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 June 2021 | Vol. 53 No. 6 | ISSN-0013-516X

Contents
53rd Year of Publication

Since January 1969

technology
29 THE FUTURE: Digital Twin Benefits From Collaboration With IoT Editor : Rahul Chopra

32 INNOVATION: Amazing Flying Warehouse For Delivery From The Sky Editorial : Phone: +91-9811155335
correspondence E-mail: [email protected]

design Subscriptions & : Phone: +91-9811155335

missing issues E-mail: [email protected]
36 ANTI-COVID: Some Open Source DIY Oxygen Concentrators Back issues, : Phone: +91-9811155335
38 ANTI-COVID: Some Open Source Anti-Covid Solutions books, kits, E-mail: [email protected]
components, etc
40 TRENDS: How HMI Technologies Are Enhancing Safety And In-Vehicle Experience
Newsstand : Phone: +91-9811155335
43 CIRCUITS: Effective Power Management For Wearable Devices Distribution E-mail: [email protected]

46 SYSTEMS: Python: The Super Champ For Machine Learning Advertisements

new delhi : Phone: +91-9811155335
(Head Office) E-mail: [email protected]
do-it-yourself Mumbai : E-mail: [email protected]
51 Fun Stuff: A Few Facts About Deep Learning In A Web Browser Bengaluru : E-mail: [email protected]
53 Simple Millivolt Meter Using Arduino

54 DC Motor RPM Display On Smartphone Using Arduino china : Worldwide Focus Media
E-mail: [email protected]
56 LED Light For Bikes To Improve Visibility
germany :
pms Plantenberg Media Service GmbH
58 Tricolour LED Nameplate With Arduino E-mail: [email protected]

59 Animal Classification With RPi Camera For Survey And Monitoring JAPAN :
Tandem Inc.
E-mail: [email protected]
62 GPS Based Dot-Matrix Display Clock
taiwan : J.K. Media
64 DC Motor Bidirectional Control With TV Remote E-mail: [email protected]

United Kingdom : ASA Media

INVEST E-mail: [email protected]

68 MY STORY: “The Most United States : E & Tech Media

84 STARTUP: Hardware E-mail: [email protected]
Important Lesson Product Planning Essentials
In Life Is Learning For Start-ups And SMEs
To Lose Gracefully” Printed, published and owned by Ramesh Chopra. Printed at
International Print-o-Pack Ltd, C-4 to C-11, Hosiery Complex, Phase-II
— Saurabh Kumar,
Extension, NOIDA-201305, Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, on the
Executive Vice Chairperson, Energy 86 STARTUP: Sourcing Hints first day of each month and published from D-87/1, Okhla Industrial
Area, Phase-1, New Delhi 110020. Copyright 2021. All rights reserved
Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) That Start-ups And MSMEs throughout the world. Reproduction of any material from this magazine
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The Time Is Now 88 STARTUP: How You Can
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6 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com
 FeedBack
YOUR SUGGESTIONS

BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY Twike after taking over the rights of the objective will be achieved. The ‘if’
In the article ‘Understanding Reliability SwissLEM AG in 2002. I am sorry for the statement will work, but how long is
in Bluetooth Technology’ published in inadvertent mistake! not defined. Therefore, one more ‘if’
April issue, in the last line on page 44 ••• statement should be used within the first
it is written that “Bluetooth LE divides ‘if’ statement, if(mm<10) hh=hh+10;
the 2.4GHz band into 40 channels, each GPS ANALOGUE CLOCK the same for the next correction to be
2MHz wide.” Should it not be 60MHz Thank you very much for publishing the taken care of.
mathematically instead of 2MHz? Please exciting project titled ‘Try Making This •••
clarify this statement technically. TFT-Based GPS Analogue Clock Using
Arduino’ in April 2020 issue. I have the CONTACTLESS SWITCH
Sachin Kumar clock working but am facing a small FOR SMART HOME
issue with the hours and minutes hands In the ‘Gesture-Controlled Contactless
The author Martin Woolley replies: that blink every second. Do you think it Switch For Smart Home’ DIY project
The current wording is correct and does is due to my TFT shield, or is there a way published in December 2020 issue, the
not require clarification. Please refer the to refresh the TFT faster with coding? Arduino Pro Micro, Nano, and Mini
Bluetooth Core Specification Version 5.2, And is there a way to update the boards are mentioned. I have bought
daylight saving time (DST) Arduino Nano board but when I checked
automatically? I would like to on Google, it is showing that Arduino
have UTC +10 hours on the first Nano won’t work with it. Please help.
Sunday of April and UTC +11
on the first Sunday of October. Sathvi Gandu
I am new to Arduino. If you can
help me add automatic DST to  In ‘Gesture-Controlled Contactless
this clock, that will be great. Switch For Smart Home’ DIY project
which Arduino board is used for pro-
Sam gramming?
Fig. 1: Part of the Bluetooth Core Specification Version 5.2 Melbourne, Australia
Deny
Volume 6, Part A, Section 2. Its applica- The author Somnath Bera replies:
ble extract is shown in Fig. 1. I have no There is minor flicker with every second EFY. The project will work with any of
idea where you get 60MHz from! but not a blink. The flicker is (generally) the three Arduino boards: Micro, Nano,
••• not visible at all from a distance of two to and Mini. The circuit diagram shown
three metres. Please check the stability is for Arduino Pro Micro. However, if
HUMAN HYBRID ELECTRIC of voltage on the board. Use a good- the Arduino Nano version 3.0 is used,
VEHICLES quality 5V supply (1-amp or more). Put pin A4 is for serial data line (SDA) and
In the ‘The Era Of Human Hybrid some 470µF or 500µF capacitors across pin A5 is for serial clock line (SCL) for
Electric Vehicles’ article published in the voltage bus to remove the flicker. I2C communications. Circuit and code
November 2020 issue, it is mentioned Once you have all the basic data like should be changed accordingly. USB
that Twike is a Tesla project. But I don’t dd.mm.yy, hh.min.ss, day, and day-of- connector is missing in Arduino Pro Mini
think so. Can you please confirm? week (DOW), automatic DST can be board. For programming or uploading
achieved. Use one more ‘if’ statement the code to Arduino Pro Mini, you need
D. Owens on top of the time corrections where a USB-to-TTL adaptor or SPI port. Here
I used 5 hours 30 minutes for IST cor- too, pin A4 is SDA and pin A5 is SCL for
The author Dr S.S. Verma replies: rections. For finding out first Sunday of I2C communications.
You are right. Thanks! In the article, the month, when (dd >0 and dd0 and
Twike (human-electric hybrid vehicle) dd ≤ 7 and mm==10 and DOW==0 )
is mentioned as a Tesla company pro- that is the first Sunday of October; put Note. Most articles published in EFY magazine
ject by mistake. Actually, in 1998, FINE hh=hh+11. After this, the normal hh can also be read at our website https://www.
electronicsforu.com after some time, including DIY
Mobile GmbH launched its German corrections will be placed. articles whose components can be purchased from
Twike production line and finally The above logic may be placed suit- our kitsnspares.com website (or by writing to info@
became the exclusive producer of the ably in two ‘if’ statements and your kitsnspares.com).

8 JUNE 2021 • electronics FOR YOU www.EFYMag.com

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 Q&A
Things You Wanted to Know!

Q1. What is barcode? Can the barcode scanner be affected by light and
radio frequency waves?
Omar

A1. A barcode is a series of parallel black bars and white

spaces, both of varying widths. Each combination or sequence
of bars and spaces is a code representing information such as
product type, size, manufacturer, or origin of shipment. The
barcode structure is shown in Fig. 1.
Barcodes usually come in different sizes. The smaller
the size of the barcode, the less the number of characters it
can encode. 1D barcode, also called linear barcode, can hold
around 8 to 25 characters.
The bar patterns representing the data (numerical charac-
ters, alphabet, etc) are arranged from left to right. The barcode
length defines the total length including the right and left quiet Fig. 1: Barcode structure (Credit:www.keyence.com)
zones. The barcode height recommended is as high as the
printer permits. It is recommended to keep the height greater ing the reading performance. The interference typically gen-
than 15 percent of the barcode length. erated in the LED driver by a switched mode power supply
A barcode scanner uses an LED or laser as light source to (SMPS) has frequencies up to several MHz that can seriously
capture the image of the barcode, and the decoder decodes affect the barcode reading performance. However, so far there
and passes it on to a computer in traditional data format. is no clear evidence or study that supports the external radio
A study has found that rapid fluctuations in light source frequency signals affecting the performance of a barcode
seriously interfere with the barcode scanner, thereby degrad- scanner.

