Electronic

Electronics is the science of how to control electric energy, energy in which the electrons have a fundamental role. Electronics deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive electrical components and interconnection technologies. Commonly, electronic devices contain circuitry consisting primarily or exclusively of active semiconductors supplemented with passive elements; such a circuit is described as an electronic circuit.

The nonlinear behaviour of active components and their ability to control electron flows makes amplification of weak signals possible, and electronics is widely used in information processing, telecommunication, and signal processing. The ability of electronic devices to act as switches makes digital information processing possible. Interconnection technologies such as circuit boards, electronics packaging technology, and other varied forms of communication infrastructure complete circuit functionality and transform the mixed components into a regular working system.

Electronics is distinct from electrical and electro-mechanical science and technology, which deal with the generation, distribution, switching, storage, and conversion of electrical energy to and from other energy forms using wires, motors, generators, batteries, switches, relays, transformers, resistors, and other passive components. This distinction started around 1906 with the invention by Lee De Forest of the triode, which made electrical amplification of weak radio signals and audio signals possible with a non-mechanical device. Until 1950 this field was called "radio technology" because its principal application was the design and theory of radiotransmitters, receivers, and vacuum tubes.

Today, most electronic devices use semiconductor components to perform electron control. The study of semiconductor devices and related technology is considered a branch ofsolid-state physics, whereas the design and construction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems come under electronics engineering. This article focuses on engineeringaspects of electronics.

An electronic component is any physical entity in an electronic system used to affect the electrons or their associated fields in a manner consistent with the intended function of the electronic system. Components are generally intended to be connected together, usually by being soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB), to create an electronic circuit with a particular function (for example an amplifier, radio receiver, or oscillator). Components may be packaged singly, or in more complex groups as integrated circuits. Some common electronic components are capacitors, inductors, resistors, diodes, transistors, etc. Components are often categorized as active (e.g. transistors andthyristors) or passive (e.g. resistors, diodes, inductors and capacitors)

Vacuum tubes (Thermionic valves) were one of the earliest electronic components. They were almost solely responsible for the electronics revolution of the first half of the Twentieth Century. They took electronics from parlor tricks and gave us radio, television, phonographs, radar, long distance telephony and much more. They played a leading role in the field of microwave and high power transmission as well as television receivers until the middle of the 1980s.^[1] Since that time, solid state devices have all but completely taken over. Vacuum tubes are still used in some specialist applications such as high power RF amplifiers, cathode ray tubes, specialist audio equipment, guitar amplifiers and some microwave devices.

In April 1955 the IBM 608 was the first IBM product to use transistor circuits without any vacuum tubes and is believed to be the world's first all-transistorized calculator to be manufactured for the commercialMARKET.^[2][3] The 608 contained more than 3,000 germanium transistors. Thomas J. Watson Jr. ordered all future IBM products to use transistors in their design. From that time on transistors were almost exclusively used for computer logic and peripherals.

Types of circuits[edit]

Circuits and components can be divided into two groups: analog and digital. A particular device may consist of circuitry that has one or the other or a mix of the two types.

Analog circuits[edit]

Main article: Analog electronics

Hitachi J100 adjustable frequency drive chassis

Most analog electronic appliances, such as radio receivers, are constructed from combinations of a few types of basic circuits. Analog circuits use a continuous range of voltage or current as opposed to discrete levels as in digital circuits.

The number of different analog circuits so far devised is huge, especially because a 'circuit' can be defined as anything from a single component, to systems containing thousands of components.

Analog circuits are sometimes called linear circuits although many non-linear effects are used in analog circuits such as mixers, modulators, etc. Good examples of analog circuits include vacuum tube and transistor amplifiers, operational amplifiers and oscillators.

One rarely finds modern circuits that are entirely analog. These days analog circuitry may use digital or even microprocessor techniques to improve performance. This type of circuit is usually called "mixed signal" rather than analog or digital.

Sometimes it may be difficult to differentiate between analog and digital circuits as they have elements of both linear and non-linear operation. An example is the comparator which takes in a continuous range of voltage but only outputs one of two levels as in a digital circuit. Similarly, an overdriven transistor amplifier can take on the characteristics of a controlled switch having essentially two levels of output. In fact, many digital circuits are actually implemented as variations of analog circuits similar to this example—after all, all aspects of the real physical world are essentially analog, so digital effects are only realized by constraining analog behavior.

Digital circuits[edit]

Main article: Digital electronics

Digital circuits are electric circuits based on a number of discrete voltage levels. Digital circuits are the most common physical representation of Boolean algebra, and are the basis of all digital computers. To most engineers, the terms "digital circuit", "digital system" and "logic" are interchangeable in the context of digital circuits. Most digital circuits use a binary system with two voltage levels labeled "0" and "1". Often logic "0" will be a lower voltage and referred to as "Low" while logic "1" is referred to as "High". However, some systems use the reverse definition ("0" is "High") or are current based. Quite often the logic designer may reverse these definitions from one circuit to the next as he sees fit to facilitate his design. The definition of the levels as "0" or "1" is arbitrary.

