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New idea for project.. help.. !!!

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jonkbu

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hi all,

i need your help in helping me to think of an idea for my foundation final project. Here are the detail for my project so far and i have to pass up my proposal to my lecturer by next friday. I hope that my project i'm doing is not too common.

Details :

*microcontroller (if needed and not neccessary)
*sensor (any type of sensor)
*555 timers
*resistor
*diodes
*transistor
*basic electronic item

Hope u all could really help me in this. Thx ;)
 
maybe a PWM control for a dc motor with sensor control
aim of the project could be constand speed with variable loads
 
well... this is my idea about doing a project under automotive.I think that this technology is either under volvo or merc company. Not sure whether is in the market o not.

My idea is whenever the car drive along a highway or going long distance road in the night surely the driver have to manualy on the high beam in order to see the road more clearly. So i would like this high beam to on it self automatically whenever the car drive into a dark road and whenever any incoming car from the opposite side the high beam will automatically off. The basic idea is when there is no light then the high beam is off and when there is light the high beam is on.

I would like someone who know how this project works and have any diagram of the circuit. I really need your help!!

sorry for the broken language because i'm from malaysia.
 
jonkbu said:
well... this is my idea about doing a project under automotive.I think that this technology is either under volvo or merc company. Not sure whether is in the market o not.

My idea is whenever the car drive along a highway or going long distance road in the night surely the driver have to manualy on the high beam in order to see the road more clearly. So i would like this high beam to on it self automatically whenever the car drive into a dark road and whenever any incoming car from the opposite side the high beam will automatically off. The basic idea is when there is no light then the high beam is off and when there is light the high beam is on.

Welcome to the forum!

The only problem I can see is that it would also have to trigger on taillights; you don't want your high beams on when behind another vehicle, either. Also, make sure there is a manual override.

I have been thinking of an idea off and on for a while which is related to your idea (sort of): a warning system which could alert a driver when their headlights may be aimed poorly (i.e. low beams aimed up into oncoming drivers' eyes). It seems that around here, anyway, there are lots of city people who don't know about this. It makes driving the highways near Victoria at night a terrible experience.

I would like someone who know how this project works and have any diagram of the circuit. I really need your help!!

sorry for the broken language because i'm from malaysia.

Don't worry about your English--it's fine. You are quite easy to understand. :)


Torben

[Edit: Typo fix.]
 
jonkbu said:
sorry for the broken language because i'm from malaysia.
Don't you hate how people who actually apologize for their English are always the ones who can actually write it?
 
dknguyen said:
Don't you hate how people who actually apologize for their English are always the ones who can actually write it?

Not nearly so much as I hate how those who could but don't bother, don't.


Torben
 
Torben said:
Welcome to the forum!

The only problem I can see is that it would also have to trigger on taillights; you don't want your high beams on when behind another vehicle, either. Also, make sure there is a manual override.

I have been thinking of an idea off and on for a while which is related to your idea (sort of): a warning system which could alert a driver when their headlights may be aimed poorly (i.e. low beams aimed up into oncoming drivers' eyes). It seems that around here, anyway, there are lots of city people who don't know about this. It makes driving the highways near Victoria at night a terrible experience.



About the taillights the system is that when there is a light then it will off. Do you have any idea how to built this circuit and how it can be built?
 
jonkbu said:
About the taillights the system is that when there is a light then it will off. Do you have any idea how to built this circuit and how it can be built?

I know how to build a simple circuit which will operate a switch (relay or transistor, say) when it detects light (or dark, for that matter). Building a circuit which can do this only for headlights and taillights, while rejecting roadside reflectors and incidental light sources which don't require the high beams to be switched off, is a good deal more difficult. I'm a hobbyist though; perhaps one of the board gurus has some ideas.

To be honest, if someone put a gun to my head and said I had to do it, I'd probably not build a circuit at all. I'd take a video camera, mount it facing forward, run the signal into a computer in the vehicle, then use software to determine whether the high beams needed to be switched.

Sorry I can't be much more help than that. There are plenty of pros around here who might be able to help more. Good luck!


Torben
 
wow... using video camera and computer software is kinda hard.. :(

i have to pass up the proposal by this friday.. :(
can you show me how was your circuit looks like?
 
jonkbu said:
wow... using video camera and computer software is kinda hard.. :(

i have to pass up the proposal by this friday.. :(
can you show me how was your circuit looks like?

If you type "light alarm" into Google you can find many examples. Is the point of the assignment that you need to be able to design this yourself? What ideas have you already looked at?


Torben
 
i never done any electronic project before so i don have any idea how does the circuit looks like.

Anyway, i still need to add on more features to my project now. So i was thinking to add on the idea when the driver was sleepy and the car was way out of the white line and it will trigger a sound or a slight electric shock to warn the driver and wake him/her up.

Now i'm searching all over the net to get information but the info was kinda less for me and some web i need to pay. So, is not worth it and hope maybe some of you can help me. :)
 
jonkbu said:
i never done any electronic project before so i don have any idea how does the circuit looks like.

Anyway, i still need to add on more features to my project now. So i was thinking to add on the idea when the driver was sleepy and the car was way out of the white line and it will trigger a sound or a slight electric shock to warn the driver and wake him/her up.

Now i'm searching all over the net to get information but the info was kinda less for me and some web i need to pay. So, is not worth it and hope maybe some of you can help me. :)

No offense, but if it is not worth it, why are you taking the class?

Do you actually have to build this thing? Why do you need more features? I would have thought the headlight portion of the project was already too hard if you have no electronics/software experience.


Torben
 
that is what my lecturer told me.Because this is a group project and i have another 3 members. So my lecturer say that the headlamp portion just needed 2 person to do it and he ask me to add on features so that the other 2 more member can do the project together.

I only have the basic electronic experience and now i'm just a foundation student. I haven got into degree so now i'm learning something new before going into degree. And when i was in high school the school does not teach us software or built those circuit. All theory only. This country @#!@#. That y it cant develop like others country.
 
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?
 
jonkbu said:
that is what my lecturer told me.Because this is a group project and i have another 3 members. So my lecturer say that the headlamp portion just needed 2 person to do it and he ask me to add on features so that the other 2 more member can do the project together.

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.
 
jonkbu said:
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
 
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