Lead Acid battery requires long time charging with moderate current to attain full charge.

24 hour continuous charging is ideal for both lead acid battery and tubular battery. When the battery first starts to accept charge, heavy current flows into it during the first one or two hours and then drops to 500 mA or less during the subsequent hours. If the battery is a healthy one, it will not take current once it attains full charge. The terminal voltage of the 12 volt lead acid battery rises to 13.8 volts and that of the tubular battery to 14.8 volts in the fully charged condition. If the battery is kept unattended for more than one day, the battery may over charge which leads to its efficiency loss. The circuit described here is that of a battery charger with a timer to switch off the charging process after 24 hours. The circuit has three sections 1. Charger circuit A 14-0-14 volts 2 amperes stepdown transformer is used to drop the 230 volts AC to 14 volts AC. The low volt AC is rectified to DC by the diodes D1 and D2 which can handle 2 amps current. The rectified DC is then made ripple free by the smoothing capacitor C1 . 2. Timer circuit A 24 hour timer circuit is built around IC1 (CD4060) which is a binary counter IC with ripple cascade arrangement. It starts the timing cycle provided its reset pin 12 is low. The IC has 10 outputs which become high one by one depending on the values of the timing capacitor at pin 9 and timing resistor at pin 10. The pulses are fed to the clock input pin 11. Due to binary counting of the IC, each output turns high after a period double than the previous one and the output remains high for that entire period. If the high output is fed back to the clock input through a diode, the IC strops oscillating and the particular output remains high till the IC resets. The reset pin12 is connected to the junction between C2 and R1 so that IC resets at power on and starts oscillating. After 6 hours, pin 1 of the IC becomes high and the Green LED turns on. After 12 hours, pin 2 turns high and the yellow LED turns on which indicates half time. After 24 hours, pin 3 turns high and the relay triggers to cut off the charging process. At the same time, diode D3 conducts and inhibits the oscillation of IC so that the relay will remains energized till the power is switched off. Red LED indicates the activation of relay and the termination of charging process. By changing the value of C3 or R3, it is possible to increase or decrease the timing. 3. Relay driver Transistor T1 is the relay driver. A 12 volt relay is used to provide charging current to the battery through its common and normally connected (NC) contacts. So that when the relay

is in the off position, the battery will get charging current and when the relay triggers, charging will terminate. Diode D4 protects T1 from back e.m.f when T1 switches off.

How to set the charger? Assemble the circuit on a common PCB and enclose it in a box with the transformer. Use high gauge wires to connect the battery with the relay. You can use Crocodile clips to connect with the battery.

his circuit has three sections. A sensitive MIC amplifier, A Toggle switch based on IC CD4017 and a Relay driver. Condenser Mic picks up the sound vibrations and generates minute voltage across its terminals. These feeble signals are amplified by IC1. Resistor R1, R3 and variable resistor VR1 adjust the sensitivity of the amplifier. Resistor R1 set the sensitivity of Mic. The amplified output pulses from IC1 passes to the input of IC2 (CD 4017). Resistor R4 keeps the input (pin14) of IC2 low so as to prevent false triggering. IC2 is a decade counter IC which is wired as a toggle switch. That its outputs 1 and 2 (pins 2 and 3) becomes high and low alternately

when the input pin14 receives pulses from IC1. Pin4 (output4) is connected to the reset pin15 so that further counting will be inhibited. The high output from IC2 passes through the current limiter R6 to the base of switching transistor T1. When T1 conducts, Green LED and the Relay turns on. In the next clap, output pin 2 becomes low to switch off the relay and the Green LED. Red LED indicates the OFF position of the load.

Note : It is better to connect the Mic directly on the PCB using two pieces of the trimmed leads of resistor or capacitor. If Mic is connected with wires, sensitivity may be reduced. Enclosing the Mic in a tube will increase the sensitivity considerably. Adjust VR1 to get maximum sensitivity and range.

