Neha Rastogi

As soon as we come across the word robot, we tend to imagine a metallic structure with arms and legs carrying a human-like appearance and running errands for our help. However, in actual terms, it’s just a machine operated externally or through a controller embedded within and doesn’t necessarily look like a human. Technically, robotics is a branch of Science and Engineering which deals with designing, constructing, and operating robots as well as computer systems for their control, sensory feedback, and information processing.Interestingly, the concept is almost as old as the hills with the first robot dating back to 350 BC, built in the form of a mechanical bird, by a Greek mathematician named Archytas. Although the term was coined ages ago, the actual potential of the fully autonomous robotics was realised in the second half of the 20th century.

The world of electronics is all about electrical circuits, electronic components, and interconnected technologies. All these elements can be primarily categorized as digital, analog, or a combination of both. However, here we will be focusing on the basics of the analog category in detail. Analog electronics is a branch of electronics that deals with a continuously variable signal. It’s widely used in radio and audio equipment along with other applications where signals are derived from analog sensors before being converted into digital signals for subsequent storage and processing. Although digital circuits are considered as a dominant part of today’s technological world, some of the most fundamental components in a digital system are actually analog in nature. 

There are some web-based simulation tools that aid the professional engineers and hobbyists in learning as well as carrying out various experiments related to the circuits. In this post, we are going to cover a compilation of such online circuit simulators that offer a great help while dealing with the electronics projects. You may also refer to our previous blogs on electronics apps, circuit design software, and PCB design tools.  

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible hardware and software, whereby the standard schematic can be used by anyone so as to make their own version of an Arduino board. An Arduino contains a physical programmable circuit board named microcontroller and software termed as IDE (Integrated Development Board). All the Arduino boards should be compatible with this IDE which is used to upload the computer code on the physical board.There are some very unique features contributing towards its exponential growth in the electronics world. It doesn’t need a separate piece of hardware to load the code on the board. Rather it can be done simply with a USB cable. Moreover, its IDE uses a simplified version of C++ which enables the beginners to get acquainted with programming in a convenient manner.

In today’s modern era we have all the technological assistance in the form of apps, tutorials, and online tools so as to take on our electronics projects. Despite having a non-technical background, people can work with electronics in a highly efficient and organized manner. However, before using the aforementioned methods, one has to be acquainted with certain skills that lay the basic foundation of an electronic project. Here, we have compiled a set of basic electronics skills for beginners that act as a pre-requisite for ensuring success.

We use so many appliances at home that often it becomes a headache to keep track as to whether everything is switched off or not, especially after stepping out of the house. Home automation or smart home is a key that keeps you away from all these worries by automating the appliances and connecting them to a common network.It is basically a home where everything including the lights, alarm clocks, television, doors, windows, blinds, heating and cooling systems can talk to each other. Not only this, all such automated devices also receive as well as interpret their owner’ instructions and then behave accordingly. The success of home automation, to some extent, relies on the availability of smartphones as they can be easily connected to other devices through the internet and are highly portable.

In our daily lives, we come across so many real life instances that utilize IoT technology. Apparently, the IoT industry is experiencing a boom at the present moment. Owing to this enormous growth and fruitful potential, many tech giants like IBM, Cisco, and Intel are investing huge amounts in this technology. Besides, many creative startups are also trying their luck in this field to maximize their profits in the ever expanding market.

Often while working with PCBs, the electronics engineers (particularly students and beginners) face a problem in dealing with the complexity of the circuit boards due to a lack of experience. Breadboards are easy to work with because there is an option to plug in and plug out the components even if you make a mistake in the connection.  However, when you switch to PCBs a lot has to be kept in mind whether it’s the soldering, de-soldering, or other related tasks. Although constant practice is crucial to achieving the expertise level, there are a handful number of tips that can level up your chance of success.

In the past few years, both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality have been dominating the tech industry like never before. Be it the media coverage, video games or other commercial applications, the reality technologies can be found everywhere. The market is already witnessing an enormous growth and the future is going to be even more favourable in terms of sales and revenues. We have already discussed Virtual Reality vs. Augmented Reality and the related terms, but now it’s time to get acquainted with the concept of Mixed Reality aka Hybrid Reality. This term is a combination of both Virtual and Augmented Reality and is gradually taking over the market with its highly impressive capabilities. 

Soldering is one of the most basic skills required to handle electronic projects. Although beginners can very well work with breadboards and other simple-to-operate components, once they learn how to solder, it gives them access to a whole new world of innovative ideas and possibilities.  As we have discussed earlier, the PCBs are little more complex to handle than breadboards, in the same way, soldering is also a crucial skill to learn for the beginners. This is why we have come up with some soldering tips and guidelines for the electronic engineers. So, if you are afraid to even touch the soldering iron, these dos and don’ts will definitely help you a long way in your projects.

