tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32699681334856758852024-02-18T17:51:47.828-08:00Electrons Be FreeJust another blog about electronic circuits, design, technology, science, and home projects.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-7721523168900733612012-10-21T19:04:00.000-07:002013-01-18T07:13:07.455-08:00Halloween Musical SSTC<iframe width="320" height="240" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bTxFbgqA2Kw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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So I have a working Solid State Tesla Coil that accepts audio input. Halloween is coming around and what a better way to scare people then to pipe audio out of arcs and sparks. But since I have no working audio source to modulate the coil I thought it was about time to build one! I have no need to buy expensive fiber optic cable isolation as there is almost no risk to the operator with the coil I have. The coils driver board is internally isolated by optocouplers, the board only runs at 12VDC and has a clamping circuit for anything above that. The driver is physically isolated from the high voltage bridge. Further more additional optocouplers can be used in the circuit I will be building. The purpose of the optocouplers is mostly to seperate small transients which may effect sensitive microcontrollers. Input and output clamping (protection) will be designed into this board, similar to the design used in the current sensing portion of digital multimeter.<br />
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The output protection portion clamps down any induced high voltage transients on the output buffer to protect it. The input protection may not be needed but it is to protect the mp3 player or other device from anything induced onto the circuit itself protecting the input device. Adjustable gain to set the volume and adjustable threshold control for the buffer allows the duty cycle to be adjusted.<br />
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This is not the final design I plan to use a zero voltage crossing detector after the preamplifier with an adjustable pulse width for better results. This circuit would only be suitable for specially formatted music input such as one instrument or frequency at a time. Missing here is the channel select jumper or switch to allow left or right channel to be used separately.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-28459696041824986342012-01-03T23:51:00.001-08:002012-01-04T00:20:25.326-08:00NIC Coil Project Finished<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMedCI2zJSSynCrTN7N8CpGX-gcPOBlZD7R0SLstyX8VtkLlc-7tSWTDj2NtTgzqJYo4KQfgUzFYK7K44dLfKYnANLIFzcHAwRihVjhVBPaCmS7lPyPW0nSqWvskpRhQsCxmAVp62h9p7D/s1600/coilA1412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMedCI2zJSSynCrTN7N8CpGX-gcPOBlZD7R0SLstyX8VtkLlc-7tSWTDj2NtTgzqJYo4KQfgUzFYK7K44dLfKYnANLIFzcHAwRihVjhVBPaCmS7lPyPW0nSqWvskpRhQsCxmAVp62h9p7D/s320/coilA1412.jpg" width="317" /></a>Finished the Twin Solid State Tesla Coils just a few minutes ago. Periodically working on the coils for over 8 months now I finally spent a good few hours to get the primary coils done. Everything is wired up and I have tested both coils both separately as well as together to see how they handle feedback.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0G3UXvaCYzoUo6-2ru7QAVvkCx1VOfhloES06I1fgmOh1mAnAYgOH_oNW2zNIdMKU13IqENz_UE2Or7wjkjxCflpj-WLnsPXq49z3-rdO9jvMdBPeXdVjtIJ-11YyYbe6Lb79-4mT8n-/s1600/coilA1414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0G3UXvaCYzoUo6-2ru7QAVvkCx1VOfhloES06I1fgmOh1mAnAYgOH_oNW2zNIdMKU13IqENz_UE2Or7wjkjxCflpj-WLnsPXq49z3-rdO9jvMdBPeXdVjtIJ-11YyYbe6Lb79-4mT8n-/s320/coilA1414.jpg" width="197" /></a>H-Bridge went through two hardware revisions mostly due to cooling and space issues. The first design had an entirely different bridge which was level to the floor of the case. It used a linear regulator off a toriodial step down transformer. The second and final design used a Switch Mode Power Supply providing 12.7V which was broken up into other voltages with linear regulators to keep noise low. The control knobs also changed sides to bring them in reach of the power switch for operator safety. The driver circuit went through two hardware revisions. The first being a Duemilanove at 16MHz mounted beside a driver board. The second and final one being two stacked boards with the ATMEGA 328P running on the same PCB as the VCO at 20MHz.<br />
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The software went through five revisions in total. Rev 4 used a pulse timer system which worked but proved unreliable for audio input at frequencies above 1KHz and had a number of harmonics which it could not respond to. The final revision Rev 5 used a hybrid Zero Crossing Detector and Pulse Timing system which allowed up to 2.5KHz audio modulation while remaining completely stable and with no harmonic problems. Rev 5 also included reduced power consumption and higher noise immunity. The control system draws 30mA idle (mostly LED power consumption) to 50mA when fully active in Audio Input Mode.<br />
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Now all that is left is some tuning to get longer sparks, some cosmetic clean-up perhaps a washup and paint. To get a bit bigger sparks I plan to raise the primary coil up which should be easy as it was originally designed to do this. I reduced the primary winding to 20T from 21T which did almost nothing. The current draw of these things is 0.3A to 3.4A on the interrupter mode and 0.3A to 6.8A on the audio mode (0-2.5KHz).<br />
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That is all for now, documentation, schematics, and operators manual are next.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-71528051757976921682011-11-02T21:19:00.000-07:002012-01-04T00:09:32.901-08:00NIC SSTC NOV Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The North Island College, Solid State Tesla Coils are almost Done! Some adjustments and cosmetic things remain before they are finished. There is currently one bug left to iron out involving once-again gate driver IC shutdown! Grr they shutoff at random but no damage is done, it just becomes annoying to reset the power switch each time they latch-up! Other than that both units have been tested and do work, with the internal interrupter mode and audio modulation mode both functioning. Programming of the controller was done with the Arduino IDE and GCC AVR compiler. The spark-length is a little shorter than expected due to primary turns and placement of the primary coil form height. This will be adjusted when the other cosmetics are finished. This design turned out to be rather robust and despite numerous stress testing not a single MOSFET has died yet! I did blow one fuse by accidentally putting in the wrong value. Compare this to the last version of this coil which so far has "consumed" over 20 MOSFETS and 8 Fuses.<br />
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The details made the difference in this design! The top of the metal enclosure was slit to break circulating currents induced in the metal by the primary. In old designs this was a source of huge losses and heating, essentially the enclosure became induction heated. The diameter of the primary was increased and a PVC pipe was used as an insulator. The air gap combined with the PVC meant less heating issues and no arc-over from secondary to primary. The primary was also raised up to couple more to the coil and less to the base this further reduced losses and improved coupling despite the increased diameter. The redesign fixed allot of space and cooling issues. The H-Bridge no-longer gets hot only warm thanks to the cooling fan included and this is only under CW mode. In BPS everything is cold to the touch. The design changes significantly reduced losses! The coils are much more efficient than previous versions, they use about half the power to produce the same spark-length and most notably no heating issues in secondary or bridge.<br />