Q2. Which solder flux and solder wire are recommended for use in a
general-purpose PCB?
Ellyse Perry

A2. Flux is a water based paste that contains a cleaning agent, (tin/lead) mixture, the most common one available in the
activator, and wetting agent used in soldering to remove market. Its melting point is around 180-190 degrees Celsius.
oxides from the area to be soldered. A good flux cleans the With higher tin concentration, it will have better tensile and
area to be soldered and allows the melted solder to flow and shear strengths. You can also find non-corrosive solder wire
bond with the metal surfaces. The activator is a specific having 63% tin and 37% lead mixture with good solderability
chemical designed to remove oxides, oil, and dirt. and insulation resistance.
Commonly there are three types of fluxes for electronics The second type is a lead-free solder wire. Lead affects
applications: rosin, water soluble, and no-clean fluxes. These health and environment and so lead based solder wire is not
fluxes are selected depending on the need and applications. the ideal solution. Lead-free solder usually contains 99.3% tin
Fluxes can be made from ammonium chloride, hydrochlo- and 0.7% copper with higher melting temperature of around
ric acid, zinc chloride, or rosin. Water-soluble paste fluxes 217 degrees Celsius.
are applied by brush or dispensed from a syringe into the The third is solder wire having the flux embedded in the
appropriate area, then heated using conventional methods. solder wire itself. It does not require additional flux while
A no-clean flux does not require any cleaning after soldering. soldering.
It is preferable to use the flux that matches the solder wire Solder flux from Noel and Glare India are found good
you are using. enough for hobbyists. Bharti, Amico, TINNZTES, Globomotive,
There are three main categories of solder wire: Lead- and Kester are some other popular solder wire brands. These
based, lead-free, and flux-core solder. brands are being mentioned based on our personal experience
Lead based is a type of traditional solder wire with 60/40 and reviews found online and are not necessarily the best ones.

Answers compiled by Sani Theo, technical editor. Letters and questions for publication may be addressed to Editor, Electronics For You, D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area,
Phase 1, New Delhi 110020 (e-mail: [email protected]) and should include name and address of the sender.

10 JUNE 2021 • electronics FOR YOU www.EFYMag.com

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 Tech News
Technology Updates

Wearable devices could now be powered by your sweat

A team of scientists from the Tokyo
University of Science, Japan, are explor-
ing efficient ways of using sweat as
the sole source of power for wearable
electronics. Recently, a novel design for
a biofuel cell array has been presented
that uses lactate (a chemical found in
sweat) to generate enough power to
drive a biosensor and wireless com-
munication devices for a short time.
The paper-bandage type device can be
entirely fabricated via screen printing
and can be worn. For example, whereas
similar previous cells used silver wires
as conducting paths, the present biofuel
cells employ porous carbon ink. Paper
layers are used for collecting sweat and
simultaneously transport it to all cells
through capillary effect—the same
effect by which water quickly travels
through a napkin when it comes into
Wearable biofuel cells that produce electricity from sweat (Credit: www.tus.ac.jp/en) contact with a water puddle.

Tiny injectable chips to monitor body parameters

Implantable medical devices are transforming
healthcare and improving the quality of life for mil-
lions of people by monitoring physiological condi-
tions such as temperature, blood pressure, glucose,
and respiration for both diagnostic and therapeutic
procedures. Now researchers at Columbia University
have built the smallest single-chip system, consum-
ing a total volume of less than 0.1mm3. The system
is as small as a dust mite and visible only under a
microscope. In order to achieve this, the team used
ultrasound to both power and communicate with the
device wirelessly, since wavelengths for ultrasound
are much smaller at a given frequency because the
speed of sound is much less than the speed of light.
The current device measures body temperature but
there are many more possibilities.

