EFY Magazine projects

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An effort to put up Construction projects published in Electronics For you Magazine will be done here in this thread regularly. If any other member too has any access to any construction articles from the magazine, is most welcome to post it here. All articles will include schematics, full articles with PCB layouts and codes. Thus material whatever available from the magazine will be posted here, and these are not my projects. Any claims about its non working or discussions about the same may be continued on the regular discussion forums. This thread will be exclusively for posting projects only.
Requests for any EFY published projects such as Code or other info may be continued on this thread:
EFY Magazine projects Requests Code or More
http://www.sonsivri.com/forum/index.php?topic=37591.0

EDIT: Ask for code or hijack this topic and your post will be deleted, and a warning given. Help keep topic clean

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XBee Interfacing with Raspberry Pi Model 2 (EFY June 2016)
XBee Pro (S2) module is an XBee/ZB/ ZigBee Mesh Protocol based wireless transceiver designed by Digi International with an excellent range of 1.6 kilometres (one mile) line of sight (for 50mW, U.FL connection) and 90 metres indoors. This device works on 3.3V DC @ 295mA in transmission mode and has a maximum data rate of 250kbps. The data from the processor to XBee module is transmitted via a serial port. Raspberry Pi Model 2 is a second-generation Raspberry Pi that was released in February 2015. It is a Linux based computer and has a powerful Broadcom BCM2836 ARMv7  900MHz quad-core processor and 1GB SDRAM. It has a total of 40 pins, including 17 pins GPIO along with HDMI, micro SD card slot, Ethernet, USB 2.0 and 3.5 audio (out) ports.

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Air Quality meter (EFY july 2016)
Air pollution and concern about air quality is not something new. Complaints were recorded even in the 13th century when coal was first used for industrial purposes in London. From the middle of the 19th century, the atmosphere of major British cities was regularly polluted by coal smoke in winters, giving rise to the infamous mixture of fog and smoke known as smog. Today the emphasis has shifted from pollution problems caused by the industry to the ones associated with motor vehicle emissions. A typical PM2.5/10 based meter costs around US$ 200. Here we present a meter for  monitoring air particles, gas concentration, temperature, humidity and time, which costs around US$ 45 only.

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Raspberry Pi SMS server (EFY July 2016)
Until recently, for sending an SMS we had to use third-party services from the Internet. We had to log on to a third-party server, copy and paste the message in the text box, pull up the mobile phone numbers, or copy and paste the group of mobile phone numbers separated by commas and then press Send. In some rare cases, the SMS would not reach the destinations. So the guys at our company decided to buy an SMS server to create own facility for sending mass SMSes. The proposal was moved and eventually the SMS server was bought and put into operation. But when I heard how much the entire system cost, I was spellbound. That is when I decided to make a cheap and efficient SMS server on Raspberry Pi (or Raspi) at a fraction of the cost. In this article, we will design an SMS server on Raspi using a GPRS shield.

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SMS based home automation (EFY July 2016)
Today, GSM networks are widely-used, whether for making calls or sending SMSes. In this project we will be controlling home appliances by sending SMSes. There are many types of home automation systems available in the market. Most are simple home appliances controlling systems like DTMF controlled home appliances, IR remote controlled home appliances and radio frequency (RF) based home appliances. The main aim of this article is to develop an electronic application that uses GSM mobile technology to control different electronic/electrical equipment. This system executes accurate equipment control according to the message sent by the mobile phone. Just by sending a message to the GSM modem interfaced to a microcontroller (MCU), you can perform on/off operations. You can also verify the present status of the equipment through their display status on the LCD.

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Arduino based programmable digital data display (August 2016)
LCDs are widely used in applications like token-display machines in malls and super markets, order number displays in restaurants and café, and so on. The project presented here demonstrates the working of Arduino based message display on LCD using Bluetooth. This circuit uses Arduino board that accepts data via HC-05 Bluetooth module from various types of gadgets like Android based smartphones. Arduino is the heart of this program
mable display.

