Programmable Microcontroller Research Articles

Design and Optimization of Delphi-Based Electromagnetic Coilgun

In classical gun and satellite launching systems, noise, flame, and hazardous gasses occur during the explosion of gunpowder, and it is possible to change the muzzle velocity of projectile only during the production phase. In addition, negative aspects of classical guns include the storage of munitions, their decay in time, high amount of their mass, and their high cost. In this paper, “A New Electromagnetic Coilgun” is designed to allow acceleration of a ferromagnetic projectile with the help of instantaneous alternate current applied on four sequential stator coils without using any mechanical boosters. programmable interface controllers microcontroller software and Delphi software were used to obtain the data from optic systems placed at the beginning of stator coils for gradual velocity measurement of the projectile, to process the same, and to perform triggering checks. Furthermore, such Delphi-based software allowed to improve the muzzle velocity by changing the triggering time for coils and, thus, to optimize the system. This paper is distinguished from other studies in the literature in terms of the software used and the design of accelerating coil. Data communication was ensured through the serial port of the PC during the launching process. The study examined the effects of variables such as the voltage applied on coils, number of turns of the coil, and the number of capacitors on the maximum muzzle velocity that may be obtained through the launcher and these were discussed in detail in the scope of the paper.

Nonlinear control of a piezoelectric actuator system for a phase shift interferometer

The phase of an interferogram carries the desired information for various applications, such as 3D profilometry, which can measure the surface 3D topography of optical elements. The phase can be obtained with a phase shift interferometer by acquiring a series of interferograms while changing the optical path difference. The optical path difference is generated by a piezoelectric actuator pushing reference mirror. However, the phase achieved by the interferometer has severe error due to the nonlinear characteristic of the piezoelectric actuator. To eliminate the phase error, we propose an open-loop control system to correct the nonlinear characteristic of the piezoelectric actuator. The control system integrates a micro-programmed control unit, a 16-bit digital-to-analog converter, two amplifiers, an inbuilt high-resolution strain gauge sensor, a signal processing unit, and a 24-bit analog-to-digital converter with our software to achieve the purpose. The experimental result of the system can accurately linearize the piezoelectric actuator. Both its control principles as well as its experimental validation are depicted in this paper.

A Survey of Research in Microcontroller Education

Microcontrollers constitute a popular technology of our age. While a few decades ago, it seemed extremely difficult to teach non-electronic engineers how to program a single-chip computer system, nowadays, inexperienced designers share microcontroller-based prototypes over the Internet. The emergence of today’s do-it-yourself (DIY) culture has introduced pervasiveness of this technology and rendered the development of embedded computing systems easier than ever before. This communication identifies two fundamental eras in the advancement of microcontroller programming and application development, and distinguishes the ‘back then’ with ‘nowadays’ trends and consequent risks in education. Then, attention is paid to the classification and progress in educational research over a span of twenty years, along with a prediction of the prospective direction in microcontroller education in the upcoming decade. In this paper, in the recognition of the growing interdisciplinary nature of microcontroller technology, the information summarized could serve as a reference guide for further research study in diverse disciplines.

Adaptation of the Process-Oriented Approach to the Development of Embedded Microcontroller Systems

Adaptation of the process-oriented approach to programming of microcontrollers in embedded systems is described. Specific features of control software and programming of microcontrollers are analyzed. A mathematical model of the control software, which implies a mechanism of the description of microcontroller interruptions in the form of hyperprocesses, is proposed, and its dynamic semantics is provided. The model proposed in the study is a conceptual framework for the development of specialized languages of process-oriented programming of embedded systems.

AUTOMATED MEASUREMENT AND SYSTEM DATA LOGGER FOR CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF SLICED BANANA FRUIT DURING DRYING PROCESS BY A SOLAR HOT- AIR DRYER

The aim of this work is developing and evaluating an automated measurement and system datalogger for continuous monitoring of solar hot air drier for natural convection solar cabinet drier. Measurements includes monitoring of drying process for sliced Banana (Musa acuminata) relation to weather parameters such as ambient air temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity which ensures precise measurements and reproduction of experiments. An electronic measurement system was used for measurement of temperature, humidity, air speed, a solar intensity. A programmable microcontroller ship and code were used to control measurement, timing, and data storage twenty-four hours/day. All measurements data was collected and saved in storage memory card. Results showed that the solar drier drying rate achieved (-0.018gH2O/g dm.h), while the drying rate with mean of electrical thermal drier were (-0.956 018gH2O/gdm.h) at 105°C, (-0.552 018gH2O/g dm.h) at 70°C and (-0.513 018gH2O/gdm.h) at 50°C. The electronic measurement - datalogging system was able to give an accurate measurement and assessment to the drying system and process. It was found that air leakage from the system and poor insulation inhibit the airflow over the solar absorber plate and drying chamber causing thermal leakage form the bottom and drier sides. It was recommended to supply the solar drier with an air fan, seal the drying air leakage, and air-lock at the entrance to control airflow as well as the temperature of the drying process.