Going Wireless
These days, the term wireless is very much hyped! Whenever we hear the term wireless, stuffs like Mobile telecommunication (GSM), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RF Communication, Wireless networks, Zigbee, I2C, SPI, DTMF, 802.11b, SimpliciTI etc etc etc. Well, fortunately or unfortunately, all of these protocols can be interfaced with a microcontroller in one way or the other. But what matters is the level of complexity. To start off, for beginners, RF (Radio Frequency) Communication is the most preferred and low cost solution. All you need is a RF Module (Transmitter-Receiver Pair). Now, thats not all. RF Communication works on the principle of Serial Communication. Thus, you need something which converts the conventional n-bit (4-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, etc) data into serial data. For this, we have two choices:

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Use a microcontroller to convert the n-bit data into serial data and vice-versa Use serial encoders/decoders to do the same

Since the title of the post says that we shouldnt use microcontrollers, the only option left for us is to use the encoder/decoder.

RF Communication Block Diagram

RF Communication Block Diagram (Click to Enlarge)

A general RF communication block diagram is shown above. Since most of the encoders/decoders/microcontrollers are TTL compatible, most of the inputs by the user will be given in TTL logic level. Thus, this TTL input is to be converted into serial data input using an encoder or a microcontroller. This serial data can be directly read using the RF Transmitter, which then performs ASK (in some cases FSK) modulation on it and transmit the data through the antenna.

In the receiver side, the RF Receiver receives the modulated signal through the antenna, performs all kinds of processing, filtering, demodulation, etc and gives out a serial data. This serial data is then converted to a TTL level logic data, which is the same data that the user has input.

So now, lets look into the hardware that are required.

RF Module
RF Modules are used wireless transfer data. This makes them most suitable for remote control applications, as in where you need to control some machines or robots without getting in touch with them (may be due to various reasons like safety, etc). Now depending upon the type of application, the RF module is chosen. For short range wireless control applications, an ASK RF Transmitter-Receiver Module of frequency 315 MHz or 433 MHz is most suitable. They are quite compact and cheap! You can buy them from the following stores:

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Robokits Rhydolabz Sparkfun

A typical 315MHz (or) 433MHz ASK RF Module looks like this (courtesyEngineersGarage)

RF Module

Now, lets have a look at its pinout (courtesy EngineersGarage)

RF Module Pins

Pin Description:

Features:

o o o o o o o o o o o

Range in open space(Standard Conditions) : 100 Meters RX Receiver Frequency : 433 MHz RX Typical Sensitivity : 105 Dbm RX Supply Current : 3.5 mA RX IF Frequency : 1MHz Low Power Consumption Easy For Application RX Operating Voltage : 5V TX Frequency Range : 433.92 MHz TX Supply Voltage : 3V ~ 6V TX Out Put Power : 4 ~ 12 Dbm

This has single channel for data transfer, thus serial data communication is used.

Serial Encoder/Decoder

The most popular serial encoder/decoder used is the HT12D-HT12E pair. Their description is given below. Its okay if you dont understand what is written there. Just make sure you go through the pin configurations and the circuit implementation.

The HT12E Encoder ICs are series of CMOS LSIs for Remote Control system applications. They are capable of Encoding 12 bit of information which consists of N address bits and 12-N data bits. Each address/data input is externally trinary programmable if bonded out.

HT12E Pin

The HT12D Decoder ICs are series of CMOS LSIs for remote control system applications. This ICs are paired with each other. For proper operation a pair of encoder/decoder with the same number of address and data format should be selected. The Decoder receive the serial address and data from its corresponding encoder, transmitted by a carrier using an RF transmission medium and gives output to the output pins after processing the data. Features - Encoder

o o o o o o o o

18 PIN DIP Operating Voltage : 2.4V ~ 12V Low Power and High Noise Immunity CMOS Technology Low Standby Current and Minimum Transmission Word Built-in Oscillator needs only 5% Resistor Easy Interface with and RF or an Infrared transmission medium Minimal External Components

HT12D Pin

Features - Decoder

o o o o o o o o o o o o

18 PIN DIP Operating Voltage : 2.4V ~ 12.0V Low Power and High Noise Immunity CMOS Technology Low Stand by Current Ternary address setting Capable of Decoding 12 bits of Information 8 ~ 12 Address Pins and 0 ~ 4 Data Pins Received Data are checked 2 times, Built in Oscillator needs only 5% resistor VT goes high during a valid transmission Easy Interface with an RF of IR transmission medium Minimal External Components

Applications

o o o o

Burglar Alarm, Smoke Alarm, Fire Alarm, Car Alarm, Security System Garage Door and Car Door Controllers Cordless telephone Other Remote Control System

Compatibility

Compatible with RF Modules 433 MHz Link RF Modules (Tx + Rx Pair) 433 Mhz ASK

Now lets move on to the circuit implementation part.