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Home automation using Android (August 2016)
Nowadays, people have smartphones with them all the time. So it makes sense to use these to control home appliances. Presented here is a home automation system using a simple Android app, which you can use to control electrical appliances with clicks or voice commands. Commands are sent via Bluetooth to Arduino Uno. So you need not get up to switch on or switch off the device while watching a movie or doing some work. Circuit and working. The circuit is built around Arduino Uno board, Bluetooth module HC-05 and a 3-channel relay board. The number of channels depends on the number of appliances you wish to control. Arduino Uno is powered with a 12V DC adaptor/power source. The relay module and Bluetooth module can be, in turn, powered using a board power supply of Arduino Uno.

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Temperature based fan speed control and monitoring using Arduino (EFY August 2016)
This project is a standalone automatic fan speed controller that controls the speed of an electric fan according to the requirement. Use of embedded technology makes this closed-loop feedback control system efficient and reliable. The microcontroller (MCU)  ATMega8/168/328 allows dynamic and faster control and the LCD makes the system user-friendly. Sensed temperature and fan speed levels are simultaneously displayed on the LCD panel.  The project is very compact and uses a few components only. It can be implemented for several applications including air-conditioners, water-heaters, snow-melters, ovens, heat-exchangers, mixers, furnaces, incubators, thermal baths and veterinary operating tables. The project will help save energy/electricity.

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Real-Time MULTIPLE COLOUR TRACKING (EFY Sept 2016)
This project uses the fundamentals of computer vision to track three different colours: red, blue and yellow. When you run this program, a camera window opens up along with the object detected by the webcam or a laptop camera. Colour detection is indicated by rectangular boxes around the objects along with the names of the colours: red, blue and yellow. The program can be used in robotics to detect colours. It can also be used for driver less cars, traffic, vehicles, etc, besides the separation of different coloured objects using pick-and-place robotic arms.


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Sound operated device control system ( EFY Sept 2016 )
In movies like Ironman and Players, it is shown that appliances are operated by human speech or sound. Similar concept is implemented in this project. The system responds to pre-stored sound and performs particular functions. That is, command signals are first stored in the database and when you run the project, a real-time sound or speech signal is compared with the signals stored in the database. If signals match, an appliance/ load is turned on/off. For instance, sound command ‘Switch on the fan’ is used to operate the fan. This project has vital applications especially for handicaps. It can also be used to provide security and authentication.

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WIRELESS DISPLAY Using Arduino (EFY Sept 2016)
Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on ATmega328. This DIY demonstrates how you can use two Arduino boards to make a wireless display
using 434MHz ASK RF modules. Data is transmitted wirelessly using the RF module from the transmitter end through the serial monitor of Arduino IDE. It is received at the receiver end and displayed on a common 16x2 LCD. This system can be used as wireless display for temperature, humidity and gas sensors. It has a good range and, using a repeater, the range can be extended.

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0-50V VARIABLE POWER SUPPLY  Using LM317 (EFY Oct 2016)
Presented here is a 0-50V, 1A variable power supply that has been designed using positive-adjustable voltage regulator LM317 IC. This IC normally gener-
ates voltages in the range of 1.2V to 25V, but here it produces 0 to 50V with a current of 1A. The circuit used increases the upper voltage from 25V to 50V and decreases the -lower voltage from 1.2V to 0V.

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Voice-Controlled HOME AUTOMATION SYSTEM (EFY Oct 2016)
This project is about controlling home appliances with your voice through an Android app. An Arduino Mega board is used for controlling the relay through which an appliance is switched on/off. You can modify the Android app to add more functions.  The circuit consists of Arduino Mega 2560 board for comparing the input string received through Bluetooth with the stored string to give output to digital pin 6 to control the relay. Bluetooth module HC-05 transmits and also receives data serially that can be read by the micro controller (MCU). A relay is used here to control only one appliance, though you can use a multi channel relay board to control multiple appliances. Mega 2560 has 54 digital pins, each of which can be used to control an appliance. The MCU can be programmed to compare the relative strings (speech).

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12V Battery charger cum Variable power supply  (EFY Nov 2016)
The circuit presented here can charge a 12V lead-acid battery of 50Ah to 80Ah (even up to 100Ah) capacity and can even be used as up to 18V DC variable power supply of maximum 5A capacity, which is useful for a test bench. The circuit can automatically detect the presence of a battery connection and start charging. At that time, it disconnects the output provided as variable power supply. It also detects the wrong/reverse polarity connection of the
battery terminals and raises an alarm. The charger initially charges the battery at a higher voltage (about 14.2V), and once it is fully charged, it maintains the battery charge at a constant voltage (about 13.4V).

