GSM Based Automatic Energy Meter Reading

The purpose of this project is to remote monitoring and control of the Domestic
Energy meter. This system enables the Electricity Department to read the meter readings
regularly without the person visiting each house. This can be achieved by the use of
Microcontroller unit that continuously monitors and records the Energy Meter readings in
its permanent (non-volatile) memory location. This system also makes use of a GSM
modem for remote monitoring and control of Energy Meter.
The Microcontroller based system continuously records the readings and the live
meter reading can be sent to the Electricity department on request. This system also can
be used to disconnect the power supply to the house in case of non-payment of electricity
bills. A dedicated GSM modem with SIM card is required for each energy meter.
The major building blocks of this project are:
1. Microcontroller based control system with regulated power supply.
2. GSM Modem for remote communication
3. Electromagnetic Relay and Relay Driver for Power Supply Control.
4. Digital Energy Meter.
5. LCD Display to display the meter readings.

ROBOTIC ARM WIRED CONTROL

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The ROBOTIC ARM WIRED CONTROL teaches the basic robotic sensing and locomotion principles, testing your motor skills, as you build and control the Arm. You can command this unit with it's five-switch, wired controller with corresponding lights to grab, release, lift, lower, rotate wrist and pilot sideways 350 degrees. After assembly, observe the dynamics of gear mechanisms through the transperent Arm. Five motors and five joints allow flexibility and fun!

Recommended Accessories: For educators and home schoolers. You will find the Personal Computer Interface (optional) very useful tools.

Vacuum Braking System

Vacuum Braking System project is a good Seminar topic for Mechanical Engineering or a Project topic for Mechanical students and tells about vacuum brake which are used for many years, used in place of the air brake as the standard, fail-safe, train brake used by railways.

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ROBOTIC & ELECTRO-MECHANICAL CONTROL BASED PROJECTS

1. ROBOTIC ARM INTERFACING WITH PC/MCU/ IR/RF
2. HYDRAULIC LIFT
3. LINE FOLLOWER OR TRACING ROBOT
4. AUTOMATED WALKING ROBOT
5. DIGITAL SPEED MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBILE
6. LIFT CONTROL USING PC AND MCU
7. ESCALATOR LIFT USING PC & MCU
8. PATH FINDER MOBILE ROBOT
9. MULTILEVEL CAR PARKING LIFT USING MCU
10. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY CROSSING GATE CONTROLLER
11. AUTO REJECTION + CONVEYER BELT SYSTEM
12. AUTO JACK MACHINE
13. AUTO BRACK SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBIL
14. PADDLE CONTROLLED WASHING MECHINE
15. HYDRO ELECTRICITY
16. WIND ELECTRICITY
17. ELECTRICITY FROM SPEED BRAKER
18. SOLAR SUN SEEKER
19. ROBOTIC CRANE WITH UP/DOWN & CIRCULAR MOTION

BUGSY

Six-Legged mobile robot with obstacle detection whiskers and
Video Capture Camera

Functions: Moves around in all direction, changes paths when
whiskers are bumped with obstacles.. Can walk in tripod, wave,
and ripple gaits.. Can simulate cradle, swing motion, dizzy,
push- ups and even dance around- according to predefined program
script..

Parts used:
Electronics- 2 SSC's, Hobbico Servo motors,
Mechanical- locally fabricated materials.

Seeker Robot

The goal of Seeker is to look around for human beings, drive towards the first it sees and then try
to follow that person. Seeker locates humans by using a Passive Infrared (PIR) sensor. This sensor
is capable of detecting the heat signature of a human being. It is mounted inside the white cone on
the sensor unit at the front of the robot. The white cone holds a freshnell lens to focus the
infrared (heat) radiation on the sensor element. The sensor unit also holds tree SHARP GP2D02
infrared distance measurement units. These sensors take over when Seeker gets close to the person it
wants to follow. This cannot be done with the PIR sensor because it is not accurate and directional
enough at close range. The sensors of Seeker are mounted on a pan/tilt unit. This enables Seeker to
look around and point its sensors at any object of interest in its field of view.

