn/en/

SEMICON Taiwan, 2018 September 12-14, 2018 Taipei, Taiwan

Premier event in Taiwan for microelectronics manufacturing

Website: www.semicontaiwan.org/en

RoboBusiness 2018 September 26-27, 2018 Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA

Conference on the entire robotics ecosystem

Website: www.RoboBusiness.com

TAITRONICS Oct. 9-12, 2018 Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center

International electronics show

Website: https://www.taitronics.tw

Open Source India October 11-13, 2018 Bengaluru

Platform for the open source community to share what’s new and exciting in open source languages, tools and techniques

Website: https://opensourceindia.in/ osidays

GITEX October 14-18, 2018 Dubai World Trade Centre

Showcase of the world’s most advanced technologies

Website: https://www.gitex.com/

electronica Munich Nov. 13-16, 2018 Munich,

International trade fair for electronic components, systems and applications

Website: www.electronica.de

Since this information is subject to change, all those interested are advised to ascertain the details from the organisers before making any commitment.

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that our customers benefit from the finest-quality energy-efficient light along with state-of-the-art connectivity,” said Olivia Qiu, chief innovation officer, Philips Lighting. Philips Lighting also intends to change company name to Signify while retaining the Philips brand for its products. The choice of the new company name originates from the fact that light has become an intelligent language, which connects and conveys meaning.

Thomson plans to re-enter Indian market Technicolor SA owned consumer electronics brand Thomson is planning to make a comeback to India through the e-commerce market space. The brand will bring in the range of its smart televisions that will hit the Indian market this April. With over 120 years of legacy, the French corporation works with licencing partners world over. In India too, it will work under an exclusive licencing agreement with a local counterpart. Thomson believes its smart TVs will make a great deal for smart consumers who are uncompromising, well-informed and like to place the best bet while comparing several options that are available online.

LG eyes India as its manufacturing hub South Korean consumer electronics major LG expects India to become one of its global manufacturing hubs to cater to the South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East markets— according to a PTI report. Besides, LG Electronics India, which has manufacturing units in Noida and Pune, is also mulling to have a new unit in the next 4-5 years to cater to the fast-growing eastern-region market of the country. LG Electronics India managing director Ki Wan Kim said: “We are checking the market demands. We are flexible to invest and increase the production capacity to meet that increased market demand besides India and exports as well.” The company will also continue to invest in its existing manufacturing facilities at Pune and Noida. www.EFYmAg.com

Industry news

Snippets

Atos launches multifunction satellite power testing system ESSCI plans 50 new Centres of Excellence

Electronics Sector Skills Council of India (ESSCI), formed under the ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, has trained over 700,000 candidates in over 60 electronics system design and manufacturing job roles across the country in the last five years. By end of 2020, it plans to open 50 new Centres of Excellence (CoE) to train more industryoriented professionals.

Wipro launches additive manufacturing solution centre

Wipro3D, the additive manufacturing business unit of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, has launched a state-ofthe-art solution and experience centre for metal 3D printing in Bengaluru. The facility was inaugurated by Wipro chairman Azim Premji. The 1115sq.m (12,000sq.ft) solution centre has all capabilities including leading-edge build technology, postprocessing, research, characterisation and validation facilities.

Analog Devices acquires Symeo GmbH

Analog Devices, Inc. has acquired Symeo GmbH, a privately held company based in Munich, that specialises in radar hardware and software for emerging autonomous automotive and industrial applications. Symeo’s innovative signal processing algorithms will enable ADI to offer customers a radar platform with significant improvements in angular accuracy and resolution.

Panasonic introduces new energy storage solutions Revamping its energy storage solutions within the telecom tower segment, Panasonic India has introduced a stateof-the-art compact business power solution, the CBPS 8000. This solution essentially houses all the imperative functional tools in a single box, managing power requirements at the site comprehensively. Its plug-and-play system addresses challenges faced by more than half a www.EFYmAg.com

Atos has launched ProUST univerSAS—a light-weight, compact satellite power testing system that improves high-volume satellite production by increasing the speed and efficiency of testing, whilst maintaining the industry’s quality and safety standards. ProUST univerSAS is the first product following Atos’ recent acquisition of Siemens Convergence Creators.

Xilinx unveils adaptable computing product category

Adaptive and intelligent computing solutions provider Xilinx has announced a new product category called adaptive compute acceleration platform (ACAP) that goes far beyond the capabilities of FPGAs. ACAP is a highly integrated multi-core heterogeneous compute platform that can be changed at the hardware level to adapt to the needs of a wide range of applications and workloads. It is ideally suited for big data and artificial intelligence applications.

Keysight solution for asset utilisation and health monitoring Keysight Technologies, Inc. has announced Test Asset Optimization Services—which it claims to be the industry’s first integrated solution to measure asset utilisation and health in real time. These services eliminate the need for companies to assign personnel to manually record when instruments are in use and making measurements. Thus customers can dramatically improve return on investments by optimising capital and operating expenses to meet test demands in research and development through manufacturing.

million telecom towers located across geographies. The company has further expanded solution offerings to new industries such as data centres and commercial, industrial sector and rural microgrids.

Energy Sistem enters India Energy Sistem, a Spanish technology giant with over two decades of experience in creating personal audio devices, has entered the Indian market in partnership with Alchemie Commerce. The company is present in over 40 countries globally with music tower systems, music boxes, headphones, speakers, home theatres, portable audio devices and other product categories. Speaking at the launch, Natalia Ovsyannikova, country manager, Energy Sistem, commented, “While the industry is estimated to be worth ` 30 billion, we expect to reach ` 2.5-billion revenue by 2020.” Energy Sistem’s product range will be available across all the major retail outlets in India across 20 cities along with other e-commerce platforms.

Microsoft announces renewable energy deal in India

Microsoft Corp. has completed its first renewable energy deal within the Karnataka state of India. The agreement will see Microsoft purchase 3 megawatts of solar-powered electricity from Atria Power to help power its new office building in Bengaluru. This will meet 80 per cent of the projected electricity needs at the new facility. This deal is part of the state government’s programme to encourage investments in local solar energy operations, in line with the larger Indian government goal to ramp up solar power generation to 100 gigawatts by 2022, as part of India’s efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry (2nd from left), at Panasonic ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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Handy Tools For Programmers And Developers The following software, besides other, can be found in the DVD accompanying EFY Plus edition of this magazine OpenCV 3.4.1 OpenCV (Open Source Computer Vision Library) is a library of programs released under BSD licence. It is compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac OS as well as mobile platforms like Android and iOS. The library contains interfaces for JAVA, Python, C++ and MATLAB/OCTAVE programming. Expansion to other program wrappers like C#, Perl, Ch, Haskle and Ruby is possible as well. The suite is developed in C and C++, and can utilise multi-core processing. Its latest version includes bug fixes, improved DNN modules, over 250 patches and more.

Great Cow BASIC It is an integrated development environment (IDE) to program microcontroller PIC units or Atmel AVR 8-bit microcontrollers. It can be used by beginners as well as professionals. The IDE is developed using Synwrite and is called GCB@Syn. It comes with an integrated compiler and s a number of other tools including PPS for Microchip Peripheral Pin Select, TinyMultiBootLoader+, XpressLoader, IPE-Pusher, Pickit2 GUI, Pickit3 GUI, and Microchip Xpress board programmer and IPE automation tool. The latest version of GCB comes with auto-complete feature, function and sub-function , syntax highlighting and code folding in editor, one-click assemble/compile/ flash microcontroller and so on.

SWIG Simplified Wrapper and Interface Generator (SWIG) lets you create a mesh between your programs created in C, C++ and other scripting suites. Any native function or code built in C/ C++ can be called and used through other ing scripting languages 82

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including Perl, PHP, Python, R, Ruby, Lua, Tcl as well as programming languages like C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Scilab, Octave, Modula-3 and so on. SWIG uses ANSI C/C++ declarations and s all native data types and data structures including arrays, pointers and structures. It provides output in XML format or Lisp S-expressions, and it also creates documentation in HTML, LaTeX and ASCII formats.

HEXEdit HEXEdit is a free, open-source binary editor with a simple interface and easy learning curve. Developed with C++, it lets s analyse the content and edit files of any size in decimal, hexadecimal and ASCII formats. It has features similar to Microsoft’s Visual Studio and Word tools, including text highlighter, mark facility to go back to a portion in a file when needed, bookmarking, background search, clipboard, file import and export, jump tools, keystroke macros and so on.

Hibernate Hibernate is an object relational mapping (ORM) suite for Java that allows s to map object-oriented programming models to relational databases. It does so primarily by mapping Java classes to database tables, and Java datatypes to SQL datatypes. Through data query and retrieval facilities, it automatically handles the otherwisemanual process of object conversion from Java. It uses Hibernate Query Language (HQL)—a language similar in syntax with SQL written against Hibernate’s data objects. The latest version s Java8, Karaf, Jcache, JPA 2.2 and more.

TortoiseSVN This is a free Apache Subversion client that can be used as a Windows Shell

extension. It is useful for programmers to maintain different versions of program codes simultaneously. Its intuitive interface does not require the Subversion command line to run, making it easy to use for all levels. It also provides icon overlay, which displays the status of Subversion working copies. The latest version includes a major bug fix in the form of rectification of code execution through malicious svn+ssh URLs.

Moodle Moodle is an open source free learning management software with highly customisable features. A large list of plugins for various purposes like knowledge, activity, communication, collaboration teaching and so on can be accepted by Moodle to build a stronger learning suite. Some examples include StudentQuiz, Turnitin’s Moodle Direct V2 activity plugin, SAML2 Single sign-on, Content Pages, Plugin, Advanced Notifications, YU Kaltura Media Assignment, Media Resource and Media Gallery and Custom Course Menu.

Kee Safe This open source, free software is a Windows-major management system. It also s MacOS and Linux with the use of Mono. s may need to manage different s for different s— personal email, work email and so on. Kee can store all this information in various fields using name, , free form notes, encrypted file attachments and so on. The latest version also features file import; export of stored data in TXT, HTML, XML or CSV format; multi- ; and auto-type and global-autotype hot keys. www.EFYmAg.com

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LibreCAD: A Practical Tool For 2D Designs

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omputer-aided design (CAD) software play an essential role in creating design sketches—be it for small lab projects or industrial applications. If you want to digitally draw designs for your project, LibreCAD comes as a handy CAD tool. Forked out from the QCAD Community Edition project, it can run on multiple operating systems including Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS and OS X. Written in C++, this free open source software is fully customisable with active from the developer community. Documentation and guides are sufficiently available for s and developers alike.

Features LibreCAD is easy to learn and simple to use. As it is inspired by the popular AutoCAD software, s’ previous experience with this tool helps them start using LibreCAD straightaway. LibreCAD s only 2D modelling with a graphical interface based on Qt4 libraries. This maintains its operational consistency throughout all OS. LibreCAD s AutoCAD DXF file format for import or save. The overall interface is simple and organised. Drawing is done in the main black screen, which serves as the workspace. Multiple quick-access buttons throughout the interface allow smooth operations. The left has shortcuts to popular shapes like lines, circles and arcs, which can www.efymag.com

Fig. 1: The complete LibreCAD UI (Source: macworld.co.uk)

Fig. 2: Use of different line tools in LibreCAD electronics for you Plus | aPril 2018

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efy be incorporated through simple click-and-draw or drag-and-drop functions. The on the right shows the list of layers being worked on. It also displays the list of blocks being used in the project. s can choose to keep layers and blocks visible or invisible from this . On the top, there are generic menus like File, Edit, View and Select, as well as some operation-specific options like Layer, Block, Dimension, Modify, Snap and Info. Below the menu bar, there are some buttons for different zoom properties and layer-wise zooming, adding layers, copying layers, moving layers and so on. s can also access Save and Print options from this . They can change the layers from dropdowns below. At the bottom, command line displays commands, outputs and messages for your project. Tools let you change colour and size of the work area, and also customise the elements. Grid-view and guides help to keep design in the desired scale. ‘Explode text into letters’ feature allows insertion of text annotations into the drawing.

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Fig. 3: Setting up a layer in LibreCAD (Source: makeuseof.com)

Using LibreCAD effectively The palette and the list of retouching tools ii

Fig. 4: Measurements in LibreCAD (Source: makeuseof.com)

aPril 2018 | electronics for you Plus

in LibreCAD is quite extensive. Other than building from scratch, this CAD software can also edit external files. It s DXF and CXF file formats for opening. The tool also saves its files in the same formats. s can export the developed projects as image files in jpg, png, tif, bmp, ppm, xpm and xbm formats. As mentioned earlier, quick-access buttons eliminate the need to run around the maze of options to find your function. Tooltips make it even simpler. In case you are not familiar with a button or symbol, tooltips precisely tells its function. Aligning straight lines or blocks in the drawing is easy with LibreCAD. You can use snap-to-grid feature while drawing, which ensures all straight lines or shapes are placed along grids in the workspace. Plus, you can use the measurement tool (looks like ‘+’ symbol) to make all the dimensions accurate and maintain perfect spacing between elements as desired. Results are displayed in the output at the bottom. The layering feature also helps s arrange and assign elements in a more organised and easily identifiable fashion. s can selectively view or hide layers as required. www.efymag.com

efy

dvd Getting started

Fig. 5: The LibreCAD UI after startup (Source: makeuseof.com)

LibreCAD installation is pretty simple. For Windows and Mac, it is a simple confirm-and-proceed process. On Linux platforms like Ubuntu and Debian, it is available in the Ubuntu software centre and the main Debian repository, respectively. When launched, it opens the menu bar. You can start a new project or open an existing file from File menu. This will create a blank workspace. You can start your design from there. LibreCAD is available in many different languages, and is expanding for more. The software is licenced under GPLv2. The latest stable release includes bug fixes and for more files including DWG. It is a great tool for professional CAD s, graphic creators as well as selfs.

Would You Like More DIY Circuits?

www.efymag.com

electronics for you Plus | aPril 2018

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Symica: Circuit Design And Simulation Tools For All

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ymica software suite makes IC design easy and accurate. By including various tools including schematic editor, simulator (using SPICE), waveform viewer and analyser, it provides a complete ecosystem to design and develop electronic systems. Symica is compatible with Windows and Linux. It comes both as a free edition (FE) and paid version. Unlike full (paid) edition, its free edition does not mixed-signal setup. However, all the other offerings make up for this drawback.

Features Using schematic editor from Symica DE schematic development environment, designers can access the elements library to choose components and draw the circuit schematic. Other functionalities of the development environment include symbol editor and hierarchy editor. Designers can specify components using the component description format. Symica s different netlist formats like Spice, LVS, HSpice and Spectre. The created schematic is used by the SymSPICE circuit simulator to digitally run the circuit and show its behaviour. Developed by Symica’s inhouse R&D team, the SPICE simulation environment s all industryformat external netlists as well as transistor models. It delivers very accurate simulation signals through a graphical interface. The free edition s up to 300 elements for simulation and up to ten Verilog-A mode parameters. The waveform viewer in Symica, called SymProbe, provides a graphical representation of the simulation waveform. It also helps in simulation result analysis. SymProbe tool provides view of results for DC, AC, SWEEP and iV

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Fig. 1: A complete circuit schematic on Symica DE

Fig. 2: Customising a SPICE simulation

TRAN; customisable view of multiple plots; multiple X/Y axes in one plot; and flexible axes adjustment. It can also measure cursor waveforms and brings enhanced printing facility with vector EMF waveform output. Simple drag-and-drop operations make it easy to use. SymProbe accepts input formats like APB, NUTMEG, CSV, CSDF and RAW-SPICE.

In addition, Symica includes a symbol generator for primitive devices (like diodes, transistors and MOS) relevant to the ’s projects and a library translation tool that can import external libraries for use. As regards feature upgrades, the software now allows current probing for complex transistor models and sub-circuits. There are two modes of www.EFYmag.com

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dvd probing: direct plot and hierarchical net highlights. Also a project can be shared among distributed design teams.

The interface

Fig. 3: Simulation analysis through SymProbe

Fig. 4: Symica DE startup page

Symica DE features a familiar and easy-to use interface. It consists of a black dotted workspace, where schematics can be designed using drag-and-drop actions. s can tweak characteristics of components by right-clicking on them inside the workspace. The left consists of projects, netlists and components. You can either add components to your project or view existing ones by expanding the folders. On the top, there is a menu bar with File, Edit, View, Simulation, Symbol, Options, Window and Help buttons. Below the menu bar, there are some quick-access buttons. One of them resembles ‘play’ symbol. It allows s to start simulation of the built schematic. To the right of the workspace, there are more quick keys. At the bottom, there is a dedicated for displaying output results and error messages. When you turn on simuation, SymSPICE window opens to show signal behaviour of the circuit in graphical format. Menu bar on the top includes Plot, Trace, Tools, View and File options. Below the menu bar, you can find quick buttons for axes property update, plot updates and so on.

Applications

Fig. 5: Symica with Verilog compatibility

Symica can be used to design, evaluate and analyse system-on-chips, including high-speed multi-bit analogue circuits, analogue-to-digital conversion circuits, digital-to-analogue conversion circuits, phase-locked loops and high-speed controllers. It can be used both for small as well as large-scale projects. Symica is compatible with VerilogA codes. With more useful features like parametric cell creation, for global nets, buses and bundles, and enhanced printing, it is a perfect tool for electronics designers.

www.EFYmag.com

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ZenitPCB: Handy Tools For Creating Netlist And PCB Layouts For professional electronic circuit designers and even DIYers who want to test their design before physically animating it, ZenitPCB can be a great tool. This Windows-compatible PCB design suite allows designs with up to 1000 pins.

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he complete ZenitPCB suite consists of multiple tools. ZenitPCB Layout tool lets you design the main layout of the printed circuit board by using a netlist of components to be used. ZenitCapture Schematic tool allows you to choose components of the circuit and create a netlist. ZenitPCB tools are contained in a library called ZenitPCB Parts. The software can also read Gerber files through its PCB GerberView tool. The interface of ZenitPCB is compact—even with numerous application buttons and quick keys. It contains the main workspace in the middle. Below the menu bar, on the top, there are multiple quick-access keys that allow you to add circuit parts, save a file, print, search and so on. The left consists of projectrelated information including available projects, parts library and available netlists. To the right of the workspace there are shortcuts for different operations like drawing a line, square or circle in the schematic, adding text and so on. The workspace allows simple drag-and-drop operation, so handling the tool is simple. To start a new project, go to File on the top menu bar and click New. This will open a workspace on the ZenitCapture Schematic tool. The workspace is a sheet in black with green borders giving the position of elements to be placed. Now, you can select components and create your www.efymag.com

Fig. 1: A blank workspace on the ZenitCapture Schematic tool and the component quick-access button

Fig. 2: Saving the netlist

circuit schematic. Components can also be selected from the quick-access button below the top menu bar. First, click the desired element and then click on the workspace to position it. As soon as you add your first component, you will see a ‘+’ sign

appearing beside Parts option in the left . This indicates component addition to your circuit and netlist creation. You can expand this option to check out all the elements added. Elements can be connected by simply dragging (through the mouse) the conelectronics for you Plus | aPril 2018

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Fig. 3: Choosing the PCB dimensions

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bar of the ZenitCapture Schematic. You will find multiple menus including File, View, Select Elements, Setup, Part, Add and Help. Go to Part and click Package

Parts. Now, go to File and click Netlist PCB. Save the file. Your netlist is now ready for use in the layout. Next, go to ZenitPCB Layout tool and open a new project. Choose your PCB size and dimensions. This can be done by clicking Place in the top menu of this tool and then choosing Board Wizard. Next, set up your components in the layout board. Go to File and select Netlist under Import. Choose the netlist you want to use. Once the components are imported, place them on the digital board. You can modify components by rightclicking these in the workspace. To view Gerber files, click ZenitPCB GerberView button and choose the file. The program can open Gerber and NCDrill files and provide visualisation according to ASCII format. s can change layer colours in the visualisation or even hide layers for better viewing. The left shows physical layers and Drills available in the Gerber file.

