MICRO CONTROLLERS..................

We had spent the past three days on various tasks and today also we expected some assignments. But unlike we expected, Sir came turned up to tell that we will be having a day with microcontrollers.

            

Earlier we had a session on microprocessors and microcontroller was a continuation of this topic.  We did some programs in 8085 processor kit in assembly level language..

             

To be very simple, the difference between a microprocessor and a microcontroller is that the latter is general purpose whereas the former is devoted for a specific purpose. The first functionally complete microcontroller is INTEL 8051.

                                    

http://www.mikroe.com/eng/chapters/view/65/chapter-2-8051-microcontroller-architecture/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_MCS-51

                  

Second difference between a processor and a controller is that, in processor there are no dedicated ports to apply the input or output rather more there are no external pins. But in 8051 there are 4 i/o ports each port with 8 pins making a total of 32 pins for external connections. Each pin is associated with flipflops. Flipflops represent a storage unit and they holds one bit of data. In order to take an output from a pin, apply a, logic 1 in the data flipflpo(D flipflop). The output from D flpiflop is taken from the complementary pin and hence logic 0 reaches the transistor which turns off the transistor and the internal 5v reaches the pin. When we apply a input it is mandatory that the transistor must be turned off by applying a logic high at the D flipflop. Otherwise the input will conduct through the transistor.

             

  Next difference is treated to be the most interesting one. A processor is nothing but a simple processing unit. The other peripheral chips,RAM,ROM are external. But in the case of a controller the processor, RAM, ROM, peripheral chips are integrated in a single chip. The ROM has a boot loader and has a size of 4K whereas the RAM is used to store the data variables. It has a size of 128 bytes. If the internal RAM and ROM are insufficient then we can access the external memory.

         

Timer and counter….. Timer is used to produce a time delay from internal circuits whereas a counter is triggered by the external occurrences.

              

Interrupt is a widely used concept in controllers as well as in processors. When a interrupt signal is raised the control is transferred to the requested memory location based on the priority. There is another concept called polling where the processor pays attention to the first system and transfers the control to the next system only when the first system is completely serviced. An interrupt handler, also known as an interrupt service routine (ISR), is a callback subroutine in microcontroller firmware, operating system or device driver whose execution is triggered by the reception of an interrupt. Interrupt handlers have a multitude of functions, which vary based on the reason the interrupt was generated and the speed at which the interrupt handler completes its task. For transferring the control it is the content of the PC that is changed. Before transferring the control the state of the Pc will be stored in a stack. When a instruction IRET is encountered in the interrupt program then the content of the stack will be moved back to the PC.

      

  There are different types of communication like SERIAL, PARALLEL, SIMPLEX, HALF DUPLEX, DUPLEX, ASYNCHRONOUS, SYNCHRONOUS. SIr talked about a very important topic which th e bit rate and baud rate. In bit rate data transfer is expressed in terms of no: of bits per second and baud rate refers to the no: of changes per second.

                     

  Next up we familiarized Arduino Duemilianove. Arduino is an open-source single-board microcontroller, descendant of the open-source Wiring platform,^[2][3] designed to make the process of using electronics in multidisciplinary projects more accessible. The hardware consists of a simple open hardware design for the Arduino board with an Atmel AVR processor and on-board input/output support. The software consists of a standard programming language compiler and the boot loader that runs on the board.^[4]

http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/the-making-of-arduino

Arduino hardware is programmed using a Wiring-based language (syntax and libraries), similar to C++ with some simplifications and modifications, and a Processing-based integrated development environment.^[4]

              We did a program to light up an LED using a push button switch and then to light an LED using the LDR and to display some data in an LCD. Had an interesting session with microcontrollers…..

OCTAVE IN MACHINE LEARNING..........

Our lab exams are fast approaching and it was essential to practice the labs again. So today, being the last day to use the electronics labs,  we Electronics and communication students skipped the CHPC classes and attended AC additional lab with permission from mahesh sir.

     Returning by 12.30,  Sir came up with a happy news which I'm not going to reveal now but a few days later. The news was really amazing and now I am really longing for that day to happen!!!!!!!! Sir talked about free software. the concept is truly great. Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients have the same rights under which it was obtained and that manufacturers of consumer products incorporating free software provide the software as source code. The word free in the term free software refers to freedom (liberty), and is not at all related to monetary cost. The Free Software Foundation advises people to "avoid using terms like 'give away' or 'for free,' because those terms imply that the issue is about price, not freedom."^[3] Free software is generally available without charge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software

                             Sir told about the history of free software. The idea was brought about by Richard mathew stallman
. Heis the founder of the free software foundation. The revolution of free software started when he was serving as a  hacker at MIT. Now read on the rest at the link given.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman#Decline_of_MIT.27s_hacker_culture

                              We were sharing the L3 lab with final year students who are trained in machine learning. Sir asked us about our thpughts on machine learning and then illustrated what exactly is machine learning through an example. Afterwards he asked us to do an assignmnet in octave with the concept of linear regression. The program was to generate the value of y corresponding to the value of a given x using the relation y=mx+c. It is required to find the value of m and c from the provided set of data. Myself and my group mate were able to implement it successfully.

