A dream has come true........

I and Rajesh were traveling to Hyderabad in Hyderabad express on 29th April. We had our dinner and were almost half a sleep when the train stopped for few minutes in Nidubrolu around 10:20pm. a small station between Bapatla and Tenali Junction. A woman in her mid thirties got into the train and demanded that the berth on which Rajesh was sleeping is reserved for her. After examining the ticket we found that it was reserved for the day before i.e on 28th April. By the time she realized that her ticket is not valid, the train started gaining the speed and almost left the station. She started panicking and wanted to get down the running train by pulling the chain. Passengers around her advised to speak to the ticket collector but she resisted the idea, as she didn't have enough money and went to the forward to pull the chain. She was short and couldn't reach the chain. I was lying in the middle berth I could easily grab the chain and started pulling it, nothing happened for a minute. Rajesh advised me to increase the force applied in pulling the chain. Suddenly there was a hissing sound in the compartment the pneumatic brake system got triggered and train came to halt in few seconds. By the time the lady got down the train railway police in the near by compartments came to her and enquired the reason for pulling the train they left her by cursing without a fine.

From my childhood I always wanted to pull the chain. I used to wonder how a running train could stop when a passenger pulls the chain. Finally my dream has come to a reality :).

MS- Research

India is investing on the research as never before and it requires people who can come out with innovation. MS-Research seats are offered in all IITs and NITs entrance is through GATE exam. Once you qualify GATE exam then you have to apply to the institutes and then you will be called for the interview. In my MS-interview questions were on Mathematics, Control systems as few questions on electronics.

Tips for the MS-interview

Be good in mathematics brush up all the concepts be confident and show your skills. MS students are given a chance of choosing their research area and the guide.MS- students have to do one sem course work and the subjects will be given based on the research area.After the course work we have to start the research work. If you think you are creative, innovative then this is the perfect course to do. If you dont have confidence on you then never take MS-Research. Stifud of 8,000 is payed every month similar to M.Tech students. When I compare M.Tech with MS-Research,in M.Tech we have 2 sems of course work most of it you might have studied in your UG.In MS you have freedom to chose your courses. Implement your own idea, create new things. The minimum number of years for MS-Degree is 2 years and it can extend to 3 years depending on the research work. If you do required amount of work then you can get degree even before that.

If your research work is really good then you can extend your MS-research work to phd and you can get a doctorate in 3 yrs.

Wish you all da Best :)

Making of the Robot

===================================================================
vamsi and rakesh were my school friends and we want to get into the robotic contest. Vamsi was inspired by the robots that he had seen in IIT Madras fest shaastra so he said lets design a robot. Then the things started we didnt know how to start what to do where to go. We started searching things at that time internet was not that popular now we get every thing in the internet but at that time things were different.Then the idea of using a motor and using the rod and axle came just what we see in the busses and trucks.Our budget was very low and we did not want to waste things buying unnesseary things.So at last we decided to buy a motor and experiment on that but which motor what should be the rpm we didnt know.We went to the gujrati galli were we get all the electronic things opposite the bank street we went their.I exactly dont remember how we came to know about the gujrati galli but I and vamsi went there.We went to Roaland electronics shop their the shopkeeper was asking about what kind of motor the rpm.We didnt decide about these thing so we went back and then started searching for the different types of motors.

After few days we again went to the gujrati galli and we bought a servomotor of 500 rpm and then started designing the robot.Then the arrangement of rod and axcel was the problem.So we thaught we should try for gear rod assembly in the market.This time vamsi and rakesh went to the galli and bought the Rack and pinion and that was not fixing in the motor shaft waste of money but we got a good experience from that.

Thing were not working so I approched a professor he suggested that the gear rod assembly would be difficult so better go for two motors of same rpm.Then we baught 2 motors and then started building the robot.Then vamsi brother srawan joined our team he is good in handling things.Most of the time we used to forget something or the other we baught motors cardboard wires ... but we forgot to buy screws from then when ever I think of a project first I will write things on paper the kind of experimental difficulties...

Finally our robot was done it was working well but connections were bit loose but it was working well everyone was our overjoyed.That was about Tinku robot we designed for a contest.It thaught me to put things on paper.

Making the Team

Before you start any project first you need to have a good team. More than the subject the team members should be confident and enthusiastic about the project, without proper interest in the project you cannot complete it. Depending on the project start choosing the team members, all the members in the team need not be your friends. Always prefer to work with different people because the approach to the problem differs from individual to individual. Each individual in a team should respect other members point of view towards a problem and never hesitate to express your point of view. After you form a team decide an eligible team member as a team leader. A team leader should have complete idea of the project and also the strengths of each individual depending on the strengths team leader should assign tasks. Team leader should see that the spirit in the team continues.Whenever you work in a team you always have a good discussion about the problem and ultimately end up with a good solution.

Paper Work

Before you start any project you should have a proper planning. Every plan should be on the paper this gives a good idea about the project as well the tasks ahead. Write down all the components that you need to buy.

Components Used

1. DC Motors

2. Card board

3. Drilling Machine

4. Hacksaw

6. Tool kit

7. Nuts & Bolts

8. Bus wire

9. Rack and Pinion

10. Plastic card board

11. Tape

12. Switches

13 .Hub

14. Grippering system

15. Wheels

16. Wood blocks

17.Scale and pencil

18. Rechargeable Battery

Specifications:

DC Motors:

Total of 5 - 12V DC Geared Motors of different RPM

2 - 300 rpm

1 - 45 rpm

2 - 10 rpm

1 - 100rpm

Card Board:

A card board of 30cm * 30cm generally what we use for switch boards to make a base for the robot.

Drilling Machine:

An electrical drilling machine or a manual drilling machine which can drill holes of required diameter .

Hacksaw:

Hacksaw of minimum length to the cut the wood blocks of required length.

Tool kit:

A tool kit which consists of Hammer, Screwdriver, cutting plair, Soldering gun etc.

Nuts & Bolts:

Nuts & Bolts of required diameter and length should be used to fix the motors and other things perfectly.

Bus wire:

A bus wire which has a minimum of 10 channels with different color coding of about 5mts in length.

Rack and Pinion:

To fix the arm into the base a Rack and pinion of radius equal to shaft of the motor.

Plastic card board

To fix the motors on a base a plastic board 30cm * 40 cm that can be cut into required shape and size.

Tape:

Different type of tapes such as cello tape,packing tape, cloth tape is used depending on the requirement.

Switches:

A total of 5 SPDT Rocker switches are used of rating 16mA, 250V.

Hub:

A hub used for easy connection between the motors and Bus wire.

Gripping system

Gripper which can capture a block of 4cm*4cm* 8cm

is to designed and interfaced with the arm.

Wheels:

4 wheels of 7 cm diameter with a hole of 0.5 cm diameter at the centre to interface with shaft of the motor.

Wood blocks:

Blocks of wood of required shape and size as per the requirement.

Scale and pencil:

Iron scale or plastic scale along with pencil used for markings as per the requirement.

Rechargeable Battery:

A rechargeable battery of 12V weighing about 300gms should be used