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Here's a quick view of the anterior driving circuitry in its finished form. Top is the H-Bridge Consisting of x4 IRFP460 MOSFETS and additional Blocking Diodes, Recovery Diodes and capacitors for DC blocking and bus smoothing. The Blue-Yellow transformer is the Gate Drive Transformer. To the right of that is the main power fuse in an inline holder at 10A 120V mains. Below the fuse is 2 large 1000uF 400V capacitors used in the voltage doubler circuit which has its power rectifiers tucked under right lip of the enclosure and beside the mains connection and power switch. Also tucked under the lip of the enclosure below the large smoothing capacitors is a small 5A 12V switch mode power supply for the driver and controller electronics. Below the H-bridge we see first the driver board with the yellow capacitor and below that is the controller which is a programmable microprocessor connected to knobs on control panel below and front of the enclosure. The one thing I am most proud of is incorporating a reprogrammable chip in this design. It has been very useful for troubleshooting and making changes without any physical changes. With the chip I could see on my computer - supply voltages, faults that have occurred in the driver, line noise etc and allowed me to tune the coil or operate it remotely. It was also very handy in producing precision pulses to control the coils output and modulate the power to limit it for overloads during high duty cycle operation. Currently noise is tripping off my fault detection routine to easily so some software changes are still needed before I release.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-67198456927849396802011-09-25T16:27:00.000-07:002011-09-25T16:52:31.837-07:00Variac ModificationA while back I purchased a Variac (Auto-Transformer) on eBay; for a rather good low price at the time. I had planned to replace or at-least supliment the cheap inbuilt voltage meter with something more useful and "cool looking". So I decided today was a good opportunity to do just that! and mounted my homemade volt/amp panel meter box to the Variacs output. The project turned out to not be that hard but did take a few hours due to finicky wiring, drilling holes, and hard to get to bolts.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiC9SYKceTTf6YILFLufNJqu74IlYRlwvz0nuCrDK17A6v0lGg4gqfyxerDPVCQ-Hb0vA7qwZqQwlKioU8-l3r-6u9PwH3ebWDmqeQqG1XSqdSlkE5Q5Oa4KDS-P9Bh4skXlQ7zUfA5ZKD/s1600/Variac_Control_Panel_Removed.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 331px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiC9SYKceTTf6YILFLufNJqu74IlYRlwvz0nuCrDK17A6v0lGg4gqfyxerDPVCQ-Hb0vA7qwZqQwlKioU8-l3r-6u9PwH3ebWDmqeQqG1XSqdSlkE5Q5Oa4KDS-P9Bh4skXlQ7zUfA5ZKD/s400/Variac_Control_Panel_Removed.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656445439481830402" border="0" /></a>Inside the variac you can see the core/case ground wire (Yellow/Green), Neutral Wire (White), Hot (Brown) and Tap Wire (Red). In the typical variable auto-transformer configuration.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iH0q5XuNDjk3C7vFrAlNUIGlJAETLRQFSsmdIfD81TROA9rki_3yRFAb8J8-sQWuBORbRVR8i_UOQMvtLOVPjOwSZUtnHytcfj1S00DREuSrYhDdIZX7r363ag1rWnTlOUgKNYhzVWQ6/s1600/Variac_Control_Panel_Removed2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 249px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iH0q5XuNDjk3C7vFrAlNUIGlJAETLRQFSsmdIfD81TROA9rki_3yRFAb8J8-sQWuBORbRVR8i_UOQMvtLOVPjOwSZUtnHytcfj1S00DREuSrYhDdIZX7r363ag1rWnTlOUgKNYhzVWQ6/s400/Variac_Control_Panel_Removed2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656445440001842290" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiC9SYKceTTf6YILFLufNJqu74IlYRlwvz0nuCrDK17A6v0lGg4gqfyxerDPVCQ-Hb0vA7qwZqQwlKioU8-l3r-6u9PwH3ebWDmqeQqG1XSqdSlkE5Q5Oa4KDS-P9Bh4skXlQ7zUfA5ZKD/s1600/Variac_Control_Panel_Removed.jpg"><br /></a><br />Inside the panel a 20A Breaker / Switch, Analog volt-meter and outlet plug. The 50A shunt was added to accommodate the Amp-meter. The old volt-meter was originally wired to the output of the Variac but is now rewired to the input so I could see the mains voltage which is useful for troubleshooting other issues.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrhnUJ30l70Rmn7Uzcrs1P_-VNPLgGT05hSMyjoUXErUxpH1JeIhqbOyQ7cEmrkTgHrIqAqj3ioxnQgX3Df-r6abi05HKrshEtom81xTTpHvEG9uak4m2Z415eRFg_0j0B3xS7uL6uToBq/s1600/Variac_Meter_PSUs.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 330px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrhnUJ30l70Rmn7Uzcrs1P_-VNPLgGT05hSMyjoUXErUxpH1JeIhqbOyQ7cEmrkTgHrIqAqj3ioxnQgX3Df-r6abi05HKrshEtom81xTTpHvEG9uak4m2Z415eRFg_0j0B3xS7uL6uToBq/s400/Variac_Meter_PSUs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656446951911577746" border="0" /></a>Here you see the panel meter box. It contains the two digital meters on the front (not shown) and 2 isolated switch-mode power supply units in the back (visible). The volt-meter runs off 12VDC and the current-meter runs of 5VDC, both power supplies must be isolated to measure both voltage and current without explosions! I like switch-mode supplies because they can run as low as 50VAC and up to 250VAC so the meters will work under different input supply voltages over a wide range. This variac was originally a 240V input 0-280VAC output so this allows me to still operate it in both European countries and in North-America without any issues (other than input meter being pinned to max).<br /><br />Here are the results! Nothing high power to test out the output yet but the current meter is rated for continuous 50A I have noticed it can measure several hundred Amps for a short period of time however ;) . The volt-meter is a 700VAC true RMS panel meter both are from Sure Electronics on eBay. (Running a ~23W Compact Fluorescent Light seen below)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjil3b_1f9Q1Xaxs88Fe7p7vx1IJd2SYmN79-NBHttihBSpr75Zz63Gwi2mK6C7Z21XAtBEFsgLM04-E5T75lqngkOkR9HqlXFn8qJGzCxG_tsjm6MN5hibdNz62Aa4eizx_PJvHOFEDgbS/s1600/Variac_Meter_Mounted.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjil3b_1f9Q1Xaxs88Fe7p7vx1IJd2SYmN79-NBHttihBSpr75Zz63Gwi2mK6C7Z21XAtBEFsgLM04-E5T75lqngkOkR9HqlXFn8qJGzCxG_tsjm6MN5hibdNz62Aa4eizx_PJvHOFEDgbS/s400/Variac_Meter_Mounted.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656445431894261170" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmzxbnrKQPzR0T2F4p9UTfPptnAdiAQz_bnH-vjaaj7F-vFiKoCHhXOjeNywBGP6N-gl99u1sJapNsYAfoqlgjf5RfdduQaiQpregKQZV3kmAby0-0QL7bgoqA2MtQK7pFE-Xi_YurAlB/s1600/Variac_Meter_Mounted2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 328px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmzxbnrKQPzR0T2F4p9UTfPptnAdiAQz_bnH-vjaaj7F-vFiKoCHhXOjeNywBGP6N-gl99u1sJapNsYAfoqlgjf5RfdduQaiQpregKQZV3kmAby0-0QL7bgoqA2MtQK7pFE-Xi_YurAlB/s400/Variac_Meter_Mounted2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656445434873777810" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3uZd8vVUGgT6VNHiVDlBMPxsuXvnXx11-Ui_uU7G93828cqAf6GnVrAopvwI5SlMICe3offi_SNhiyccS6vEJP8pAb4vO3JGXuVDmxTeCDvHkaDw7N6uv_fjljEvxN7ezffu9UR22qGP/s1600/Variac_Meter_Mounted3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3uZd8vVUGgT6VNHiVDlBMPxsuXvnXx11-Ui_uU7G93828cqAf6GnVrAopvwI5SlMICe3offi_SNhiyccS6vEJP8pAb4vO3JGXuVDmxTeCDvHkaDw7N6uv_fjljEvxN7ezffu9UR22qGP/s400/Variac_Meter_Mounted3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656445433961106466" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-56246780806690857452011-09-24T21:02:00.000-07:002011-09-24T21:18:45.899-07:00NIC Coil UpdateDue to lack of planning on layout I have encountered leakage inductance problems in both the bridge and gate driver section. There are also overheating problems. This is a small set-back to finishing the NIC coils for the beginning of the program this year.