Ternary (with three states) logic has been studied, and some prototype computers made.

Computers, electronic clocks, and programmable logic controllers (used to control industrial processes) are constructed of digital circuits. Digital signal processors are another example.

Building blocks:

• Logic gates
• Adders
• Flip-flops
• Counters
• Registers
• Multiplexers
• Schmitt triggers

Highly integrated devices:

• Microprocessors
• Microcontrollers
• Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)
• Digital signal processor (DSP)
• Field-programmable gate array (FPGA)

Heat dissipation and thermal management[edit]

Main article: Thermal management of electronic devices and systems

Heat generated by electronic circuitry must be dissipated to prevent immediate failure and improve long term reliability. Heat dissipation is mostly achieved by passive conduction/convection. Means to achieve greater dissipation include heat sinks and fans for air cooling, and other forms of computer cooling such as water cooling. These techniques use convection, conduction, and radiation of heat energy.

Noise[edit]

Main article: Electronic noise

Electronic noise is defined^[4] as unwanted disturbances superposed on a useful signal that tend to obscure its information content. Noise is not the same as signal distortion caused by a circuit. Noise is associated with all electronic circuits. Noise may be electromagnetically or thermally generated, which can be decreased by lowering the operating temperature of the circuit. Other types of noise, such as shot noise cannot be removed as they are due to limitations in physical properties.

Electronics theory[edit]

Main article: Mathematical methods in electronics

Mathematical methods are integral to the study of electronics. To become proficient in electronics it is also necessary to become proficient in the mathematics of circuit analysis.

Circuit analysis is the study of methods of solving generally linear systems for unknown variables such as the voltage at a certain node or the current through a certain branch of a network. A common analytical tool for this is the SPICE circuit simulator.

Also important to electronics is the study and understanding of electromagnetic field theory.

Electronics lab[edit]

Main article: Electronic circuit simulation

Due to the complex nature of electronics theory, laboratory experimentation is an important part of the development of electronic devices. These experiments are used to test or verify the engineer’s design and detect errors. Historically, electronics labs have consisted of electronics devices and equipment located in a physical space, although in more recent years the trend has been towards electronics lab simulation software, such as CircuitLogix, Multisim, and PSpice.

Computer aided design (CAD)[edit]

Main article: Electronic design automation

Today's electronics engineers have the ability to design circuits using premanufactured building blocks such as power supplies, semiconductors (i.e. semiconductor devices, such as transistors), and integrated circuits. Electronic design automation software programs include schematic capture programs and printed circuit board design programs. Popular names in the EDA software world are NI Multisim, Cadence (ORCAD), EAGLE PCB and Schematic, Mentor (PADS PCB and LOGIC Schematic), Altium (Protel), LabCentre Electronics (Proteus), gEDA, KiCad and many others.

Construction methods[edit]

Main article: Electronic packaging

Many different methods of connecting components have been used over the years. For instance, early electronics often used point to point wiring with components attached to wooden breadboards to construct circuits. Cordwood construction and wire wrap were other methods used. Most modern day electronics now use printed circuit boards made of materials such as FR4, or the cheaper (and less hard-wearing) Synthetic Resin Bonded Paper (SRBP, also known as Paxoline/Paxolin TRADE marks) and FR2) - characterised by its brown colour. Health and environmental concerns associated with electronics assembly have gained increased attention in recent years, especially for products destined to the European Union, with its Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE), which went into force in July 2006.

Degradation[edit]

Rasberry crazy ants have been known to consume the insides of electrical wiring, and nest inside of electronics; they prefer DC to AC currents. This behavior is not well understood by scientists.^[5]

150+ Electronics Projects for Engineering Students

Electronics Projects – The projects which are having more demand in engineering level and especially very useful for ECE and EEE students. We are all well known that we cannot imagine our life without electricity even for single day as it became a part in our life. So, it is very important and beneficial to us if we learn some basic things about electronics.

This electronics concept deals with various small and large circuits which may include concepts like diodes, batteries, resistors, integrated circuits, etc. These concepts are very interesting to learn also. As day by day its importance growing at rapid rate.

We found that many people are showing interest to learn electronics concepts by joining in various electronics branches like ECE, EEE, etc. in engineering. They can get good knowledge on electronics only after doing some major projects or Mini Projects on Electronics in their engineering. For those people, the below list of electronics projects ideas would be more helpful.

We have collected best electronics projects list from various resources and listed them below in a tabular form. You may get best idea by reading all these project ideas and if you are interested, you may give few suggestions, comments, new electronics projects ideas also.