.............RED TACTON..........

CHPC classes restarted after the vacation. We were all engaged with some tasks. First task was to install octave in all the systems of L3 lab. We could install octave successfully on most of the systems but there was problem of login in some systems.

Next sir asked us to do an octave code to perform selection sort. It was required to accept the numbers in a file, save it and then load it in another file to sort. Wikipedia helped me to understand the logic behind selection sort. Just go through the Wikipedia page on selection sort at the link given here.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selection_sort

       

                  When this task was completed sir asked us to do the same code with random numbers and calculate the time.

Then came the real task for the day. We were to make a presentation on any topic we like in two hours and present it in groups of two. The first topic that stoked my mind was about RED TACTON. This is in fact a very interesting and a fast developing technology. This is being developed at the NTT lab , Japan.

RedTacton is a Human Area Networking technology, which is under development, that uses the surface of the human body as a safe, high speed network transmission path. It is completely distinct from wireless and infrared technologies as it uses the minute electric field emitted on the surface of the human body.A transmission path is formed at the moment a part of the human body comes in contact with a Red Tacton transceiver. Physically separating ends the contact and thus ends communication Using Red Tacton, communication starts when terminals carried by the user or embedded in devices are linked in various combinations according to the user's .Communication is possible using any body surfaces, such as the hands, fingers, arms, feet, face, legs or torso. Red Tacton works natural, physical movements.                                         

Working principle :-

         http://www.yuvaengineers.com/           

        Using a new super-sensitive photonic electric field sensor, Red Tacton can achieve duplex communication over the human body at a maximum speed of   10 mbps

                            

         The Red Tacton transmitter induces a weak electric field on the surface of the body. The Red Tacton receiver senses changes in the weak electric field on the surface of the body caused by the transmitter .Red tacton relies upon the principle that the optical properties of an electro-optic crystal can vary according to the  changes of a weak electric field. Red Tacton detects changes in the optical properties of an electro-optic crystal using a laser and converts the result to an electrical signal in a optical receiver circuit. The transmitter sends data by inducing fluctuations in the minute electric field on the surface of the human body. Data is received using a photonic electric field sensor that combines an electro-optic crystal and a laser light to detect fluctuations in the minute electric field.

                  

                 

Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RedTacton

                http://technicalpapers.50webs.com/pdf/redtaction.pdf

           

        We couldn’t complete the presentation in time and so our presentation was a bit messy. We couldn’t do as we expected.

               After 4.30 there was a small birthday celebration of our friend Vivek. Had a good time with my CHPC friends and teachers.

WHY BRAIN???????

Why do we and other animals have brain????

We may have answered this question many times in our life and most of us may have given the answer “to think”.  For all those who have a misconception of our great brain I request them to watch the talk “The real reason for brains” by Daniel Wolpert. Neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert starts from a surprising premise: the brain evolved, not to think or feel, but to control movement. In this entertaining, data-rich talk he gives us a glimpse into how the brain creates the grace and agility of human motion. Have you heard of sea squirt???? This aquatic organism after its juvenile life, will implant on to rock and digest its brain and nervous system!!!!!! This gives the evidence that no animal in this world need brain if it don’t have movements!!!! We keep memories and we think, just because they aid future movements. We don’t remember every single thing happened in childhood just because they don’t aid our future movements. When we send a command, muscles contract, our body moves we get a sensory feedback from vision, from signals and muscles. But these signals are not beautiful in the way we expect due to noise. In neuroscience noise is something that interrupt signal. Bayesian decision theory deals with how brain deals with these uncertainties. Speaker has gone through many interesting examples and illustrations to clarify his observations. Do watch the talk in the link given below.

http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_wolpert_the_real_reason_for_brains.html

“Science versus Wonder” by Robert Ince was the next talk that I saw. To be very frank this was not so interesting as the other talks. I couldn’t grab much from the talk. If interested do watch the talk in the link given here.

http://www.ted.com/talks/robin_ince_science_versus_wonder.html

Cancer is nowadays, the most threatening disease and is unfortunate that there is effective drug against cancer in the world!! At Jay Bradner's lab, they found a molecule, JQ1 -- a magical molecule and when collaborated with leukemia cells the cells began to appear like ordinary white blood cells. But this is not a pill yet. Instead of patenting JQ1, they published their findings and mailed samples to 40 other labs to work on. An inspiring look at the open-source future of medical research.  

http://www.ted.com/talks/jay_bradner_open_source_cancer_research.html

FIRST DAY OF 2012......