Освітня робототехніка. аспекти підготовки майбутніх учителів інформатики

The current article deals with the urgent problems of introducing such educational discipline as "Educational robotics" into the curriculum of educational institutions. The article also considers the necessity of special training of pre-service teachers of informatics for teaching educational robotics at school and inclusion of a number of specialized educational disciplines, such as "Educational Informatics", "Robotics", "Hardware programming of microcontrollers" into their professional training. Moreover, the text of the article depicts the results of the diagnostic experiment started in 2013 on the basis of the South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky (Odessa, Ukraine) within the framework of the discipline "Programming of microcontrollers". The aforementioned course is taught for students of full-time and parttime studying in the specialty "Secondary Education (Computer Science)". The article highlights the positive aspects of the influence of teaching educational robotics at school and during professional training of pre-service teachers of informatics. In addition, the text highlights the experience of participating in the "Build Your Own AVR JTAG ICE Clone" project, which had been devoted to the study of the AVR JTAG controller. In the framework of the project participants were asked to explore the possibility of simplifying the architecture of this controller. While working on project implementation, we were given the task of making it easier to create an in-circuit debugger. The results of participation in this project were extended and continued in the framework of scientific degree work of students in the scientific direction "014 Secondary Education (Informatics)". According to the goals and objectives of the international project, taking into account the experience of working on the project "Build Your Own AVR JTAG ICE clone", the experience of cooperation with the NANITES Group and taking into account own pedagogical and methodological experience in accordance with the training needs and market demand in the framework of MoPED: Modernization of Pedagogical Higher Education by Innovative Teaching Instruments 586098-EPP-1-2017-1-UA-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP implementation we have created a program of educational discipline "Educational Robotics" which structure is described in the article.

Many-Objective Cooperative Co-evolutionary Linear Genetic Programming Applied to the Automatic Microcontroller Program Generation

In this article, a methodology for the generation of programs in assembly language for microcontroller-based systems is proposed, applying a many-objective cooperative co-evolutionary linear genetic programming based on the decomposition of a program into segments, which evolve simultaneously, collaborating with each other in the process. The starting point for the program generation is a table of input/output examples. Two methods of fitness evaluation are also proposed. When the objective is to find a binary combination, the authors propose fitness evaluation with an exhaustive search for the output of each bit of the binary combination in the genetic program. On the other hand, when the objective is to generate specific variations of the logical values in the pins of the microcontroller’s port, the authors propose calculating the fitness, comparing the timing diagrams generated by the genetic program with the desired timing diagrams. The methodology was tested in the generation of drivers for the 4x4 matrix keyboard and character LCD module devices. The experimental results demonstrate that for certain tasks, the use of the proposed method allows for the generation of programs capable of competing with programs written by human programmers.

Developing the Automatic System for the Multi-Point Fumigation of Air Charge in the Diesel Engine

Introduction. The study deals with enhancement of an automotive diesel engine duty cycle through fumigating air charge by the certain dose (10−20 %) of hydrocarbon activator (alcohol, gasoline, kerosene, biodiesel, etc.). This is a relevant problem in engineering. In spite of its effectiveness, this method has not yet been widely applied to machinery. The existing mechanical devices for fumigating air charge do not provide the exact dosage of activator and its timely supply in a diesel engine at different operating modes. Materials and Methods. The solution for this problem may be the development of an automatic system for the multi-point fumigation of air charge. This device performs the injection of activator into the diesel engine intake manifold branches with the help of electromagnetic injectors managed by the electronic control unit. The system should provide the injectors operation by the algorithm for the cylinders firing order and calculate the injection duration for the adjusted activator dose. For the programming of the Electronic Control Unit, the injection duration of the exact activator dose was theoretically calculated. The algorithm of electromagnetic injectors operation was substantiated (for D-243 tractor diesel engine by the example). Results. To implement the multi-point fumigation of air charge, it was determined that depending on the activator dose and the engine speed and load mode, the cyclic dose of activator amounts may be from 1 mg per cycle to 13 mg per cycle, while the activator injection duration is from 0.27 ms to 3.5 ms. For the practical realization of the multi-point fumigation of air charge for D-243 diesel engine of MTZ-82.1 tractor the automatic system was designed. The system consists of an activator tank, filter, electric pump, rail, pressure regulator, electromagnetic injectors, electronic control unit, fuel consumption sensor, and sensor of phase and crankshaft speed. Conclusions. The device solves the problem of the automatic fumigation of air charge at the intake stroke and helps to improve power, fuel economy and environmental indicators of the automotive diesel engines. Keywords: diesel engine, fumigation of air charge, activator, system, electromagnetic injector, electronic control unit, sensor For citation: Ryblov M. V., Ukhanov D. A., Ukhanov A. P. Developing the Automatic System for the Multi-Point Fumigation of Air Charge in the Diesel Engine. Vestnik Mordovskogo universiteta = Mordovia University Bulletin. 2018; 28(4):523–536. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15507/0236-2910.028.201804.523-536 Acknowledgements: The authors thank the engineer of PNIEI company A. V. Grunyushkin for help in invention of Electronic Control Unit and in programming of microcontroller; the President of GAKS-Armservis Research and Manufacturing Association, D.Sc. (Engineering), professor S. V. Seynov for help in manufacturing of the modified intake manifold for diesel engine. Special thanks to anonymous reviewers for the objective analysis of the article.

