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Electronics:
DC Electric Motor
Graymark Digital Programmable
Robot
Logic Gates
Direct
Current (DC) Electric Motor
This
was one of the coolest projects that I worked on while attending
college. My lab partner and I constructed a very crude versions
of a DC Electric Motor. At least it is crude by industry standards:-)
Most of the parts used were pieces and parts found around
our homes. Consequently, the whole thing only cost a few dollars
to construct.
The
core of the magnetic fields were constructed using galvanized
steel wire. For anyone wanting to build one I recommend using
an iron core. Bundles of the steel wire were cut and bound
using magnet wire. Magnet wire is simply coper wire with a
outer coating to insulate it. I could go on forever about
this project. To sum it, up after some tweaking it worked
like a charm. Our motor was the best in the class, in fact
the instructor tried to acquire it from me to use it as an
example. But I could not part with it, probabally why I only
got a 'B'. If anyone desires to obtain the building plans
email me.
Graymark
Digital Programmable Robot
We recently were given the privilege to work on a cool project.
This educational project was to assemble a Graymark kit robot.
It took the team two weeks to construct. Upon completion there
were five actions the robot could perform (left, right, straight,
LED, Buzzer). The two DC motors provided the kit the ability
to move forward left, right or, straight motion. It also came
equipped with a LED or light emitting diode as well as a small
buzzer.
The
construction of the kit began with the assembly of the electronic
components. Whe hand soldered each component on to a silicone
board. When finished the board provided all the logic necessary
to perform the above actions. Operational components included
in the electrical were timers and memory.
This
memory allowed us to write short scripts for the kit to execute.
We programmed the robot to do several different patterns of
movement and or action. One of the most interesting things
about this kit is that it has the ability to accept input
from a computer. We learned syntax and structure elements
from QBasic. We also interfaced several programs to our robot.
The ability to program the kit offers extended flexibility
in the realm of the Graymark kit.
Electrical
Logic Gates:
During
my "tenure" at school I had yet another opportunity
to expound my knowledge. With the studying as well as tinkering
at home. I have learned how to hard code relatively complex
operations using electrical components. These components consist
of AND, OR, and NOT gates. When used in combination you obtain
desired results from input to output.
Copyright
2001 Catalyst
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