What’s new

Fig. 4: A complete layout on ZenitPCB

Fig. 5: Hiding a layer in GerberView

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The latest version of ZenitPCB includes many improvements with issues fixed in all tools. In addition, new functionalities have been introduced. One of the most significant upgrades is the addition of 200 more pins, which allows s to use up to 1000 pins instead of 800 in the previous version. In ZenitCapture Schematic tool, features like auto-change of parts values, placed parts listing, auto-renaming of Net wires and locking of open projects, alternative text printing and printing in black have been introduced. In addition, the software suite s up to 1300 symbols. New features in ZenitPCB GerberView tool include hiding of layers during view, mirror view, printing (in centre page, printing in black and printing holes) and print preview. ZenitPCB is a very handy tool for practical circuit design. Explore all the options to check out the many possibilities that this software can deliver. www.efymag.com

make in india Market Survey

EnErgy StoragE: What’s Driving The Growth?

E Sudeshna Das is director at ComConnect Consulting

While lack of reliable grid power was a driver for traditional energy storage systems, ambitious renewable energy goals, growth in electric vehicle sales, and need for reduction in diesel usage will boost the sales of energy storage systems throughout the country

Transportation sector, 2230MW, 14%

nergy storage systems are essential for large renewable energy systems to provide a clean, resilient energy supply through local generation. The technology continues to prove its value to grid operators around the world, who must manage the variable generation of solar and wind energy. Several studies predict considerable nearterm potential for stationary energy storage as its costs are falling. In fact, its cost could reduce to $200 per kilowatt-hour (half the current price) in 2020 and $160 per kilowatt-hour or less in 2025. Besides, identifying the most economical projects and highest-potential customers for storage has become a priority for a diverse set of companies including power suppliers, grid operators, battery manufacturers, energy-storage integrators, and businesses having established relationships with prospective customers such as solar developers and energy-service companies. According to McKinsey, the global opportunity for storage could reach 1000GW in the next 20 years as the technology matures.

Indian scenario India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. However, its annual per capita energy consumption of around 1222kWh is far below the level in other developing countries like Brazil and China. Therefore India needs a clean energy revolution in order to provide energy access to its 240 million households Hotels, 350MW, 2%

Rural - Grid connected, 840MW, 5% Industrial, 1390MW, 8%

Shopping malls, 540MW, 3%

Grid ancillary services, 630MW, 4% SEZs, 1070MW, 7% Townships, 590MW, 4% Rural - Micro grid, 700MW, 4% Hospitals, 670MW, 4%

Agricultural, 910MW, 6% Data centers and cloud servers, 750MW, 5%

Military and Defence, 1000MW, 6%

Others (ATMs, railway, etc), 1000MW, 6%

Wind integration 14MW, 7% Telecom towers, 460MW, 3% Solar integration, 2091MW, 13%

Fig. 1: India’s energy storage market potential by 2020 (Source: India Energy Storage Alliance report)

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Significance of energy storage business Energy storage systems absorb and release power when required. Major forms of energy storage systems include lithium-ion, lead-acid and moulten-salt batteries, as well as flow cells. There are four major benefits of energy storage. First, it can be used to smooth out the flow of fluctuating power supply. Second, storage can be integrated into electricity systems so that if the main source of power fails, it provides a backup service. Third, storage can increase utilisation of power-generation or transmission and distribution assets, for example, by absorbing power that exceeds current demand. Fourth, in some markets, the cost of generating power is significantly cheaper at one point in time than another; storage can help mitigate fluctuating costs. Historically, manufacturers, grid operators, independent power producers and utility providers have invested in energy-storage devices to meet their own needs or service their territory. As storage costs fall, ownership will broaden and many new business models will emerge.

that still lack this basic farility. Moreover, urban middle-class population of the country, exceeding 250 million, aspires for the same level of energy access and power quality as in developed countries through movements like Smart Cities and sustainable living. Lack of reliable and quality power supply is a major obstacle to the development of manufacturing and industrial sector in India. Industries rely on diesel-powered generators, while households use inverters with batteries to deal with unscheduled power cuts, low voltages or variable frequency. Given this scenario, energy storage systems can play a key role across all segments in India. India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) estimates the Indian energy storage market to reach 16,445MW by 2020 (Fig. 1) and further up to 70GW by 2022. This huge market potential will attract huge investment. India has the potential to not only www.EFYmAg.com

make in india Table I

UTIlITy-scale energy sTorage applIcaTIons application

capacity requirement

classification

Discharge cyles per year

applicable technologies

Peak pricing arbitrage

4-6 hours

Bulk storage

200-400

Advanced batteries, compressed-air energy storage (CAES), pumped storage

Generation capacity

2-6 hours

Bulk storage

200-600

Advanced batteries, CAES, pumped storage

Transmission and distribution asset capacity

2-4 hours

Bulk storage

201-600

Advanced batteries, CAES

Frequency regulation

1-15 mins

Ancillary/power services

1000-20,000

Advanced batteries, flywheels, ultracapacitors

Volt/VAR

1-15 mins

Ancillary/power services

1000-20,000

Li-ion, advanced lead-acid, flywheels, ultracapacitors

Renewables ramping/smoothing

1-15 mins

Ancillary/power services

500-10,000

Advanced batteries, flywheels, ultracapacitors

Source: Navigant Research

become one of the largest markets for advanced energy storage technologies but also a global hub for manufacturing various energy storage technologies due to an attractive domestic market and strengthening of business environment. With Make in India programme, the government of India aims to encourage various technology developers to set up their manufacturing base in India. Although India missed the opportunity to set up mainstream manufacturing for solar, energy storage is an industry where Indian manufacturers can play a key role in the global supply chain.

Table II

bTM or off-grID energy sTorage applIcaTIons Market drivers

Energy storage technologies Broadly, energy storage technologies can be grouped into electrochemical and nonelectrochemical types. The most common energy storage technologies are: 1. Advanced lead-acid batteries 2. Flow batteries 3. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries 4. Nickel-based batteries 5. Sodium-based batteries 6. Other emerging electrochemistries 7. Pumped hydroelectric 8. Compressed-air energy storage 9. Thermal storage 10. Gravity-based storage systems 11. Flywheel 12. Ultra-capacitors 13. Superconducting magnetic energy storage (Source: IESA)

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Description/benefit

Demand charge reduc- Respond automatically to building load spikes Rising electricity rates, tion increasing electric vehicle (EV) use, increasing energy Time-of-use (TOU) Manage charging and discharging based on management system use energy bill management retail electricity rates Increasing solar PV installations

Onsite generation for self-consumption

Need for resiliency/power quality

Backup power/improved Protect sensitive equipment from power-quality power quality fluctuations/outages

Grid stability concerns and capacity needs

Ancillary services

Provide frequency regulation, voltage , electric supply reserve capacity, etc—improved efficiency of centralised generation, smoother integration of variable generation

Demand response

Manage charging and discharging based on retail electricity rates

Transmission and distribution investment deferral

Limit investments in new infrastructure through reduced peak demand

Market dynamics India’s energy storage potential is based on the combination of energy

customer applications

New utility infrastructure needs

Maximise consumption of onsite generation, primarily solar PV—reduced electricity expenses

Source: Navigant Research

resources, historical physical infrastructure and electricity market structure, regulatory framework, population demographics, energydemand patterns and trends, and general grid architecture and condition. The performance of these fundamental factors creates the demand for new products and services, and energy storage is increasingly being sought to meet these emerging requirements. The Indian energy storage providers are gearing up with large-scale pilot projects. While lack of reliable grid power was a driver for traditional energy storage systems, ambitious renewable energy goals, growth in

electric vehicle sales, and need for reduction in diesel usage will boost the sales of energy storage systems throughout the country. The government of India has set up 175GW target for renewable energy deployment by 2022, and it is evident that energy storage technologies will play a key role in achieving this goal. While specific drivers for energy storage markets vary with time, the overall market can be bucketed under three major segments: 1. Utility-scale or grid-tied applications refer to systems installed on transmission or distribution networks providing services to grid operators (Table I) ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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Grid-tied scenario Key applications at grid scale include provision of fast-response ancillary services such as frequency regulation, renewable ramp rate control, smoothening and firming up of renewable power as well as optimisation of transmission and distribution investments. Both policy makers and industry stakeholders are taking active steps for exploring energy storage integration in India. Major policy boosts by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) have opened doors to grid-tied energy storage deployment for ancillary services and renewable energy integration in India. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has mandated use of renewable power for telecom towers in India; currently, these towers use diesel power as the primary source of energy. These policy initiatives have resulted in tremendous opportunities for integration of energy storage technologies in a variety of applications. Immediate applications range from telecom tower backups to grid ancillary services and renewable integration.

Off-grid opportunities Need for electrification and insufficient power supply are one of the primary growth drivers for the offgrid energy storage market in India. Electricity consumption is imperative for economic growth, driving infrastructure and social development. Grid extension has high operational cost and demands high investment. Consequently, in remote areas with limited grid connectivity, diesel gen86

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

3500

700

3000

600

2500

500

2000

400

1500

300

Cumulative batteries in market (GWh)

800

contributing to the growth of residential solar energy storage market.

Electric vehicles to drive energy storage

India has launched a National Mission on Elec500 100 tric Mobility with a target 0 of six million electric vehi0 cles (four million twowheelers and two million Annual battery manufacturing Cumulative batteries in market four-wheelers) by 2020. Efficient rollout of the EV Fig. 2: Annual and cumulative battery requirements to meet India’s EV ambitions (Source: NITI Aayog Report) programme requires electrical distribution infraerators and energy storage systems structure upgrades and smarter play a crucial role. Technavio research systems to control/limit simultaneous estimates the off-grid energy market to charging of hundreds of EVs from the grow steadily at a CAGR of more than same feeder. 15 per cent by 2021. Further, India’s aspiration to The cost of diesel is higher in achieve 100 per cent electric vehicle remote locations due to the added (EV) sales by 2030 will drive up its high cost of transportation. In the rank among the top countries manuprocess of burning the diesel, diesel facturing batteries. However, this will engines make noise and emit carbon require a strategy to overcome India’s into the atmosphere. Solar photovolrelatively weak initial position in battaic (PV) systems produce clean and tery manufacturing while claiming an renewable solar power while creatincreasing share of total battery value ing minimal noise during operation. over time. India’s EV battery market The operating time of diesel generaalone could be worth as much as $300 tors can be reduced significantly by billion from 2017 to 2030. The country hybridising power systems, which could represent more than one-third will consequently reduce CO2 emisof global EV battery demand by 2030, sions. According to Technavio study, provided it meets the goal of a rapid demand for CO2 emission reductions transition to shared, connected and will gain traction in India’s off-grid electric mobility (Fig. 2). energy storage market. Since battery s for about The off-grid energy storage market one-third of the total purchase price in India is highly fragmented due of an EV, driving down battery costs to the presence of a large number by rapidly scaling up production and of international, regional and local standardising battery components vendors. There will be fierce compecould be the key to long-term success tition between big vendors offering for India’s automotive sector. In fact, advanced and differentiated products India’s EV mission could drive down and smaller vendors offering high global battery prices by as much as 16 quality at lower prices. per cent to $60 per kWh. Based on end use, the off-grid Immediate policy-level energy storage market in India can is needed to build the enabling infrabe segmented as residential and nonstructure for integration of EVs in residential. the electrical network so that these Majority of the population residmillions of EVs connected to the ing in India has limited access to grid power system can be leveraged as power, which encourages consumers virtual power plants that store surplus to adopt off-grid energy solutions such energy generated and the grid as solar home systems. For remote during moments of deficit. Globally, locations, solar home systems are ecoVehicle to Grid (V2G) technologies nomically viable and highly suitable to are evolving rapidly to achieve these meet the growing demand for power, objectives. 1000

2030

2029

2028

2027

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

200

2017

2. Off-grid applications covering behind-the-meter (BTM) systems are installed at the customer side of a utility meter and primarily help reduce costs and improve resiliency for commercial and industrial (C&I) or residential customers (Table II) 3. Remote power systems refer to storage systems operating as part of isolated electricity networks Remote power systems are still a niche segment compared to grid-tied and off-grid applications.

Annual battery manufacturing (GWh)

make in india

www.EFYmAg.com

make in india technologies like Li-ion and flow batteries are giving tough competition to use of lead-acid batteries for telecom towers. Expansion of the railway netwo r k , a m b i t i o u s target of metro trains and introduction of bullet trains make railways an attracFig. 3: Application-wise revenue share of lead-acid battery market in 2020E (Source: IESA) tive segment with growth prospect of 4 Batteries in demand per cent for lead-acid battery manuElectrochemical storage technology, facturers. primarily driven by secondary batIn India, Li-ion batteries are teries (lead-acid and lithium-ion), emerging as an environment-friendcaptures a major share of the Indian ly, rechargeable power source in energy storage market. Lead-acid batcomparison to conventional leadteries can be segmented into flooded acid, nickel-cium and nickelbatteries (used in deep-cycle applicametal-hydride batteries. These are tions) and VRLA batteries (suitable increasingly being used in consumer for standby power with low depth-ofelectronics products (such as smartdischarge characteristics). Advances phones and tablets) and healthcare in related technology to increase equipment (like surgical devices battery life-cycle, charge acceptance, and respirators). With continuing efficiency and discharge performance, technological developments, Li-ion as well as low upfront costs will influbatteries are also being used in the ence the growth of lead-acid battery automotive industry, particularly in segment. electric vehicles. However, in the IESA forecasts the lead-acid batabsence of proper domestic manutery market size to reach around US$ facturing, Indian manufacturers need 4 billion by 2020, representing CAGR to import Li-ion batteries from other of 13 per cent for the period 2015-20 Asian countries like China, Taiwan (Fig. 3). Currently, inverter and UPS and South Korea. applications take a major share (60 According to a TechSci report, per cent) of the stationary and motive the Li-ion batteries market in India battery market. In coming years, home will witness double-digit growth inverter market growth will stagnate at over 35 per cent annually till at 7-8 per cent due to improved power 2020. The government’s efforts to scenario and use of common power minimise carbon emissions and backup in new townships and societoxicity level in the environment ties of urban areas. are likely to drive the adoption Increased automation in C&I of Li-ion batteries across major segment with scattered locations of end-use industries including conIT offices and data centres in Tier 2 sumer electronics and automoand Tier 3 cities makes use of UPS tive. In addition, the government mandatory in India. This will lead to has announced tax exemption on a healthy growth (10-15 per cent) in electric vehicles powered by Li-ion this segment. batteries, which is anticipated to Renewable integration, especially drive the market further. Owing to solar PV and wind, as well as the govtheir compact size, lightweight and ernment’s thrust on electric vehicles high durability, Li-ion batteries are (EV) and e-rickshaws already makes expected to witness wider adoption this market very attractive. in telecom and data communication Telecom is another promising applications as well as energy storsegment for battery use, but newer age systems. 88

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

www.EFYmAg.com

make in india

StartUp Zone BLDC Fans Breaking The Efficiency Ceiling Nidhi ArorA

Expanded view of motor with various parts and remote

W

ith the vision to develop smart home appliances that not only solve India’s energy crisis but also bring in a wonderful experience and comfort to end customers, Manoj Meena and Sibabrata Das founded Atomberg Technologies to manufacture highly energy-efficient ceiling fan ‘Gorilla.’ Traditional ceiling fans running on the old induction motor technology are highly inefficient. No innovation has been done in the fan industry for decades. Meena and Das saw this as a big opportunity as well as responsibility. www.efymag.com

Their ceiling fans run on BLDC motor technology and offer the following advantages: 1. Only 28W power consumption as against 75W by ordinary fans, enabling 65 per cent saving with similar output in of air delivery and RPM 2. Speed control with a remote 3. Timer and sleep modes integrated 4. Three times longer running time on inverter 5. Noiseless operation 6. No heating of the motor, which results in its long life

7. Consistent output even with fluctuating input voltage 8. Internet of Things (IoT) framework to connect appliances or other applications 9. Break-even period of less than one year—which is better than LEDs Atomberg has sold more than 150,000 units of these fans since their launch two years ago. Sixty per cent of the shipments are made to B2B channels. To scale up, the company is now focusing on B2C segment. A pilot to understand retail has already started in Mumbai. Once the model is cracked, the company will replicate the same in tier-1 cities followed by tier-2 cities. It is also strengthening its online channel and expects 20-25 per cent online sales in the coming time. After graduating from IIT Bombay in 2011, Meena and Das bootstrapped for initial three years by undertaking data logging and process control projects for IITs and other R&D institutes. In this duration, they gained expertise in electronics hardware and motor development. Once motor prototype was developed, their biggest challenge was to set up a manufacturing facility and build a network of reliable vendors. Yet another challenge was to educate various customers about the BLDC technology and its energy-saving benefits. BLDC stands for Brushless Direct Current. As their name suggests, BLDC motors have no mechanical brush for commutation of windings. Commutation is deployed with the help of smart electronics, which senses the position of magnet rotor with respect to stator and controls the motor-driving switches. Winding’s magnetic field reacts with the field of permanent magnets on the rotor to develop the required torque. Gorilla motor design is optimised mechanically and electronically to minimise losses due to heating. This electronics for you | april 2018

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make in india is achieved by: 1. Smart motor tuning algorithm called AtomSENSE 2. Optimised motor design and material selection to reduce eddy current losses and copper losses 3. Stator and rotor design optimisation to reduce cogging torque and mechanical vibrations AtomSENSE motor tuning and calibration algorithm precisely senses various motor parameters in real time and controls the motor in a closed loop. There are various motor parameters that need to be precisely measured for driving the motor efficiently with zero noise. Motor phases are excited with a smooth sinusoidal current profile generated by the motor driver. This reduces harmonics and thus noise and power loss. The Atomberg team has won accolades such as: 1. National Entrepreneurship 2017 Award by Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, government of India 2. Global Climate Solver Award by World Wildlife Fund It has also participated in Global CleanTech Innovation Program, organised by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation in San Francisco, USA.