Schematic representation of the device

(Credit: www.engineering.columbia.edu)

12 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

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 Tech News
Wi-Fi signals to power small electronics
There has been an increase in the number of Wi-Fi sources that
transmit information wirelessly between devices, resulting in
the widespread use of the 2.4GHz radio frequency that Wi-Fi
uses, with excess signals available to be tapped for alternative
uses. To harness this under-utilised source of energy, a research
team from the National University of Singapore and Japan’s
Tohoku University has developed a technology that uses tiny
smart devices known as spin-torque oscillators (STOs) to
harvest and convert wireless radio frequencies into energy to
power small electronics. The research team came up with an
array in which eight STOs are connected in series. Using this
array, the 2.4GHz radio waves were converted into a direct volt-
age signal, which was then transmitted to a capacitor to light
up a 1.6-volt LED. When the capacitor was charged for five
seconds, it was able to light up the same LED for one minute
after the wireless power was switched off.

The research breakthrough was achieved by a team led by Prof.

Yang Hyunsoo (left). Dr Raghav Sharma (right), the first author
of the paper, who is holding a chip embedded with about 50 spin-
torque oscillators (Credit: https://news.nus.edu.sg)

Ultra-high energy zinc-air pouch battery cells

Researchers at Hanyang University in South Korea have
recently designed a new type of zinc-air pouch cell that can
outperform other commercially available battery technolo-
gies. These pouch cells use (101)-facet copper phosphosulfide
[CPS(101)] as a cathode, anti-freezing chitosan-biocellulosics
as superionic conductor electrolytes, and patterned zinc as the
anode. The zinc-air pouch cells could be commercially viable
as they exhibit ultrahigh cell-level energy densities at a wide
range of temperatures (-20°C to 80°C), with a high rate capac-
Schematic comparison of energy density for Li-ion battery and all solid-state ity of 5-200mA, with a potential for powering drones, electric
Zn-air battery (Credit: https://techxplore.com) vehicles, or electric short-distance aircrafts.

Multiplexer using optical tunneling for ultra-high-speed

transmission
Compact and practical multiplexers for the terahertz range
had not been developed earlier. Now researchers from Osaka
University, Japan and the University of Adelaide, Australia
have together produced a new multiplexer made from pure
silicon for terahertz-range communications in the 300GHz
band thanks to a novel optical tunnelling process. The new
multiplexer covers a spectral bandwidth that is over 30 times
the total spectrum allotted for 4G/LTE and 5G combined. As
bandwidth is related to data rate, ultra-high-speed digital trans-
mission is possible with the new four-channel multiplexer.
It can potentially support aggregate data rate of 48Gbit/s,
equivalent to that of uncompressed 8K ultrahigh definition
video being streamed in real time. Silicon multiplexer (Credit:
https://resou.osaka-u.ac.jp/en)

14 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Tech News
World’s first fully recyclable printed electronics
Engineers at Duke University have developed the world’s
first fully recyclable printed electronics. By creating a tran-
sistor with three carbon based inks, the researchers hope to
combat the growing global epidemic of electronics waste.
The researchers began by developing a method for suspend-
ing crystals of nanocellulose (a biodegradable element) that
were extracted from wood fibres that—with the sprinkling of
a little table salt—yielded an ink that acts as an insulator in
their printed transistors. Using the three inks in an aerosol
jet printer at room temperature, the team showed that their
all-carbon transistors perform well enough for use in a wide
variety of applications, even six months after the initial print-
ing. The technology can be used in a large building needing
thousands of simple environmental sensors to monitor its
A 3D rendering of the first fully
recyclable, printed transistor energy use or in customised biosensing patches for tracking
(Credit: https://pratt.duke.edu) medical conditions.

Drones can now fly as swarms quickly and safely

Drone swarms have not been used more
widely as it was believed that there is a risk
of gridlock or collision within a swarm as
each agent has tendency to coordinate its
movements with the others, adjusting its
trajectory so as to keep a safe inter-agent
distance or to travel in alignment. Now engi-
neers at EPFL have developed a predictive
control model that allows swarms of drones
to fly in cluttered environments quickly
and safely. It works by enabling individual
drones to predict their own behaviour and
that of their neighbours in the swarm.
The model enables drones to become less
dependent on commands issued by a central
computer and instead modify their trajec-
tories autonomously. The model works by
programming in locally controlled, simple
rules relating to maintenance of minimum
Engineers at EPFL have developed a predictive control model that allows swarms of drones to fly
inter-agent distance, set velocity and a spe- in cluttered environments quickly and safely. It works by enabling individual drones to predict
cific direction to follow. their own behaviour and that of their neighbours in the swarm (Credit: https://actu.epfl.ch)