Circuit Implementation
There isnt much in circuit implementation. You just need to take a solderless breadboard and make the connections and snap! You are done!

Transmitter Section
Make the following circuit on a breadboard. You are requested to implement the following circuit at your own risk! We will NOT be responsible for any damages caused due to implementation of the circuit, physically, mentally or financially.

RF Transmitter Section (Click to Enlarge)

Here, we have used four switches S1, S2, S3 and S4 to give 4-bit parallel data (D0-D3). Since the switches are in active low state (i.e. low signal is sent when the switch is pressed), we need to add external pull-up resistors as shown, so as to provide a high signal by default. A resistance as high as 1Mohm is required in between OSC1 and OSC2 pins. The Transmitter Enable (TE, pin 14) pin is an active low pin. Thus, it is permanently grounded, so as to enable the transistor always. The output serial data DOUT is fed to the RF Transmitter Module directly. The most important thing lies in the address pins (A0-A7, pin1-8). Suppose you have two wireless devices (A and B) in your house, both have different remote controls (AA and BB) and both implement the same type of RF module (say 433 MHz). AA is the remote control of A and BB is of B. Now, you obviously wouldnt want AA to control B (which is the most probable case since both the devices use same kind of RF module, having same frequency!). This is where address pins come into play. There are 8 address pins, thus giving you an opportunity to have 8! (8 factorial) different and independent ways to connect to a device, so that there is no interference. The address pins MUST have the same address in both transmitter and receiver, or else the data wont be transferred. Refer to the receiver circuit for more details.

Receiver Section
Now make the following circuit on a different breadboard. As mentioned earlier, you are requested to implement the following circuit at your own risk! We will NOT be responsible for any damages caused due to implementation of the circuit, physically, mentally or financially.

RF Receiver Section (Click to Enlarge)

The circuit of the receiver is also quite simple. Capacitor C1 is used between Vcc and GND for noise filtering. Apart from that, all the address pins (A0-A7, pin 1-8) are grounded, just as in transmitter. This is to ensure that the transmitted data is being received. Both the transmitter and the receiver MUST have the same address pins configuration. Pin 17 (VT) is enabled whenever the receiver receives any data. The serial data received by the RF

Receiver module is directly fed to pin 14 (DIN), which is then converted into 4-bit parallel data (D0-D3). A 33 kohm resistor is connected in between OSC1 and OSC2.

Antenna
Okay, so now that all the connections are made, you must choose an antenna for signal transmission. Usually, a 2030 cm wire serves best. It is sufficient to give a range of 80 meters in open region. To improve the efficiency, you can also use a coiled wire (take a wire and make it into a coil). It increases the signal strength.

Result What you will get?

Once the circuit is made and powered up, the four LEDs on the receiver end will glow by default. The LED corresponding to VT glows only when some data is received. Now whenever you press any switch (on the transmitter end), that particular LED (on the receiver end) goes off! Interesting, eh?!

Troubleshooting
Its obvious that you wont get the result in the first go itself! Its completely normal, even in my case! There will be times when you will say to yourself that its not gonna happen. In that case, just try out the simple wired communication. Connect the DOUT of the encoder directly to the DIN of the decoder using a wire. Then check and recheck your connections, check whether the address is the same, whether you have missed any Vcc or GND connection, etc. If still then a successful link is not established, change your encoder/decoder ICs. Once your link is established, connect the RF module and do the same. Try adjusting the antenna position, touch the antenna (touching the antenna will make yourself an antenna!), etc. If still not successful, then all I suggest is to google out your problem and see if somebody else has sorted it out or not.

Extending the circuit

This circuit can be easily extended to anything, depending upon your application. If you are using it control a robot, the output data can be directly given to a motor driver. Viewthis article for details. If you are using it to control any external device, this data can be fed there. In other words, whatever data you wanted to send, the same is available at some other location, which can be manipulated very easily.