<br /><br />I have rebuilt the bridge circuit from scratch, it is much lower inductance layout and now 2 mosfets share 2 heatsinks rather than all 4 on one heatsink and all the blocking and recovery diodes on another. This has reduced the heating problem. The new bridge circuit was tested and the resonant frequency of the coils appears to be 240kHz with the current small top-load toriod lawn-mower wheel things. I will also include more capacitors in the voltage doulber supply and more across the MOSFETs power bus, this will likely mean explosive MOSFETs but will reduce the rate at which they explode ;). So far with the new layout testing at low power the MOSFET's now seem "indestructible" to upset driving conditions below resonant frequency and no problems ever above, likely due to the barrier diodes in series and recovery diodes that bypass the MOSFET body diode. In old designs with audio modulation this was always needed as I pulled the driver below resonant frequency during the off-state for playing notes. This load was far to capacitive for the slow MOSFET body diodes and always killed them. I may change to tuning above resonant frequency for audio modulation but this could stress the gate IC's.<br /><br />It was found that the GDT had too many turns as I expected a lower resonant frequency around 100 - 200kHz, it seems the lowest I go with the current setup (coupling of primary and secondary, topload and secondary wire length) is from 220kHz to 260kHz , with 240kHz being about the average when placed over its own enclosure left standing in the middle of the room.<br />I plan to mount the GDT directly onto a plastic spacer over the heat-sink to make servicing the parts easier. I have much better driver IC's and I'm getting pretty close to perfect gate waveforms under load. I have remade the GDT to have only 10 turns made of computer networking cable with the 4 twisted wire-pairs.<br /><br />I will be making bigger and lighter weight top-loads to replace the heavy foil covered rubber and metal wheels. This is to reduce the resonant frequency a bit more to reduce switching losses in the bridge and more so decrease heating in the gate driver IC's. The new IC's have arrived to replace the latchup problem with the 3710's I also have ordered many types of schottky diodes to help remove some dissipation from freewheeling current inside the driver IC's.<br /><br />The coils enclosures are being rebuilt for neater and lower inductance layout and cooling needs. This will also mean a repaint to cover up scratchs and a new user interface / control panel.<br />Sorry no pictures I dont have time, plus no one really reads this blog :PAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-7271864559890869312011-09-02T18:38:00.000-07:002011-09-02T19:20:26.130-07:00NIC Solid State Tesla Coil Project Update 4<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKxjBl4k16U9W-zY20TGPK2SzcgMDrUXnob4reOzu_qObakGKa9chWy03V5JFUshqM1E114hrFx-AIa2ML9PX6TmG2kzLaqm6mCGPTrTPMn3BI2LlsmbD8GRIZOoveP-9YleNaOZ-OuXy/s1600/outputof_bridgehvside.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKxjBl4k16U9W-zY20TGPK2SzcgMDrUXnob4reOzu_qObakGKa9chWy03V5JFUshqM1E114hrFx-AIa2ML9PX6TmG2kzLaqm6mCGPTrTPMn3BI2LlsmbD8GRIZOoveP-9YleNaOZ-OuXy/s400/outputof_bridgehvside.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647946662858269474" border="0" /></a>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEIKMp2D-eDdiK5Vu4QD2wIle2nXyPDXSxI3telLb2C7wZ5h7kpiQkD3NdfjefmOpbQg2xQ2V_GsjvWjJ4Snee4DqIhAFDZY56rSL8eX2J4JuQ4mPSYZSCxr-28JB2v947UkYvBYUQpm4/s1600/riseandfalltime_bridgeoutput.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEIKMp2D-eDdiK5Vu4QD2wIle2nXyPDXSxI3telLb2C7wZ5h7kpiQkD3NdfjefmOpbQg2xQ2V_GsjvWjJ4Snee4DqIhAFDZY56rSL8eX2J4JuQ4mPSYZSCxr-28JB2v947UkYvBYUQpm4/s400/riseandfalltime_bridgeoutput.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647946677930569362" border="0" /></a>
<br /><div style="text-align: left;">Measure with x10 probes on each half bridge. Just under dt 240 nS rise and fall times on pulse wave with a dv of 142VDC! Output seems almost too good to be true, but this is a really low frequency and nothing is being stressed as there is no load. However with the fans off on the heat-sinks after an hour running like this no noticeable heating, heat-sinks remain cold to touch. This tells me that losses in the driver circuit is very low, so I can move onto higher power tests.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmsOCgTVFpMgCGMcf2Qmqv7OhcSjwF3wYXxWDFlmxc_K3Lo_vkxCg3lBbL3zjTvup7h8J1_CWIkTIInzM1MkxV0f-hkxDMskFk72NhyapCA43ZCHjtjPb-C9Vp08tOE3P6YDWciPZ70O-7/s1600/frequency_counter_set.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmsOCgTVFpMgCGMcf2Qmqv7OhcSjwF3wYXxWDFlmxc_K3Lo_vkxCg3lBbL3zjTvup7h8J1_CWIkTIInzM1MkxV0f-hkxDMskFk72NhyapCA43ZCHjtjPb-C9Vp08tOE3P6YDWciPZ70O-7/s400/frequency_counter_set.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647946667405556402" border="0" /></a>
<br />Ran the full bridge at 24.6kHz to test the low frequency response, did probe the gate waveforms they look ok but did not upload a picture here. Will include gate waveforms after driver is working at higher frequencies ~290kHz. The bridge functions flawlessly at this frequency showing that the gate drive transformer has the correct number of windings and the right core material eg no droop little overshoot.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_NxdSeJViRs5rksodyFv-YQQLEMYSWSTuEa-jUGoJGLWyhF0fBQPEA8V6HCqEprG2to2mWDjHktdY6CETKeSgi2oaQml7OZkrlQighdwuLfXYy_sMG3YrTAA-lpBph_xKG0wy8sDas3J/s1600/powersupply_todriver.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_NxdSeJViRs5rksodyFv-YQQLEMYSWSTuEa-jUGoJGLWyhF0fBQPEA8V6HCqEprG2to2mWDjHktdY6CETKeSgi2oaQml7OZkrlQighdwuLfXYy_sMG3YrTAA-lpBph_xKG0wy8sDas3J/s400/powersupply_todriver.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647946666649132674" border="0" /></a>Only pulling 50mA at 12V as seen above from the power supply of the Gate Driver IC to the GDT. However no load and low frequency this low power is expected under these conditions. Low losses, this is all a good sign that things are working as expected. Variac was set to just under 50VAC.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKxjBl4k16U9W-zY20TGPK2SzcgMDrUXnob4reOzu_qObakGKa9chWy03V5JFUshqM1E114hrFx-AIa2ML9PX6TmG2kzLaqm6mCGPTrTPMn3BI2LlsmbD8GRIZOoveP-9YleNaOZ-OuXy/s1600/outputof_bridgehvside.jpg">
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYyr2_E_arxyhyzZ1WAdIAhAwjRS9ctFPiQQ5mJmPya_TeiUxmPNoD2F7gzAJRGPKe5E42_jAyQivdchkKwDl-Po56h20VmYyHm6D40XnCf4bomdZ-2VpE2t76knmgUr41bUppe53hmws/s1600/bridge_online_probe.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYyr2_E_arxyhyzZ1WAdIAhAwjRS9ctFPiQQ5mJmPya_TeiUxmPNoD2F7gzAJRGPKe5E42_jAyQivdchkKwDl-Po56h20VmYyHm6D40XnCf4bomdZ-2VpE2t76knmgUr41bUppe53hmws/s400/bridge_online_probe.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647946679652807778" border="0" /></a>
<br />Top-down picture of setup with a probe on the DC-blocking capacitor and one probe on the raw output leg of half the bridge. Successful test of H-Bridge at low frequency (24.6kHz) conclusion is everything is good to go for higher power tests.
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-34909976303683246562011-09-02T00:02:00.000-07:002011-09-02T00:18:33.572-07:00NIC Tesla Coil UpdateBack to work on the coils now, need to have them working and tested before the course starts up again. Ive included Arduino boards in the design sporting ATmega 328p micro-controllers. These will act as the reprogrammable brains of the coils. They will control many aspects of the coil while running.
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWTrsN3watiDiJ5MCNsTkRlBliLZZro11iZvWoZTsDNi85_lfEuAUYeY5KL01OXoyVFPm0Y9q9F8O71USj5Z7DzxyR9NhNpMQA3HFACXNwYTgzoDqBgRuq1JOyNuMqWFV6YZg1LzYipcN/s1600/tri_coils_2nic_1reg.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWTrsN3watiDiJ5MCNsTkRlBliLZZro11iZvWoZTsDNi85_lfEuAUYeY5KL01OXoyVFPm0Y9q9F8O71USj5Z7DzxyR9NhNpMQA3HFACXNwYTgzoDqBgRuq1JOyNuMqWFV6YZg1LzYipcN/s400/tri_coils_2nic_1reg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647657272472790546" border="0" /></a>
<br />The controllers provide a number of features to be implemented easily.