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GPS distance meter (EFY Nov 2016)
Presented here is a project based on Global Positioning System (GPS) and ATmega328P-PU micro controller to measure the distance between two points using Haversine formula. It can be a handy tool for a thermal power-plant patrolling/inspection or any other application where large distance measurement is required. For example, in the thermal power plant industry, a patroller is required to take measurements for laying out a new route, replacement/shifting of old routes or extension of pipelines deep inside the dyke. These activities are carried out quite often, and each measurement requires two persons for holding a large measuring tape. Demand for a GPS distance meter starts here.

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Wireless Digital Thermometer for Multiple sensors (EFY Nov 2016)
The last article ‘Remote Sensing Thermometer’ published in June 2013 issue gave the constructional details of a project for sensing and measuring temperature of a body from a remote place. The circuit described there works absolutely fine, but it suffers from a major drawback; it cannot measure more than one temperature at a time. To overcome this problem, a different technique is adopted here, which allows you to sense eight (at the most) transducers at a time.

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Wireless Powered LED (EFY DEC2016)
Wireless power is transferred from transmitter to receiver coil using inductive coupling principle. For wireless power transfer to work efficiently, frequency of the transmitter and the receiver must be tuned to the same frequency. LC tank of transmitter side produces an oscillating magnetic field of the tuned frequency. LC tank of receiver side is same as the frequency of transmitter side, thus achieving high efficiency. This wireless-powered LED can be used in mobile phone battery chargers, electric tooth brushes and low-powered loads such as LEDs, SMPS, rotors and so on.

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Arduino Based GSM HOME SECURITY SYSTEM (EFY DEC 2016)
This project is designed using normally-closed reed switches connected to doors and windows and additional passive infrared (PIR) motion sensors to detect movement of a burglar or an unwanted intruder in your home. The security system can dial up to two phone numbers to alert you. It can also send text message to one of the numbers.  It works off a 12V power supply (connected across CON2). An Arduino microcontroller (MCU) requires only 5V but a GSM modem requires 12V. As Arduino Uno has an inbuilt 5V voltage regulator, a common 12V supply can be used for the whole system. It is built around two Arduino Uno boards (Board 1) and (Board 2), one SIM900 GSM module, TIP142 (T1, T2) and 2N2222 (T3-T5) transistors, magnetic reed switches, PIR motion sensors and a few other components.

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Remote controlled Smart Fan using AT89C2051 (EFY DEC 2016)
The remote-controlled smart fans available in the market are very expensive and their operating principles are difficult to understand. Here is a simple circuit for a remote-controlled smart fan that can control the speed of a fan or light intensity of an electric bulb.The VIRE remote (Fig. 1) is generally used for MP3 players, FM radios and the like. Its range is up to 12 metres, so there is no need to control the fan/bulb manually. The AT89C2051 microcontroller (MCU) acts as a smart regulator.  Circuit of the remote-controlled smart fan using AT89C2051 is shown in Fig. 2. It is built around centre tapped 12V-0-12V, 750mA transformer (X1), rectifier diodes 1N4007 (D1, D2), 2200µF/25V (C1), 100µF/16V(C2) filter capacitors and voltage regulator 7805 (IC1) that produces 5V constant output voltage, AT89C2051 (IC2) MCU, IR receiver TSOP1738 (IRX1), VIRE IR remote, 12V electromagnetic relays, transistors BC547 (T1, T2, T3) and a few other components. In this project, MCU acts as a smart electronic regulator based on IR remote signals.

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IoT-ENABLED AIR POLLUTION METER With Digital Dashboard On Smartphone (EFY Jan 2017)
Presented here is a project to monitor air quality on your smartphone using Blynk application and Arduino board. Blynk is an Internet of Things (IoT) platform to control Arduino, Raspberry Pi and the like over the Internet. In this project Blynk provides a digital dashboard on your smart phone that
displays real-time air quality readings for the immediate surroundings. Blynk is not meant for a specific board or shield. It will get you online and ready for
the IoT, irrespective of whether Arduino or Raspberry Pi is linked to the Internet over Wi-Fi, Ethernet or an ESP8266 chip.