Making an RF Car
If you want to make a wireless robot and want to use RF technology to achieve that, then you can view this interesting post by Yash on maxEmbedded and learn how he made it. So folks, this is all about RF module interfacing without using microcontrollers. We will discuss the same topic once again after learning Serial Communication. So till then, you can stay updated by grabbing RSS Feeds or subscribing to m

Speaker Dependent / Speaker Independent

Speech recognition is classified into two categories, speaker dependent and speaker independent. Speaker dependent systems are trained by the individual who will be using the system. These systems are capable of achieving a high command count and better than 95% accuracy for word recognition. The drawback to this approach is that the system only responds accurately only to the individual who trained the system. This is the most common approach employed in software for personal computers. Speaker independent is a system trained to respond to a word regardless of who speaks. Therefore the system must respond to a large variety of speech patterns, inflections and enunciation's of the target word. The command word count is usually lower than the speaker dependent however high accuracy can still be maintain within processing limits. Industrial requirements more often need speaker independent voice systems, such as the AT&T system used in the telephone systems.

Recognition Style
Speech recognition systems have another constraint concerning the style of speech they can recognize. They are three styles of speech: isolated, connected and continuous. Isolated speech recognition systems can just handle words that are spoken separately. This is the most common speech recognition systems available today. The user must pause between each word or command spoken. The speech recognition circuit is set up to identify isolated words of .96 second lengths. Connected is a half way point between isolated word and continuous speech recognition. Allows users to speak multiple words. The HM2007 can be set up to identify words or phrases 1.92 seconds in length. This reduces the word recognition vocabulary number to 20.

Continuous is the natural conversational speech we are use to in everyday life. It is extremely difficult for a recognizer to shift through the text as the word tend to merge together. For instance, "Hi, how are you doing?" sounds like "Hi,.howyadoin" Continuous speech recognition systems are on the market and are under continual development.

Speech Recognition Circuit

The demonstration circuit operates in the HM2007's manual mode. This mode uses a simple keypad and digital display to communicate with and program the HM2007 chip.

Figure 1

Keypad: The keypad is made up of 12 switches.

When the circuit is turned on, the HM2007 checks the static RAM. If everything checks out the board displays "00" on the digital display and lights the red LED (READY). It is in the "Ready" waiting for a command.

To Train
To train the circuit begin by pressing the word number you want to train on the keypad. The circuit can be trained to recognize up to 40 words. Use any numbers between 1 and 40. For example press the number "1" to train word number 1. When you press the number(s) on the keypad the red led will turn off. The number is displayed on the digital display. Next press the "#" key for train. When the "#" key is pressed it signals the chip to listen for a

training word and the red led turns back on. Now speak the word you want the circuit to recognize into the microphone clearly. The LED should blink off momentarily, this is a signal that the word has been accepted. Continue training new words in the circuit using the procedure outlined above. Press the "2" key then "#" key to train the second word and so on. The circuit will accept up to forty words. You do not have to enter 40 words into memory to use the circuit. If you want you can use as many word spaces as you want.

Testing Recognition
The circuit is continually listening. Repeat a trained word into the microphone. The number of the word should be displayed on the digital display. For instance if the word "directory" was trained as word number 25. Saying the word "directory" into the microphone will cause the number 25 to be displayed.

Error Codes
The chip provides the following error codes: 55 = 66 = 77 = word no match word word too too long short

300m FM Transmitter
Posted Apr 18, 2013 at 1:46 pm

This FM transmitter circuit is very simple and it has a acceptable transmission . The signal transited from this FM transmitter circuit can be received at almost 300 meters in open air .The circuit require a 3volts operating voltage and can be tuned anywhere in the FM band.The coil should be about 3mm in diameter and 5 turns. The wire is tinned copper wire, 0.61 mm in diameter.After the coil in soldered into place spread the coils apart about 0.5 to 1mm so that they are not touching.

Figure 1 Schematic for 3v FM transmitter

If you dont have a trim cap you can use a fixed value capacitor and you can vary the TX frequency by adjusting the spacing of the coils or placing a small piece of ferrite inside the coil , but the better way to change the transmission frequency is to use a variable capacitor .Connect a half or quarter wavelength antenna (length of wire) to the aerial point. At an FM frequency of 100 MHz these lengths are 150 cm and 75 cm respectively.