Two-nanometre chip technology unveiled by IBM

IBM has unveiled a breakthrough in semicon-
ductor design and process with the develop-
ment of a 2-nanometre (nm) nanosheet tech-
nology. It is projected to achieve 45% higher
performance, or 75% lower energy use, than
today’s most advanced 7nm node chips, thus

Two nanometer chips (Credit: https://newsroom.ibm.com)

16 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

India’s 1st Independent Survey

India’s

Electronics
Magazine
RANKING AS PER
ELCINA-IMRB
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For details www.efy.in/elcina-imrb

 Tech News
allowing semiconductors to play critical roles in computing, processor designers now have more options to infuse core-
appliances, communication devices, transportation systems, level innovations for improving capabilities of leading edge
and critical infrastructure. The 2nm design demonstrates the workloads like AI and cloud computing, as well as provide
development of more transistors on a chip. This means that new pathways for hardware-enforced security and encryption.

New material could lead to devices that use very little energy
A team led by the University of
Michigan researchers has developed
a material that is at least twice as
‘magnetostrictive’ and costs less. In
addition to computing, it could also
lead to better magnetic sensors for
medical and security devices. Magne-
tostriction occurs when a material’s
shape and magnetic field are linked,
that is, a change in shape causes
a change in magnetic field. The
property could be key to a new gen-
eration of computing devices called
magnetoelectrics. Magnetoelectric
devices use magnetic fields instead
of electricity to store the digital ones
and zeros of binary data. Tiny pulses
of electricity cause them to expand or
contract slightly, flipping their mag-
netic field from positive to negative
or vice versa. And because they don’t
require a steady stream of electricity,
they can effectively work by simply
Harnessing the hum of fluorescent lights for more efficient computing (Credit: https://news.umich.edu) using very little energy.

New system that makes MRI simple for infants

Newborns and infants can have a variety
of complications in their first months and
years of life. To prevent long-term disorder,
possible damage must be diagnosed as
early as possible. The common imaging
methods for diagnosing pediatric diseases
are ultrasound and x-rays. Although MRI
offers high-resolution imaging of all organs
and helps reveal many pediatric problems,
MRI examinations usually require sedation
of the newborn, which can be risky. There-
fore, Neoscan Solutions in collaboration
with Otto von Guericke University Magde-
burg has developed a new MRI system espe-
cially for newborns and infants, expanding
their diagnostic options that makes MRI
simple and available whenever and wher-
ever it is needed.

MRI as individual as newborns and infants need it (Credit: www.neoscan-solutions.com)

18 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 YOU CAN NOW
SETANUP
EFY-CERTIFIED
SKILL
DEVELOPMENT
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Skill DEVELOPMENT
CENTRE
Referred to as ESDC, the Centre will help
students improve their hands-on skills,
make exciting projects of their own and
understand the latest technologies

For more details, please call: Shyam (+91-8800100761)

email: [email protected] or visit: https://efymag.com/ESDC
 Truly Innovative Tech

Amongst numerous press releases of new products received by us, these are the ones
we found worthy of the title Truly Innovative Tech

