The forums can help with specific problems but are no substitute for a formal education.
Do you know how a transistor works? A relay? What level are you at?

__________________
Bill
Smart Kits build Smart People
http://www.blueroomelectronics.com

 

OK, but you still didn't answer my question: is this expected to work in real life? Is this going to be put into a real car at some point? Or will it just be some test devices on a table for demonstration?

I (and probably others) will be willing to help you out with problems you run into with the project, but nobody is going to do your work for you if the point of the class is that you should figure out the circuit yourself.

Very basically, you need a light detector (say, an LDR, photodiode, or phototransistor), a transistor, and a couple of resistors to make a very basic light alarm. I'll assume a phototransistor. Wire the phototransistor to hold the transistor's base low unless light shines on it, with a resistor from the base to +V to pull the base high when it detects light. Use the transistor to switch a relay which controls the high/low beam. How you'd make it sensitive to taillights and not random reflections/other light sources I don't know, except that a very sharp red filter might work. You'd need one set of sensors for headlights and another set for taillights.

I have no idea how you'd go about doing the "sleepy driver" thing. I also think it's kind of a bad idea--drivers who are that sleepy are dangerous no matter what attempts are made to keep them awake. Maybe it should light up a little sign saying "You are too sleepy. This car will shut off in five minutes and will not restart for 45 minutes after that. Find a safe place to park and have a nap!"


Torben

 

blueroomelectronics - well, relay i just only learn in the net as my lecturer wont teach us anything and ask us to find and solve it our own.
hmm... about my level i'm not sure. i think is basic.
so i'm kinda learn electronic stuff from the net and books.

 

torben - oh ya. sorry bout that. i will do it on a car model. If my project works
very well then maybe some company might be interested and they will
continue research on my project so i don worry about putting this
thing into a real car.

I actually found a schematic in the net but it uses image sensor. But
it quite difficult for me as the image sensor need to do some
programming and if wanted to learn is possible but i scare it will waste
my time for this project and i only have 3 months to complete it.

Hmm... how about using infrared sensor?

I search in the net bout this sleepy drive a.k.a drowsy alarm system, is
already in the market, so i will modify it a bit but not sure it will works
or not.

 

[quote=jonkbu]torben - oh ya. sorry bout that. i will do it on a car model. If my project works
very well then maybe some company might be interested and they will
continue research on my project so i don worry about putting this
thing into a real car.

don't make your self the illusion that a company will pick it up
companies that are intrested have either their own electronic engineers or they source from a school where the level of education is much higher than on yours
than they will offer a student an apprentinship so he can develop it himself with help of the company and if everything goes well the student has a big chance to get a joboffer

I live in south east asia for quite a few years and in my oppinion the schooling is not that good

if your teacher aspect that you do everything yourself with a minimum of input from his side
then you are probably on a school for high rolling geniuses (and than you should be able to do it yourself)
or you have an extreemly incompetent lazy teacher that don't know it him self and mask it to send you in the bush without a compass

in your first mail you mentioned a few components that you intented to use
i would say make somthing simple but working and know all ins and outs of it
so you can teach your teacher (do it in a way that he don't lose face)

you will learn far more from that experiance than trying to get a high tech approche but don't even know what the components induvidualy do

good luck and we still want to help you but be realistic

Robert-Jan

 

hmm... because some of my senior project have been taken up by local companies and they are just improving his project only. Do you know a car company named Proton?

Now you know how is the schooling in asia. Is too sad for me. I hope i could born in europe country and have a better live style.

well, my teacher just ask us to think any idea project that no one have done it before or take the idea of an existing project but use it into another way or add on features.

hmm... my first mail about the components is what my teacher wants in the circuit. what project is simply that can be done by 4 people? with each of the group member must have a task to do so in the end all of the member will combine together and produce one new project.

