Electronics Projects
Arduino FM Radio
Radio Startup Screen
Choosing a Favorite in the menu.
It's quite a rat's nest of wires in here
Radio Startup Screen
December 2019
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My mother complained of her FM radio having poor reception and quality. I decided to build a digital one.
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Using an Arduino (AtMega328p) along with a TEA5767, and EEPROM, a LCD, Joystick, and computer speaker system, the radio was made and fitted into a small box.
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Powered by a 2.5 Ah LiPo battery with appropriate charging protection and voltage conditioning.
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Receives most NYC stations with the antenna fully extended. Lasts so long, the full battery has not yet been established. The code is linked below.
Lithium Battery Packs
A 3S2P Li-Ion Battery Pack
2 11.1V and 2 14.4 V packs
With Light on, it is blindingly bright
A 3S2P Li-Ion Battery Pack
August 2019 - January 2020
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Using lithium ion cells from old dead laptop batteries, a powerful energy source can be made.
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Batteries were reconfigured into 3S2P and 4S2P (x in series, y in parallel) to give 11.1 V and 14.4V battery packs. These were protected by appropriate charging and balancing circuitry.
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Each pack was fitted with a 3D printed box, velcro and XT60 connector for easy handling and storage.
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A high power (30W) LED light was also made in a 3D printed stand and enclosure, It is powered by the 11.1V packs.
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Arduino Li-Ion Battery Charger
Circuit modules
Complete Battery Charger
Circuit Diagram
Circuit modules
August 2019
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Essentially this charger functions as a constant current, constant voltage source. Voltage and current are displayed by the seven segment displays.
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Voltage is controlled by the LM2596 buck converter board. Current control was handled by the program of the Arduino and an auxiliary current shunt board.
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Multiple charging modes were created and changed via the button interface. The code is linked below.
Dual Resonant Solid State Tesla Coil
December 2014 - March 2017
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Perhaps the most costly, yet the most awesome project that I have built, a 4 foot tall tesla coil.
The coil, consists of over 3000 turns of wire, operating on 320 V, over double the 120 V power from the outlet. It is driven by high power semiconductor switches controlled by a special controller board.
The output discharges, currently ~24 inches, could be much larger but the tuning process is tricky and ongoing.
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An Arduino Interrupter was made to control the coil. Code is linked below.
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Electric Vehicle
December 2015 - February 2016, December 2016 - February 2017
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Working with M. Sultana, as part of the NYC Regional Science Olympiad Electric Vehicle category, we built a car that could, on its own, travel a set distance and then stop.
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For two years we worked with two different designs each tailored to fit the competition requirements for that year.
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High Power Electromagnetic Accelerator
July 2016 - August 2016
I first got the idea to build this from a visit to NYC Maker Faire in 2015 when I saw a computer aimed version of this device on display.
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Using only electromagnetic force, a magnetic projectile is accelerated to over 100 ft/s.
450 volts stored in a capacitor bank is dumped into each solenoid via high power semiconductor switches, triggered by optical sensors.
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The system runs off of 16.8 volts supplied by a 4S2P Lithium Ion 18650
pack.
Solid State Tesla Coils
October 2013 - December 2013
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Low power and relatively safe Solid State Tesla Coils, made as I explored power electronic driving circuits.
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The mid-sized coil, with ~1000 turns of wire, can produce up to 6 inch sparks.
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The smaller, 'micro' version, with ~400 turns of wire, can actually be battery powered. At 24 V input it gives a 3 inch spark.
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Multipurpose Arduino
September 2011
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Inspired from the many Arduino derivatives seen at NYC World Maker Faire, I made a standalone Arduino platform including a 20x2 LCD, 5 buttons, a joystick, speaker, programming port and several breakout pins.
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This board can serve as a basis for any project, from a thermometer to a signal generator for testing drones. Linked below are some example code files I have written over the years.