Energy harvesting is the process of extracting small amounts of electrical energy from sources such as ambient temperature, vibrations, or air currents for low-power mobile devices. The structures used for this purpose are also referred to as nanogenerators. Energy harvesting avoids the limitations of wired power or batteries in wireless technologies. Energy harvesting is important for the energy … [Read more...]
Basics on Rotary Encoder
A rotary encoder is a rotary encoder that usually provides digital output signals that need to be decoded at the other end of the sensor line in the evaluation device. Therefore, it is also called a rotary encoder. "Encoder" is sometimes used as a generic term for all angular position encoders. Differences in the Way Signals are Evaluated Incremental Encoders Incremental … [Read more...]
Automatic Room Light Controller With Arduino and PIR Sensor
In our earlier articles, we have explained What is a PIR Sensor, How it Works, and Arduino Light Sensor with LDR. In this project, we will set up an automatic light control system using Arduino. You can use Arduino UNO or any Arduino-compatible microcontroller board, such as ATtiny85. If we use only a PIR Sensor to control the light then it will become ON even during the daytime. So we need a … [Read more...]
What is a PIR Sensor, How it Works
A pyroelectric infrared sensor, also known as a PIR sensor, is a semiconductor sensor used to detect temperature changes. PIR sensors are based on the eponymous pyroelectricity, a property of some piezoelectric semiconductor crystals. A change in temperature ΔT leads to a measurable change in the electrical voltage. PIR sensors, unlike other temperature sensors, do not react to a certain … [Read more...]
Arduino Light Sensor: Circuit and Code
A photoresistor, also known as a photoresistor or LDR, is a light-sensitive electrical resistor. The more light falls on the photoresistor, the smaller its resistance becomes. Compared to other light-sensitive electronic components such as photodiodes, photoresistors react very slowly. A thin layer of the photosensitive semiconductor material is applied to a ceramic substrate by sintering a … [Read more...]
Application of Resonant Circuit
An electrical resonant circuit is a resonant electrical circuit consisting of a coil and a capacitor that can perform electrical oscillations. The electric oscillating circuit is often compared to the harmonic oscillator of mechanics such as the spring pendulum or tuning fork. In this resonant circuit, energy is periodically exchanged between the magnetic field of the coil and the electric field … [Read more...]
What are Neodymium Magnets?
Neodymium magnets use an alloy of neodymium, iron and boron with the composition Nd2Fe14B, from which the strongest permanent magnets are currently produced. It is one of the rare earth magnet materials and was developed in 1982. Rare earth magnets are a group of permanent magnets consisting mainly of ferrous metals (iron, cobalt, nickel) and rare earth metals (neodymium, samarium, praseodymium, … [Read more...]
What is a Triac?
Triac is an abbreviation for triode for alternating current. Terms such as bidirectional thyristor triode or symistor can also be found. It is an electronic component with a semiconductor layer structure, which in principle represents an anti-parallel connection of two thyristors. This makes it possible to switch both half-waves with alternating current, whereas a single thyristor can only switch … [Read more...]
Basics on Insulator
Non-conductors are substances whose electrical conductivity is comparatively low and therefore usually not relevant and is below that of semiconductors. While the term is used in physics for arbitrary materials such as gases and vacuum, in technology it usually only means solids. Other partially synonymous terms are: Insulator: In addition to the material property described here, the term … [Read more...]
Resistance and Electrical Resistors: Part 2
This article is continuation of part 1 of this series. An important material parameter is the resistivity. The best-known resistor design is the cylindrical ceramic carrier with axial connecting wires. These connecting wires are routed through holes in circuit boards, for example, and soldered to the conductor track connections arranged there (through-hole mounting). A ceramic backing is coated … [Read more...]
Resistance and Electrical Resistors: Part I
Electrical resistance is a measure of the electrical voltage required to cause a certain electrical current to flow through an electrical conductor (component, circuit). Uniform quantities should be used or instantaneous values for variables that change over time. If the voltage is counted from a connection point A to a connection point B, the amperage in the conductor is counted positively as it … [Read more...]