The drive train of Seeker is the same as that of Roamer and Wallie. It consists of two propelled
front wheels and a castor wheel at the back, enabling the bot to navigate the world by using
differential steering.

The brain of seeker is an ATMEL AVR 90S8535 microcontroller. It is programmed in C using the AVR
port of the linux GCC C-compiler.

The procedure to locate and follow humans is as follows: At powerup, Seeker starts to turn on the
spot. When it detects a heat signature, it drives towards it. When the heat signature is lost during
the approach of the target, it starts turning in a circle again to relocate the heat signature. When
Seeker gets close enough to the target, the infrared distance measurement sensors take over. In
order to follow the target, the distance measured by the left sensor is compared to that of the
right sensor (the third sensor is not used right now). If the left sensor measures a greater
distance than the right sensor, it concludes the target is located on its right side. If its the
other way around, it assumes the target is on the left. It will then move its sensor head in the
direction of the target. The motor controller of Seeker is programmed to drive in the direction the
sensor head is looking, and therefore the whole robot will start following the target. If seeker
gets close to the target he will stop. If the person being followed starts to move towards Seeker he
will start to drive backwards to avoid being stepped on. If Seeker loses the target he will start
looking for a new heat signature.

Line Follower

Functions
The buggy features two main wheels positioned opposite each other, and independently driven by
stepper motors. The chassis is balanced with a simple peg that skids along the ground.
The motors and sensors plug into two circuit boards mounted in the buggy chassis, and this in turn
is linked by means of umbilical ribbon cable, to an input/output port used in conjunction with a
Sinclair ZX81.
The ZX81 provides the intelligence to make the buggy follow a black line (electrical black
insulation tape). It could be argued that a basic line follower does not really require the use of a
computer, with the buggy being made to operate properly by getting the sensors to control the motors
through more direct electronic means. However, using a computer allows easy behaviour refinement by
software changes. For example after the basic line following was implemented the buggy was
programmed to be able to negotiate branches in the line.

Specifications
The chassis is built from a combination of Meccano® and Perspex®. The Meccano enabled a chassis to
be quickly constructed, and the Perspex facilitated the non Meccano parts (stepper motors and
wheels) to be easily incorporated into the design.
The robot electronics comprised two circuit boards - the driver board and the sensor board. These
boards are stacked one over the other.
The step resolution of the stepper motors is 1.8 degrees. To turn this step size into a smaller
wheel travel, a reduction gearing comprising a small cog on the motor shaft and a much larger cog
connected on the wheel is utilised on each motor drive.

Driver board
Two SAA1027 stepper motor drive ICs are employed on the driver board, each one to control a four
phase stepper motor. The ICs simplify control of the stepper motors by requiring just a digital
direction signal (clockwise/anti clockwise) and digital clock signal (advance step) for each motor.
The SAA1027 ICs require a 12v power supply, and 12v control signals. LM324 quad operational
amplifiers are used to level shift the 5v TTL levels from the ZX81 up to the 12v control signals.

Sensor Board
To enable the buggy to follow a black line, two optical sensors (TIL81) are used. They are
positioned at the front underside of the buggy. The sensors are separated by a distance of 1cm.
Additionally an infra-red LED (TLN1 10) is placed between the sensors, so that they are less
effected by the surrounding ambient light. Depending on the surface either black or white the
infrared beam is either absorbed or reflected respectively.

The sensor board comprises two identical circuits each connected to a corresponding optical sensor.
Each circuit converts the optical sensor output from an analogue value to a 5v TTL signal that can
be read by the ZX81 via the input port.

Outdoor robot

Built mostly with recycling parts. Driven by 2 car wiper motors on about 17 Volts. Direction change
by a third wiper motor in the middle to change the angle of the two halves of the chassis; it works
with a steel rope that is wrapped around the motors shaft, can just be activated while driving
because of self-destruction risks.
The wheels are from a lawn mower. The rear wheels were fixed on a tilteable axe and fixed on spring
resorts.
Power supply by two 12V lead rechargeables batteries in series (7 Ah each).
A main PWM-circuit stabilizes the motor voltage two around 17 Volts.
Controlled by an 8052AH-BASIC-Evaluation board from Elektor magazine. Most other circuits self
developed and built, 2 kits assembled. Can receive commands by a TV IR-remote control, an RC5-code
receiver is used.
2 Bumpers with microswitches on the front end, two on the rear and two in the middle for the
direction motor.
2 IR-Diodes on the front an one IR-modulated receiver (38 kHz). Ultrasonic obstacle detection on the
rear.
It got some obstacle detecting and avoiding routines, but had lots of problems with his own weight.
The remote control was quite unuseable when the sun was shining.