<br /><ul><li>A start-up delay to all circuitry. It will disable drivers and oscillators for a few seconds when power is applied to allow capacitors to charge up during the initial inrush currents. </li><li>Advanced interrupter effects via external potentiometer and switches.</li><li>Audio modulation from computer, on-board demo tunes. Will also allow input from external source and automatically detect signals.</li><li>Power down and standby modes to allow it to turn off the coil or put it into standby when no audio signals are detected for a period of time.</li><li>Over current watchdog will provide a momentary disable of driver when over currents are detected, preventing FET death.</li><li>Reprogrammable! Allows for future expansion without physical changes.</li></ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5i23xYYsJRHo29fdV1lS8OheiriJJXvor8bsvFJnx4AOEsyTP_aSwS0WnJljXRFTFA_wVYHcwATJXI73jthzIH-XsrWdcXdiXP5brV55WlxEvCO8Dxl0dElAwwMIQtjy-RtHECk0KMso/s1600/ontop_of_psu_arduino.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5i23xYYsJRHo29fdV1lS8OheiriJJXvor8bsvFJnx4AOEsyTP_aSwS0WnJljXRFTFA_wVYHcwATJXI73jthzIH-XsrWdcXdiXP5brV55WlxEvCO8Dxl0dElAwwMIQtjy-RtHECk0KMso/s400/ontop_of_psu_arduino.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647657262416078850" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5n4O5qt51rWNgFWD9UaNraKXU57F0yI6wK3LYkJML-0x9AWE1uQixx9n6-FLnMVHCFSoYlwoYA6cq55MVvj-tVNm6OYT20TJc2JEID5kEH1fKlNDLStXFwvbFXRs4-9E6Rpti9_qheaMW/s1600/programmer_port_usb_arduino.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5n4O5qt51rWNgFWD9UaNraKXU57F0yI6wK3LYkJML-0x9AWE1uQixx9n6-FLnMVHCFSoYlwoYA6cq55MVvj-tVNm6OYT20TJc2JEID5kEH1fKlNDLStXFwvbFXRs4-9E6Rpti9_qheaMW/s400/programmer_port_usb_arduino.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647657264838647698" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjOmi85tykewuJoC-kYd33kEdjTk1q9lrReBr64CC2tEWgahmrkOvhs3NWW6WYMERFJMZD6Iv8oMRzmITmOjJqPK5cYjs_C8Reac2lj7pfR_KvXd-UHU4W1-wVg_GjBb7OqPbwNKkZbUtM/s1600/arduino_inside_driverbox.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjOmi85tykewuJoC-kYd33kEdjTk1q9lrReBr64CC2tEWgahmrkOvhs3NWW6WYMERFJMZD6Iv8oMRzmITmOjJqPK5cYjs_C8Reac2lj7pfR_KvXd-UHU4W1-wVg_GjBb7OqPbwNKkZbUtM/s400/arduino_inside_driverbox.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647657267159286130" border="0" /></a>
<br />Also fixed the top-load, it is now connected to the secondary and in addition added a bit of copper wire to act as a breakout. The top-loads have bearings and can spin in place to aim the breakout point in any direction. This is because they are actually foil covered lawnmower wheels ;)
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0daVfsdohfVqWdnj-5irzdM3TJ2LcvgFp3vs_Oj0lLf7qe-ee8Mnxb8DqEztS8wnGytD8GynQ-MZM_fWv8_uYZg_qKg5_8RfOlHikRDHrcXD799e_bxFbOOc00mVoC_gW8U-SPH8-11wm/s1600/topload_copper_wire.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0daVfsdohfVqWdnj-5irzdM3TJ2LcvgFp3vs_Oj0lLf7qe-ee8Mnxb8DqEztS8wnGytD8GynQ-MZM_fWv8_uYZg_qKg5_8RfOlHikRDHrcXD799e_bxFbOOc00mVoC_gW8U-SPH8-11wm/s400/topload_copper_wire.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647657274591002098" border="0" /></a>Thats it for today! Will fix some cosmetic things and begin testing the driver circuit and wire up the control panel in the next few days. Then lots of testing!
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-62206856250288570442011-08-31T22:02:00.000-07:002011-08-31T22:14:10.825-07:00Workshop Setup CompleteMostly finished setting up a workspace to well.. work on stuff. This should make things easier to build with everything being in one place. I do mostly electronics work, unfortunately you cannot avoid the mechanical side of things when doing such work.
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<br />Here are some pictures of the shop:
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjFip8lt8qZ2xFpG-ouT8pkOtCj3TVTZk4HzhThVaNh9zBI7O4ER43cRkpLC1L37wgNPgkMP19QjyTvd6GghaERuJ1sLZZ7rN4B74__DoXJNZCfo1DNN7AyGMEBKvyxncpM9xXKAQ2vmd/s1600/knowledge_bookthings.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjFip8lt8qZ2xFpG-ouT8pkOtCj3TVTZk4HzhThVaNh9zBI7O4ER43cRkpLC1L37wgNPgkMP19QjyTvd6GghaERuJ1sLZZ7rN4B74__DoXJNZCfo1DNN7AyGMEBKvyxncpM9xXKAQ2vmd/s400/knowledge_bookthings.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647253442410735874" border="0" /></a>Books for reference material and on-hand guides, theory, formula etc.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNV6ArWPOtQSOCeWKOUitBjuwNX_wosGJE0V_gDhmB2X72zsXF1UnEXMobkK2S5kYiHEGdvOjuFjI1zYdMc38qtyhSZFpS_xQKJdu_tFDZ6-g4zzJq7oNtq6ku9f0ZrHByia-JVVpq1mT_/s1600/superlamp24.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNV6ArWPOtQSOCeWKOUitBjuwNX_wosGJE0V_gDhmB2X72zsXF1UnEXMobkK2S5kYiHEGdvOjuFjI1zYdMc38qtyhSZFpS_xQKJdu_tFDZ6-g4zzJq7oNtq6ku9f0ZrHByia-JVVpq1mT_/s400/superlamp24.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647253443630440210" border="0" /></a>Electronics test bench.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1afikAR8jE8jJjL4fRR65REdjEYOn33UP9sH7rsslHbSpFVy9icWuhg5YDRS6MpUZeEt2Hbd68rLE2z4X1cKMTQ2NRlSzvvZqzlyh7I1QlRc8OeUDmQaIcW8E-5dNukuUJHQjQdQWSCLA/s1600/bench_vices351.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1afikAR8jE8jJjL4fRR65REdjEYOn33UP9sH7rsslHbSpFVy9icWuhg5YDRS6MpUZeEt2Hbd68rLE2z4X1cKMTQ2NRlSzvvZqzlyh7I1QlRc8OeUDmQaIcW8E-5dNukuUJHQjQdQWSCLA/s400/bench_vices351.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647253437119271362" border="0" /></a>Basic tools and workbench with vice, drill press, hand drill, and dremil tool.
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<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4_PHpdGYZ-mJXZE-pNkwlNtaGH-vyFS_NqL3tOjYf5AX0ZuyaBySvcdkyG2t2vAq10wa_fACX9nz6Qrc4qtdcNxBlzVuiNAf63FRJ2jLtz_BwO-qc7jJJ-ce4coC0uD_B-3UsK5mtaPda/s1600/benchwork_thing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4_PHpdGYZ-mJXZE-pNkwlNtaGH-vyFS_NqL3tOjYf5AX0ZuyaBySvcdkyG2t2vAq10wa_fACX9nz6Qrc4qtdcNxBlzVuiNAf63FRJ2jLtz_BwO-qc7jJJ-ce4coC0uD_B-3UsK5mtaPda/s400/benchwork_thing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647253438081113682" border="0" /></a>You can never have enough parts or parts drawers.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqWosNp4jenlfSqTYtiw8Lgo8OvFzAoejElfX7m3YDOvdJG8GU34GfuIHp9FSz7BCL8IlJziNbTKgIRqu_VaIneqGIS3s_OjcqVBDZqUnGZoSTfUvAnewEq5CknlSJrbzp6E0YGeLMMop/s1600/Drillpresss_thing213651.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqWosNp4jenlfSqTYtiw8Lgo8OvFzAoejElfX7m3YDOvdJG8GU34GfuIHp9FSz7BCL8IlJziNbTKgIRqu_VaIneqGIS3s_OjcqVBDZqUnGZoSTfUvAnewEq5CknlSJrbzp6E0YGeLMMop/s400/Drillpresss_thing213651.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647253439811576514" border="0" /></a>Another angle of the drill press.
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">Well that's it for now, will begin work on the coils again shortly with the shop up and running. Feels like it takes forever to get these things done, just get distracted all the time with other projects and work. Next challenge is to install the primary coils on the SSTC and program the micro-controllers.