Smart Home Automation System based on Arduino

<p>Intelligent home environments are environments that attempt to ease the user's life in different ways and make it more comfortable using the technology. This paper present the principle of realizing a home control interface based on an. Arduino UNO R3 board equipped with a programmable ATmega328 microcontroller. The sketch to be uploaded to the Arduino is written in C language. A desktop application was created in C # language to communicate with the Arduino via the serial port, thus facilitating repetitive tasks such as lighting control, opening / closing doors. A temperature / humidity sensor, an alarm (motion sensor + buzzer), garden lighting and automatic control of the TV via an IR receiver + IR transmitter have been added without forgetting manual control</p>

Multiplexed Electrochemical Cancer Diagnostics With Automated Microfluidics.

Microfluidic platforms can lead to miniaturisation, increased throughput and reduced reagent consumption, particularly when the processes are automated. Here, a programmable microcontroller is used for automation of a microfluidic platform configured to electrochemically determine the levels of 8 proteins simultaneously in complex liquid samples. The platform system is composed of a programmable Arduino microcontroller that controls inexpensive valve actuators, pump, magnetic stirrer and electronic display. The programmable microcontroller results in repeatable timing for each step in a complex assay protocol, such as sandwich immunoassays. Application of the platform is demonstrated using a multiplexed electrochemical immunoassay based on capture at the electrode surface of magnetic particles labelled with horseradish peroxidase and detection antibody. The multiplexed assay protocol is completed in less than 30 mins and results in detection of eight proteins associated with prostate cancer. The approach presented can be used to automate and simplify high-throughput screening campaigns, such as detection of multiple biomarkers in patient samples.

Open-Source Wireless Cloud-Connected Agricultural Sensor Network

Agricultural research involves study of the complex soil–plant–atmosphere–water system, and data relating to this system must be collected under often-harsh outdoor conditions in agricultural environments. Rapid advancements in electronic technologies in the last few decades, as well as more recent widespread proliferation and adoption of electronic sensing and communications, have created many options to address the needs of professional, as well as amateur, researchers. In this study, an agricultural research project was undertaken to collect data and examine the effects of different agronomic practices on yield, with the objectives being to develop a monitoring system to measure soil moisture and temperature conditions in field plots and to upload the data to an internet website. The developed system included sensor nodes consisting of sensors and electronic circuitry to read and transmit sensor data via radio and a cellular gateway to receive node data and forward the data to an internet website via cellular infrastructure. Microcontroller programs were written to control the nodes and gateway, and an internet website was configured to receive and display sensor data. The battery-powered sensor nodes cost $170 each, including electronic circuitry and sensors, and they were operated throughout the cropping season with little maintenance on a single set of batteries. The solar-powered gateway cost $163 to fabricate, plus an additional cost of $2 per month for cellular network access. Wireless and cellular data transmissions were reliable, successfully transferring 95% of sensor data to the internet website. Application of open-source hardware, wireless data transfer, and internet-based data access therefore offers many options and advantages for agricultural sensing and monitoring efforts.