Ir ArmBot

The Ir Armbot is a simple robot arm driven by 2 standard servos
but controlled by an ir remote , sending serial information via
an ir diod to a reciever that uses a stamp 1 to decode the signal.
The code generator is also an stamp 1 , built in the remote.


Used parts :

2 9V batteries
1 6V batterie pack for the servos
3 switches
6 buttons , but 4 for the moment
1 stamp1 microcomputer
2 hitec servos HS300
2 small plastic boxes
1 Gripper
1 ir diod
1 ir reciever sharp GP1U5

Mechatronics Projects list 2

• Ice Cream Dream Machine

• Sears Tower Coin Sorter
  

• The Jack Project (a prosthetic hand)
  

• Plant Pal
  

• NWU Railroad
  

• Ultimate Etch-a-Sketch
  

• Yet Another Ball Game
  

• Bar-o-Matic
  

• Basket-Mania
  

• Mechachess
  

• Inverted Pendulum
  
• 
  
• Black Ghost Knifefish Ribbon Fin :
  
• 
  
• The Towers of Hanoi
  
• 
  
• The Ultimate Card Dealer
  
• 
  
• Auto Photo (photo developing system)
  
• 
  
• Duck Hunt
  
• 
  
• Pancake Motor
  
• 
  
• MechaTank (automated aquarium system)
  
• 
  
• Wild West Shooting Game
  
• 
  
• Rat Whisking Experimental Setup
  

• Laser Skeet Shooting Game
• 
  
• XY Plotter
• 
  
• The Dirt Rascal
• 
  
• Super Fantastic Rod Race 5000
• 
  
• Shaky Transport
• 
  
• Liquid Temperature Rating System
• 
  
• The Crane Skill Machine
• 
  
• Wheel of Fortune
• 
  
• Venus Flytrap
• 
  
• The Ultimate Soccer Game
• 
  
• Automated Checkers
• 
  
• Automatic Bike Transmission
• 
  
• The Butterfly (a kind of juggling)
• 
  
• Double Down: Automatic Card Dealer
• 
  
• Field Effects: Electric Field Sensing and Localization with an XY Robot
• 
  
• The Elevator
• 
  
• Wobble Top: A Controllable Flexible Beam
• 
  
• Heal Thyself: Stroke Patient Finger Trainer
• 
  
• Lazy Bones
• 
  
• Automatic Leveling Platform
• 
  
• Robot Arm Attacks

ACME
A mobile robotic "mouse" chases a cheese


HAPTIC-ROBOTIC
A full-sized chair moves back and forth under velocity-control


TEAM HARMONICA
A person taps or bends his fingers to control hammers hitting a xylophone.


TEAM HORSEPOWER
Two contestants must align laser pointers on model horses in a race to the finish


THE WATERBOYS
A mobile fire-engine locates a water source and lowers a tube into the water


THE WINDBAGS
A working model of an HVAC system

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Mechatronics Projects list 1

Cup-Replacement System for Internet-Controlled Coffee Machine


Smart Window Blinds

SUPERFLY Ping-Pong Game

Hershey's Kisses Chocolate Sorter

The Punisher

Executive Distraction


Robotic Claw

Mechatronic Roulette Table


The Dancing Baby


Gumball Geography


Speedy Computer Mouse


Automatic Guitar Tuner



Automatic Contact Lens Cleaning System


Search and Destroy

Magna Claw


Pinball Foosball


A Myogenically Controlled Game


3-D Tic Tac D'oh!


Blender Splendor


Olympic Ski Jump Coin Dispensing System


Easy Money




Gopher Madness