 

yes i do know the proton cars and a time ago it would be taken over by volkswagen but i don't know if that one came through or not
what whas the project they took over from you ?

on life style, europe is higher than malaysia but that means not beter

now on your project

how much time do you have and how much money can you spend?

and i still keep saying try somthing not to advanced but know everything in the smallest detail from what you make

Robert-Jan

 

I'd think there would be way to much photon noise for simple LDR sensors to work in this scenario.

If I were making this project I would have a high presicion laser sensor.. IF THEY EVEN EXIST AND DONT COST THOASANDS OF DOLLARS.. mounted on a stepper motor.. which would be stationed at the same height as the headlights of the car... probably where the front embelem would be.

The laser would then scan ahead for light sources which are both at the appropriate height and intensity... scanning a verticle range which is inside the shortest and tallest headlight positions that may be encountered.

This concept seems very impractical and unsafe..

Could you not construct drawings and small.. (none working) models for your presentation.

Good Luck.

__________________
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9vDC Guitar Pedal PSU

PIC16F84a Game Module

 

rjvh - this company still haven improve on its quality till today. so if you can built something like volvo (BLIS system) but with cheap and good quality that can be used in proton cars they might consider it. who knows.

i only given 14 weeks to complete the project and the college only given my group 100 malaysian ringgit which is surely not enough as my lecturer say.So about the budget maybe could add about 200 malaysian ringgit.

i try not to do a high technology project as my budget was very little and the headlamp thing i found the circuit which is very simple to built. But this circuit only need 1 people to complete it so i have to add something into the circuit which i was thinking about doing speed limit alert(is this too advance for me).

 

Yow. Sounds like you don't have the world's greatest teacher there--that's unfortunate.

So it sounds like you found a circuit you want to use? If you don't understand how it works or how to modify it for what you want, you can post it and we'll help you out. I think you'll probably want to build two sensors at the very least, as I said before: one for taillights and one for headlights.

How about adding ultrasonic rangefinders to the rear of the vehicle for the extra part of the project, with a little display on the dash? It's fairly simple to build and program, but there are lots of tweaks/modifications you can do.


Torben

 

speed limmit alert should be possible to do
i remember a schematic from a few years ago in a electronic hobby magazine
I can look for you and post it but i can not garantee if it works first hand (never build it myself)
but before a magazine publish it they will test it defenetly

have to look it up

Robert-Jan

 

for the headlamp i found many types of schematic but i does not know which one to use it and definitely i have to add on sensor/ ultrasonic to modify the current circuit. these are the schematic i found on the web :

40krvr1.pdf
40KHZDET7.pdf
headlights.gif
darksw.gif
hdlights.gif
sensor2.gif

for the speed limit alert :

SpeedAl.gif

 

see this schematic

it works with a signal pick up from the speedo meeter (speedo meter has a rotating magnet to power the needle)

if you have a digital speedo meter you have to pick something up from the drive axel of the car

the main point is that you have a puls to feed the opamp that is speed related

sucsess with your project

Robert-Jan

Attached Files

speed alarm.pdf (380.2 KB, 4 views)

 

I'd test Tony van Roon's first. I don't think you need 40kHz detector circuits; you're not trying to detect 40kHz anything. The light from the oncoming headlights won't be modulated. Those two PDF circuits look to me like something you might use with an IR remote control. I meant ultrasonic object detection for your blind spots when backing up. There are a few threads about these things on this board. Sometimes they are called 'ultrasonic tape measures', except for this purpose they're even simpler: you don't need to display a distance, just light up warning lights on the dash if something gets too close to the rear of the vehicle while you're backing up.

Here's another idea for the speed alarm, this one based on a microcontroller. It would be reasonably simple to program alarms into the code and wire up an alarm and some switches to choose the alarm speeds. http://www.ednasia.com/article-3159-...ents-Asia.html

Robert-Jan's circuit has the advantage that it already includes adjustment pots and you don't need to program a microcontroller.



Torben

 

i have another problem. my lecturer say that in a circuit must have at least 4 function due to my group has 4 members. so for the headlamp circuit i have add on 3 more features. How??