Download 2015 Electrical Engineering

Electrical Engineering
Microcontrollers &
Artificial Intelligence
Applications – From the thermostat in your house to the car that you drive, microcontrollers are all around
us. Microcontrollers are tiny computers that work as our device’s ‘brain’ and allows it to work. As Electrical
Engineers, we can have the job of programming microcontrollers, or we can have the job of designing and
building them. Any of these applications that changes itself on its own while it is working is called artificial
intelligence (AI).
This Project – The objective is to create a microcontroller that plays rock, paper, scissors.
The microcontroller uses a random number generator to decide what selection to play.
The artificial intelligence is done when we convert the random number to a selection—rock, paper, or
scissors. The random number is any number between 1 and 100, and these values are divided into thirds for
rock, paper, and scissors with two limits. When the microcontroller finds out the value that the user played, it
updates the two limits to make it more likely to play a winning selection next time.
Further Information
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Arduino.cc — To purchase the microcontroller used in this project, get project ideas, and learn programming tips, Arduino is a very popular and relatively inexpensive way to do projects with microcontrollers.
SparkFun.com — SparkFun’s Inventor’s Kit includes an Arduino, lights, motors, and more. The Inventor’s
kit also comes with a guidebook and 16 example circuits. The website also includes tons of tutorials and
project ideas.
CodeAcademy.com — A free website that teaches you to start programming right now! Learn several
programming languages, free of cost.
Electrical Engineering
Basic Circuit Control
Applications – Teams of engineers worked for years to perfect every device that you use. Every device that
has power had an Electrical Engineer on that team. Even though this project only has a couple wires and a
battery, you can imagine how something this simple could light a house and even power a cell phone.
This Project – There are many ways to control a circuit. Light and sound activated circuits are often used to
control more advanced circuity.
The photoresistor (RP) that is in this circuit will react differently in the light than in the dark. This will give a
different signal to ‘U3’, the integrated circuit (IC), which controls the LED light. This control can also be
changed to a microphone to control the circuit with sound instead of light.
Further Information
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SnapCircuits.net — The Snap Electronic kits used in this project are good educational tools for school or
fun. The come in different sizes to meet different need. The kits have instructions that allow you to build a
lot of different circuits.
AllAboutCircuits.com — A good resource for questions about electronics. The website has educational information about circuits that include electronic textbooks, video lectures, worksheets, and more. Click on
the ‘Education’ tab at the top of the page to get started.
Electrical Engineering
Antenna Theory
Antennas are used around the world for communication – cellphones, satellites, GPS, and
more, all make use of antennas!
An antenna works by converting electricity into electromagnetic waves, and another antenna
will convert it back!
Electricity causes electrons in the current to wiggle back and forth along the antenna. This
creates the electromagnetic wave, like splashing something in the water. When the wave
reaches a receiving antenna, the electrons wiggle around, creating electromagnetic waves, like
a buoy floating on a wave. The wiggling is turned back into an electric current, and an understandable signal!
Electrical Engineering
Basic Logic Circuits
Logic circuits process data signals to create new desired signals and information. This is commonly done in
binary. These logic circuits often use operations through gates. There are two essential gates, AND and OR.
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AND Gate: A single bit AND gate will only produce 1 as an output if both inputs are one. This is symbol
for AND is ‘&’.
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OR Gate: A single bit OR gate will produce 1 as an output if either of the inputs are one. This is denoted
with ‘|’ .
A
0
0
1
1
The NOT gate takes the input and
inverts it. For example, if a 1 is
inputted, a 0 is outputted.
B
0
1
0
1
A&B
0
0
0
1
A|B
0
1
1
1
The XOR gate is an exclusive OR
gate. This means that the output
will only be a 1 if the two inputs
produce a 1 for an OR gate but
not for an AND gate. For example,
inputs of 0 and 1 will produce a 1
while an two inputs of 1 will
produce a 0.
The NAND gate is a combination
of an AND gate and a NOT gate.
So, the inputs are produced like a
normal AND function, then the
result is inverted. For example,
an input of two 1s would produce
an output of 0.
Electrical Engineering
Renewable Energy:
Wind Power
Applications – Fossil fuels are a source of energy for many of our devices and machines that we use everyday. Fossil fuels are also damaging our planet, so engineers have come up with a way to use wind energy by
converting it into useable electricity that we are able to use to charge our devices and power our machines.
By using wind energy, we are using energy that it is far less damaging to our planet.
This Project – Wind power works by having wind turn turbine blades on a windmill, causing the windmill’s
shaft to spin which creates electricity that is inverted into AC voltage that travels through the power lines.
The Green Science Windmill Generator Kit demonstrates how wind power through the use of a windmill actually works.
Further Information:
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To learn more about the kits used in this demo and see other science toys and kits that you can make at
home, visit:
 http://store.discovery.com/green-science-windmill-generator/detail.php?p=524774
 http://www.scientificsonline.com/product/green-science-windmill-generator
Check out these other websites for more information on wind energy and how it works:
 http://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=wind_home-basics
 http://www.kids.esdb.bg/wind.html
 http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/energy/windenergy.html
 http://www.alliantenergykids.com/energyandtheenvironment/renewableenergy/022397
Electrical Engineering
Robotics
Applications: Robots have a wide variety of applications.
They can go places that humans cannot, from small spaces to
dangerous ones. They can be much stronger than people, and
can do repetitive tasks such as in manufacturing much longer
than people can. Robots can even be used to replace limbs that
have been lost, or help to perform surgery. Robots help to
make our lives easier, safer, and in some cases more enjoyable.
This robotic arm is part of a research program trying
to give amputees thought-controlled prosthetics.
"APL-built Prosthetic Arm Controlled by Thought." The Hub.
N.p., 02 Jan. 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
This Project: RoboNova is a robot with several servo
motors that imitate human joints, and allow it to do
many of the actions that a person can do, like
cartwheels! It has been programmed to perform all of
the stunts you see in this project, and can be controlled
using a remote control.
Further Information:
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Robo Sally is a robot designed to defuse bombs in dangerous
settings, so that people don’t have to risk their lives to do so.
Rienzi, Greg. "Applied Physics Lab's Latest Robotic Wonder Does Her
Work in Danger Zones." The Hub. N.p., 01 July 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
http://www.electronicsteacher.com/robotics/what-is-robotics.php — General information
about robotics.
http://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/?domainredir=mindstorms.lego.com — To learn
more about LEGO Mindstorms, a robot made of LEGOs that can do many different types of
tasks. Can be very expensive.
http://www.usfirst.org/ - FIRST Robotics, an organization that hosts robotics competitions for
all ages.
Articles on the two robots featured on this handout:
 http://hub.jhu.edu/2013/01/02/prosthetic-arm-60-minutes
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http://hub.jhu.edu/gazette/2013/july/features-robo-sally-useful-robot-appliedphysics