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Ultrasonic Distance meter using Raspberry Pi -2 (EFY Jan 2017)
Ultrasonic ranging module HC-SR04 provides 2cm to 400cm non-contact distance measurement range. Its accuracy can reach ±3mm with a cycle period of 50ms, which is the minimum time delay recommended before measurements are taken. The module includes ultrasonic transmitter, receiver and control circuit. Raspberry Pi 2 is a second-generation Raspberry Pi board, which was released in February 2015. It is a Linux based computer with a powerful Broadcom BCM2836 ARMv7 900MHz quad-core processor and 1GB SDRAM. It runs on 5V DC at 200mA and has 40 GPIO pins, along with HDMI, micro-SD card slot, Ethernet, USB 2.0 and 3.5 audio (out) ports.

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Surveillance camera based on Raspi Cam and Android Aap (EFY Feb 2017)
This project describes how to build a surveillance camera based on Raspberry Pi (Raspi) that records HD video only when something moves in the monitored area. Live feed can be viewed from any Web, including one on a mobile phone. Security cameras are common in most industries around the world. Their applications can range from preventing theft or vandalism to traffic and weather monitoring and much more. Due to a small form factor, affordable price and low power consumption, Raspberry Pi can be easily integrated in a surveillance camera. In this project we will first connect Raspi camera to Raspi, and stream live video from it. We can also watch the streaming of content from our Android device. We will also take photographs with different effects. Raspi is a credit-card-sized low cost microcomputer that can run Linux operating system, and has endless extension possibilities.

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Line Frequency Meter Based on Reciprocal Counting (EFY Feb 2017)
Precise measurement of line signal frequency is very important in many applications, especially in the management of power grid systems. Tasks like
 calibration of governors of engines that run generators in power plants need a resolution up to 0.01Hz. Frequency is also an important parameter in load sharing among several power plants in the grid. When the required resolution of the displayed frequency is 1Hz, the instrument becomes simple. Direct frequency counting is one of the many possible methods.

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IoT BASED NOTIFICATION SYSTEM  Using Android App (EFY March 2017)
Presented here is a smart notification system for a door sensor, motion detector, fire alarm and doorbell using Raspberry Pi (RPi) and Pushover app. The project triggers an event through various sensors and sends notifications to your smartphone. Sensors used in this project include a magnetic reed switch for a door or window, PIR sensor for motion detection and NTC thermistor for fire alarm. The issue of security is becoming more prevalent. The Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled home security solutions like this use sensors to collect and share data from multiple edge devices. If an attacker gains access to these smart systems through malicious means, the underlying functional logic of control systems can alert the owner. Connected home security systems offer a myriad of features including door and window sensors, motion detectors, fire alarms and so on, all connected via the Cloud to a mobile device or the Web.

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Arduino Based DIGITAL CAPACITANCE METER (EFY March 2017)
Capacitive sensors are widely used to measure various physical and chemical process parameters such as displacement, acceleration, thickness, force, pressure, stress, level and humidity. The measured value of capacitance is then calibrated in terms of the process parameter for indication and/or control. This project presents an interrupt based approach by employing an NE555 timer and Arduino Uno to measure capacitance in the range of 1µF to 1mF, and provide local indication using an LCD and data acquisition using a PC display (serial monitor of Arduino IDE). Two methods have been described here: first with NE555 timer configured in astable multivibrator mode and second with NE555 timer configured in monostable mode

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RGB COLOUR DETECTOR Using TCS3200 Sensor Module (EFY March 2017)
This is a simple colour sensor using Arduino Uno R3 and TCS3200 colour sensor module. It can be useful for colour identification and detection for food processing units, colour printer aplications, paint-mixing applications and other industrial applications including robotics. This project is used for detecting primary colours (red, green and blue, or RGB)—colours that are physically available in LEDs in one package; for example, common cathode or common-cathode RGB LED. We can display primary colours and also generate specific colours by modifying the Arduino code. The project demonstrates the basic interfacing of TCS3200 sensor, Arduino Uno and common-cathode RGB LED. On the microscopic level, you can see the square boxes inside the eye on the sensor. These square boxes are arrays of the RGB matrix. Each of these boxes contains three sensors: one each for sensing red light, green light and blue light intensity. It is better than TCS230 colour sensor module. This sensor can be used to identify any number of colours with an accurate programming code.

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