An ultra‐low cost line follower robot as educational tool for teaching programming and circuit's foundations

AbstractIn this paper, an ultra low‐cost line following robot is presented. The robot is developed through the integration of free educational software and low cost electronics and mechanical devices with the aim of been used as a teaching and learning tool to increase the students confidence/performance and interest in engineering areas. The cost for building this robot‐based educational tool and its related activities is less than 25 USD. Students were encouraged for building its own unique designs using cardboard and open‐source software and hardware. The activities promoted the increase in knowledge and developed student's technical skills such as the use of electronic circuits and sensors, three dimension designs, learning to programming animations and microcontrollers, building self‐made structural and mechanical elements using cardboard and the use of the Bluetooth protocol to achieve the interconnection of devices through the use of an Android based Smartphone. The activities have been developed to allow students to apply and test their own ideas and concepts for solving problems through the computational thinking process and finding digital solutions through programming microcontrollers, all of them in the frame of the maker movement and the inclusion of the arts in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. The results of confidence/performance and interest evaluation tests allowed to identify the main areas of gain knowledge and the increasing interest in the engineering fields presented in this work.

Sistem Otomatis Putaran Kipas Angin Berdasarkan Suhu Ruang Menggunakan Mikrokontroler ATmega32 Berbasis Android

In designing this automatic system, the research methodology used is the data collection method and the development method. The data collection method consisted of literature study and experiment. For the development method, the Rapid Application Development (RAD) development method is used which includes the requirements planning, process and design, implementation stages. Automatic Fan Rotation System Based on Room Temperature Using an Android-based AtMega 32 Microcontroller implemented based on a needs analysis using the Borland Delphi 7 programming language as a desktop-based monitoring application, Arduino as a microcontroller programming language and Eclipse to create Android applications.

Realization of RFID-Based DAS Using an RF Transceiver and Huffman Coding

ABSTRACT This paper presents the approach of the design of a programmable radio frequency identification (RFID) reader and tag using a 2.4 GHz RF transceiver and microcontroller and data acquisition system. It can be substitute of conventional RFID tag and reader. Temperature sensor values are acquired by the tag and the following EPC RFID global communication protocol sensor values are sent to the reader at remote place after authentication communication is established by microcontroller programming. Using the Huffman coding technique with the help of the MATLAB software, a large volume of data is stored and compressed efficiently without any losses.

Three-dimensional Printing of Thermoplastic Materials to Create Automated Syringe Pumps with Feedback Control for Microfluidic Applications

Microfluidics has become a critical tool in research across the biological, chemical, and physical sciences. One important component of microfluidic experimentation is a stable fluid handling system capable of accurately providing an inlet flow rate or inlet pressure. Here, we have developed a syringe pump system capable of controlling and regulating the inlet fluid pressure delivered to a microfluidic device. This system was designed using low-cost materials and additive manufacturing principles, leveraging three-dimensional (3D) printing of thermoplastic materials and off-the-shelf components whenever possible. This system is composed of three main components: a syringe pump, a pressure transducer, and a programmable microcontroller. Within this paper, we detail a set of protocols for fabricating, assembling, and programming this syringe pump system. Furthermore, we have included representative results that demonstrate high-fidelity, feedback control of inlet pressure using this system. We expect this protocol will allow researchers to fabricate low-cost syringe pump systems, lowering the entry barrier for the use of microfluidics in biomedical, chemical, and materials research.

Prototipe Robot Pemantau Suhu Dalam Zona Kebakaran Gedung Menggunakan Telemetri Jaringan Nirkabel

The building fire can be a serious problem that could Interfere economic stability. Firefighters often have problems in handling if they are in the building there is fog or smoke. Therefore, the presence of this monitoring system is expected to present the data in the form of temperature information in the fire zone to help them. This study starts from the collection of materials and equipment, hardware design stage in the form of a wheeled robot while the design of the software comprising a transmitter section is a microcontroller program and the interface program as a receiver. The research result mobile robot can move properly with the remote control within a distance of 20 m. Video on this robot can be displayed in realtime within a distance + 15 m of the screen Because the raspberry pi 3 has a coverage area that is not so far away as well as a temperature sensor capable of measuring a very good accuracy in the range of 25 0 C-50 0 C DOI : 10.29408/jit.v1i2.904

Perancangan Prototipe Sistem Kontrol Pintu Air Irigasi Berbasis Android dan Jaringan Nirkabel

Prototype of irrigation-based sluice control devices for Android and wireless networks has a long-term goal, namely how in the future there is an application or tool that is able to assist irrigation water distribution officers in controlling the floodgates remotely, so it is expected that with the help of these tools or technology officers can work faster and more efficient. In this study the manufacturing stage is divided into two, namely the manufacture of hardware and software making where the research starts from the collection of materials and tools, then the manufacturing stage is the design of tools in the form of sluice controllers and software design consists of two parts, namely in the control section which is a program android and on the receiver and executor section which is a microcontroller program. The next step is the assembly or making of a tool, the sluice controller. After the android and the floodgates controllers are finished, the testing phase will be carried out, which is to test whether the tools work as expected if there is an error to be evaluated so that later the tools will be made as expected, namely Android-based irrigation gates and wireless networks DOI : 10.29408/jit.v1i2.905