With the rapid use of smartphones and tablets around the globe, apps have become an inseparable part of our lives. Not only we tend to use them for entertainment but these are also quite useful for educational as well as professional purposes. This wide spectrum of users also includes people belonging to the field of electronics ranging from beginners to professionals.There are different apps which provide access to important information regarding the materials, tools, calculations and notable theoretical knowledge involved in the electronics projects. 

As we discussed earlier about the amazing world of robotics, it’s believed that fully autonomous robots weren’t developed until the second half of the 20th Century. In all these years, a lot of new inventions have taken place from drones to nanobots; not to forget the animal robots and humanoids that look just like living beings. However, this is not it! There is a lot more than what has been explored till now. The future of robotics would be re-defined by soft robotics, a concept that is still unknown to the masses. 

An electrical design engineer by profession, Sandeep Sharma is a part time hobbyist who likes to experiment with electronic projects, especially involving Arduino. With an aim to share his knowledge about arduino and embedded projects, he owns a website as well as a YouTube channel through which he showcases certain interesting projects. In one of his Arduino based projects, he made a unique use of old DVD drives to build a DIY CNC Plotter at home. This machine is not only inexpensive but also quite easy to construct and operate. Presented here, is one of his exciting DIY projects that illustrates the construction and coding of an arduino based mini CNC plotter.

Texas Instruments, a global semiconductor design, and manufacturing company has unwrapped the company’s first robotics solution for middle and high school students rendering an enhanced experience of learning STEM subjects. Students will now be able to write programs on their IT graphing calculators that will get the Rover’s wheels turned. This would help their minds learn things in a fun, interactive way. The Rover connects to the TI-Innovator Hub and either a TI-84 Plus CE or TI-Nspire CX graphing calculator that many students already have. It will also drive their interest and curiosity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects. Those who don’t have any exposure to coding or robotics can get started by writing a simple program to make the Rover draw, dance, or even crash.

Fujitsu has recently announced that the Japanese Bankers Association (JBA) is going to adapt the former’s cloud service-based Blockchain platform. It would be made available over Fujitsu Cloud Service K5. Starting from October 2017, JBA is planning to offer this Collaborative Blockchain Platform as a testbed environment to its member banks and other institutions. The platform is going to be rendered for applications employing blockchain technology like settlement and funds transfer services, and identity and time-of-transaction authentication. The association will also support the practical implementation of these applications. 

Mobileye, a leading company in developing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving technologies, has announced an official collaboration with Munich Reinsurance America Inc. The aim of this association is to reduce the commercial fleet collisions and enhance road safety in the United States. With an immediate effect of the collaboration, Munich Re, US will make available Mobileye’s aftermarket Advanced Collision Avoidance System to its clients, including commercial fleets. This new program will aid Munich Re, US clients to retrofit existing vehicles with Mobileye ADAS technology. 

Intersil, a subsidiary of Renesas Electronics, has announced the first 42V single-channel DC/DC step-down power module. The ISL8215M delivers up to 15A of continuous current and operates from a single wide input voltage range including industry standard 12V, 18V, and 24V intermediate bus power rails.  The module offers adjustable output voltages from 0.6V to 12V and provides the highest power density of 60mA/mm2 in a 13mm x 19mm package. It’s 96.5% peak efficiency enables point-of-load (POL) conversions for FPGAs, DSPs, and MCUs in industrial, medical, RF communications, after-market automotive, and portable equipment carrying Li-ion batteries. 

Fujitsu has announced that the University of Tokyo is going to use heart simulator viewers equipped with stereoscopic displays compatible with virtual reality technology. The heart viewer utilizes the output data from a heart simulator. This simulator has been developed jointly by Fujitsu and University of Tokyo by utilizing the K computer as well as a computer cluster. In the lecture, students will be able to observe a phenomenon whereby electric simulation from pacemaker cells spread throughout the heart. The stereoscopic, 360-degree view utilizing VR, allowing them to comprehend how electrocardiograms are created through this process.

Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Client Computing Limited have officially released two new enterprise workstations. The lineup features Windows 10 Creators Update, which is the latest version of the Windows 10 operating system. The newly added devices in the lineup include mid-range model named CELSIUS M770 and CELSIUS R970 “2-Way” high-performance workstation.  The roll out will take place in stages from late December in Japan. In addition, Fujitsu will also offer other versions of the aforementioned models equipped with Windows 7 Professional. By expanding the product line performance, the Fujitsu Group is aiming to support customers’ work efficiency and ensure improvement across a variety of industries.