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-58921494255673394502011-08-07T16:56:00.000-07:002011-08-07T17:34:34.261-07:00August Projects Update 3Delta Robots are fast parallel robots. A simple and elegant design capable of high speed precision movement over a parallel work surface.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Delta Robot</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div>Making a working delta robot has been a goal of mine for some time now. Now that I have the time and resources I plan on making one that is capable of assembling me sandwich's ;) ... I like delta robots because they are so fast and simple to make. However they are tricky to program in some applications such as in a CNC the math can be very complex. But they are simple to program for pick and place operations.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0A59vzINUJOoDLuO4dmDZDXzCq6xdmsZtyXCEc4xd4pWg3Bd0EFBUBwFPrcMVet6EJHR4uawk4jGoLWy-CqmAD2pMguGwSRw4CHBQr1dJRXZDbV5CrPK45JNqbYAPZ1wMMThjXmOsD4HN/s1600/cutting_board_delta_robot.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 173px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0A59vzINUJOoDLuO4dmDZDXzCq6xdmsZtyXCEc4xd4pWg3Bd0EFBUBwFPrcMVet6EJHR4uawk4jGoLWy-CqmAD2pMguGwSRw4CHBQr1dJRXZDbV5CrPK45JNqbYAPZ1wMMThjXmOsD4HN/s400/cutting_board_delta_robot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638270655758571826" border="0" /></a><br />I made the end effector platform and base of the robot from plastic cutting boards which I picked up from the dollar store for 1.49$ CAD. A drill press, hacksaw and file where all that was needed to produce these parts!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtRXeYlqFJb0HhBIE4NjgGeDKDtJ1TSYBQxNJ_tbmVqGxgRq_n6u3DM6xgROAe1d8J8-PeCVTf7icHUKkU_EyWOWeptUiXrH6bz56en1I6_1PHy1CIEEhR9KDG7GyeuPEEKGGa9Rp3TMzb/s1600/servomounts_deltarobot.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 74px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtRXeYlqFJb0HhBIE4NjgGeDKDtJ1TSYBQxNJ_tbmVqGxgRq_n6u3DM6xgROAe1d8J8-PeCVTf7icHUKkU_EyWOWeptUiXrH6bz56en1I6_1PHy1CIEEhR9KDG7GyeuPEEKGGa9Rp3TMzb/s400/servomounts_deltarobot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638273529668009234" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span>To mount the servo motors to the base plastic L brackets were used, these were cut from corner guard material found in the painting section of my local hardware store.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggah83ZXydYZEUBCgKTLv6O8wYlXVGV5PMdysjskq9K1EMdb2IqMjqXoG66YGu_nv1rhMu0rb0sr1rmelGqAgVA1cKyvdv7DfLwftcfilUns3SE6DzrBtF_beejZSIKio1AqGT7i7peMnI/s1600/deltarobot_needleballjoint.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggah83ZXydYZEUBCgKTLv6O8wYlXVGV5PMdysjskq9K1EMdb2IqMjqXoG66YGu_nv1rhMu0rb0sr1rmelGqAgVA1cKyvdv7DfLwftcfilUns3SE6DzrBtF_beejZSIKio1AqGT7i7peMnI/s400/deltarobot_needleballjoint.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638273743104966034" border="0" /></a>Plastic beads from a necklace purchased at the dollar store and aluminum knitting needles were used to create double ended ball jointed arms for the delta robot. These form parallelograms with the end effector and base arms. I haven't finished making the ball joint pieces just yet...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVSvBO8es1jeVMkv16qzkFTVtEcGHqBfbzcbxD3QCxu1j55Cwh9rKeq8ZbymychUdT1YF_3bda9-e9Ix6ahTQSe8IEcOZL2WKGyBVIw-X4XLTcu86acXCWv4ppmQ0F6rQB9LyAeau2wmo/s1600/Delta_robot_frame1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVSvBO8es1jeVMkv16qzkFTVtEcGHqBfbzcbxD3QCxu1j55Cwh9rKeq8ZbymychUdT1YF_3bda9-e9Ix6ahTQSe8IEcOZL2WKGyBVIw-X4XLTcu86acXCWv4ppmQ0F6rQB9LyAeau2wmo/s400/Delta_robot_frame1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638274747329871474" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipg6_ptkRRX5KRKxSvPfSLOG8gBfUGuWrXFUnr3cT3171ezJwd8iV7JekzwsQemktbWzFtUs1iXa0_f40vh1uG_O_krHUYth629Oa25blZZScIxo5sbdQz4RViBWtNT55zDaKJmQ6uzvIu/s1600/deltarobotfinished_base.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipg6_ptkRRX5KRKxSvPfSLOG8gBfUGuWrXFUnr3cT3171ezJwd8iV7JekzwsQemktbWzFtUs1iXa0_f40vh1uG_O_krHUYth629Oa25blZZScIxo5sbdQz4RViBWtNT55zDaKJmQ6uzvIu/s400/deltarobotfinished_base.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638274847513832658" border="0" /></a><br /><span>Arms pieces were added to the servo horns on the finished base plate. The servos are mounted at 120 degree angles to each other. A hole was drilled through the middle of the base to allow the servo wires to be pushed through and kept clear of moving parts. The base arms are made of small pieces of gray PVC found in the plumbing section of my local hardware store.<br /><br />I will post further updates on its construction later. I have yet to finish the ball joints on the arms and no controller has been added yet to test the servos. It also needs to be mounted over a workspace. I do plan to add a pneumatic suction cup to the end effector so that it can pick up things (such as pieces of bread, lettuce, meat and cheese) perhaps for making sammichs.. :P<br /></span><br />Below are some examples of delta robot's just to get an idea of how the finished robot arm should look and how it operates in a workspace.<br /><br /><br />Example of Delta Robots in industry.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>mm pancakes.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v9oeOYMRvuQ" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="560"></iframe><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span>Speed and percision example of Delta Robot.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Gv5B63HeF1E" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span>Here is an example of a homemade M&M sorting Robot.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span>I like the interesting straw / bead joints and the use of straws and light weight arm material! Brilliant!<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mPakG8p3MHE" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-75764113694647017352011-08-07T16:20:00.000-07:002011-08-07T17:05:49.373-07:00August Projects Update 2<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">A simple Quad Robot project to experiment with walking gait programming and design.<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Quad Robot</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Project</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wJSaemWHO31tPtFnoOXwmvZNhnhvKxIrgBUbX61ufR3BOSjB2vLtbV0PHlLfEVK_VCff2NUkx0hDyAhyphenhyphen1D0ukAl96F2ADlsv21le3n8kyML7P2T6JUL5E8oH1zE5ETO3r2hP8Lqmad4W/s1600/robotaug2011_quad.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 101px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wJSaemWHO31tPtFnoOXwmvZNhnhvKxIrgBUbX61ufR3BOSjB2vLtbV0PHlLfEVK_VCff2NUkx0hDyAhyphenhyphen1D0ukAl96F2ADlsv21le3n8kyML7P2T6JUL5E8oH1zE5ETO3r2hP8Lqmad4W/s400/robotaug2011_quad.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638258168408453682" border="0" /></a>I have always been interested in creating walking robots. I take much inspiration from such robots as Big Dog, Little Dog, Hexapod Robots and Quad Robots as seen on YouTube. Robots such as the Mars Rovers have also appealed to me in their hybrid Leg and Wheel design. I like robots which have organic feel to them and smooth motion planning with a design inspired by nature. I thought it was finally time to make my own.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ssBYzYt-d76YqSLUEcE56II7MGKzBXmsqJ73Kc4qGxg6uBTzm3HCbVRZVZ3sMB7TMHqtMLtwSOtS8iNvmFB8HAdJbzFu3CEXGa-BbuterjjQMXomljLVS71YkwM9NYlx9oBTIQWurqjk/s1600/Clipboard10.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ssBYzYt-d76YqSLUEcE56II7MGKzBXmsqJ73Kc4qGxg6uBTzm3HCbVRZVZ3sMB7TMHqtMLtwSOtS8iNvmFB8HAdJbzFu3CEXGa-BbuterjjQMXomljLVS71YkwM9NYlx9oBTIQWurqjk/s400/Clipboard10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638260857657909682" border="0" /></a><br />The robot so far is constructed from scrap cutting board pieces and many micro 9g servo's (8 Total). I plan to use an Arduino (AT-MEGA 168 or 328) to control the servo motors. It is a fairly simple design of a Quad type robot. Each leg has 2 degrees of freedom making it a rather bare bones minimal design. I kept it simple so I can focus on improving it over time and adding onto it.<br /><br />I'm very excited to see how this will work out, even though I expect the programming to be a headache due to differences in servo positions and the walking gait behavior for forward motion and steering. I do plan to make it autonomous and include a sensor mast with a ultrasonic range finder as I have seen others do.<br /><br />Here are some examples of walking Robots.<br /><br />A-Pod<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0jyBiECoS3Q" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe><br /><br />A small Quad Robot<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Js3FX0SDAQs" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe><br /><br />Big Dog<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cHJJQ0zNNOM" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /></div></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-47643583835052375922011-08-07T15:22:00.000-07:002011-08-07T17:00:53.748-07:00August Projects Update 1I'm finally out of college, with a lot more free time!