Business transformation For The Digital Age

K

liento Technologies helps enterprises redefine their businesses for the digital age. Through innovative technology solutions built 90

april 2018 | electronics for you

around digital, IoT, cloud, automation, analytics, infrastructure management and engineering services, it solves complex business problems for its customers. Founders Anurag Sharma, Shubhee Jaiswal and Avinash Bandil consider Kliento as a ‘next-generation’ technology firm, which not only provides a roap for the future but also a powerful model for any enterprise looking to thrive in this age of disruption. Kliento provides end-to-end digital transformation experience to its customers. Its team works with clients to understand their business and pain areas and analyses past data trends to forecast new solutions. It works out the best way to prepare the customer’s idea for development, review commercial and technical risks, and build the right product strategy to go to the market. After the client goes live, Kliento can have a and maintenance relationship in place for ongoing work. Kliento aims for the best utilisation of resources to maximise ROI for businesses. It empowers businesses with an easy application guide and training session to easily operate the solution and handle day-to-day operations and reporting. Solutions offered include digital transformation, business consulting, enterprise transformation, salesforce services, Microsoft services, customised web and mobile app solutions, and application maintenance and . Advanced service offerings include IoT, chat bots, data analytics, big data, data visualisation, artificial intelligence (machine/deep learning) and computer-vision image processing. Solution applications include school/staff/resource tracking systems, vehicle tracking systems, industrial IoT offerings, food-ordering POS solutions, sales executive tracking/reward management solutions and event management systems. Despite being quite new to the industry, Kliento already enjoys global presence and serves customers in more than five countries. It

is working in different industries including education, automotive, healthcare/pharmacy, e-commerce, hospitality, retail and supply chain.

Unique Mentorship platform For Skilled Professionals

F

ounded by Deepak Goel, KarmaCircles is a unique peerto-peer mentoring, networking and skill building platform where of a community can give and receive professional help seamlessly. Communities include universities, alumni associations, corporates, co-working spaces, etc. One can create affinity groups, search extensively among , ask queries, schedule time with each other, and publicly thank each other for their time and help. The community can get analytics on the effectiveness of communication, and achieve goals such as peer mentoring, fund-raising and engagement. Even if you aren’t part of any community, you could KarmaSphere—an all-inclusive community run by KarmaCircles itself. KarmaCircles’ growth strategy not only includes acquisition of new clients across the education, notfor-profit and start-up ecosystem but also places a great emphasis on the growth of its employees. HR policies such as monthly one-onone career growth meetings have ensured that the company builds a team that is invested in its mission. www.efymag.com

make in india

KarmaCircles team

KarmaCircles is trying to fundamentally change the way professional/social networks operate. A

www.efymag.com

typical social network encourages its s to share excessively, is addictive by design and doesn’t care about

the s’ time being wasted. KarmaCircles, however, has been designed as a utility product and saves s up to 90 per cent of the time wasted in getting help. The team believes that meetings with human voices involved cannot be replaced with texting or emailing, and have developed a proprietary AI-based algorithm that helps s schedule meetings effortlessly within minutes. The platform has currently formed professional networks from institutes such as NMIMS, MDI, NDIM, FMS, NIT Kurukshetra and several IIMs along with a few NGOs and professional networking communities such as TiE Delhi. KarmaCircles is available across all devices, which means you can access this app from your desktop PC, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or other tablets.

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New Products Make in india

Components Optical heart rate sensor

ROHM has introduced an optical heart rate sensor for smart bands and watches that is capable of measuring blood pressure, stress and vascular age at a highspeed 1024Hz sampling rate. The BH1792GLC consumes only 0.44mA (during heart rate measurement), contributing to longer operating time. 1024Hz sampling rate makes it possible to measure heart rate up to 32 times faster than conventional solutions while also ing vital sign sensing such as vascular age and stress measurement demanded by the latest wearable and fitness devices. ROHM Semiconductor www.rohm.com

System-on-chip for autonomous vehicles Renesas Electronics has announced R-Car V3H system-on-chip (SoC) that delivers high computer-vision performance and artificial intelligence (AI) processing at extremely low power levels for automotive front cameras in massproduced Level 3 (conditional automation) and Level 4 (high automation) autonomous vehicles. The new chip is optimised for use in stereo front cameras and achieves five times the computer vision performance of its predecessor. Part of the open Renesas autonomy platform for advanced driver-assistance systems and automated driving, it enables design flexibility for Tier 1s and OEMs to map their own road from assisted to highly automated vehicles. Renesas Electronics www.renesas.com

GaN drivers Expanding its gallium-nitride (GaN) power portfolio, Texas Instruments has 92

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

added two new high-speed GaN fieldeffect transistor (FET) drivers for speed-critical applications such as light detection and ranging (LIDAR) and 5G radio-frequency (RF) envelope tracking. The LMG1020 and LMG1210 can deliver 50MHz switching frequency while improving efficiency and enabling five times smaller solution sizes than those possible with silicon MOSFETs.

es. Developed in partnership with Monolith, these MOSFETs are designed to outperform silicon MOSFETs and IGBTs for ultra-fast switching in power conversion systems. Littelfuse, Inc. www.littelfuse.com

LEDs Everlight Electronics has developed 5630X-ELB LED series that not only provides 228lm/W (at 65mA, 5000K, CRI>80) but also meets DLC4.0 with light-on tests in high temperature range

Texas Instruments www.ti.com

Power modules STMicroelectronics’ new ACEPACK (Adaptable Compact Easier PACKage) modules provide cost-effective and highly integ ra t e d p owe r conversion for 3-30kW applications including industrial motor drives, air-conditioners, solar generators, welders, battery chargers, UPS controllers and electric vehicles. Features include optional solder-free press-fit connections, which simplify assembly as an alternative to conventional soldered pins, and metal screw clamps that enable fast and reliable mounting. Designers have the choice of sixpack modules that contain six IGBTs with freewheel diodes as a three-phase inverter, and power integrated modules that provide a complete driver power stage. STMicroelectronics www.st.com/acepack

SiC MOSFETs Littelfuse has added two 1200V silicon carbide (SiC) n-channel, enhancement-mode MOSFETs to its firstgeneration portfolio of power semiconductor devic-

(105°C), L90>36,000 hours and colour tolerance less than 3SDCM. Thus, these LEDs combine the advantages of luminous efficacy and stability for commercial, professional and industrial applications. Everlight Electronics www.everlight.com

BLDC fan driver IC Allegro MicroSystems has introduced a new sensorless BLDC motor controller that is claimed to be the most advanced solution on the market today. Automotive version of A5932, it is a three-phase solution for high-power automotive fan applications with very low vibration and audible noise requirements. MOSFET gate driver outputs permit motor currents that can be scaled to fit the application requirements. -friendly GUI interface allows fast evaluation and a shorter time to market. Key automotive applications include seat, battery, infotainment and headlamp cooling fans. Allegro MicroSystems www.allegromicro.com

Sensor for in-car cameras ON Semiconductor is now offering an AEC-Q100 qualified image sensor www.EFYmAg.com

New Products optimised for factory-fitted in-car DVR cameras. AR0237AT is a cost-optimised, automotivequalified sensor that offers Full HD video capture at 108 0 p / 6 0 f p s, as well as still image capture. The lowlight performance of AR0237AT further improves when it is coupled to a Clarity+ enabled DVR processor. ON Semiconductor www.onsemi.com

Switcher ICs Power Integrations has released InnoSwitch3Pro family of c o n f i g u ra b l e off-line CV/CC and flyback switcher ICs. Capable of delivering up to 65W and achieving up to 94 per cent efficiency across line and load conditions, the ICs permit precise, dynamically adjustable control of voltage (10mV step) and current (50mA step), via a simple two-wire I2C interface. Devices may be paired with a microcontroller or take inputs from the system U to control and monitor the off-line power supply. Power Integrations www.power.com

tools & equipment Isolated gate driver board Analog Devices, Inc. in collaboration with Microsemi has introduced a highpower evaluation board for half-bridge SiC power modules with up to 1200V and 50A at 200kHz switching frequency. The isolated board improves design reliability while also reducing the need to create additional prototypes—saving time, lowering costs, and decreasing time to market for power conversion and energy storage customers. Analog Devices www.analog.com www.EFYmAg.com

Wireless development kit Under the name 760308EMP-WPT200W, WürthElektronikeiSos and Infineon Technologies AG are offering a 200-watt development system for wireless power transfer. What makes this development kit special is that the link between the transmitter and receiver coils can be used to transfer not only power but also data. The 760308EMPWPT-200W development kit comprises a power supply, a transmitter unit and a receiver unit, and uses products from WürthElektronik and Infineon (MOSFETS, drivers, microcontrollers and voltage regulators). WürthElektronikeiSos www.we-online.de

IoT development board Startoon Labs has launched Slabs-32 board that allows quick prototyping of Internet of Things (IoT) based embedded systems. Applications include STEM based educational tools, robot controllers, data acquisition and logging using SD card, onboard data visualisation, and wireless data transmission to the server for further analysis. Industries can use Slabs-32 board for remote monitoring and control of their machines. The platform operates off +5V power supply and has a 3.3V LDO for all onboard electronics. It includes an 8-bit controller, a 32-bit controller (WiFi SoC), 12 GPIOs, five analogue inputs, two UART ports for serial communication, one SPI and one I2C port for interfacing external sensors, actuators and other peripherals. Startoon Labs www.startoonlabs.com

Test port adaptors Rosenberger has revised and expanded its product range of high-quality, ruggedised test port adaptors for vector network analyser (VNA) test applications. The product range

covers RPC-3.50, RPC-2.92, RPC-2.40 and RPC-1.85 in-series and inter-series test port adaptors for frequencies up to 70GHz. Their ruggedised construction minimises mechanical abrasion and ensures reliable protection. Rosenberger Hochfrequenztechnik GmbH & Co. KG www.rosenberger.de/de/index.php

misCellAneous Smart LED lights Svarochi has introduced smart LED lights that can be wirelessly operated with a mobile app. Consumers can switch the lights on and off, set these to the colour temperature of their choice (get the correct shade of white or yellow), adjust intensity and set any colour (from among 16 million available). The setup and operations are simple—consumers need to only know how to operate a smartphone. Svarochi smart lights are available under three categories: lamps, downlighters and spotlights. These are controllable with an app that will be available on Android and iOS. Svarochi http://svarochi.com/

Software MathWorks has introduced Release 2018a (R2018a) with a range of new capabilities in MATLAB and Simulink. R2018a includes two new products, predictive maintenance toolbox for deg and testing condition monitoring and predictive maintenance algorithms, and vehicle dynamics blockset for modeling and simulating vehicle dynamics in a virtual 3D environment. It also includes updates and bug fixes to 94 other products. MathWorks www.mathworks.com ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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make in india Project Report

Business Setup For PCB AssemBly Research Team, ComConnect Consulting

PCB assembly and design is a perfect opportunity for entrepreneurs who have a good electronics knowhow. This business can be started with a relatively small infrastructure and capital investment

P

rinted circuit boards (PCBs) are used in almost all electronic and electrical products, ranging from consumer gadgets such as PCs, tablets, smartphones and gaming consoles to industrial and high-tech products in strategic and medical electronics domains. These provide the base and connec-

EstimatEd dEmand in thE indian PCB markEt (in US$ million)

CaGr 2015-20

2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20

Automotive

34.82%

110

140

240

340

490

Mobile phones

23.58%

*

310

408

612

723

Strategic

21.64%

214

257

310

422

570

Industrial

17.99%

404

467

617

808

924

Telecom

16.34%

221

64

272

382

471

Consumer electronics 16.15%

790

950

1140

1380

1670

LED lighting

16.00%

400

470

570

690

840

Computer hardware

10.93%

250

80

310

360

420

total

20.65%

2389

3138

3867

4994

6108

*Not available

94

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

tivity to various electronic components such as resistors, capacitors, coils, pots, diodes, transistors, ICs and transformers to complete the electronic circuit. PCB assembly and design is a perfect opportunity for entrepreneurs who have a good electronics knowhow. This business can be started with a relatively small infrastructure and capital investment. In this article, we enlist the steps to set up a small-scale PCB assembly business.

Market potential India is one of the fastest growing electronics market in the world and is anticipated to reach US$ 400 billion in 2022, with domestic manufacturing climbing to over US$ 100 billion. This staggering growth leads to immense potential for the PCB market. According to an ELCINA study, domestic market demand for PCBs will grow annually at 20.56 per cent over the period 2015-20, and reach over US$ 6 billion by 2020 from the current level of US$ 2.38 billion (see table). www.EFYmAg.com

make in india What is a PCBA? Printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) is the board obtained after applying solder paste to the PCB and then mounting various components like resistors, integrated circuits (ICs), capacitors and transformers depending on the application and desired characteristics of the board. A PCBA usually undergoes reflow furnace heating to establish mechanical connection between the PCB and components.

Consumer electronics, LED lighting, automotive electronics and industrial electronics are all major drivers for the PCB industry. The current US$ 2.38-billion market represents demand for all types of PCBs, including bare-board as well as populated PCBs. Only 35 per cent of this demand is met by local manufacturers. Demand for bare-board PCBs is worth US$ 1.2 billion. Only 30 per cent of this demand is met by local PCB manufacturers. Thus this is the perfect time to start PCB assembly (PCBA) business.

Business setup According to the size of operation, PCBA manufacturing units can be categorised as follows: 1. Large-volume manufacturing 2. Small-volume manufacturing 3. Small-volume fast-delivery manufacturing 4. Small-volume complex-design PCB manufacturing Requirements of space, machinery, utilities like water and electricity, etc vary for all these categories. Raw materials. The major raw materials required include solder, flux, chemicals, adhesive, wires and PCB. The PCBA process always starts with the base, which is the most basic unit of a PCB. It consists of several layers, each of which plays a significant role in the functionality of the final PCB. These alternating layers include: 1. Substrate. This is the base material that imparts rigidity to the PCB. 2. Copper. A thin layer of conductive copper foil is added to functional sides of the PCB. This is the layer of copper traces. In single-side PCBs, copper is applied on only one side. Double-side PCBs have copper on both sides. 3. Solder mask. On top of the www.EFYmAg.com

copper layer is the solder mask, which gives each PCB its characteristic green colour. It insulates copper traces from unintentionally ing other conductive materials, thus preventing shorting. The solder keeps everything in its place. Holes in the solder mask are where solder is applied to attach components to the board. Solder mask is a vital step for smooth manufacturing of PCBA since it stops soldering on unwanted parts with shorts avoided. 4. Silkscreen. A white silkscreen is the final layer on the PCB board. It adds labels to the PCB in the form of characters and symbols. This helps to indicate the placement of all components on the board. These materials and components remain largely the same across all PCBs, with the exception of the substrate. The substrate material of a PCB changes according to the finished product requirements such as low cost and bendability. Machinery and tools. The musthave PCB assembly machineries include: 1. Heat-wave soldering machine 2. Oscilloscope (50MHz) 3. LCR-Q meter 4. Function generator 5. Power supply (0-30V, 3A) 6. 4½-digit digital multimeter

7. Analogue multimeter 8. Magnifying glass fitted with tubelight 9. Temperature-controlled soldering station 10. Soldering iron (25W) 11. Soldering iron (65W) 12. Variac 13. Rheostat Additional machineries, equipment and tools may be required depending on the nature of the final product, scale of operation, quality compliance requirements, etc. These include but are not limited to: 1. Torque-controlled screwdrivers (electric and pneumatic) to tighten screws and to speed up the production work. Various models are available in electric (AC and DC) and pneumatic categories. 2. Liquid dispensers to dispense glue, epoxy, solder paste, etc. Different kinds of dispensers are available, such as general dispensers, robotic dispensers, rotary dispensers, valves and valve controllers. 3. BGA and other repair or rework machinery 4. Tools such as wire and cable strippers, electronic pliers and screwdrivers, crimping tools, thermal wire strippers, heat guns, cable cutters, test and measuring instruments for power utility, and LAN testers. 5. Adhesives and cleaning products, cases and tool kits, ESD-control products, power tools, test instruments for field and portable use, wire-wrap tools 6. Microscopes, magnifying lamps, magnifiers, professional tool kits, pliers, cutters, precision screwdrivers and tweezers, alignment

Compliance checklist 1. Business registration certificate as per Ministry of Corporate Affairs, government of India regulations 2. Trade licence from the local municipal authority 3. Udyog Aadhaar MSME Registration 4. No-objection certificate (NOC) from Pollution Control Board and effluent treatment plant as per the norms of the Board 5. ISO certification for better customer acceptance. For example, ISO9000 defines standards for quality management systems and ISO14001 defines standards for environment management system, ensuring acceptability at the international level 6. Trademark registration to secure company brand 7. GST registration and other yearly compliance liabilities

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make in india Assumptions and basis for calculation 1. Quality & standards: As per customer specification 2. Production capacity: 54,000 units per annum 3. Shifts: Single shift with 75 per cent efficiency. Maximum capacity utilisation on singleshift basis for 300 days a year. During first and second years of operation, capacity utilisation is 60 per cent and 80 per cent, respectively. The unit is expected to achieve full capacity utilisation third year onwards. 4. Rate per PCB unit: Q

tools, knives, blades, scissors, wire strippers, service tools and brushes 7. Machines for radial and axial components cutting/components forming/components bending/components kinking, electronic components counter, selective soldering and rework systems 8. Humidity-controlled electronic components storage cabinets Manufacturing process. PCB assembly process consists of several manufacturing and quality control steps depending on the quality and specification requirements of the final product. However, the basic assembly procedure is quite simple. First, electronic components and the PCB are tested for the required specifications. In the assembly line, electronic components such as resistors, capacitors, coils, diodes, transistors, ICs and SCRs are fitted on the PCB at their appropriate location under different stages. Then the PCB is ed over the heat-wave soldering bath for soldering of components to the PCB. In the next stage, unwanted component leads are removed and components are checked for proper soldering with the help of a magnifying glass fitted with tubelight. Then with the help of appropriate test jigs, the assembled PCB is tested for its specification before despatch to the customer. Major steps involved in this procedure are detailed below: 1. Heat pressing and etching. Press the layout on the board using heat. Additionally, remove unnecessary copper from the board. 2. PCB drilling and conductor plating. Drill holes to match legs of electronic components. Then to go for nickel or tin plating on copper around holes so that components can 96

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

be soldered. 3. Soldering and testing. the PCB though the heat-wave soldering bath for soldering of components to the PCB. In the next stage, remove unwanted lead-ends of components. Check whether the circuit is giving the required voltage and current. Place electronic components on their respective location and solder them. Finally, with the help of appropriate test jigs, test the assembled PCB for its specification. Pollution control. The Indian government accords utmost importance to environment pollution control. Small-scale entrepreneurs should have an environment-friendly attitude and adopt pollution control measures by process modification and technology substitution. India having acceded to the Montreal Protocol in September 1992, production and use of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) like chlorofluorocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, halons and methyl chloroform need to be phased out immediately with use of alternative chemicals/solvents. Detailed rules for regulation of ODS phase-out were notified under the Environment Protection Act 1986, on 19th July, 2000. The following steps may help to control pollution in the electronics industry wherever applicable: 1. Fumes and gases released during hand soldering/wave soldering/dip soldering are harmful to people as well as the environment and end products. Alternative technologies may be used to phase out the existing polluting technologies. Numerous new fluxes have been developed containing 2-10 per cent solids as opposed to the traditional 15-35 per cent solids. 2. CFCs, carbon tetrachloride

and methyl chloroform are used to clean PCBs after assembly in order to remove flux residues left after soldering and various kinds of foams for packaging. These could be replaced with alternative solvents. Chlorinated solvents such as trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and methylene chloride have been used as effective cleaners in the electronics industry for many years. Organic solvents such as ketones and alcohols are effective in removing both solder fluxes and many polar contaminants. Skillset requirements. You must have good understanding of: 1. Functionalities of electronic components like transistors, capacitors, resistors, diode and ICs 2. Working of the electronic circuit 3. Different PCB base materials 4. Electronic design, components assembly and circuit testing 5. IPC/Mil standards 6. Circuit board design software like CAD, Allegro, Altium and PADS

Business economics Fixed capital. Production machinery and equipment cost=A Cost of office equipment, furniture, working tables, etc=B Electrification cost (@ 10 per cent of production machinery cost)=0.1A Preoperative expenses=C Total fixed capital=A+B+C+ 0.1A=D Operational cost per month. Minimum land and building requirements are as follows: 1. Land and building builtup area: 150sq.m 2. Stores: 50sq.m 3. Assembly and testing facility: 100sq.m Rent for the above-mentioned infrastructure/month=R Human resource requirements are as follows: 1. Servicing engineer cum manager: 1 2. ant/cum computer operator: 1 3. Skilled workers: 6 4. Semi-skilled workers: 4 5. Office boy/watchman: 1 Human resource cost per month=H www.EFYmAg.com

make in india Note The project profile may be tailored to suit the individual entrepreneurship qualities/ capacity, production programme and also location characteristics, wherever applicable.