Electronics Projects for Engineering Students:

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SNO	ELECTRONICS PROJECTS
1	Water Level Controller using 8051 Microcontroller: Here we are designing the circuit which is used to detect and control the water level automatically in overhead tank using 8051 microcontroller. It is used in industries to control the liquid level automatically.
2	Car Parking Guard Circuit Using Infrared Sensor: This circuit helps the person in the driving seat in such a way that it gives an alarm if there is any obstacle or a wall while parking or while driving in reverse. It is very useful in our real life.
3	Cell Phone Detector: This is a simple circuit which helps to detect the presence of an activated cell phone by detecting the signals in the frequency range of 0.9 to 3GHz. It helps in mobile phones tracking which are used for spying.
4	Bidirectional Visitor Counter using 8051: This Bidrectional Visitor Counter Circuit is helpful to count the number of persons entering or leaving a room and to display it on a screen.
5	Password based Circuit Breaker: This password based circuit breaker project is built using 8051 controller and is used to switch off the power supply to the line by entering a password.
6	Temperature Controlled DC Fan using Microcontroller: The main principle of the circuit is to switch on the fan connected to DC motor when the temperature is greater than a threshold value.This can be used in home applications and in cpu to reduce heat.
7	Auto Intensity Control of Street Lights: This is a simple circuit that automatically controls the intensity of street lights which is designed using microcontroller and LEDs.
8	Line Following Robotic Circuit using ATMega8 Microcontroller: This line follower robot is a basic robot that follows a specific path indicated by a line having some particular width.
9	Digital Tachometer using 8051 Microcontroller: Here we designed a simple non contact tachometer using microcontroller which can measure speed with an accuracy of 1 rev/sec.
10	5 Channel IR Remote Control System using Microcontroller: This article is aimed to design and demonstrate a simple 5 channel remote control system to drive five loads. This circuit works on the principle of IR communication.
11	Bipolar LED Driver Circuit: This bipolar LED driver circuit is very useful at the places where flashing of light is required, as in beacon flashing. This circuit can be mainly used for indication purposes.
12	Celsius Scale Thermometer using AT89C51: This Celsius Scale Thermometer circuit is designed using at89c51 and lm35. This circuit works on analog to digital conversion principle. It can be used at homes, mobile places like cars to keep a track of the temperature.
13	Density Based Traffic Signal System using Microcontroller: In this system, we use IR sensors to measure the traffic density. We have to arrange one IR sensor for each road; these sensors always sense the traffic on that particular road. All these sensors are interfaced to the microcontroller. Based on these sensors, controller detects the traffic and controls the traffic system.
14	Automatic Washroom Light Switch: This is a simple but very useful circuit in our real life which helps to automatically turn On the lights when a person enters the washroom and it automatically turns Off the lights when he leaves it.
15	Automatic Door Bell With Object Detection: This automatic doorbell with object detection circuit helps to sense the presence of a person or an object automatically and rings the doorbell.
16	Water Level Indicator: This Water Level Indicator project employs a simple mechanism which helps to detect and indicate the water level in an overhead tank or any other water container. It can be used in Hotels, Factories, Homes Apartments, Commercial Complexes, Drainage, etc.
17	Password Based Door Lock System using 8051 Microcontroller: This system demonstrates a password based door lock system wherein once the correct code or password is entered, the door is opened and the concerned person is allowed access to the secured area. After some time, the door would be closed. Read this post completely to get more information.
18	Boolean Algebra Calculator: This Boolean algebra calculator is an interesting project which is more useful in our real life by working as a portable calculator to simplify the Boolean expression on the fly. In our circuit, we use Boolean algebra simplification methods like the Quine-McCluskey algorithm to simplify the Boolean expression and display the output on the display.
19	Auto Night Lamp using High Power LED: This Auto Night Lamp is an interesting circuit which helps to turn ON the LED lights interfaced to it at night time and it turns OFF the lights automatically when it is day.
20	Mobile Jammer Circuit: This circuit is used to block the signals of cell phones with in the range of 100 meters. This circuit can be used in TV transmission and also for remote controlled toys or play things.
21	Unbiased Digital Dice with LEDs: This is a circuit diagram of digital dice which is nearly unbiased. By using this circuit, there is no chance to cheat as the circuit operates at such a high speed that the circuit is almost imperceptible to the human eye.
22	Metal Detector Circuit: This is a simple metal detector circuit which is very useful for checking the person in shopping malls, hotels, cinema halls to ensure that person is not carrying any explosive metals or illegal things like guns, bombs etc.
23	Panic Alarm: This panic alarm circuit helps us to intimate others regarding our bad situation without any delay. It is more useful when an intruder entering our house or bad health status at which we are unable to intimate to the people around us.
24	Wire Loop Breaking Alarm: This circuit works as a continuity tester device which tests the continuity of the wire at hand. It is an indispensable tool to check broken wires and undesired shorting of wires.
25	Rain Alarm Circuit: Rain water detector will detect the rain and make an alert; rain water detector is used in the irrigation field, home automation, communication, automobiles etc. Here is the simple and reliable circuit of rain water detector which can be constructed at low cost.
26	Automatic Plant Irrigation System: This project circuit is more useful in watering plants automatically without any human interference. It is more useful when the owner is not present in the home for few days.
27	Hot Water Geyser Controller Circuit: This circuit is made to turn OFF geysers as soon as our water gets hot and are ready for bathing.
28	Lead Acid Battery Charger Circ