4-quadrant silicon which control driving information and

multimedia content for internal smart
Ultrasmall, high-
PIN photodiode devices and external routers. With the capacity MLCC
The Optoelectronics group of Vishay next-generation Wi-Fi 6E (6th Genera- Samsung Electro-Mechanics has devel-
Intertechnology has introduced a tion Extended) technology using 6GHz oped a 0402-size (length 0.4mm, width
4-quadrant silicon PIN photodiode, bandwidth, the module boasts data 0.2mm) 1.0µF capacity, 6.3V inter-
which is claimed to be the industry’s transmission speeds approximately nal voltage product. MLCC is a core
first. Available in a standard surface- three times faster than the existing component within electronic devices
mount package, it is qualified for auto- Wi-Fi 5. It combines a communications
motive applica- chipset, a radio frequency (RF) circuit,
tions. Combin- and other components. The module is
ing high pho- mounted on multiple components of a
tosensitivity vehicle including the audio-video navi-
with low 0.1% gation (AVN) system and smart antenna.
crosstalk, and It allows easier software updates of the
virtually no automotive navigation system. that controls the stable flow electric
tolerance between its segments, the www.lginnotek.com current within the electronic product
K857PE enables a variety of sensor and circuit. With the implementation of
control applications for the automo-
tive, consumer, and industrial markets.
Powerful electric various 5G functions, including technol-
ogy advancement and multi-camera,
Built on epitaxial technology, the sides vacuum gripper ultrasmall MLCC that can withstand
of the K857PE eliminates stray light Complex packaging of bulky cardboard high capacity and voltage is essential.
irradiating the photodiodes, resulting in boxes are demanding while end-of-line Moreover, the product enhances stability
an excellent signal-to-noise ratio. The operations such as palletising are labour- of its product life and operation in terms
device’s linear photo response enables intensive and costly. Now OnRobot’s of its DC BIAS characteristics (a char-
small signal detection for automotive new electric vacuum gripper, the VGP20, acteristic that reduces product volume
rain/light sensors, industrial automa- when DC voltage is applied; superior as
tion systems, laser beam alignment, there are less changes). The company
and virtual reality applications. It also maintained 1.0µF high-capacity char-
features a daylight blocking filter, acteristics for 0402 ultrasmall while
±60° angle of half sensitivity, and oper- increasing the rated voltage by 1.5 times
ates over a temperature range of -40°C (4→6.3V), allowing it to be applicable to
to +110°C. various high-performance IT devices.
www.vishay.com www.samsungsem.com
can address that. Compatible with all
Automotive Wi-Fi 6E leading robot brands, the gripper can
handle payloads of 20kg, making it a
Small, wide-angle
module great fit for a wide range of applica- lidar sensor
LG Innotek has developed an automo- tions in industries from cosmetics and Cepton Technologies has announced its
tive Wi-Fi 6E module with next-gen- electronics to pharmaceuticals and food path-breaking miniature lidar sensor,
eration Wi-Fi technology. Automotive and beverages. It enables companies to the Nova, for high-volume automotive
Wi-Fi 6E modules are near-field wireless save up to 90% on operating and main- applications. The Nova is a wide-angle,
communication components connecting tenance costs compared to traditional near-range lidar sensor intended to
in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems, pneumatic gripper deployments. Addi- address major gaps in proximity detec-
tionally, the VGP20 gripper’s built-in tion of objects with current sensor
intelligence, combined with its easy-to- technologies. It features best-in-class,
use software, provides precise air flow high-resolution 3D imaging with a high
control functionality, which allows users field of view of 90-120° (H) and 60-90°
to vary the type of grip used in different (V), depending on configuration. The
applications. non-rotational, mirrorless, and friction-
https://onrobot.com less lidar can be hidden all around a