Raw Material cost per month=M Utilities (power, water) cost per month=U Other contingent expenses per month=E (Contingent expenses include rent, postage and stationery, telephone/ telex/fax, repair and maintenance, transport and conveyance, ment and publicity, insurance, taxes and miscellaneous other expenses) Total recurring expenditure per month=R+H+M+U+E=I Total capital investment. Total fixed capital+Total recurring expenditure for three months =D+3I =T

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Financial analysis. Cost of production (per annum) =Total recurring expenditure per annum+Depreciation on plant and machinery @ 10 per cent +Depreciation on office equipment and furniture @ 20 per cent+Interest on total capital investment @ 14 per cent =12I+0.1A+0.2B+0.14T =N Sales turnover per annum =Item quantity (numbers)×Rate/ Unit (Rs) =54,000×Q=S Profit (per annum) before tax =S–N=P

Net profit ratio=(Profit×100)/ Sales turnover=100P/S Rate of return=(Profit×100)/Total capital Investment=100P/T Fixed cost (FC) per annum =Rent per annum+Depreciation on production machinery and equipment @ 10 per cent+Depreciation on office equipment and furniture at 20 per cent+Interest on total capital investment @ 14 per cent+Insurance +40 per cent of human resource costs including salary and wages+40 per cent of other contingencies Breakeven point (BEP)=[FC/ (FC+Profit)]×100

References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

http://www.circuitstoday.com/pcb-manufacturing-process#Assembling http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Printed-Circuit-Board.html https://www.pcbcart.com/article/content/PCB-manufacturing-process.html http://www.circuitstoday.com/pcb-manufacturing-process http://www.dcmsme.gov.in/reports/electronic/eleccomponentonpcb.pdf http://www.allpcb.com/PCB_raw_materials.html https://nextwhatbusiness.com

ElEctronics For You | April 2018

97

Do-it-yourself

eti Pre ta k a Bh

Vehicle Tracking SySTem Based On GPS And GSM ViVek kumar kamboj

P

resented here is an Arduinobased system for vehicle tracking using global positioning system (GPS) and global system for mobile communication (GSM) modules. GSM modem with a SIM card used here uses the communication technique of a regular cellphone. The system can be installed or hidden in your vehicle at a suitable location. After installing this circuit, you can easily track your stolen vehicle using a mobile phone. The author’s prototype is shown in Fig. 1.

Circuit and working

POWER INPUT

ATMEGA328

JACK1

AREF

ARDUINO

DIGITAL

BATT.1 9V

USB

DRIVER

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

ANALOG

GND 13 12 11 10 9 8

98

IOREF RST 3.3V 5V GND GND Vin

An actual-size PCB layout of GPS- and GSM-based vehicle tracking system is shown in Fig. 3 and its components layout in Fig. 4.

BOARD1

7 6 5 4 3 2 TX 1 RX 0

Construction and testing

Fig. 1: Author’s prototype

A0 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5

Circuit diagram of the GPS- and GSMbased vehicle tracking system is shown in Fig. 2. It is built around Arduino Uno board (BOARD1), 16x2 LCD (LCD1), GPS module, GSM module and a potmeter (VR1). Working of the circuit is very simple. To operate the circuit, you need to follow the steps given below: 1. First, install Arduino IDE 1.8.3 in your PC. Add GPRS_Shield_Arduino’s header file into the library of Arduino IDE. the file from https:// github.com/Seeed-Studio/GPRS_ SIM900 2. Include or add the ’s mobile number (on which you want to receive the GPS location messages) in the source code (vehicle_code.ino). Compile and the code onto the Arduino board using Arduino IDE 3. Once the code is burnt, make connections as shown in the circuit diagram. 4. Insert a valid SIM card in the GSM module connected with the Arduino board. Make sure that this SIM has necessary balance to send alert messages to the ’s mobile phone.

CON1 FOR GPS MODULE

CON2 FOR GSM MODULE Tx Rx Vcc GND

GND Vcc Rx Tx 4

15

16

RS LED+

LED−

5

6

R/W EN

7 D0

8 D1

9 D2

10

11

D3

D4

12 D5

13 D6

14 D7 VDD

LCD1 16x2 LCD

VO Vss

2 3 1

VR1 10K

Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of GPS- and GSM-based vehicle tracking system www.EFYmAg.com

efy Note

Do-it-yourself Parts List

Fig. 3: Actual-size PCB layout of GPS- and GSM-based vehicle tracking system

Fig. 4: Components layout for the PCB

Once you are done with connections and ing of the code, place the system (Arduino, LCD, GPS and GSM with SIM card) in the vehicle. Now it’s time to track the SIM card inserted in the GSM module. To track the SIM card,

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Semiconductors: Board1 - Arduino Uno Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon): - 10-kilo-ohm preset VR1 Miscellaneous: LCD1 - 16×2 LCD CON1 - 4-pin connector for GPS module CON2 - 4-pin connector for GSM module - 9V battery for Board1 - Jumper wires - GSM SIM card Jack1 - DC jack - NEO-6M GPS module with antenna - GSM module SIM900

send an SMS to the mobile number of the SIM card by typing “Track Vehicle” from your () mobile phone. After sending the message, wait for a few seconds until you receive location detail of the SIM card in the form of latitude and longitude values on LCD1 as well as in your mobile phone. Vary preset VR1 till you get clear visible text on the LCD1. After getting the latitude and longitude position (in decimal format), convert the first four digits of these values into degrees and minutes

The source code of this project is included in this month’s EFY DVD and is also available for free at source. efymag.com

like 28°38’ and 77°13’. Enter these values in the search box of Google Maps and then click Search button to find the exact location.

Applications The system can be used by individual vehicle owners as well as organisations to locate and track their vehicles. Organisations can use it to track the status of their product delivery by trucks at all times. It also helps owners to keep tab on their driver, preventing vehicle abuse and thus resulting in significant cost-savings. The system can be easily installed in any vehicle such as cars, boats and motorbikes. Vivek Kumar Kamboj is an electronics hobbyist with B.Tech in ECE from Kurukshetra University. His interests include mobile communication, embedded systems and electronic gadgets

ElEctronics For You | April 2018

99

Do-it-yourself

hi Nid uria h t Ka SaNi & eo th

Light AnimAtions Using Arduino And MAtlAb Shibendu Mahata and Saikat Patra

L

ight animations are visually communication via UART, SPI and appealing and hence widely I2C. The microcontroller can operate used for advertising purposes. at a clock frequency of 16MHz. In this In this project, we present a MAT- project, digital I/O pins 3 through 10 of LAB-based graphical interface (GUI) approach to control the glowing pattern of a number of lightemitting diodes (LEDs). Use of GUI is advantageous since the can control illumination patterns while performing other tasks in the PC. This project creates five different lighting patterns including ring counter and Johnson counter by clicking appropriate pushbuttons in the GUI. The blinking speed of LEDs can also be controlled using fast, normal and slow pushbuttons Fig. 1: Author’s prototype of the project in the GUI. The author’s prototype is shown in Fig. 1 and the MATLAB-based GUI in Fig. 2.

Circuit and working The circuit for controlling light animations using Arduino is shown in Fig. 3. It consists of an Arduino Uno board, eight LEDs and eight 1-kiloohm resistors. Arduino Uno is an AVR ATmega328P microcontroller based development board with six analogue input pins and 14 digital input/output (I/O) pins. The microcontroller has 32kB of ISP flash memory, 2kB RAM and 1kB EEPROM. The board provides serial 100

Fig. 2: MATLAB-based GUI

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

the Arduino are configured as output pins and used to control the illumination of eight LEDs. When a pushbutton corresponding to a particular pattern is pressed in the GUI, it executes the corresponding callback function in the source program (Illumination001.m.) The callback function executes program statements corresponding to that pattern and sends High or Low control signals to appropriate pins of the Arduino in order to create the desired glowing pattern. Eight series-connected 1-kilo-ohm resistors limit current flow through LEDs.

Software We used Arduino IDE to program the Arduino Uno. The latest IDE can be ed for free from Arduino’s official website. After , install the Arduino IDE and note the installation directory. ‘Legacy MATLAB and Simulink for Arduino’ p a c ka g e f ro m M a t h works website. Extract the compressed folder named ArduinoIO. From ArduinoIO folder, copy pde folder and paste it in C:\Program Files(or Program files x86)\Arduino\ libraries. (The path may be different depending on the installation directory of the IDE). After pasting pde folder in the www.EFYmAg.com

Do-it-yourself

Fig. 3: Circuit diagram of the project

correct location, open Arduino IDE. If you have pasted the folder in the correct location, you can find pde in File→Examples→pde. Open the code by proceeding as follows: File→Examples→pde→adioes Connect the Arduino Uno board to your PC. From Device Manager, note the COM port at which the Arduino Uno board is connected. From Tools menu in the Arduino IDE, select the board as Arduino Uno, and the COM Port number noted earlier. adioes code to the Arduino Uno board by pressing button in efy Note the IDE. The source code of Now copy the entire this project is content of the extracted included in this month’s ArduinoIO folder to a EFY DVD and is also folder in My Documents available for free (in Windows PC). at source.efymag.com This GUI application program has been developed in R2014a version of MATLAB. After installing this MATLAB version in your PC, open the file install_ arduino.m present in the directory where you copied contents of ArduinoIO folder. Now run the install_arduino.m file. This code will correctly install and save the path of the Arduino package. Open the source code file (Illumination001.m) for this project. Edit the line a=arduino(‘COM9’) with the COM port number in your PC where the Arduino Uno board has been connected. When you run the project file, MATLAB will try to communicate with the board. After successful communication is established, you can control LEDs by pressing the corresponding pushbuttons in the GUI. Shibendu Mahata is M.Tech (gold medallist) in instrumentation and electronics engineering from Jadavpur University. Currently, he is pursuing Ph.D from NIT, Durgapur. He has keen interest in MCU-based real-time embedded signal processing and process control systems

Saikat Patra is ionate about electronics and MCU-based embedded system applications

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101

. S.C Di ive w D

Do-it-yourself

Signal generator And inverter Using NE555 Timers Petre tzv Petrov

O

ften we require a squarewave signal generator with adjustable frequency, almost equal high and low output pulses and adjustable amplitudes. Here we present a simple, useful and low-cost signal generator built around NE555 timers. Using external switches, you can control or select frequency ranges as per your requirements. However, use of frequencies below 30kHz is recommended.

Circuit and working This project is divided into two parts: Power supply and signal generator. Power supply. The circuit of the adjustable power supply for the signal generator is shown in Fig. 1. It is built around a step-down transformer (X1), a bridge rectifier (BR1), LM317 adjustable voltage regulator (IC1), two 1N4007 diodes (D1 and D2), two LEDs (LED1 and LED2) and a few other components. The power supply output available at connector CON2 is variable. You can vary the output from 1.25V to 15V using potmeter VR1. The variable power supply can be used for

CON1 FOR 15V DC DC INPUT

C1 0.1u 630V F1 0.2A

X1

R1 100E 1W L 230V AC 50Hz AC INPUT

C2 0.22u BR1 1A

R2 100E 1W

N X1 = 230V AC PRIMARY TO 15V, 500mA SECONDARY TRANSFORMER

Fig. 1: Power supply circuit

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April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

additional adjustment of the timers’ amplitude. Signal generator. The circuit diagram of the signal generator is shown in Fig. 2. It is built around two NE555 timers (IC2 and IC3), an LED (LED3), seven BAT42 Schottky diodes (D3 through D9) and a few other components. The signal generator produces forward and inverted signals through IC2 and IC3, respectively. Table below shows calculated frequency ranges of squarewave signals.

IC2 operates as a frequency generator. The frequency (F) is determined by components connected to pins 2, 6 and 7 of IC2 as follows: F=1/{0.7(R7+R8+2xVR2)Cx} where Cx may be 1nF, 10nF, 100nF, 1µF or 10µF. Assuming switch S1 is closed and Cx=1nF and VR2=22-kilo-ohm, the minimal frequency (Fmin) is given as below: Fmin=1/{0.7(2k+2k+2x22k)1nF} =1/(0.7x48kx1nF) =29762Hz =29.7kHz approx. When Cx=1nF and VR2=0-ohm, Frequency ranges oF the maximal frequency (Fmax) is: squarewave signal Fmax=1/(0.7x4kx1nF) generator =1/(2800x1nF) closed capacitor Fmin Fmax =1000000/2.8 switch =357142Hz S1 C1=1nF* 29.7kHz* 357kHz* =357kHz approx. S2 C2=10nF 2.97kHz 35.7kHz* Here, forward resistances and S3 C3=100nF 297Hz 3.57kHz voltage drops of diodes D3 and D4 are neglected and inverse resistances of S4 C4=1µF 29.7Hz 357Hz diodes assumed to be infinity. S5 C5=10µF 2.97Hz 35.7Hz The frequency signal output pro*The calculated and actual frequencies may differ signifiduced by IC2 is available at connector cantly above 30kHz due to simplifications of the formula, CON4. The amplitude of signals can be differences in the parameters of timers and parasitic adjusted using potmeter VR3. Resiscomponents in the circuit tive dividers comprising R11 through R14 provide three D1 1N4007 more amplitudes. That is, the F2 output frequency of IC2 is 1A D2 = 1N4007 IC1 2 divided by 10, 100 and 1000. 3 LM317 These frequencies are also D2 available across CON4 at pins 1 C6 R4 3, 4 and 5, respectively. 100u R5 120E 35V 1K IC3 works as an inverter. CON2 R3 The amplitude of IC3’s invertFOR 1K 1.25V C3 ed output available at CON5 C7 TO 15V VR1 1000u 0.1u can be adjusted using potLED1 1.5K 35V meter VR4. Resistive dividers LED2 C5 comprising R17 through R20 C4 4.7u 0.1u provide three more amplitudes 35V by dividing the inverted output by 10, 100 and 1000. These GND inverted outputs are available across CON5. Diodes D6 www.EFYmAg.com

Do-it-yourself C8 1n C9 100n

CON3 FROM CON2

D3 BAT42

D6 BAT42

D4 BAT42

R6 2K

D5 BAT42

LED3

6

VR2 22K

GND

S1

S2

S3

S4

C11 1n

C12 10n

C13 100n

C14 1u 35V

8

4 RESET 7 DIS

R8 2K

R15 30E

R9 30E

C18 100n

R7 2K

C10 100u 35V

2

S5 C15 10u 35V

VR3 1K

R10 47E

R11 1.8K

Vcc

O/P 3

TH

TRI

CV 5

IC2 NE555 GND

R13 18E

1

C16 10n

R12 180E

D7 BAT42

D8 BAT42

CON4 FOR OUTPUT1 1 2 3 4 5 6

4

8

RESET 7 DIS 6

2

TH

O/P 3

IC3 TRI NE555 CV 5

C17 10n

R14 20E

Vcc

GND 1

D9 BAT42

VR4 R16 1K 47E

R17 1.8K

R18 180E

CON5 FOR OUTPUT2 1 2 3 4 5 6

R19 18E

R20 20E

Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of signal generator

through D9 protect timer outputs from over-voltage and under-voltage.

Construction and testing An actual-size PCB layout for the power supply is shown in Fig. 3 and

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its components layout in Fig. 4. After assembling the circuit on the PCB, connect the line (L) and neutral (N) to 230V AC mains supply. Variable power supply for the signal generator section is available at CON2. Connect

LED1 and LED2 on the front for power-status indications. The circuit can be powered by either 230V AC, 50Hz mains power supply with transformer X1 or 15V DC power supply connected to CON1.