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!


                                                       WELCOME 2012…………….



World has witnessed the dawn of a new year today. Let’s pray for the best to happen this year with everyone in the world.


Over to my post for the day….





This New Year day, I found some time to spend with ted videos. The first talk I saw today was by Ali Carr-Chellman on “GAMING TO RE-ENGAGE BOYS IN LEARNING”. It was an interesting fact that the learning system existing in the world today is not sufficient to engage boys in the classrooms. In this talk Ali Carr-Chellman pinpoints three reasons which drive boys out of the elementary schools and universities and ways by which we can bring them back to education by using video gaming in which they are really interested at. Just spare few minutes to watch this video at the link given here.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ali_carr_chellman_gaming_to_re_engage_boys_in_learning.html

Next was by Margaret Gould Stewart on “HOW YOUTUBE THINKS ABOUT COPYRIGHT???” It was a very small but quite an interesting talk. Margaret Gould Stewart, YouTube's head of user experience, talks about how the ubiquitous video site works with copyright holders and creators to foster (at the best of times) a creative ecosystem where everybody wins.

http://www.ted.com/talks/margaret_stewart_how_youtube_thinks_about_copyright.html

Imagine having a surgery with no knives involved!!!! In the next video that I saw in ted YOAV MEDAN shared his ideas about ULTRASOUND SURGERY. It is a technique that uses MRI to find trouble spots and focused ultrasound to treat such issues as brain lesions, uterine fibroids and several kinds of cancerous growths.

http://www.ted.com/talks/yoav_medan_ultrasound_surgery_healing_without_cuts.html

LINGUISTIC GENIUS.....TO.....PROSTHETIC EYE

Every child is a genius…….. At TEDxRainier, Patricia Kuhl shares astonishing findings about how babies learn one language over another -- by listening to the humans around them and "taking statistics" on the sounds they need to know. Clever lab experiments (and brain scans) show how 6-month-old babies use sophisticated reasoning to understand their world. This is the core idea behind the talk  “THE LINGUISTIC GENIUS OF BABIES”  by PATRICIA KUHL.  You can access the video at this link

http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_genius_of_babies.html

About 10 million people in U.S and many more worldwide are facing blindness due to diseases of retina like mutual degeneration. There are some drug treatments for this but are not effective for a vast majority of the population. There comes the relevance of a prosthetic eye. Using this scientist are trying to generate electrical pulses or ‘codes’ similar to working retina. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/sheila_nirenberg_a_prosthetic_eye_to_treat_blindness.html

BACK AGAIN.........................

Hi,





I had to take a small break from blogging for the past 5 days. But I am back again, this time to share something about a video that I saw from TED talks. Sir asked us to see at least 10 videos in the vacation time and I could start it only today. I opened the TED site and the first video that stroked my eyes was by ANTONIO DAMASIO. “THE QUEST TO UNDERSTAND CONSCIOUSNESS”. Without the ability of consciousness human beings will have no knowledge, no ability to create, no true happiness and much more. It is a total wonder and a total mystery.






What is consciousness????? In simple terms consciousness is what we loose when we go to sleep without dreams or anesthesia. We all have a self or a ‘ME’ in us. A conscious mind is a mind with a self in it. A self introduces a subjective perspective in the mind. We are fully conscious when a self comes to mind. These are few extracts from the talk. If you would like to watch the entire talk, just click on the link here.




http://www.ted.com/talks/antonio_damasio_the_quest_to_understand_consciousness.html





Next speak was by KEVIN SLAVIN. Kevin Slavin navigates in the algoworld, the expanding space in our lives that’s determined and run by algorithms. Have you been impressed by the game Facebook’s Parking Wars??? It was developed by Kevin Slavin.





“Kevin Slavin sees a world where games shape life and life shapes games”


O’Rielly Radar








Kevin Slavin argues that we're living in a world designed for -- and increasingly controlled by -- algorithms. In this riveting talk from TED Global, he shows how these complex computer programs determine: espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts, and architecture. And he warns that we are writing code we can't understand, with implications we can't control.





http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_slavin_how_algorithms_shape_our_world.html