Electronics and control

This book has been created by Ana Mª López Floría (2024)

Electronics

Electronics

What is electronics?

In an electrical circuit the current flows through the conductors and components naturally, having the current a value that depends on the components connected in the circuit.

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In an electronic circuit, a control is exercised over the flow of the electric current.

But this is not new, just put a switch to let flow or not the current through a light bulb. (In this way, we would be “controlling” the flow of current through the bulb).

However, the most important difference lies in the “how” this current flow is controlled. In an electronics circuit, an electric current flow is controlled by another electrical signal, this being another electric current flow or a fixed voltage.

In other words:

In an electronic circuit … electricity is able to control electricity.


Information extracted from here

Electronics

Electronic components

Electronic components can be classified in:

For a circuit to be properly called “electronic circuit” it must contain at least one active element.

Passive components

Fixed resistors 

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Variable resistors

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Capacitors

Device that stores electrical energy by accumulating electric charges on two closely spaced surfaces that are insulated from each other.

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The property of a capacitor is the capacitance (C) that is defined as the amount of charge that can be stored at a given voltage. It is measured in Farads (F)

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Electronic symbol

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Active components

They are made up of semiconductor materials, whose properties allow to introduce "control" in the circuit. 

Diodes

Devices that allow current to flow just in one direction. 

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The most known are LED's: Light Emitting Diode

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Transistors 

It is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electrical signals and power. It is composed of semiconductor material, usually with at least three terminals for connection to an electronic circuit. A voltage or current applied to one  of the transistor's terminals (Base) controls the current through another pair of terminals (Collector and Emitter)

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There are two main types of transistors depending on the sense of the controlled current: NPN and PNP

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Information and images extracted from:

Control systems

Control systems

Control systems and robotics

An automated process continuously repeats the action that it is designed to carry out. A set of interconnected elements which allow the automation of a process is called a control system.

Some automated systems only carry out the same action. Other can modify this action by changing their programs. They are intelligent control systems.

Intelligent control systems work in a similar way to a human being. That means, we receive information from the outside world thanks to our senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch) our brain processes this information and through our muscles or our voice we perform different actions. Intelligent control systems: they receive information from the environment thanks to different sensors, they process this information in controller boards (like Arduino) and give a response using different actuators.

robot is an intelligent automated system capable of:

So the main elements in every robot, as we learned in programming,  will be:

The task of a robot can be modified by changing its program. 

Information extracted from:

Control systems

Sensors and actuators

Sensors

A sensor is an object capable of detecting physical or chemical quantities and transforming them into electrical signals.

Depending on the type of the electrical signal produced they can be DIGITAL, ANALOG or DATA.

Actuators

An actuator is any device capable of performing actions in the physical world that we can control from a processor board (like Arduino)

Depending on the type of action produced they can be:

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Imagina TDR Steam shield

We will use in our projects one shield called  Imagina TDR Steam which is integrable into Arduino UNO, with a multitude of integrated sensors and actuators.

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Sensor/Actuator/Module
1
Two pushbuttons (SW1, SW2)
2
Two LEDS (Blue Led3 and Red Led4)
3
Led RGB
4
DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor
5
Buzzer
6
Two digital outputs/inputs
7
Infrared receiver module (IR)
8
Rotary potentiometer module
9
Light sensor (LDR)
10
Temperature sensor (LM35)
11
I2C Interface
12
Analogic input
13
Bluetooth and Wifi connection
14
Reset button

Control systems

Controller: Arduino board

Arduino UNO is an electronic card that integrates a microcontroller and a set of input and ouptut connections pins that allow, through a certain program, to interact with the physical environment through electronic sensors and actuators. The sensors are connected to the input pins and the actuators to the output pins.

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Information extracted and translated from here

Picture extracted from here

Control systems

Programming Arduino board with Arduinoblocks

Arduinoblocks is a software created by the teacher Juanjo López. Thanks to its graphical environment, it facilitates the programming of Arduino boards at all levels.

It is not free software because the creator does not make public the code , but it can be used freely.


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Challenges to create with Arduino and Imagina TDR (in Spanish)

Control systems

Log in with Arduinoblocks as a Student and joining a project

To work with Arduinoblocks as a student there is a series of steps to follow:

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This program has to be open all the time we are using the Arduino.

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