ElEctronics For You | April 2018

103

Do-it-yourself Parts List

Fig. 3: Actual-size PCB layout of adjustable power supply

Fig. 4: Components layout for the power supply PCB

Fig. 5: Actual-size PCB layout of the signal generator

Fig. 6: Components layout for the signal generator PCB

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April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

Semiconductors: IC1 - LM317 adjustable voltage regulator IC2, IC3 - NE555 timer D1, D2 - 1N4007 rectifier diode D3-D9 - BAT42 Schottky diode LED1-LED3 - 5mm LED - 1A bridge rectifier BR1 Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon, unless stated otherwise): R1, R2 - 100-ohm, 1-watt R3, R5 - 1-kilo-ohm - 120-ohm R4 R6-R8 - 2-kilo-ohm R9, R15 - 30-ohm R10, R16 - 47-ohm R11, R17 - 1.8-kilo-ohm R12, R18 - 180-ohm R13, R19 - 18-ohm R14, R20 - 20-ohm - 1.5-kilo-ohm potmeter VR1 VR2 - 22-kilo-ohm potmeter - 1-kilo-ohm potmeter VR3, VR4 Capacitors: C1 - 0.1µF, 630V polyester - 0.22µF ceramic disk C2 C3 - 1000µF, 35V electrolytic C4 - 0.1µF ceramic disk C5 - 4.7µF, 35V electrolytic - 100µF, 35V electrolytic C6, C10 C7 - 0.1µF ceramic disk C8, C11 - 1nF ceramic disk C9, C13, C18 - 100nF ceramic disk C12, C16, C17 - 10nF ceramic disk C14 - 1µF, 35V electrolytic C15 - 10µF, 35V electrolytic Miscellaneous: CON1, CON3 - 2-pin connector CON2 - 2-pin terminal connector CON4, CON5 - 6-pin connector - On/off switch S1-S5 F1 - 0.2A fuse with holder F2 - 1A fuse with holder X1 - 230V AC primary to 15V, 500mA secondary transformer - 15V DC regulated supply or 230V AC mains - Heat sink for IC1

An actual-size PCB layout of the signal generator circuit (Fig. 2) is shown in Fig. 5 and its components layout in Fig. 6. After assembling the circuit on the PCB, connect variable power supply using a two-wire cable from CON2 to CON3. Connect LED3, switches S1 through S5 and potmeters VR2 through VR4 on the front for power-status indication, frequency selection and signal amplitude control, respectively. Note. For testing, you can also use 6V, 9V or 12V DC supply at CON3. Petre Tzv Petrov was a researcher and assistant professor in Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria and expert lecturer in OFPPT(Casablance), Kingdom of Morocco. Now he is working as an electronics engineer in the private sector in Bulgaria

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Do-it-yourself Pr Bh eeti ak ta

Voltage RegulatoR As Audio Amplifier Fayaz Hassan

L

M338 voltage regulator can also be used as an audio amplifier. The output voltage can be controlled by varying the IC’s reference voltage (pin 1), which is reflected as the output signal in the speaker. The IC can handle up to 5amp current.

S1 ON/OFF

SJ1 = SHORTING JUMPER TP2

BATT.1 12V

R1 4.7K

R2 6.8K

LED1 POWER

Circuit and working Circuit diagram of the audio amplifier is shown in Fig. 1. It is built around LM338 voltage regulator (IC1), BC548 transistor (T1), a few resistors (R1 through R7), two potmeters (VR1 and VR2), a loudspeaker (LS1) and a few other components. LM338 is configured as a class-A amplifier. Initially, its output voltage is set to mid value of the maximum Test Point output voltage. Voltages On receiving an Test point Voltage audio signal, the output signal TP0 0V (GND) swings to either Around 12V TP1 side of the mid TP2 10V vo l t a g e. T h i s

D1 1N4007

TP1

CON1 FOR AUDIO SIGNAL INPUT

2

C2 470u 25V

3

IC1 LM338

R6 2.2K

C3 1000u 25V

R5 330E

SJ1

C1 10u 25V VR1 10K R3 VOL. 470E

1

LED2 SIGNAL

T1 BC548

R7 47E 5W

VR2 5K

R4 100E

LS1 8−OHM 3W

TP0

Construction and testing

GND

Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of the voltage regulator as audio amplifier

Parts List Semiconductors: IC1 - LM338 voltage regulator - 1N4007 rectifier diode D1 T1 - BC548 npn transistor LED1, LED2 - 5mm LED Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon, unless stated otherwise): R1 - 4.7-kilo-ohm R2 - 6.8-kilo-ohm R3 - 470-ohm R4 - 100-ohm R5 - 330-ohm - 2.2-kilo-ohm R6 R7 - 47-ohm, 5-watt VR1 - 10-kilo-ohm potmeter VR2 - 5-kilo-ohm potmeter Capacitors: C1 - 10µF, 25V electrolytic C2 - 470µF, 25V electrolytic C3 - 1000µF, 25V electrolytic Miscellaneous: - 12V rechargeable battery BATT.1 CON1 - 2-pin connector S1 - On/off switch LS1 - 8-ohm, 3-watt speaker SJ1 - Shorting jumper - Heat sink for IC1

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Fig. 2: Actual-size PCB layout of the voltage regulator as audio amplifier

Fig. 3: Components layout for the PCB

audio signal is fed to the speaker through a capacitor (C3). The capacitor blocks DC components and allows only the audio signal to the speaker. Transistor T1 controls the ref-

erence voltage of the IC as per the input signal received at its base. The circuit works off a 12V DC, 1A current, which can be supplied by a battery or any other suitable power supply.

An actual-size PCB layout for the voltage regulator as audio amplifier is shown in Fig. 2 and its components layout in Fig. 3. After assembling the components on the PCB, disconnect jumper SJ1, set VR1 to minimum and turn switch S1 ‘on.’ voltages as shown in the table. Adjust VR2 to get about 10V DC at TP2, then connect jumper SJ1 again. Connect any audio signal as the input to CON1. The output volume can be controlled using VR1. Enclose the circuit in a suitable box. It is now ready to use.

Fayaz Hassan is a manager at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Andhra Pradesh. He has a keen interest in microcontroller projects, mechatronics and robotics

electronics for you | april 2018

105

Do-it-yourself . S.C Di ive Dw

5-Watt audio amplifier Using TA7222 Raj K. GoRKhali

H

ere is a simple 5-watt mono audio amplifier using IC TA7222 that drives a 4-ohm speaker using a 9V battery or a 9V DC adaptor. You can also make a stereo amplifier by using two identical circuits.

Circuit and working Circuit diagram of the 5-watt audio amplifier is shown in Fig. 1. Apart from audio amplifier TA7222 (IC1) and a 4-ohm speaker (LS1), this 5-watt AF amplifier uses a few resistors and capacitors, a potmeter and two connectors.

CON1 FOR 9V

C1 470u 25V

CON2 VR1 FOR 100K AUDIO INPUT

Parts List Semiconductors: IC1 - TA7222 audio amplifier Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon): R1 - 27-kilo-ohm R2 - 220-ohm VR1 - 100-kilo-ohm potmeter Capacitors: - 470µF, 25V electrolytic C1, C5 C2 - 4.7µF, 25V electrolytic C3, C4 - 47µF, 25V electrolytic C6 - 0.1µF ceramic disk Miscellaneous: - 2-pin terminal connector CON1 CON2 - 2-pin connector - 4-ohm, 5-watt speaker LS1 - 9V DC/9V battery - Heat-sink for TA7222

IC TA7222 (IC1) is the heart of the circuit. This IC has ten pins. Pin 1 is connected to +9V power supply. 470µF, 25V capacitor (C1) connected between +9V and ground acts as a filter. Pins 2 and 3 of the IC are not used. Pin 4 is connected to audio input terminal through potmeter VR1, capacitor C2 and resistor R1. Potmeter VR1 is used to control the audio input signal. Pin 5 of the IC is connected to the ground through resistor R2 and capacitor C3. Pin 6 is not used. Pins 7 and 8 are grounded. Capacitor C4 is connected between pins 9 and 10. Pin 9 is connected to the ground through capacitor C6. It is also connected to 106

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

5

6

7

8 9 10

BS

FB

INPUT 4

GND OUTPUT

3

GND

2

GA

1

MC

Vcc RIPPLE

IC1

TA7222

C4 47u 25V

R1 27K

R2 220E C2 4.7u 25V

C3 47u 25V

C5 470u 25V C6 0.1u

LS1 4−OHM 5−WATT

GND

Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of 5-watt audio amplifier using IC TA7222

is shown in Fig. 3. Audio input is given at CON2. After assembling the circuit, do calibration and adjustment as follows: Connect 9V battery to the circuit at CON1. Connect 4-ohm, 5-watt speaker at LS1. Now gently adjust the volume-control potmeter (VR1) to mid position. Take a metal screwFig. 2: Actual-size PCB layout of 5-watt audio amplifier driver and gently touch at the audio input (CON2). You should hear humming sound from the speaker. If so, your amplifier is ready to use. After calibration, enclose the assembled PCB in a small plastic box. Note. 1. This circuit can work with power supplies ranging from 6V to 12V DC. 2. Do not use a high-wattage solFig. 3: Components layout for the PCB dering iron for IC1 as it can damage the IC. Use a suitable heat-sink to protect IC1 from overheating. the 4-ohm speaker (LS1) through capacitor C5.

Construction and testing An actual-size PCB layout of 5-watt audio amplifier using IC TA7222 is shown in Fig. 2. Its components layout

Raj K. Gorkhali is electronics enthusiast

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Do-it-yourself

Pr Bh eeti ak ta

AutomAtic certificAte GenerAtion Using MATLAB Vijaykumar Sajjanar

M

ATLAB is a versatile tool that can automate many tasks. Presented here is a MATLAB code to generate certificates for workshops, conferences, symposiums, etc. Conventionally, educational institutions and companies use specialised tools for report cards and certificates generation on a large scale. This MATLAB code can be extended to generate analysis reports for large data sets as well.

Overview The project overview is shown in Fig. 1. File name of the blank certificate (A) is used as input in the code. Details to be written on the certificate are obtained from an Excel sheet (B). The data is written over the blank certificate and many such certificates are generated by the MATLAB code (C). The certificates generated by the program can be saved in a folder with a unique file name (D).

Description The three major steps involved in this project are shown in Fig. 2. Base image can be in any colour and should be in tif, jpg or png format. The image generated by the program retains properties of the base image. Source code given here only inserts text on the image. Data to be written can be in either .xls or .xlsx format. MS Excel is preferred as it’s a powerful mathematical and statistical tool. It allows data to be internally computed and analysed within the file. The position at which text is to be inserted can be identified using simple image editor tools such as MS Paint and Picture Manager. Pixels or picture elements are the most basic elements of an image. An image of 1024×768 resolution contains 786,432 pixels or nearly 0.79 megapixels. Pixel positions to be identified are as many as www.efymag.com

Fig. 1: Project overview reading Base image and Data to be written Base Image is a raw/blank image in various file formats

Data to be embedded in the image is stored in MS Excel sheet

Working environment

Fig. 3 shows folder contents of the Inserting colour/font formatted data from excel sheet Identifying Area to be edited with text to images M AT L A B wo r k i n g d i r e c t o r y. Generate new images and Save MainCode.m, CerObserve matlab figures, identify and save images in required file formats tificate_Blank.tif Fig. 2: Major steps and procedures in the project and Registration_ Details.xls files the number of texts should be saved in the same folder. and numbers to be MainCode.m is the MATLAB M-file inserted on the image. containing the main code, CertifiThe project code can cate_Blank.tif is the base image, and be very easily manipu- Certificate_Topic from 1 through 6 are lated for similar image certificates generated from the data in Registration_Details.xls. While runprocessing tasks. T h e g e n e r a t e d ning M-file, MATLAB should be perMATLAB figures or mitted to change directory to the locaimages can be saved tion where the main folder is saved. Fig. 3: MATLAB into separate files working environment or a single file as Future scope per requirement. By Analysis and presentation of large data default, the code saves the generated sets is a tedious task in applications image in tif format with a unique name. such as Big Data, IoT and sensors-actuWith simple code modifications, images ators modelling. The project presented here can be extended and customised can also be ported to a PDF file. for analysis and reports generation in these applications. Manipulate Base image and add text

efy Note

The source code of this project is included in this month’s EFY DVD and is also available for free at source.efymag.com

Vijaykumar Sajjanar is an assistant professor in the department of electronics & communication, BLDEA’s CET, Vijayapur, Karnataka

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Do-it-yourself

Mini Fridge With Peltier Modules T.K. Hareendran

I

t was in the middle of 1821 when J.T. Seebeck discovered that if two dissimilar metals connected at two different points are held at different temperatures, a microvoltage develops. This phenomenon is called Seebeck effect. Some years later, Peltier discovered that if a voltage is applied to a thermocouple, one junction of the thermocouple heats up while the other cools down. Fig. 1: Key components for DIY Peltier cooler Opposite of the Seebeck effect is called the Peltier effect. SpecificationS of This guide to deg a little 40×40mm2 tec1-12706 solid-state cooler engine is centered on the commonly available Peltier Min. Max. chip. A Peltier chip is a thermo-eleHot-side temperature (°C) 25 50 ment that utilises the Peltier effect to Qmax (watts) 50 57 implement a heat pump. It has two plates, one cold and the other hot. Delta Tmax (°C) 66 75 Between the plates there are several Imax (amps) 6.4 6.4 thermocouples connected together. If Vmax (volts) 14.4 16.4 a proper voltage is applied, one plate Module resistance (ohms) 1.98 2.30 becomes cold and the other plate becomes hot. The Peltier chip is called a heat indicate operating current rating for pump because it neither generates the Peltier. So, 06 denotes ‘6 amperes.’ heat nor cold. It just transfers heat Peltier cooler from one plate to another, thus coolA Peltier cooler is a cooler engine ing the first plate. It is also popularly comprising a Peltier element (TEC called thermoelectric cooler (TEC) chip). When a direct current is ed chip. In short, by applying a direct through a TEC chip, the low-tempercurrent (DC) to the TEC chip, temature side absorbs heat and the highperature differences are generated temperature side emits heat, creating between the front and back of the a temperature difference across the device (Peltier effect), and you end two surfaces. However, since the heat up with a hot and a cold surface. emitted is more reactive to the amount TEC1-12706 is a common thermoof electricity input into the module electric cooler chip available from than the heat absorbed, if a direct curmost eBay traders. rent is continuously ed through In TEC1-12706, the letter C after the chip the emitted heat exceeds the TE indicates ‘standard size,’ and 1 absorbed heat and both sides of the indicates ‘one-stage’ TEC. Right next unit become hot. Because of this, it comes a dash. After the dash, the first is crucial to connect the TEC chip to three digits indicate the number of a radiator such as aluminium fins to thermocouples inside the TEC. Here, efficiently disperse the emitted heat. it has 127 couples. Next two numbers 108

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You

In short, when DC voltage is applied to the TEC chip, positive and negative charge carriers in the pellet array absorb heat energy from one substrate surface and release it to the substrate at the opposite side. The surface where heat energy is absorbed becomes cold, and the opposite surface where heat energy is released becomes hot! The Peltier cooler also includes a powerful heat-sink/ fan combination to cool the TEC chip. Table below depicts specifications of a TEC1-12706 thermoelectric cooler chip. You can buy a U heat-sink and fan unit with almost the same specifications as the U fan for AMD processors: 80.6×80.6×69.4mm 3 with aluminium fin heat-sink. The additional 60×60mm 2 aluminium heat-sink plate (and thermal grease) is also available at reasonable price. Fortunately, you can buy most of these key components from prominent eBay and/or Amazon sellers (see Fig. 1).

TEC chip and basic test Before starting an actual construction with a TEC chip, test it for proper working condition. For that, just connect the red (+) and black (-) wires of the TEC chip (TEC1-12706) to a 1.5V DC lab power supply and keep the power supply on for 10 to 30 seconds. Thereafter you can test the TEC chip using your fingertip or digital thermometer to ensure that one side of the chip is hot and the other side cold. Just mark down hot and cold faces of the TEC chip (for example, with letters H and C) using any permanent marker pen.

Powering up The assembled cooler engine (thermoelectric cooler chip, heat-sink and www.EFYmAg.com

Do-it-yourself cooling fan, all assembled) can be powered from a 12V, 6A+ switchmode power supply (SMPS) unit/ module, like the one shown in Fig. 3. Else, try a 12V/7Ah SMF battery. If everything is okay, you will see traces of frost appearing on the plate within seconds. Note that the primary function of a Peltier chip is cooling, and Peltier chips have different power ratings corresponding to how fast the cold side is able to cool down an object. Another factor generally specified is delta-T (dT), which is the maximum difference between temperature on both sides. Further, Peltier chips don’t function as per specifications, unless there is something to help in taking the heat out from the hot side. That’s why a beefy heat-sink is called for. It’s the ambient air with its temperature where heat is dissipated. Well, the assembled and tested cooler engine can now be used to build your own mini refrigerator, can cooler or a tiny air-conditioner. A bit of googling will hopefully provide you fascinating ideas on that.

when optimising costs, a design with a lower COP should be used.

DC or PWM?

Fig. 2: Testing the TEC chip

Fig. 3: 6A-8A, 12V switch-mode power supply

There are two power supply/controller modes for thermoelectric coolers to operate by the Peltier effect: DC and PWM. Although in many situations PWM is used to drive Peltier elements, most Peltier element manufacturers suggest DC mode and explicitly advise against direct PWM control of Peltier elements. It’s reported that Peltier elements controlled by PWM are always less efficient than applications controlled by DC. Another issue with PWM mode is electro-magnetic interference (EMI) in the wiring to the Peltier element. Some experts recommend the use of PWM with an L-C filter to get a clean drive current at higher frequencies, while others prefer the comparatively simple DC mode. Anyway, according to documentations, it is important that the drive current is constant and smooth with very low ripple and noise to achieve good stability. Ripples reduce cooling capability of the Peltier element.

TEC controllers/drivers

Linear or SMPS?

Sometimes you need a dedicated TEC controller/driver. Certainly, there are numerous devices available for advanced applications. On eBay, you can find several devices that would do the job. Fig. 4 shows such a featurerich device, surprisingly with one channel to accept inputs from an NTC thermistor for temperature stabilisation. A TEC controller regulates the current supplied to the Peltier chip according to the desired temperature of the object and the actual measured object temperature. To be able to control the temperature of the object, you have to place the sensor on the object. Note that it’s important to place the sensor as close as possible to the critical point on the object where you need to maintain the desired temperature. Since fan cooling of the heat-sink reduces thermal resistance from the heat-sink to the ambient air, most high-end TEC controllers have dedicated fan-control outputs backed by pulse-width modulation (PWM) tech-

There are two popular solutions to generate the required DC for driving Peltier elements—linear and SMPS. Since Peltier elements/linear power supply units are driven by direct current, linear power supply units will work optimally but these have a poor efficiency. On the other hand, SMPS units have a high efficiency (>90%) as their electronic design leads to fewer losses. For this reason, linear power supplies are not recommended to drive Peltier elements.

www.EFYmAg.com

Fig. 4: Peltier controller sPLC-10

nique. Therefore the fan increases the thermal performance and reduces the temperature difference (dT), allowing use of smaller heat-sinks.

Coefficient of performance An important measure when selecting a Peltier element is the coefficient of performance (COP). COP is defined as the heat absorbed at the cold side divided by the input power of the Peltier element. The result of a maximum COP is minimum Peltier input power. Thus minimal total heat has to be dissipated by the heat-sink. The lower heat-sink temperature results in a lower dT. So smaller heat-sinks can be used, allowing a more spacesaving design. On the other hand,

Author’s note This article shares the essentials and some ideas for the purpose of stimulating imagination and creativity. Readers can purchase most key components from eBay.in, and XK2412DC SMPS module and SPLC-10 Peltier controller from markets abroad.

T.K. Hareendran is founder and promoter of TechNode Protolabz

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rs’ index Client name

Page No.

Client name

Page No.

Client name

Page No.