Using Scientific Visualization Systems to Automate Monitoring of Data Generated by Lightweight Programmable Electronic Devices

This paper is devoted to a unified approach to monitoring data generated by various electronic devices that are based on programmable microcontrollers. We suggest that communication between visualization systems and target devices be automatically tuned by retrieving the description of the input/output data structure from the firmware of the devices. For this purpose, we propose an ontology-based generator of firmware parsers. In our approach, the ontology that describes the syntax of input/output statements of different programming languages and the generator of firmware parsers become an essential part of the visualization system. Next, we propose to enrich the visualization pipeline with a data filtering stage. To make the filtering and rendering stages highly configurable, we use data flow diagrams (DFDs) that define data transformation. To enable the user to compose these diagrams, we develop a special high-level graphical editor. The description of DFD nodes is stored in the ontological knowledge base of the visualization system. To specify the nodes in ontological notation, we use ontologies of semantic filters, visual objects, and graphical scenes. We implement the proposed approach in the SciVi multiplatform client-server scientific visualization system and test its new capabilities by monitoring the orientation and light direction sensors.

DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN INERTIAL MOTION CAPTURE SYSTEM

This paper presents the full cycle of development of inertial motion capture system: from the selection of sensors, selection of the orientation estimation algorithm of the received data and system movement visualization. The paper considers the existing methods of motion capture using various physical principles of work. Inertial motion capture systems are used in the field of biomechanics increasingly. It is done the analysis of existing inertial motion capture systems in paper. There are several leading market manufacturers of inertial motion capture systems: Xsense, InertialLab, APDM. Comparative characteristics of these systems are given. It is proposed to use own inertial motion capture system (IMCS) as an alternative for expensive industrial designs.The study gives the concept of the developed system. The presented prototype of IMCS consists of autonomous AHRS-modules, base wireless receiver, subsystem of data collection and animation reproduction program. Each of the autonomous AHRS has its own power supply, sensors (IMU), microcontroller with firmware and radio transmitter. AHRS-module uses the ATmega328p microcontroller as calculation core. IMU (Inertial measurement unit) was created by combining on the same board the following sensors: gyro ITG3205 (InvenSense), accelerometer ADXL345L (AnalogDevices) and magnetometer HMC5883L (Honeywell). The firmware functional phases are described in paper. The first phase of the microcontroller firmware is reading data from sensors. After collecting the necessary information, the microcontroller program passes into the phase of the orientation estimation using the AHRS algorithm. The third firmware phase is the data packet preparation and its transmission to the receiver. In paper sensors’ calibration methods are described, the precision characteristics of AHRS-module are given. The developed IMCS has small dimensions of IMUs. They are autonomous and use wireless communication technology for data transfer.As AHRS algorithm of orientation estimation system uses complementary Bachman filter. It reduces the computational load on the microcontroller. Developed system has own software for object movement visualization. NI LabVIEW programming environment is used to display skeleton kinematics through data collected from AHRS modules. Shown approach uses method proposed by Denavit and Hartenberg to describe kinematic chain movement. It is used so called D-H parameters to get the equation of kinematic chain motion conversion. The developed IMCS can be configured flexibly for various kinds of tasks.

Performance Evaluation of a Standalone Solar PV System for Electricity Generation in an Estate

This work focuses on the performance evaluation of a Standalone Solar Photovoltaic (PV) system for electricity generation in an estate requiring a daily power consumption of 50KW. This was achieved through a solar tracker software/hardware – embedded programme control system. A programmable microcontroller (PIC16F877A), light detection sensors (CDS NORP 12), motor driver IC (L293D), power relays (NTE-R22-5) and a dc gear motor with linear actuator (HARL-3618) were used. MikroC Pro compiler from Mikro Electroniker was used to programme the PIC16F877A. A fixed PV panel of same size was placed side by side and tested with the solar tracking system. The test results obtained showed that the solar tracking system produced 14.3W at 8:00am, increases to a maximum of 25.83W at 1:00pm and decreased to 16.28W at 6:00pm while the fixed PV panel produced 5W at 8:00am, increased to a maximum of 25.62W at 1:00pm and decreased to 10.6W at 6:00pm. These results gave the solar tracking system an efficiency increase of 33 percent over the fixed system. The designed system installed in residential homes has capacity to guarantee sustainable, durable and improved power supply.