<br /><br />I have started a number of projects and plan to continue some of the old projects I started in college. Finding time to update this blog in the process.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">NIC Tesla Coils<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrOAMbBF2_tsRI4DEw79AwQ3wI41tAThoixxw-qI2qcP1DQKvDQyOOJJ826JZlhlyCjMBENGwDjo3tk1Anahyphenhyphen7MOI9KkAICOuYeTxMcJ5Dlx5RxvQbw1RJpe384QoKxtIXirdK6pls9jg/s1600/coilsnic2011aug.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 342px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrOAMbBF2_tsRI4DEw79AwQ3wI41tAThoixxw-qI2qcP1DQKvDQyOOJJ826JZlhlyCjMBENGwDjo3tk1Anahyphenhyphen7MOI9KkAICOuYeTxMcJ5Dlx5RxvQbw1RJpe384QoKxtIXirdK6pls9jg/s400/coilsnic2011aug.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638254491688066482" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Before leaving college I managed to get some lathe time and wound the two secondary coils. They came out very nicely after about 6 coats of UV resistant varnish. Much bigger than any coils I've made before. Roughly 1500 Turns of gauge 22 magnet wire. I also took the time to make two top-loads and wire them up to the secondary coil.<br /></div><br />The next step in the design is to create a primary coil holder out of PVC. This time the primary will have a small air gap between it and the secondary hopefully this will keep arc over from occurring. I'm not too sure how loose the coupling will be because of this gap but only testing will tell.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AFV80fMpbrTPKUFKxcEFTtrIO3ZumdQB9DAhFcmogvx4VusN3GGVKGmyZ0pjB93TOyBocIAz2xJlnDHxHER6KIysuszmWtfIHcslfHE3iAT-uqsRgVINM6plCfQXZ3RSC1iL5RWpZ-3m/s1600/Clipboard13.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 228px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AFV80fMpbrTPKUFKxcEFTtrIO3ZumdQB9DAhFcmogvx4VusN3GGVKGmyZ0pjB93TOyBocIAz2xJlnDHxHER6KIysuszmWtfIHcslfHE3iAT-uqsRgVINM6plCfQXZ3RSC1iL5RWpZ-3m/s400/Clipboard13.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638257333478192402" border="0" /></a><br />The control box power supply was replaced with a solid state switch mode supply designed for laptops. This reduced cost, decreased design complexity, created more room inside and decreased cooling demand. The supplies seem very robust and can supply 5A at 12V which is more than enough to power the driver section (2A @ 11.5V) and the control board (500mA @ 5V).<br /><br />A video to keep things interesting :) (not mine) just for entertainment purposes.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/B1O2jcfOylU" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-66193375680677894912011-02-01T17:25:00.000-08:002014-10-17T11:25:16.143-07:00New VariacSo for along time one of the essential tools I have been missing in my line of work was a variac. A variac is just a coined name for a variable autotransformer. It allows you to control the wall voltage directly. Unlike a rheostat this device simply steps down or up the mains voltage to a desired level. They range in power from 100VA (essentially 100W) to several thousand VA and so much larger industrial ones regulate grid voltage with a motor driven tap changer that can regulate line voltages at thousands of volts and millions of VA.<br />
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These things are easy to use! Just plug them into the wall or any source of AC! power, bring the knob down to the 0V position, plug in a load and then flip the switch on. Now by carefully varying the knob from 0 to 100% or even above 100% you control the mains voltage. This is handy for compensation due to voltage drops on long lengths of extension cord or running appliances that need specific voltages. Mostly what they are used for is controlling the voltage while troubleshooting or repairing appliances. That is we keep the voltage low and look for any smoke before powering the appliance at full lines voltage. It ensures you dont blow stuff up right away after fixing if you made a small mistake!<br />
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Ok now back to me bragging about my shiny new Variac... : ) I wanted a new one but I decided to look on ebay first for any deals before shopping at my local electrical supply store. Oh look whats this...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFzDmfdIvx9fLococYdwJmFgGn8aXlYlN62T9IWjNbWVUKw6GGZs0Biiv4Ceo4eYnV9SO8o6GcfXmAemPayvifPOfz0QMbDsZu1h1yMty4wUYQhsMh37-3tCYs37crUZnCBilT_Sbe9sE/s1600/view_TDGC_3k_variac.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFzDmfdIvx9fLococYdwJmFgGn8aXlYlN62T9IWjNbWVUKw6GGZs0Biiv4Ceo4eYnV9SO8o6GcfXmAemPayvifPOfz0QMbDsZu1h1yMty4wUYQhsMh37-3tCYs37crUZnCBilT_Sbe9sE/s400/view_TDGC_3k_variac.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568897398043983794" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 113px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Figure 1 - TDGC-3k no-name Variac with compact fluorescent bulb for scale.<br />
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I obtained this unit on ebay from user <a href="http://myworld.ebay.com/drills12/">drills12</a> for 100$ Canadian! and 35$ shipping in 5 days I had it on my door-step! Best deal if there ever was one!<br />
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Now I had stared at the unit on ebay for about a week or so and researched the model number because I could not believe a brand new unit rated at 3kVA at this price was even possible. For reasons of frustration in finding any information about this autotransformer I have decided to write down what I have found to help future buyers of the remaining units on ebay or for that mater any other online store selling similar units.<br />
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The unit is made in China outsourced by a russian company who's name I cant type in english and by SILICON inc. which I cant seem to find on the web?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPFYI62gjv7U83OxoZ-hHFciZ3QLtepGmXRK4DjiBoPJSgWzj8GJp5p76kGT-HcHVihXnBUGSe3CkCggb3UHYWa2dE4zrZBHrka0_Y5my4BGBAdqCpEAOsBr3bpzldSzeXjOfl-yQhyaP/s1600/PICT00023_DN.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPFYI62gjv7U83OxoZ-hHFciZ3QLtepGmXRK4DjiBoPJSgWzj8GJp5p76kGT-HcHVihXnBUGSe3CkCggb3UHYWa2dE4zrZBHrka0_Y5my4BGBAdqCpEAOsBr3bpzldSzeXjOfl-yQhyaP/s400/PICT00023_DN.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568897477724659586" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
The toriodial variable core is rated for <span style="font-weight: bold;">3000VA , 12A RMS, 250VAC and weighs 11.3Kg</span> (11.6 with case around it). Painted red it is sold with a north american - hybrid european/asian plug on its output rather than the original manufacture's bannajack / screw terminal connections. The unit has a <span style="font-weight: bold;">built in 0 - 150VAC analog voltmeter</span> on its output so you are limited to <span style="font-weight: bold;">running the unit off of 120VAC</span>. It also comes with <span style="font-weight: bold;">KIM CHAY 20A 400V circuit breaker</span>/switch combination. The manufacturer shows the unit originally came with a 12A fuse and switch but because the voltage rating went down to <span style="font-weight: bold;">120VAC</span> as its "rated input".<br />
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Since the core rating was originally 250V at 12A which is 3000VA im guessing when they derated it to run off north american 120V they had to increase the maximum allowable current to compensate? Since now 120V at 20A, really its a <span style="font-weight: bold;">2400VA</span> variac.. (I^2 R losses are higher for the Rw of the autotransformer!) But given its original rating still stands true, <span style="font-weight: bold;">it should work off of 240VAC</span>. However to make it run off of 240VAC safely the 0 - 150V voltmeter must be removed and the breaker replaced with a 12A breaker. Not to mention a replacement power cord for the required outlet type and a new dial indicator for 0-280VAC (original dial is 0-140VAC).<br />
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But I am not complaining this is a well made unit. It appears to have once been sold at <span style="font-weight: bold;">3,800$ USD</span> but that was the original, not the knock off version made in china. Considering it cost only a fraction of that and seems to be equal quality! The wiper and brush on the core looks well made and so does the core itself, very neat well contrusted. It feels heavy and sturdy - the handles are secure! The only thing that feels cheap on this thing is the giant control knob. But seriously its a giant knob theres not much you can fuss over when things get huge and become mass produced.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqYM0H7f5P4tPpWxvYfeiCOPiBzbhcA_cdTrJB7Hkn3oy3eo5j2ripls1HWSg1ojipHRofdj2imdM30k8XB6wVX3PdE4Wf4RpHdc-1VqbtRlx3YeUtLYFeSJsAkGzINYy4i7vuolRZsiO/s1600/PICT0005DN.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqYM0H7f5P4tPpWxvYfeiCOPiBzbhcA_cdTrJB7Hkn3oy3eo5j2ripls1HWSg1ojipHRofdj2imdM30k8XB6wVX3PdE4Wf4RpHdc-1VqbtRlx3YeUtLYFeSJsAkGzINYy4i7vuolRZsiO/s400/PICT0005DN.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568897548101724514" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 182px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 243px;" /></a><br />