Analog Devices (www.analog.com) .........................................................27

HK Wentworth (India) Pvt Ltd ...................................................................3

Perfect Metal Works............................................................................... 119

Anritsu India Pvt Ltd ...............................................................................123

India Electronics Week 2019 ...................................................................29

Perfect Radios........................................................................................ 118

Arihant Impex (www.golecha.com) ....................................................... 118

Indian Technological Products Pvt Ltd (www.itpindia.com) ................... 113

Positronic Pvt. Ltd ......................................................................................9

Artesyn Embedded Technologies ............................................................87

INGUN India Pvt Ltd ................................................................................29

Progressive Engineers .......................................................................... 114

auro controls (www.aurocontrols.com) ....................................................95

Jai Mata Electronics ............................................................................... 119

Qingdao Ainuo Intelligent Instrument Co Ltd., China ..............................83

Aviva Smart Solutions Technologies Pvt Ltd. ........................................ 116

Keysight Technologies India Pvt Ltd (www.keysight.com) ........................5

Rajguru Electronics ................................................................................ 117

Avnet Electronics India ............................................................................21

Kits‘N’Spares............................................................................................67

RECOM Asia Pte Ltd ...............................................................................35

Binay Opto Electronics Pvt Ltd (www.binayLED.com) .......................37-39

LORD India Pvt Ltd ................................................................................122

Rhydo Technologies P Ltd (www.rhydo.com)........................................ 111

Chipmax Designs Pvt Ltd ........................................................................49

LWI Electronics Inc. (www.livewireinfo.com) ...........................................23

Rohde & Schwarz (www.rohde-schwarz.co.in) .......................................45

Connexus Technologies Private Limited ............................................... 116

MathWorks ...............................................................................................15

ROHM Semiconductor .............................................................................36

CYG Wayon Circuit protection Company Ltd. ...........................................6

Matrix Comsec Pvt. Ltd............................................................................25

Sakthi Accumulators Private Ltd ............................................................ 119

Digi-Key Electronics (www.digikey.com)....................................................2

Meco Meters Pvt Ltd (www.mecoinst.com) .................................55, 57, 59

SAMWHA India Energy Savings Pvt Ltd ............................................... 115

Digital Promoters (I) Pvt Ltd................................................................... 118

Microchip Technology Hong Kong Ltd. (www.microchip.com) ................17

Shruti Mechatronics ............................................................................... 118

EFY Group: Subscripton form..................................................................47

Millenium Semiconductors (www.millenniumsemi.com) .........................41

Sri Shakti Industries ............................................................................... 115

EID ...........................................................................................................75

Montu Electronics LLP ........................................................................... 118

STMicroelectronics Marketing Pvt. Ltd. ...................................................79

ELectrogig Technologies (www.electrogig-tech.com)............................ 118

Mornsun Guangzhou Science & Technology Co. Ltd. ............................53

Supra Hitech Electro Equipments.......................................................... 115

element14 India Pvt Ltd .............................................................................1

Mo Electronics India PVT Ltd .............................................................7

System Level Solutions (India) Pvt. Ltd. ..................................................73

Fujitsu Electronics Pacific Asia Ltd. .........................................................31

Nimesh Electronics ................................................................................ 119

Taiyo Yuden (Singapore) Pte Ltd (www.ty-top.com)................................91

Fusion Power Systems (www.amptek.in) .............................................. 112

NMTronics India Pvt Ltd (www.nmtronics.com).......................................13

Thakor Electronics Ltd. .......................................................................... 114

Hapstronics Technology Private Limited.................................................. 11

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.........................62-63

Unique Air Express (www.uniqueairexpress.com) ..................................19

Hind Electronika India Private Limited (www.hindelec.com) ..................51

Pasternack .............................................................................................124

Volga Innovation (www.volgain.com)..................................................... 112

rs’ product categories index Products

Page No.

Products

Page No.

Products

Page No.

Automation & Robotics

Mo Electronics (India) Private Limited .......... 7

LORD India Pvt. Ltd ......................................... 122

Nimesh Electronics ............................................118

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors (Malaysia)

Progressive Engineers ......................................114

Sdn. Bhd. .................................................... 62-63

Products

Page No.

Perfect Radios ..................................................118 Rajguru Electronics ..........................................117 Shruti Mechatronics ..........................................118

Batteries & Power Supplies

Pasternack ....................................................... 124

Optics & Optoelectronics

Artesyn Embedded Technologies ....................... 87

Perfect Metal Works ..........................................119

Binay Opto Electronics Pvt Ltd ...................... 37-39

Sensors & Transducers

Aviva Smart Solutions Technologies Pvt Ltd .....116

Rajguru Electronics ..........................................117

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors (Malaysia)

Auro Controls ..................................................... 95

Fusion Power Systems ......................................112

RECOM Asia Pte Ltd ......................................... 35

Montu Electronics LLP ......................................119

ROHM Semiconductor ....................................... 36

Qingdao Ainuo Intelligent Instrument

Shruti Mechatronics ..........................................118

PCBs, Assemblies & Sub Assemblies

Sri Shakti Industries ..........................................115

Hapstronics Technology Private Limited..............11

Co Ltd., China.................................................. 83 Supra Hitech Electro Equipments......................115 Cabinets, Enclosures & Accessories

STMicroelectronics Marketing Pvt Ltd ................ 79 Taiyo Yuden (Singapore) Pte Ltd ........................ 91

Plugs, Sockets & Connectors

Thakor Electronics Ltd .......................................114

Auro Controls ..................................................... 95 INGUN India Pvt. Ltd .......................................... 29

Jai Mata Electronics .........................................119 VOLGA Innovation .............................................112

Sdn. Bhd. ................................................... 62-63

Educational Training Kits

Positronic Pvt. Ltd................................................. 9

Rhydo Technologies P Ltd ................................111 Reseller and Distributors

Components (Including Active & ive) Analog Devices................................................... 27

Industrial & Manufacturing Equipment

Auro Controls ..................................................... 95

Avnet Electronics India ...................................... 21

Chipmax Designs Pvt Ltd .................................. 49

Avnet Electronics India ...................................... 21

Connexus Technologies Private Limited ...........116

NMTronics India Pvt Ltd ..................................... 13

Connexus Technologies Private Limited ...........116 Digi-Key Electronics ............................................ 2

Digi-Key Electronics ............................................ 2

Services Aviva Smart Solutions Technologies Pvt Ltd .....116 Rhydo Technologies P Ltd ................................111 Switches & Relays Sri Shakti Industries ..........................................115 Telecom Products Matrix Comsec Pvt. Ltd ...................................... 25 Test & Measurement Equipment (Including Indicators & Monitors) Hind Electronika India Private Limited ............... 51

Digital Promoters (I) Pvt Ltd .............................118

Logistics

Digital Promoters (I) Pvt Ltd .............................118

Keysight Technologies India Pvt Ltd ..................... 5

element14 India Pvt Ltd ....................................... 1

Unique Air Express ............................................. 19

element14 India Pvt Ltd ....................................... 1

Meco Meters Pvt Ltd............................... 55, 57, 59

Indian Technological Products Pvt Ltd ..............113

Rohde & Schwarz .............................................. 45

LWI Electronics Inc. ........................................... 23

Materials (Including Chemicals &

LWI Electronics Inc. ........................................... 23

Microchip Technology Hong Kong Ltd ................ 17

Consumables)

Millenium semiconductors ................................. 41

Wireless Modules/Modem

Millenium semiconductors ................................. 41

HK Wentworth (India) Pvt Ltd .............................. 3

Mo Electronics (India) Private Limited .......... 7

System Level Solutions (India) Pvt Ltd ............... 73

Indian Technological Products Pvt Ltd ..............113

120

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internet of things EFY Magazine Attractions During 2018 The system solution to mitiMonth SEnSoRS tECh FoCUS SPI Serial Flash gating something like this is to Main Storing Device Controller January Modern sensor technology implement secure boot for theand applications Smart City framework FW main PLC U. This is a way of auFebruary Role of sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT) Technologies for taking Internet to remote thenticating the firmware and only areas (like whitespace) accepting software that has a valid PowerMarch signature. EmbeddedDepending sensors for critical Smart wearables,MAXQ1050 fabrics, embeddables, etc – digital on applications Management like medical and nuclear technology that you can wear the requirements, you could also IC encrypt theSensors firmware. April for industrial applications Hyper-convergence: Software-centric Fig. 6: Secure boot of the main PLC U Security processing demands May easily Sensors for defense Sensors (platforms like IP500) can overwhelm the MIPS of a traditional PLC U or even encryption key is of prime considJune Sensors for aviation Solidstate arrays create latency issues. This is best eration in many applications, since done the security thereSmart is norobotics security once the key July by off-loading Sensors for robotics and artificial intelligence functions to a low-cost, off-theis compromised. Augustsecure Sensors for automobile industry a servicephysical shelf microprocessor that is ToInfrastructure properly as address built for these functions, as shown security, several issues must be September Sensors for consumer electronics Mobile money in Fig. 6. The system shown here considered. These include a physical October Sensors for deep-sea applications Innovations lighting (protocols, technology, uses an external secure micropromechanism forin generating random cessor to validate the firmware’s keys,applications) a physical design that prevents digital signature. covertQuantum electronic interception of a November Sensors for security applications dot tech All the above examples use key that is being communicated December Sensors for agriculture and environment between Bring authorised your own device (BYOD) –and softwarekeys to enable authentication, agents, a monitoring centric technology for devices but this raises the question of key secure method of storing a key that protection. Physical security of an protects against clandestine physical

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March 2017 | ElEctronics For You

and mechanical probing. MARKEt SURVEY Various secure key-storage devicElectronic system design designers a host es provide system of features that range from package Automation design to external-sensor interfaces and internal circuit architectures. Biosensors These requirements were developed by American military in the form of FIPS standard, and many chip Energy 140 storage vendors provide very comprehensive Security & surveillance tamper-proof capabilities that can be used in ICSes. Printed, organic & flexible electronics

The future of the IoT security Electronics test & measurement equipment

There may be other approaches to Automotiveas well, and as you begin to security realise how important security is in Electronics manufacturing services (EMS) a connected factories environment, 3D printing you will eventually coalesce around a few approaches. The IIoT in manufacturing is Super capacitors in high demand, and is a growing Electronics manufacturing trend. Security will equipment also eventually grow to cover vulnerabilities, but the need is already here.

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Contents Caretakers

For Feel-good Factor

04

Assistive Technology Making Life Easier

Buyers’ Guide

09

Beat The Summer With The Right Inverter Air-Conditioner

07

Artificial Intelligence

Virtual Assistants For Your Home

Buyers’ Guide

12

3D Printing Pens For You And Your Kids

Fitness

Innovative Gym Gears For A Smart Workout

www.efymag.com

14

First Look

17

Gadgets To Track Your Health

Some New Gadgets!

Smart Home

Smart Homes, Smarter Lifestyle

Healthcare

22

20

Car Aids

25

In-Car Gadgets To Help You Drive Easy And Safe

supplement | electronics for you | april 2018

3

caretakers

AssisTive

Technology Making Life easier Deepshikha Shukla

T

echnology today may not be able to help the blind see or the speechimpaired speak but it can surely convey their message and provide help when needed. Many companies around the world are developing products and technologies to help persons with disabilities to complete everyday tasks. A few of them are listed below.

For visual impairments Lechal footwear. These Bluetooth-enabled shoes give gentle vibrations at the feet, guiding the wearer invisibly but intuitively. They give detailed route guidance at every turn and even work offline, which means the wearer can wander off with no Internet or data connectivity. Lechal is simple to use. Just connect pods to the Lechal app, set a destination and let the footwear guide the way. s can tag locations, set destinations and get real-time data on landmarks all around. They can also share their location with other s. Lechal shoes have a very good battery backup of up to 15 days on a single charge. These can be purchased from Amazon. 4

Lechal shoes

Eone Bradley watch. This innovative wristwatch tells time not just by sight but touch also. It features raised markers and two ball bearings that travel around the watch face in

separate tracks: one for minutes and the other for hours. The watch can be bought online from Amazon. Dot smartwatch. This watch lets the s get notifications and messag-

HOURS MINUTES

Eone Bradley

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You | supplEmEnt

Dot smartwatch www.EFYmAg.com

caretakers

es, listen to music, easily locate their phone, check calls and set alarms. Its battery lasts up to one week on a single charge. The watch has a large circular face with a moving keyboard that relays braille text in real time through textural dots. Connect the watch to a smartphone application called the Dot Watch app to receive information such as road navigation, weather notifications, calls and text messages, as well as social media alerts. s can flip between messages by tapping the face of the watch or manually by using the slide buttons and dial. The watch can be personalised with straps of different colours and materials. Braille ebook reader Bittab. It is a multi-line braille reading and writing device that delivers real-time content to the visually impaired via touch navigation. It displays one whole page of braille text at once.

1. e-book contents from pc or web-site to Braille e-Book.

For other disabilities Foot mouse. It doesn’t require use of hands but works like a hand-operated mouse with features like left/right click, up/down and adjustable mouse cursor. It’s easy to use and s Bluetooth. The mouse is available for PCs, Macs and tablets. It can be purchased from Amazon. Tobii Dynavox i-12+. Speech generation devices combined with eye tracking and eye control features enable various communication opportunities for individuals with special needs. The camera tracks s’ eye movements, allowing them to use the device simply by blinking or gazing.

2. Braille e-Book transcribe a text into Braille.

2. The visually challenged can have an read to books with braille

Braille ebook reader (Courtesy: www.tuvie.com)

Be My Eyes app. In times of need, the visually impaired can seek sighted volunteers’ help by connecting with them on a video call over the Be My Eyes app. Through the direct video call, they can seek help to check expiry dates, distinguish colours, read instructions or navigate new surroundings. The app can be installed from Google Play Store.

For hearing impairments UNI. This two-way communication tool for the deaf detects finger and hand gestures with its specialised camera algorithm, then converts these into text in a very short time to provide www.EFYmAg.com

the meaning of sign language. It also enables s to create their own sign language with its sign builder, so it is easy to add custom language to the dictionaries. It is a subscription-based app with two versions: one requires a data connection and the other doesn’t.

Tobii Dynavox i-12+

Vega foot mouse (Courtesy: www.amazon.in)

Boomerth foot mouse

easily communicate through speech, e-mail, text messaging, chat, Skype or phone calls using the most advanced Bluetooth technology. s can also play games, take and share photos, access regular computer applications and control the environment around them. s can change batteries without disrupting usage or losing data. One battery lasts nine hours of constant use. The device is built to last, with a fast, solid-state hard drive that is resistant to moisture and dust. The damage-resistant Gorilla Glass touch screen increases durability further. Liftware. It is for patients who suffer from hand tremors, Parkin-

Tobii Dynavox i-12+, part of the I-Series+ devices, is capable of speech generation and can be controlled via touch, switches or gaze interaction via an optical built-in eye tracker. It allows a more independent and integrated life for people suffering from stroke/aphasia, cerebral palsy, Rett syndrome or ALS. Different software on it let s Liftware (Courtesy: www.hongkiat.com)

supplEmEnt | ElEctronics For You | April 2018

5

caretakers

son’s disease or other forms of motion disorders. Basically, it is a self-stabilising handle that stabilises up to 70 per cent of the disruption and helps reduce the spilling of contents from the utensil before food reaches the patient’s mouth. It comes with a charger, three utensils, a spoon, a fork and a soup spoon. The handle can be wiped down, while spoons and the fork can be washed like normal utensils. Onetime charge can last several meals. Liftware Level ensures the utensil stays steady and level as your hand moves and bends while Liftware Steady focuses to reduce the effects of hand shake. Sesame Phone. Persons with limited mobility find it difficult to operate a normal phone. Designed for people with such disabilities, Sesame Phone is a touch-free smart-

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Sesame phone (Courtesy: http:// disabilityhorizons.com)

April 2018 | ElEctronics For You | supplEmEnt

phone. This phone can be operated with small head movements, tracked by its front-facing camera. So even without touching this device s can access all of its features. It is designed to recognise gestures for swipe, browse, play and more. Voice control provides a real hands-free experience on the phone. Just speak the phrase “Open Sesame” into the mouth piece and your phone will switch on. As it gets activated, the front-facing camera starts tracking the position of your head. The cursor on the screen allows you to make calls, send texts and emails, and use apps. The camera sensitivity can be adjusted to suit the . Turning your head right will send the cursor right, turning it to the left will send it to the left. Nodding up or down completes the simple navigation system.

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artificial IntellIgence

Virtual assistants

For Your Home

Virtual assistants for you (Source: https:// firebrandtalent.com)

Nidhi Arora

e

xerc is in g reg u l a r l y to stay fit is the topmost New Year’s resolution for many. However, every year, most of us fail miserably at following it. This year, however, has been quite different for me. Siri, my personal assistant

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(courtesy iPhone), seems to have made its personal goal that I achieve my fitness target. It does everything for me—wake me up early, play the right music for me while guiding me with my workout schedule and then keep a calorie count for everything that I eat. Life with Siri is bliss! Ranging from Amazon’s Alexa to Google Home, Apple’s Home Kit to Facebook’s much awaited M and Microsoft’s Cortana, we have a lot of options to contemplate and choose from based on our needs. While Apple’s Siri is great at handling emails and setting up appointments, it is pathetic in giving directions or updates on traffic conditions to a particular destination. Google’s OK Google, on the other hand, is amazing with direc-

tions and traffic updates. Nothing can beat Amazon’s Alexa when it comes to music. It has mastered the art of playing and suggesting the perfect songs. Let’s now take a look at a few of these artificial intelligence empowered virtual assistants available in India and discover how useful they are in managing your routine household chores.

Amazon Alexa Alexa is regarded as one of the most viable personal assistants available in the market today. From playing your music to managing schedule, it can do it all. The way Amazon’s engineers chose its name is also quite interesting. One of the intriguing Star Trek inspired reason is that they supplement | electronics for you | april 2018

7

artificial IntellIgence

Amazon Alexa (Source: www.businessinsider.in)

wanted Alexa to know everything— exactly like The Library of Alexandria, the keeper of all knowledge. Another reason was the unique sound the combination of soft vowels and the alphabet X brought about. Benefits. Alexa must be the first product you get when you start creating your Smart Home. Getting and Echo from the available range will be the best bet. Ease and flexibility of the Echo ecosystem are amazing. The products can be plugged in anywhere

and are easy to set up. Echo Dot is one of the cheapest home controller speakers in the market today. Alexa has more than 10,000 skills and is evolving further at a fast pace. It is highly compatible with both Android and Apple devices. Challenges. Configuring Alexa app for a few third-party products, both for Android and iPhone smartphones, can be quite challenging. Alexa may not be able to respond to a few of your queries within the expected time frame. At times, it is slow to re s p o n d . T h e E c h o speaker quality is average. Alexa can’t function from your phone, you need a speaker. Amazon doesn’t take data responsibility for third-party devices configured with Alexa; companies have access to your data and may use it as required.

Apple’s Siri I have been using Siri for the last couple of years. I am impressed with its increasing abilities. It takes care

Google’s Assistant You may ask your Google Assistant questions on any topic. It is like Google help, always there whenever you need some information. Benefits. Its greatest benefit is

Google Assistant (Source: https://labs.xda-developers.com)

8

the power of Google search. Google’s assistant can probably provide answers to almost all of your queries as it has access to massive and supreme data of Google search. Google’s smartphones and speakers work on the latest Android versions. The associated hardware is moderately priced. Challenges. Third-party products, especially for home automation, are mostly Alexa compatible. Saying Ok Google to activate the assistant may become boring for s. Audio quality of Google products is not very good. Also, Google collects your data.

april 2018 | electronics for you | supplement

Siri (Source: www.iblog.com)

of my calendar, books a cab for me, plays music based on my preferences and helps me find relevant answers through a quick web search. Benefits. Apple takes privacy very seriously. Even the third-party devices use encryption for data transfer and management. Siri can be integrated with Apple’s Home Kit to increase its functionality. It is quite easy to work with. Challenges. Because of the higher security and privacy checks by Apple, there are not many devices that Siri. Also, most of the Apple products are quite costly.

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buyers’ guide

Beat the summer with the right inverter

air-conditioner

To pick the most energy-efficient AC, first ensure you are comparing models from the same category—an inverter AC with another inverter AC, not with a non-inverter AC. Then, among all ratings, go for the highest score Paromik Chakraborty

c

hilly breezes have stopped and winter clothes are back in the shelves. Summer has almost arrived. When the temperature in cities like Delhi and Agra threatens to touch 50-degree Celsius in summer, airconditioners become the Holy Grail. However, if you choose a wrong air-conditioner for your house, you might end up not just doling out a lot of money but also be stuck with a less-thansatisfactory cooling experience and high maintenance cost. We present here a complete guide to select the right air-conditioner so that you can beat the summer heat wisely. Inverter technology is the new normal.When the inverter technology first arrived there were a lot of speculations about the claims of their higher energy-savings than five-star ACs. A few years down the www.efymag.com

line, inverter ACs have become the most preferred choice. There is a major difference between the working of inverter ACs and their conventional counterparts—and that lies in the compressor. Conventional AC compressors halt when the room becomes too cold, and resume when the room starts to heat up. This makes cooling inconsistent,

especially in large rooms. Also, it consumes more electricity as the compressor runs at full power. Inverter AC compressors, on the contrary, are always ‘on’ with dynamic operation pace. These speed up when more cooling is required and slow down when the area is sufficiently cold. This reduces the need of full power output,

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buyers’ guide

thus saving electricity. It also improves tubings. While these models require the compressor’s longevity. Inverter more installation space and effort, ACs may cost up to 20 per cent more they cool a wider area. The cooling is than conventional models, but provide also faster. guaranteed return on your investment. Window ACs, on the other hand, Go for higher star ratings. Star- are single units fitted usually on the rating on electronic and electrical windows of rooms. These are easy equipment indicates their energy-effi- to install, space-effective and cost ciency level. Higher star-rating implies more savings on your electricity bill. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) provides this score based on certain parameters. Earlier, conventional ACs were scored on the basis of the ratio LG JS-Q18XD2 of their cooling capacity to electricity consumption. The introduction of inverter ACs changed the rating to a different calculation, which takes into the compressor speed along with cooling capacity and electricity consumption. Most inverter ACs with Voltas 183V MY inverter AC the highest energy efficiency are marked as 3-stars. Note that a comparatively less. However, they three-star inverter AC is much more cool smaller areas, are louder and take energy-efficient than a five-star non- slightly more cooling time. inverter AC. Maintenance is important. Good Recently, an additional rating after-sales service is essential for ACs. method called the Indian Seasonal Ideally, you should get your AC serEnergy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER) was viced twice a year. Therefore ensure introduced. Mentioning the ISEER is customer by the vendor not yet mandatory but many vendors is easily accessible and provides choose to display it on their products. prompt response to service requests. Therefore to pick the most energy- Also evaluate the warranty and the efficient model, first ensure you are number of free services offered. comparing ACs from the same cat- Vendors offer separate warranties on egory—an inverter AC with another the complete product, the compresinverter AC, not with a non-inverter sor and the condenser. Usually, the AC. Then, among all ratings, go for the product warranty period is one year. highest score. On the other hand, compressors and Choose the capacity according condensers come with 5-year warto your room. An AC with a bigger ranty. Some vendors cover these parts capacity will require a bigger space. even up to 10 years. ACs come in different capacity levels Filters and other features. (measured in tonnes): one tonne, 1.2 Ensure the AC has a strong filtration tonnes, 1.5 tonnes, 2 tonnes and so system. Two or more filters provide on. A 9-13sq.m (100-140sq.ft) area extra protection from dust, bacteria, requires one-tonne AC. A 14-16sq.m particulate matters and even certain (150-175sq.ft) room will need 1.5- chemicals. Additionally, it increases tonne AC. A larger room with area the filter life, reducing the frequency between 17 and 22sq.m (180 and 240 of servicing required. Apart from sq.ft) calls for 2-tonne AC. filtration, features like smart temAC types. Most inverter ACs come perature control, auto-recovery and in split models—these have two sepaWi-Fi connectivity are also advantarate units, interconnected via copper geous. 10

april 2018 | electronics for you | supplement

The best ACs out there AC manufacturers work on their toes to dole out the most desirable models. We round up a few of the best models available. For easy comparison, we are considering only 1.5-tonne models. You may choose AC capacity as per your requirement. LG JS-Q18XD2. LG’s 1.5-tonne inverter AC is a split model with 3-star BEE rating. Energy-efficient copper wiring improves the longevity of the circuit and also the cooling capacity. Moreover, it comes with a dual inverter compressor, which greatly enhances the cooling speed and coverage. The proprietary Gold Fin condenser remains corrosion-free and extends the durability of heat exchange. The AC operates with minimal noise. A twostep filtration system removes dust and bacteria efficiently. The AC is priced at about ` 40,399. Voltas 183V MY. Voltas’ inverter AC has built-in intelligence to detect the weather. Its Insta-Cool capability quickly brings down the temperature in summer. On the other hand, it keeps the overall temperature comfortably warm during winters. It also checks humidity levels with its Active Dehumidifier. To cut down excessive power usage, the AC can go into sleep mode. The filtration system uses three filters—one for eliminating dust, bacteria, pollen and particulate matters, one for filtering silver ions and the third being an Acaro Bacterium Red filter. The AC can self-diagnose in case of any unprecedented change. It is priced at ` 38,000. Carrier 18K Ester Inverter 3i. Carrier’s 3-star split AC packs a copper condenser that provides quick and efficient cooling. The Esko inverter saves substantial electricity with a turbo mode that can quickly bring down the room’s temperature. The louvers reposition themselves automatically to their previous position when the AC is switched on. Autorestart mode resumes the AC with last active settings automatically if it www.efymag.com

buyers’ guide

internet of things had turned off due to a power cut. The system solution to mitiIn case of critical refrigerant leakSPI Serial Flash gating likeoff, this is to Main age, thesomething AC remains displaying Storing Device Controller implement secure boot for the FW relevant error code. It costs about PLConU. This is a way of au`main 39,000 Flipkart. thenticating the3CNHW18CAF/U. firmware and only Blue Star accepting software that has a valid Carrier 18K Ester Inverter 3i Blue Star’s three-star 1.5-tonne Powerinverter split AC has an anti-freeze digital signature. Depending on MAXQ1050 Management thermostat that regulates the also room the requirements, you could IC temperature consistently. It can encrypt the firmware. operate in five modes: demands auto, cool, Fig. 6: Secure boot of the main PLC U Security processing fan, dry and no-heat. This AC too can easily overwhelm the MIPS comes with a self-diagnosis unit. of a traditional PLC U or even encryption key is of prime considAnti-corrosion blue condenser fins create latency issues. This is best eration in many applications, since Blue Star 3CNHW18 ensure quick and efficient cooling done by off-loading the security there is no security once the key as well as a long lifespan. Blue functions to a low-cost, off-theis compromised. Star really delivers on the filtrashelffront. secure microprocessor that To properly address physical tion The AC comes with fiveis built foran these functions, asfilter, shown security, several issues must be filters: anti-bacterial a Catechin a silver-ion in Fig. 6. filter, The system shownfilter, herea considered. These include a physical dust an anti-acarien filter and uses filter, an external secure micropromechanism for generating random an active carbon layer to suck out cessor to validate the firmware’s keys, a physical design that prevents harmful chemicals and odours. The Godrej NXW GIC 18 digital signature. covert electronic interception of a company warranty All theoffers aboveone-year examples use key that is being communicated Godrej NXW GIC 18 CAH 5. This on the complete product and five-year keys to enable authentication, between authorised agents, and a warranty on the compressor. The AC inverter AC from Godrej is smart in all but this raises the question of key secure method of condenser storing a key that respects. Copper enables is priced at ` 46,500. protection. Physical security of an protects against clandestine physical

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March 2017 | ElEctronics For You

powerful cooling, while inverter and mechanical probing. technology ensures power savVarious secure key-storage devicings. According to the company, es provide system designers a host its 5-star BEE rating and 5.20 of features range from ISEERthat score save up package to 25 per designcent to external-sensor interfaces electricity. and internal architectures. Thecircuit AC has a strong antiandwere dustdeveloped filtration Thesebacterial requirements system. military Intelligent Airform Throw by American in the of distributes air chip equally FIPS feature 140 standard, and the many throughout the room. 3X BLDC vendors provide very comprehensive dehumidification technology tamper-proof capabilities that can be keeps humidity in check. Godrej used in ICSes. offers 10-year warranty on the andIoT 5-year warranty The compressor future of the security on the condenser. There may be other approaches to Wi-Fi is a distinct security as well, andAC. as you begin to feature of this That means realise security is with in thehow AC important can be configured a mobilefactories application over Wi-Fi a connected environment, controlledcoalesce from anywhere you and will eventually around (infinite operating range) using a a few approaches. smartphone. The application The IIoT in manufacturing is also provides you energy consumption in high demand, and is a growing insights to plan AC usage better and save trend. Security will also eventually more on electricity bill. The AC is availgrowon toAmazon.in cover vulnerabilities, able for ` 46,000.but the need is already here.

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www.EFYMag.coM

buyers’ guide

3D Printing Pens

For You and Your Kids 3d printing pens are a low-cost alternative to 3d printers that let you draw and create objects from your imagination Deepshikha Shukla

D

o you want your kid to learn by doing? Or do you want to do something creative and design things for your house? If yes, here is something for you and your kids both: 3D printing pen, which lets your drawing and crafts take shape in three dimensions. By simply drawing, your children can create 3D figures in whatever shape they want—a cube, a circle, a cuboid or a cylinder. So they can actually touch and feel them. There are lots of things you can design for use or for learning and education. For instance, your kids can build their own 3D printed toys using the pen. The pen can also be used for artistic and decorative work. You can design your own jewellery or a flower vase. Using 3D printing pen is as simple as using a normal pen or pencil. You just need to insert the filament, turn on the pen and draw. 3D pens are held in the same way as any other pen, but are able to draw in the air and on the surface as well. As both the pen and the filament are made of plastic, these are safe to use.

How it works When you connect power supply to your pen and switch it on, the plastic filament is heated and pushed out of the tip of the pen’s nozzle. Heating converts it into moulten form, which can be given any shape. After a few seconds, it cools down and takes the shape it is worked into. You can draw on almost any surface such as walls, furniture and plastic. Almost the same technology is used in glue gun, but 3D pens come in multiple colours. 12

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Leo Evs 3D Doodler

How to use Before you start printing, perform a few simple steps: 1. Connect power supply to your pen and turn it on. 2. Select the filament (or colour) that you want to print with. 3. Select the temperature setting as per the filament you are using. Wait a moment for the pen to heat up. Most models have an indicator light to tell you when these are hot enough. 4. Insert the filament into the filament input port. If you have already used it, trim it to make it flat. This helps to prevent jamming. Once you set the filament, press Extrude button. You should feel the internal motor pulling the filament, which comes out in moulten form. 5. Select Fast setting and press Extrude button. You can adjust the speed based on the design you need to print. 3D printing pens free-style hand-drawing, www.EFYmAg.com

buyers’ guide

whereas 3D printers print pre-instructed design that you cannot change at the time of printing. Pens are easy to use and carry, while printers are heavy and need training on the software to use. In addition to the printer cost, there are expenses on refill, replacement and maintenance as well. That’s why 3D printing pens are a good alternative to printers.

How to select a 3D printing pen Before choosing a 3D pen, it’s important to study its features and applications in depth. Check out the pen’s weight and dimensions (especially if it is to be used by your kids), LCD, variety of colours in the filament, jam blocking system to prevent clogging and warranty period. The better the control your 3D pen gives you, the better is its quality. Adjustable temperature and speed can make drawings more targeted and advanced. When the pen is in use for a long time, it might get hot and hurt the . The display indicates that the pen is ready to use or that the temperature has increased beyond permissible limits. There are various 3D printing pens available in the market. Here we list select few: Leo Evs 3D Doodler. This pen comes with speed and temperature adjustment, colourful filaments and LCD screen. It weighs 77gm and measures 16x3x3.5cm3 dimensionally. Scribbler V3. It offers the advantages of colourful filaments, large OLED screen, fast response and ergonomic design. It weighs just 64gm and measures 15.2x5x10cm3. MYNT 3D. It features OLED screen and speed and temperature control. The nozzle can easily be removed and cleaned. The pen s both PLA and ABS plastic filaments, and is ergonomically designed. It weighs only 36gm and measures 17.8x1.9x1.6cm3. Soyan. It features slick design, smart standby switching function and adjustable temperature and speed, fast cooling technology and www.EFYmAg.com

Scribbler V3

MYNT 3D

7Tech 3D printing pen

for ABS as well as PLA materials. It weighs 4.3kg (9.6lb) and measures 3x18.7x4.3cm3. 7Tech 3D printing pen. It features speed and temperature control, advanced unclogging system and aluminium spatula to protect from hot nozzle, and comes with one-year warranty. However, it is not easy to use. It weighs 63gm and measures 18.5x4x2.8cm3. supplEmEnt | ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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fitness

InnovatIve Gym Gears

For A SmArt Workout Paromik Chakraborty

Jabra Elite Sport

G

ym accessories have seen some of the most innovative upgrades in the last few years. Fitness trackers are quite popular, but do you know there are more interesting gears—like a fluid container that tells whether you are hydrated enough,

or a gadget that can measure your muscleto-fat ratio? Here are some of the most interesting gym gears that can prove to be super-beneficial.

Work out freely with wireless earbuds Jabra Elite Sport is great for turning up the tunes without wires. Jabra puts great focus on the antenna and signal reception to remove the challenges of Bluetooth headset in sound reception. It maintains

Bose SoundSport Free

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the original audio quality and delivers impactful sound output with powerful bass, clear treble and all nuances well distinguished. Ear-buds are quite light and fit perfectly. The device is made of waterproof material and comes with 3-year warranty against sweat damage. An assistive mobile application called Hear Through lets surrounding sound filter in to make you aware of your surroundings. The mobile application can also analyse your fitness metrics like heart rate, give insight on your health and provide personalised workout-coaching, which is audio-enabled! Jabra Elite Sport costs ` 16,000. Another recommendable option is Bose SoundSport Free. Tuned to receive seamless audio stream via bluetooth without quality compression, it delivers the sound output level expected from Bose products. Lightweight yet durable, sweatand water-resistant earpods deliver five hours of battery life at one go. The case itself is a portable charging dock. Bose SoundSport Free costs ` 19,000.

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fitness

Your bottle can tell if you are hydrated Regular gym-goers commonly face the problem of carrying two separate bottles—one for water and the other for their protein shakes or mixes. Umoro’s One Shaker bottle comes as a solution with separate containers. The major portion holds water, while the other compartment, attached to the lid, holds up to 50ml of the mixture separately. At the press of a button, the mixture is released into the water to make the shake. This bottle costs around ` 1300 ($20). Another interesting product is Mark One’s Prime Vessyl. This is a sensorised water bottle that can track the amount of water consumed and provide insight about your body’s hydration level through a smartphone application. It costs about ` 4500 ($70).

The Prime Vessyl

The Athos shirt

Is your body-fat in check? Skulpt is an innovative gadget to check your body’s muscle and fat content. It is a flat device, which can measure the fat of 24 different body parts. Just place it on your body part and it releases a weak current that

does all the measurement. Based on your fat and muscle definition, the proprietary mobile application configured on the device can also set specific training advices for you. It is available for about ` 6500 ($99) from the vendor’s website.

Smartwear for better fitness

The Umoro One shaker www.EFYmAg.com

The Skulpt system

There are a lot of options in wearables that almost completely eliminate the need for separate fitness gears. Shoes, socks or even full bodywears are coming in smart form factor to provide clear insight into your fitness metrics. Athos, a fitness apparel startup, has brought forward a range of shirts, shorts and tros that can give a complete view of your workout supplEmEnt | ElEctronics For You | April 2018

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fitness

The Sensoria socks

The Mi band

results. It puts special emphasis on your body muscles to determine realtime biometrics like muscle activity, calories burnt, duration of activity as well as heart rate. All these are detected by the sensors embedded throughout the fabric and transmitted through the Athos Core clutched to the garment using Bluetooth and displayed via a mobile application. It is compatible only with iOS and can be purchased for about ` 23,000 ($349) from Athos website. Sensoria socks are made of a smart fabric that can capture data related to walking or running, like cadence, distance covered, motion pattern and duration, and so on. The top of socks is clutched using an elec-

tronic anklet, which transmits the captured data to a smartphone via bluetooth. The data can be viewed in real time on a proprietary mobile application. Smart shoes are aplenty in the market. Under Armour offers a range of smart shoes, including HOVR that brings a lot of unique features in of profiling run and cycling sessions, workouts and motions. The shoe is made of soft fabric with a tender foam that keeps the foot comfortable. It costs around ` 7000 ($110). Xiaomi has brought its own version of smart wearables in the form of a wrist-gear called Mi Band. The device consistently tracks your activities like number of steps and distance covered throughout the day, calories burnt and more. This data can also be viewed on your mobile through the respective mobile application. Mi-Band is a budget-friendly device that costs ` 1299. Xiaomi has also developed its own brand of smart shoes. Made of a resistant yet flexible material, its Mijia Smart Shoes are anti-slip and comfortable. Additionally, these track all the fitness data quite accurately in real time, which can be viewed from the mobile application. Mijia Smart Shoes are priced around ` 4000 ($60).

Mijia smart shoe

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www.EFYmAg.com

first look Uma Bansal

60cm LED TV

With built-in soundbar Daiwa TV has extended its portfolio with the addition of a 60cm (24-inch) HD Ready TV, D26K10. This small-size TV has a built-in soundbar with box speakers for enhanced listening experience. Sporting sophisticated look and sharp edges with -friendly interface, the TV blends in with every home interior. It produces the brightest and darkest colour efficiency with its picture enhancement function paired with digital noise reduction technology that brings the rich and immersive sound to your ears. Furthermore, cinema zoom feature with A+ grade brings a crystal-clear view. Connectivity options include two HDMI input ports and two USB ports. Incorporating customisable backlight option, the TV consumes very little power.