I couldn't resist myself, had to use a label maker and put on the power rating and my name on top. Conclusion, you cant go wrong for only 100$ consider that its made with 20$ in copper wire and transformer iron core you could always scrap if you let the smoke out or use it as a paper weight.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqYM0H7f5P4tPpWxvYfeiCOPiBzbhcA_cdTrJB7Hkn3oy3eo5j2ripls1HWSg1ojipHRofdj2imdM30k8XB6wVX3PdE4Wf4RpHdc-1VqbtRlx3YeUtLYFeSJsAkGzINYy4i7vuolRZsiO/s1600/PICT0005DN.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-63608802599511614772011-01-01T23:02:00.000-08:002011-01-01T23:10:36.162-08:00The New Year!So it's the new year! Almost time to go back to college...<br />Worked on a few things during break such as housing arduino mega's in case's so that they may be used outdoors:<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9f8nwwCbfRA?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9f8nwwCbfRA?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />The NIC tesla coil project is still comming along. I have made a makeshift lathe and used it to start varnishing the coil forms. I should be able to wind the coils at home now on the weekend, wont need to find time in class to use the schools lathes :)<br /><br />I plan to replace the previous circuit design entirely with a microcontroller such as an Arduino. This will save money and leave the project open to software updates in the future. The only thing not controlled by the microcontroller will be the high frequency VCO as the controller is too slow to generate 0.5Mhz square wave signals from a standard I/O pin. Currently the only problem is modulating the output to music, the MP3 players do not put out a high enough voltage to be picked up easily by the controller.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-79609320208486316922010-11-28T15:55:00.000-08:002011-01-08T18:23:33.236-08:00NIC Solid State Tesla Coil Project Update 3<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SkLz4JHI4XSeRBC9p5pl4FV5BIfkjFv8o97SpZg2OD1qgBIYQlxt7H4goKMLCcAg4u7fdK911mDLCO-Z9lrHUUBQgnLEhEh6_SQ8JR_IgZXW1SCwHzjAn82akF-mbipOazqUFgxVOEV7/s1600/new+teslaplan2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 544px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SkLz4JHI4XSeRBC9p5pl4FV5BIfkjFv8o97SpZg2OD1qgBIYQlxt7H4goKMLCcAg4u7fdK911mDLCO-Z9lrHUUBQgnLEhEh6_SQ8JR_IgZXW1SCwHzjAn82akF-mbipOazqUFgxVOEV7/s400/new+teslaplan2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544759512158445778" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> I have had very little free time to work on the coils lately. Started thinking about the control board circuitry. My rough draft above shows the basic idea. The VCO is a high frequency voltage controlled rectangle wave generator with a fixed 0.5 duty time. The VCO frequency is also tunable by the external potentiometer. The voltage applied to the VCO is controlled by a voltage divider and the output of a xor gate made up of nand schmitt trigger gates. This gives it good noise immunity and some added delay which is needed in this circuit! The FM input is where music can be applied to push the coil in and out of resonance. The rectangle wave oscillator will basically be a 555 timer with a low duty cycle runnning around 1-10Hz. The frequency will be variable by adjusting the external break rate potentiometer. The interrupter circuit which is made up of the low frequency rectangle wave oscillator disables and enables the VCO output. When enabled it forces the coil to run at resonance and turns it on and off. The FM input will still beable to modulate the on time when the interrupter is enabled. The VCO's output is buffered and two complementary drive signals are produced to supply the gate driver board.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRyagXTJIymkACZ8xbCvCEF9mIUv_DSYcGFXfxpRZVnWpE_L94c81cpFNkWN5ItMYYoxudzf75kuKfAEhiZBaqT-NFwrF8zpPwmoor4I66SMbCb34LyXOiWFaIzhiLB6m7M-MuxwgA3Mjc/s1600/potenti_knobs.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRyagXTJIymkACZ8xbCvCEF9mIUv_DSYcGFXfxpRZVnWpE_L94c81cpFNkWN5ItMYYoxudzf75kuKfAEhiZBaqT-NFwrF8zpPwmoor4I66SMbCb34LyXOiWFaIzhiLB6m7M-MuxwgA3Mjc/s320/potenti_knobs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544754141890677618" border="0" /></a> Added these fancy knobs to the external tuning potentiometer's. They are isolated from the grounded chasis to prevent coupled energy from the coil on your body from discharging to ground through your fingers which result's in nasty RF burns. Touching any grounded surfaces while the coil is running gives you RF burns so most control knobs and switch's need to be insulated from the user but chasis grounded and shielded at the same time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-25619260618838597462010-11-18T23:21:00.001-08:002010-11-19T00:01:00.339-08:00NIC Solid State Tesla Coil Project Update 2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTzpsp0rfhcprAcKTPWmim63k9ew_hVWYZeDrH7-z9JxsmYKMFRZlRMOJy5P7Gmp95EKNmCc_Cx8kF4RcLPWJ6P8CyjxAav4ew0A2-CMt-JjVm7vDmZB6cBHG83Kcb_qA-ttkyDonEtF3o/s1600/fans.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTzpsp0rfhcprAcKTPWmim63k9ew_hVWYZeDrH7-z9JxsmYKMFRZlRMOJy5P7Gmp95EKNmCc_Cx8kF4RcLPWJ6P8CyjxAav4ew0A2-CMt-JjVm7vDmZB6cBHG83Kcb_qA-ttkyDonEtF3o/s320/fans.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541159159741369490" border="0" /></a>12V DC brushless fans are now attached to the back of the H-Bridge heatsinks. These fans should greatly improve cooling and thus reliabillity. One major problem with previous coil designs were no cooling fans, the higher operating temperature of the mosfets caused failure after 5min runs. Fans make a huge difference in performance, cooler H-Bridges run more efficiently. More holes were made in the conduit box's to increase air to flow.<br /><br /><br />The halfwave voltage <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSm52EEx4LYWK2Iy9oWwyKNgn4Zu0fvSXFKEqe3tF1ofm-IDJktFpsvlgRZyEOtjf56K1TnFrI30Bk2nz0Iw5Jy8U_RvYNtWGc0xT7DRwFk1wwGxGxVyEjiB8y6kcB9Oub899DdwiP7vuD/s1600/closeup.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSm52EEx4LYWK2Iy9oWwyKNgn4Zu0fvSXFKEqe3tF1ofm-IDJktFpsvlgRZyEOtjf56K1TnFrI30Bk2nz0Iw5Jy8U_RvYNtWGc0xT7DRwFk1wwGxGxVyEjiB8y6kcB9Oub899DdwiP7vuD/s320/closeup.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541159349991251666" border="0" /></a>doubler circuit is now wired in. The doubler is configured as a Delon Circuit and produces 310VDC from the 120VAC mains input. Consisting of a bridge rectifier feeding into four 450V 270uF electrolytic capacitors. Each capacitor has a 470k ohm 1/4 watt resistor soldered across it to discharge them when power is removed, full discharge time takes about 10mins after power is removed.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuChr8Hu0re1xNe1WL0OS6SLKciIEHeS_oBV-1vatPWfj2XZXCWsyiacvDmdZUYAqx-lTee_F5jLzUXQEBVfhytOB9f0H97vGAXz-J2VsZQsePJt35vHRAEA4T6v3s0W9C_kBrAuiTx5W/s1600/catcoils.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 203px; height: 152px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuChr8Hu0re1xNe1WL0OS6SLKciIEHeS_oBV-1vatPWfj2XZXCWsyiacvDmdZUYAqx-lTee_F5jLzUXQEBVfhytOB9f0H97vGAXz-J2VsZQsePJt35vHRAEA4T6v3s0W9C_kBrAuiTx5W/s320/catcoils.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541164033436339730" border="0" /></a></div> The cat in the picture was not part of the orignal design but was an unintended side effect of irresistible bits of wire dangling about.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteCOgKDBtq4HsxWNsYgpN1SsMQBealLizqPJdX6W0JYrg5nTdbo6n0SdrQoX5k6zbbGP5yngSXhHgFhAQe1f2P38sOO3F40S3WCvZ-tbk709hpbLGrLr4fnBznqEcBUa9aK7aGr9T4l4v/s1600/PICT0055.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteCOgKDBtq4HsxWNsYgpN1SsMQBealLizqPJdX6W0JYrg5nTdbo6n0SdrQoX5k6zbbGP5yngSXhHgFhAQe1f2P38sOO3F40S3WCvZ-tbk709hpbLGrLr4fnBznqEcBUa9aK7aGr9T4l4v/s320/PICT0055.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541161997059666146" border="0" /></a>In addition to the wiring up the voltage doubler more circuitry has been added to the H-Bridge. DC blocking capacitors have been added to one leg of the bridge (yellow capacitors center). These are in series with the tesla coils primary coil, the purpose of the blocking capacitors is to prevent high currents from flowing in the primary at low frequencies. You could say they prevent direct current flow in the primary when the bridge stops switching as the primary is essentially a dead short to DC. Further more the red capacitors seen at the back of the bridge go across the DC bus of each leg. These capacitors act as a filter to sudden changes in voltages across the bridge legs at high frequency. The reason behind this is to stabalize the DC bus as the inductance of the wire between the bridge and the voltage doubler causes rapid changes in voltage as current flows between the doubler and the bridge. Without these the mosfets can see high noise during switching and high voltage transients which may cause failure at high power levels.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-31532059434942416362010-11-16T11:20:00.000-08:002010-11-19T00:05:36.732-08:00NIC Solid State Tesla Coil Project Update 1<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja12WD16MPTYLMEU9rbua8Ezx_Kv2T-ZE0cXbUY2p9qIXYITwdLOAxQzife2Gdhllz_8-KgJIyapxSao4K12q8TwN8Vs5lVJGzQGRnTNnc0zVjKFICTxJCUZ26SkNfVlfQr79l5HmW2ItJ/s1600/PICT0029.