Price `8499

Bluetooth Speaker

Ultra-thin with stylish looks Expanding its product portfolio, JVC has launched a portable Bluetooth speaker (XS-XN226) with high sound quality. Classy yet trendy, it can be carried conveniently in your hand. It also comes with a holder at the back of unit for standing devices, so incorporate your phone and just enjoy the seamless music. To enhance the sturdiness, XS-XN226 is housed with a high-quality rubber oil coating. which not just gives it a smooth and matte finish but also durability. The speaker is integrated with the latest Bluetooth version and innovative sound boosters to calibrate the sound as per your expectation. It gives peak music power output of 5000W.

Price `1999

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Price EP-40: ` 899

In-ear Earphones

Price EP-50: ` 999

Get distortion-free, extra-bass sound Ambrane India’s new earphones (EP-40 and EP-50) provide a sound quality that stays with you while you are on the go! These offer comfortable and light-weight ear-pins that ensure a super secure fit. The speakers inside the ear-phones, with 3.5mm stereo plug, maximise the sound output and minimise sound distortion. The 10mm driver units deliver balanced sound with exceptional low-end, 20Hz-20,000Hz frequency response. The built-in microphone with 3-button control allows toggling between your favourite track and phone calls. supplement | electronics for you | april 2018

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first look

Wireless sports earphones Ensure a secure fit

Price: ` 2999

Luxury Personified has launched Sportpods 2 wireless sports earphones that are sweat-resistant with over-ear hooks. These have an integrated mic, easy touch control (which allows you to swiftly juggle between your calls and music), play/pause functionality, volume and track control, voice prompt connection instructions, and three silicon ear-tips for a comfortable secure fit. These sturdy and eye-catching earphones are available in blue/green, white/orange, black/grey and black/ blue colour combinations. They provide a play time of 8 hours and charge time of 1.5 hours.

Running on Android 7.0 Nougat Price

Price

124cm (49-inch): ` 46,999

109cm (43-inch): ` 36,999

Price

140cm (55-inch): ` 55,999

The Vu Official Android TV is a 4K smart TV that operates on Google’s latest operating system Android 7.0 Nougat. It lets s access the Google Play Store, YouTube, Google Games and the complete Google ecosystem. Vu has also partnered with leading video-on-demand service providers like Netflix, Hotstar and ALTBalaji, thus providing s with authorised access to unlimited, diverse and latest content. A distinct feature of the TV is its ActiVoice feature. The easy-to-use ActiVoice remote helps s to seamlessly search, browse and select in 88 languages. The ActiVoice Search intelligence enables search within apps and recommend results according to s’ preference. Integrated with Chromecast, the Vu Official s mobile and desktop casting. april 2018 | electronics for you | supplement

robotic Vacuum Cleaner Picks up dirt, dust and large debris

Android TV

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Price: ` 19,900

Roomba 606 robotic vacuum cleaner from iRobot does the job on its own automatically, unmonitored. Lowprofile, disk-shaped design enables it to reach under most furniture and other hard-to-reach areas. Just press its Clean button, and Roomba 606 starts vacuuming without the need for any programming. The bot comes with two multi-surface brushes and an edge-sweeping brush. Using Dirt Detect technology, it recognises and focuses on high-traffic areas where dirt collects. Advanced sensors help it to intelligently navigate your home. iAdapt Navigation technology helps the bot to make more than 60 decisions/second to adapt to your home interiors, and thoroughly clean your floors and carpets. Inbuilt cliff detection sensors prevent the robot from falling downstairs and other drop-offs. It can automatically return to its home base charging station, to recharge either at the end of cleaning run or when it’s low on battery.

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first look

Soundgear

Price ` 14,999

For hands-free and ear-free wireless sound HARMAN International has launched JBL Soundgear—a wearable device around the neck for hands-free and earfree intimate sound experience. The device connects seamlessly through Bluetooth to smartphones and tablets. s can enjoy mobile virtual reality headsets, such as the Samsung Gear VR, using the wearable sound device to create a powerful audio experience with JBL Signature Sound. Additionally, the wearable sound device can play for up to six hours before requiring

GizMo ByTes Apple launches App Store v5.0 Apple has revamped its App Store— a platform from where iOS s can purchase/ other apps and update the existing ones. The update brings the version to 5.0. As part of the update, the app store is now more personalised as it now shows recommendations, suggestions, sessions based on products you already have and much more. “Unlock a more personal, relevant in-store experience. Get product and session recommendations, see Favorites in stock, and scan and buy accessories right from your iPhone,” says the changelog.

SwiftKey 7.0 brings in big changes under a small ‘+’ Microsoft’s intelligent keyboard SwiftKey has launched its 7.0 update, which replaces the existing Hub with Toolbar—an expandable menu that gives fast and easy access to a host of new and existing frequently used features, on both Android and iOS. Toolbar can be found under the new ‘+’ sign on the left of the prediction bar. Also included in the update are

recharge. The device includes a versatile, dual-microphone conferencing system with echo and noise cancelling technology to ensure sound clarity for crystalclear conversations. The echo cancelling mic also allows s to take phone calls without worrying about sound quality or interruption. The rubber anti-slip treatment ensures the device stays put when moving around, and soft-touch fabrics provide long-lasting comfort.

Stickers, which provide SwiftKey s with a way to add extra personality to their message. Some sticker packs can be edited before insertion.

StupidApp lets you learn and earn With StupidApp, quiz lovers can enhance their knowledge, earn money and learn too. StupidApp is an interactive live quiz gaming app that already has 450,000 ed s and a daily active base of 200,000—mostly aged 16 to 25, and 30 to 40 years. It expects to another 600,000 s by the end of Q1 in 2018.

Learn to sing with TSM’s app TSM’s (True School of Music) Learn to Sing app teaches you to sing accurately with real-time as well as personalised guidance and from highly qualified and experienced international music faculty. It also features a host of vocal technique exercises that help improve your breathing techniques, vocal range, pitch, rhythm, projection, dynamics and expression. There are 60 levels to learn, which are divided into five stages. Each stage has three grades and each grade has four levels.

The prices, features and specifications are based on information provided to us, or as available on various websites and portals. EFY cannot vouch for their accuracy. www.efymag.com

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smArt home

Smart homeS,

smArter lifestyle Home automation makes it easier to run your household while enabling you to live comfortably and luxuriously. As a segment, it is growing gradually, and awareness and acceptance levels are increasing amongst consumers. In the near future, smart homes may become the default choice for home buyers Ripu Daman Sharma, Country Manager-Sales, India Subcontinent, Lutron Electronics

Smart Home components over the network (Source: https://spsfireandsecurity.com)

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www.EFYmAg.com

smArt home

I

ndia is possibly the most ‘visibly’ wired country—wires can be seen strung from one building to another, from one home to another. However, we are now standing at the cusp of change. Seeing the way the technology is headed, and how its utility is transforming lives, it won’t be a surprise to see smart homes becoming common in the next couple of years. Earlier, smart solutions as a concept were limited to commercial buildings and grand apartments. However, the concept is now transforming immensely as the idea of home automation is finding a place not just in the lives of multimillionaires whose lavish lifestyle is ed by technology but also many middle-class and upper middle-class families. Homes are no longer just about a prime location with great interior design aesthetics. Rather, a sustainable lifestyle with the help of technology is definitely the way forward for modern or smart homes in India. With smart home solutions becoming affordable and easily accessible, demand for the same is rising fast. Moreover, thanks to constant technological advancements and increasing adoption of smartphones and tablets, smart technologies are becoming easier to use, and more affordable and prevalent with every ing year. Home automation indicates an automated system that helps to electronically control various features and systems that are incorporated in the design of the house. It provides home

Automatic timer (Source: https:// www.homedepot.com) www.EFYmAg.com

owners the flexibility to connect and control their systems with a handheld or personal device; which means you are never away from your home. Home automation fulfils and delivers the promise of convenience, efficiency, comfort and security to its s.

Growth of home automation As a segment, home automation has gained spotlight with the coming of Internet of Things (IoT) age. The IoT has provided a much needed push to automation technologies. It is a seamless network of physical objects that have sensors, electronics, software, etc installed in them to receive and exchange data. Indicating a new phase in the home automation landscape, the IoT is churning out smart homes and smart cities at a rapid pace. These technologies are tremendously affecting the lives of people, and are being wholeheartedly welcomed as an entirely new way of living. Gone are the days when home automation would only be undertaken by the rich. The cost of deploying such systems has come down in the last ten years. Budget is the only limiting factor to the extent of automating a house. There are options to integrate light and shade control with preset lighting control system for a single room or studio flat, total home control system for the whole home and sensory based control.

Benefits of home automation Home automation concept has introduced smart living as one of the major components. You can simply enjoy monitoring and control of your entire home through an integrated network. This is a prominent method to lift up the standard of living. Energy efficiency. Home automation helps you control energy consumption and thus cut down your electricity bills. People frequently forget to turn off the lights or switches that control various functions in the house. Home automation enables them to automate various functions of their homes as per their convenience. Products like automatic timers switch off the lights automatically at

Intelligent light bulb (Source: https:// in.pinterest.com)

Smart security camera (Source: https:// www.time2technology.com)

the set time when these are not in use. Motion sensors, light dimmers and energy-efficient light bulbs are a few other simple automation products that help to make a house energy-efficient. Convenience. Errands like switching off the lights, closing the door and turning off the dishwasher are just a few clicks away, thanks to this pathbreaking technology. Adopting simple smart solutions like a smart door and intelligent surveillance camera can make life so much easier. You can lock and unlock the door even when away. You get intimation through the app if there is any suspicious activity around your house. You don’t have to worry about safety at all. Wireless connectivity and security. Wireless connectivity of home automation gives enhanced level of security to your home. Allowing you to control your house even from far-off locations, it makes you feel unperturbed and relaxed while you are away. The most favoured feature of a smart home is the digital security system. More than the comfort, it is the security that pushes one to opt for a smart home in India.

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healthcare

GadGetS

To Track Your HealtH Deepshikha Shukla

A list of gadgets that work together with your smartphone to help you stay fit and avoid costly visits to doctors for checkup and treatment

S

edentary lifestyle together with environmental pollution increases the risk for many health problems including heart disease, asthma, obesity, headaches, diabetes, anxiety and gastrointestinal problems. Technology can help you to keep fit by monitoring your health and also suggesting the best possible ways to cure. A few such fitness monitoring gadgets are listed here.

CUE It can identify the level of inflammation, testosterone, vitamin D and fertility with a small amount of blood or saliva. It also lets you check test results over your mobile phone.

CUE and measured value of vitamin D shown on the phone

AMI Bolt

iHealth Smart

It measures blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, temperature and other body vitals and uses an app to keep track of the overall health. It is available on Amazon.

It’s a portable, wireless, personal diabetes data management device. It monitors glucose level of your body via a test slip with a detachable dongle attached to an iPhone or other smartphone. It is available on Amazon. iHealth device and measured value of glucose on the phone (Courtesy: https://www.komputronik.pl)

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AMI Bolt device and its accessories for measuring different vital signs www.EFYmAg.com

healthcare

Fitbit Aria

Verilux sanitiser wand (Courtesy: https://www. sharperimage.com)

This high-tech weighing device lets you track your body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage. You can share the collected data wirelessly with many other apps or your computer for tracking. The device gives a notification on your smartphone when you achieve a fitness goal. It is available on Amazon.

Verilux CleanWave It’s a rechargeable sanitiser wand that uses powerful ultraviolet light to kill odourand germs-causing bacteria. It is a chemical-free technology to sanitise toys, pet beds, ambulances, etc. The device is available on Amazon.

Fitbit Aria weighing device (Courtesy: https://www.bestbuy.com)

AliveCor heart monitor

AliveCor compatibility with phone and smart watch

Withings fitness watch and measurements taken by it shown on a phone (Courtesy: https://www. amazon.com/Withings-Activit)

Brookstone painrelief wand

It is a mobile-phone based electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring band that lets you track your heart health anytime, anywhere. The tiny, slim and simple device attaches to your phone case. Simply open the Kardia app on your smartphone, put your fingers on the electrodes and see results instantly. It records and collects the ECG data for post-process health analysis. Relevant data helps doctors to diagnose health issue more accurately. AliveCor heart monitor is available on Amazon.

Withings

Atmotube

This fitness tracking watch counts your steps, monitors your sleep, tracks your swimming and records calories burned. It is made up of PVDcoated metal attached to a silicone strap. Its battery lasts about eight months. Withings is available on Amazon in a range of nice colours.

It alerts about the presence of harmful gases like CO and volatile organic compounds in real time via a free mobile app. It also measures air humidity and ambient temperature. Its compact size and USB connectivity allow you to use it anytime and anywhere.

An alternative to the traditional ice packs or heating pads, it is an instant hot or cold pain-relief wand that cools to 6.1ºC (43ºF) and heats to 40ºC (104ºF) in just one minute. It is powered by four AA-size batteries and uses hot/ cold therapy to reduce pain, treat aching muscles and stimulate circulation. It is available on Amazon. Brookstone pain-relief wand (Courtesy: https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Relief)

(L) Atmotube structure and (R) measurement app on the mobile

www.EFYmAg.com

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healthcare

Fitbit Surge It is a touch-screen smart watch that not only alerts you about incoming phone calls and text messages but also tracks your steps and sleep. It has special GPS, so you need not take your phone to exercise. You can connect with other Fitbit activity trackers to compete with or share your activities. Fitbit Surge is available on Amazon.

Fitbit Surge

SteriPen Ultra

SteriPen Ultra This rechargeable water purifier uses ultraviolet (UV) light to destroy 99.9 per cent of all the harmful viruses, bacteria and organisms existing in water. It can treat 50 litres per charge with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. A smiley face on the screen indicates that the water is safe to drink, while a frowning face indicates that the treatment process needs to be repeated. You just need to hold the device over the surface for 30-60 seconds. SteriPen Ultra is available on Amazon.

Withings wireless blood pressure monitor This soft cuff provides accurate on-the-go heart rate and blood pressure monitoring. It connects to the respective app on your mobile through Bluetooth. The app can measure blood pressure, heart rate and steps taken weekly. It ensures accuracy by taking an average of three measurements. It is available on Amazon.

Read

Electronics Bazaar

Viatom health monitoring device (Courtesy: http://medicalfuturist.com)

(L) Withings blood pressure monitoring device and (R) the respective mobile app (Courtesy: https://health.nokia.com/in/en/ )

Data flow through a Viatom device

Viatom Checkme This tool monitors various health parameters. It takes only a few seconds to determine whether you 24

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have fever. It can measure ECG, systolic blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse rate and rhythm and sleep. www.EFYmAg.com

car aids

In-Car GadGets

To Help You Drive Easy and safE

Paromik Chakraborty

r

ollr Mini is a nice device to start with. Created by Rollr, a Telematics subsidiary of the Samvardhana Motherson Group, this compact gadget is capable of navigation and trip details tracking, real-time car location tracking, vehicle health analysis and alert messages generation. Amit Upadhyay, CTO, Rollr, says, “This plugand-play device fits to the car’s on-board diagnostics (OBD) port and can start functioning in a matter of a few steps.” The gadget comes with an embedded

Parking during office hours is like solving calculus equations! It’s good to have someone help with directions while fitting your car into that tight spot. But what happens if you are on your own? In this article, we cover gadgets that become your second set of eyes and ears on the road. These can guide you while reverse parking, tell whether your car needs servicing or even help you stay awake if you are driving late at night

SIM card with preactivated plan. You need to the Rollr mobile application to configure the device. Thereafter you are ready to roll with Rollr. You can keep a constant tab on your vehicle’s navigation route if someone else is driving it. In case of car issues that need fixing, you can get a complete analysis of the root cause. Amit says, “The device can also rate driving behaviour. In a dashboard view on the app, it provides an overall driving skills rating out of 10 for each driver , along with other detailed information such as harsh driving and speed-breaking.

The application also provides suggestions and trainings for improving driving skills, evaluating the rating received.” The device is priced at ` 6499. CarSense, another plug-and-play device, is also a great choice. Similar to Rollr Mini, it fits into the OBD port and comes with an embedded SIM for GSM connectivity. The CarSense application provides all necessary data. Other than real-time GPS tracking and trip history analysis, CarSense delivers on the safety and emergency front too. If someone tries to break into your car, or if it is being

The Rollr Mini makes your car connected (Source: rollr.io)

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car aids

Car health analytics application (Source: rollr.io)

towed, you will get instant alerts. CarSense automatically sends an SMS to emergency s in case of SOS situations like accidents. It also has a roadside assistance option, which sends your information to the nearest available assistance team in case your car breaks down or runs out of fuel. You can also ensure efficient fuel usage through analytics delivered by the application. Finally, you get notified if you are driving too rash, and also receive some instant driving tips. CarSense costs ` 6900 with one year’s free subscription and warranty. After a year, the subscription fee will be ` 900 annually. For easy reverse-parking, you can install the Bluetooth-powered Autostark Full HD rear-view monitor. Not only does it give you a clear picture of what’s going on behind while you are reversing the car, it also plays your favourite movies, videos or audios when you are not driving. Bluetooth connectivity lets you control the device with your phone. Alternatively, there is a remote to do the same. The device has USB connectivity, allowing you to

CarSense

AutoStark Full HD rear-view screen (Source: amazon.in)

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watch your favourite media stored on a USB stick. Autostark Full HD monitor costs about ` 3000 on Amazon.in. Imagine yourself on a long drive along a highway, when your car’s tyre starts losing air. In such a situation, Windek digital tyre inflator can be a great companion. It is a compact (15.2x15.2cm2) portable device that comes with a charger and an air nozzle that can pump up the tyre at just the push of a button! The charger wire fits to your car’s charger. It is long enough to carry down to any of the tyres while staying in place at the charging port. After fitting the air nozzle into the car’s tyre, you can set the desired air pressure using buttons on the device. The screen shows the amount of pressure to be set—select the measurement unit as desired (PSI, Bar or KPA). Apart from that, the gadget also comes with an LED light that works in two modes: Normal mode to see things in dark environments and SOS mode to seek help during emergency. Windek digital tyre inflator costs about ` 1600. Finally, if you want a complete wireless entertainment suite for your car, go for Blaupunkt Cape Town 940 series in-car entertainment system. Powered by Android operating system, it comes in a 17.3cm (6.8-inch) touchscreen form factor with 800x480 resolution. It accepts various data-sharing options including USB, SD Card, DVD, CD-ROM and VCD among others. Also, the system comes pre-installed with default media player software. Windek digital tyre inflator The device s screen mirroring. It can be controlled with a remote or a smartphone via Bluetooth. It is Wi-FI compatible too and can be controlled from the driver’s seat. While driving, you can refer to the navigation map on the screen. The system also has FM tuner with equaliser option. It costs around The Blaupunkt Cape Town 940 series system ` 40,000. (Source: www.avhub.com.au) www.efymag.com

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