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 445px; float: left; height: 333px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540237829498129522" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja12WD16MPTYLMEU9rbua8Ezx_Kv2T-ZE0cXbUY2p9qIXYITwdLOAxQzife2Gdhllz_8-KgJIyapxSao4K12q8TwN8Vs5lVJGzQGRnTNnc0zVjKFICTxJCUZ26SkNfVlfQr79l5HmW2ItJ/s320/PICT0029.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Both H-Bridge circuits are now complete, using 500v 20A mosfets (the common IRFP460) mounted on their own heatsink. The other heatsink contains split recovery (600v 30A) diodes and blocking barrier diodes (40v 30A). The purpose of the recovery diodes is to provide a freewheeling path for current when the coils are run outside of their resonant frequency. The blocking barrier diodes prevent reverse current from entering the mosfet bodydiode when the freewheeling diodes are conducting.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhViougXle6wgHGRUPJg141aD25fqNVUIBtMD-n350Jz3E8FkN3vCKT-zjvwOdmdJeuGgw_Z-rBsIJqtbMhEuTpuZrk_7HH6ieGotgorFNLdU5LsmxlWp_aB0SkYpx1Q37-7CPxILbZ92eg/s1600/PICT0022.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 443px; float: left; height: 332px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540237645556181506" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhViougXle6wgHGRUPJg141aD25fqNVUIBtMD-n350Jz3E8FkN3vCKT-zjvwOdmdJeuGgw_Z-rBsIJqtbMhEuTpuZrk_7HH6ieGotgorFNLdU5LsmxlWp_aB0SkYpx1Q37-7CPxILbZ92eg/s320/PICT0022.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />You may have noticed the wiring terminal strips near the power plug and main powers witch (bottom left of the conduit box). The power switch and transformer have been fused and wired. the bridge rectifier and voltage doubler circuits will be installed soon. Currently the H-Bridge is just standing in the case and isn't connected to the circuit.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJ_hGGG91tJpAlXPK_k3kcjZTDHJk9biwkxCxFhVk-zEM5bZq2qJ-YhCv-8lq3YAL_iQn-9u3nS4usHHdnUzVUMmrxryA8jex8h6hcUbCumZLyTudaZWg-PWk3JKkQVwOhXIh4LhUeXKH/s1600/PICT0017.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga63WZUR0WzZ7mOde1aZ4el36B3FglCBigTq73ALGymQbaR9zOU4CqyNm4r9x3domEgIYdUzJcjrpnRtsAbrR6RcUNAq-n5ml0PskPUrbyL3Ls5mBkKjJTD550Gr0wntZmP0vHXzYJwqvK/s1600/PICT0017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 436px; float: left; height: 326px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540238075877066962" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga63WZUR0WzZ7mOde1aZ4el36B3FglCBigTq73ALGymQbaR9zOU4CqyNm4r9x3domEgIYdUzJcjrpnRtsAbrR6RcUNAq-n5ml0PskPUrbyL3Ls5mBkKjJTD550Gr0wntZmP0vHXzYJwqvK/s320/PICT0017.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The control panel now has both the main power switch and control board switches installed. Two potentiometers seen to the right are for tuning the drive frequency of the coil and changing the break rate of the interuptor circuit. The control board switches are used to enable/disable the driver board and to change from audio mode to interuptor mode. The control panel is not complete, it will feature a status indicator LED, modulation LED and a blown fuse indicator LED.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-1537940754168405482010-11-15T23:44:00.000-08:002010-11-16T07:39:17.260-08:00NIC Coil Project<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVq07PvWahqDzn6SIWSpfaTX_fMZ03wAFqDaFWId-mKX1fMdgUIskl-1qYzteuBz2adjfM_GCq9N6Ddze9QdISOVBO9dI3OXIFR9HfgaM3A_zNOq9A8rtv8GjMZUEKTRf1vF9jY-qqg-qs/s1600/PICT0008.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 287px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVq07PvWahqDzn6SIWSpfaTX_fMZ03wAFqDaFWId-mKX1fMdgUIskl-1qYzteuBz2adjfM_GCq9N6Ddze9QdISOVBO9dI3OXIFR9HfgaM3A_zNOq9A8rtv8GjMZUEKTRf1vF9jY-qqg-qs/s320/PICT0008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540050604512062466" border="0" /></a>The conduit box's have been painted a flat black, the PVC pipe terminations have bolted to the top of the conduit's removable panel. You can see the low voltage supply transformers bolted to the inside top right of the conduit box's. These transformers are high quality audio amplifier type with dual primary and secondary. Only one of the primary and secondary coils have been used to limit the inrush current associated wtih paralleling them. They are a bit overkill with a VA rating of 2kVA when I/P and O/P coils are parallel'd. The inrush current into these things is 80 times higher than their running current comapired to 30-40 times on a standard E core laminant transformer. These toriodial style transformers do have benifits including high noisy immunity, high current, higher power for given core consectional area, low losses and they dont even ~humm when you draw 135A from them! This is due to their core design, smooth rounded shape and coils covering the entire area of the core.<br /><br />The purpose of the tr<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYF-EmG3kMyKOTZou_71WP8AI8ySSBtBUo-gRtpqxNSVBTJHRnOOSOMgFaihV1tmpvH7PIrm_DfnBsXJgiLTnRlhhAJ4rUa0tfSJT3hJTamrSbz678I6ze2xUkQpNOaC2omK8GxBCaOhNI/s1600/PICT0015.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYF-EmG3kMyKOTZou_71WP8AI8ySSBtBUo-gRtpqxNSVBTJHRnOOSOMgFaihV1tmpvH7PIrm_DfnBsXJgiLTnRlhhAJ4rUa0tfSJT3hJTamrSbz678I6ze2xUkQpNOaC2omK8GxBCaOhNI/s320/PICT0015.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540056793696488338" border="0" /></a>ansformers is to supply multiple voltage regulators. 5V regulator for logic chips and controller board, 12V regulator for GDT driver board and a seperate 12V supply for computer fans that will be added for cooling of the H-Bridge. Due to core characteristics they also seem to have the natural abillity to cancel high frequency noise on the mains. However I may still consider a line filter and passive Power factor correction - PFC and line filters are nice but not totally necessary for coils which are only going to operate for short periods of time. The solid state coil acts very close to a resistive load when tuned and the power factor wont be an issue at near resonant frequency. It will be detuned into the capacitive region when frequency modulate to play music.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5_A4KtkDxr2-ussZJs8h1yo0GS4-Gxz06vsHMwZtNr54GCn1VK2HmPppggYfkhkSxz7bNUYziPzez28OTKOhCjHMTi8_1TFh7QuxpGsd8z9NDIxBWzTzZFjfSu2qy5lE3CFPom9zBx9W/s1600/PICT0016.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5_A4KtkDxr2-ussZJs8h1yo0GS4-Gxz06vsHMwZtNr54GCn1VK2HmPppggYfkhkSxz7bNUYziPzez28OTKOhCjHMTi8_1TFh7QuxpGsd8z9NDIxBWzTzZFjfSu2qy5lE3CFPom9zBx9W/s320/PICT0016.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540057606463460946" border="0" /></a>You can also see the power cords, plugs, and main power switches have been installed and are ready to be wired. The conduit box's came in at 23$ each on sale at a local hardware store. The power cords are salvaged from old computer powersupplies. The transformers were 50$ each off ebay and are excellent quality. The box and transformers so far are the most costly part of the coils, with everything else mostly made from salvaged parts. The secondary and primary coil of the TC will not cost anything to make as I already have the materials. So far the project budget is 200$ for each coil. One of the coils is going to North Island College - Core Electronics Program the other I will use as a testbed for faults and design changes for future coils. Making two coils not only makes troubleshooting easyier but lowers part costs as I get deals in buying bulk materials not to mention ending up with a new and much better designed coil for myself.<br /><br />The difficult part will of course be designing them to be safe and reliable. My previous coils were not what you could call reliable or safe to run for more than 5mins. Since one coil will be going to a educational institution - it must last on its own and more considerations for safety and long operating life must added to the existing design.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269968133485675885.post-39791094340292704582010-11-15T23:03:00.001-08:002010-11-15T23:15:27.491-08:00Blog Open for BloggingHello again!<br /><br />I have decided to stop paying for my weebly site www.electronsbefree.com, it is soon to expire and go offline. I have once again moved back to good old blogger.com. I used this blogging service before and it was the location of my first blog which was called Uchips&Bits. Im not really a blog type person - so dont expect updates on a regular basis. I will use this webspace to periodically post updates about various home and school projects.<br /><br />This will be a blog related to technology and more specifically the field of electronics, however I may from time to time post other interesting things. I like high-voltage electronics such as Solid-State and Spark-Gap Tesla Coils, voltage multiplyier cascades, TV-flyback drivers, and static charge generators such as van de graaff machines. Other high energy interests include: inverters, radio circuits, amplifier circuits, x-rays devices, radiation detectors, alternate energy sources, game programming robotics, and biological inspired designs.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301944077716473980noreply@blogger.com0