20 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Truly Innovative Tech
vehicle to provide a complete 360° view occupies 30% less space than currently to span a protective field of 150 degrees.
of its immediate surroundings, making available solutions and so delivers trans- www.sick.com
it ideal for automotive advanced driver formational added value to manufactur-
assistance systems and autonomous ers of True Wireless Stereo earbuds.
Multifunction RFIC chip
Vayyar Imaging has launched a multi-
range ‘XRR’ chip, a single RFIC with a
range of 0-300m, designed for passenger
cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Supported
by a 48-antenna MIMO array, the leading-
edge platform provides radar imaging
with unprecedented accuracy for numer-
vehicle applications such as blind Reliable proximity detection performed ous safety applications, without the
spot detection, small object detection, by one or more TMD2636 sensors ena- need for external processors. The chip
automated park assist, and free space bles the earbud to automatically power is unmatched in
estimation around the vehicle. It is also up when inserted in the ear and power terms of range,
suited for accurate detection of objects down when removed. This maximises resolution, and
in proximity such as small children, on- power savings when the earbud is not in p e r f o r m a n c e.
road objects, road edges, and stationary use while providing the best user expe- With an ultra-
objects. rience. The sensor module integrates w ide field of
www.businesswire.com a 940nm infrared (IR) vertical-cavity view and rich
surface-emitting laser emitter, IR-sensing 4D point cloud
Coreless current sensor photodiodes, sophisticated control
circuitry, and a clear-mould overlay in
imaging, it delivers unprecedented mul-
tifunctionality on a single-chip platform,
Allegro MicroSystems has launched a a 2.0mm×1.0mm×0.35mm package. supporting dozens of advanced driver
new coreless Hall-effect current sensor https://ams.com assistance systems, advanced rider assis-
for demanding automotive and indus- tance systems, and autonomy features.
trial systems, offering higher accuracy
and sensitivity, additional fault detection
Solid-state lidar This eliminates the need for multiple,
costly vehicle sensors and reduces costs,
capabilities, and user programmability. multibeam scanner complexity, hardware, software, power
The new ACS37610 sensor is designed to The scanGrid2 safe multibeam scanner consumption, wiring, and integration
from SICK is a compact sensor that uses efforts.
a novel and in-house developed solid- https://blog.vayyar.com
state lidar technology to increase the
productivity of small autonomous and
line-guided transport vehicles. Certi-
Fingerprint scanning
fied as a Type 2/SIL 1 safety sensor, sensor
Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 deliv-
measure currents from 100A to greater ers a better user experience by using
than 4,000A flowing through a busbar or technological advances and ultrasonic
PCB trace with a typical 1% accuracy— waves to scan 3D features of a user’s
with no need for an external concentra- finger for a deeply accurate image,
tor or U-shaped magnetic shield. It is allowing to scan fingerprints through
an optimal choice for electric vehicle
high-voltage traction motor inverters, it can protect hazardous areas up to
48V/12V auxiliary inverters, heterogene- performance level c and works well for
ous redundant battery monitoring, over- collision avoidance. An app and clon-
current detection, smart fuses, power ing function also ensure a high level
distribution units, and power supplies. of up time and fast fleet deployment.
It enables system designers to achieve The scanGrid2 safely detects objects
enhanced efficiency and higher power of a variety of sizes within the freely solid surfaces like glass and metal even
density while reducing system complex- configurable protective field zones, can while wet. The sensor is ultra-thin,
ity, BoM, cost, footprint, and weight. evaluate multiple fields, and can execute measuring 0.2mm, which enables OEMs
https://allegromicro.com configurable monitoring cases. The to build mobile devices with cutting-
solid-state lidar technology is based on edge form factors including full edge-to-
Proximity sensor the principle of time-of-flight measure-
ment and eliminates all moving parts.
edge flexible OLED displays. The sensor
provides a larger region for you to place
for wireless earbuds Instead, the device uses only semicon- your finger and captures 1.7x more bio-
ams has launched the TMD2636, a ductor elements in conjunction with metric data with 50% faster processing.
fully integrated proximity sensor that geometrically arranged optics modules www.qualcomm.com

22 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 New Products NEW

components ESD protection diode

The new bidirectional symmetrical
2-line ESD protection diode VBUS05M2-
system reliability in harsh environments. HT5 offers ultra-low capacitance and
High-bandwidth op-amp Infineon Technologies leakage current for the protection of
The TSV7722 precision high-band- www.infineon.com high-speed data lines
width operational amplifier, with gain- against transient volt-
bandwidth of 22MHz and slew rate of age signals. Offering
11V/μs, is well-suited for high-speed High-power shunt resistors low load capacitance
signal conditioning and accurate current Designed for high-power applications, the of 0.37pF typical, the device is optimised
measurement in newly developed GMR320 series of shunt for interface protection including USB
power-conversion resistors featuring a rated power of 10W is 2.0, USB 3.0, and HDMI in commercial
circuits and opti- suitable for automotive, industrial equip- applications. The protection diode fea-
cal sensors. It ment, and home appli- tures a low maximum leakage current of
enhances energy efficiency in applica- ances. It offers a resistance <0.1μA at a working voltage of ±5.5V,
tions such as automotive smart mobility, value ranging from 5mΩ to a breakdown voltage of 8.5V typical at
solar panels, telecom infrastructure, and 100mΩ. Unique structure 1mA, and a maximum clamping volt-
computer servers. Besides maximum and optimised materials allow the GMR320 age of 18V at 3.4A. RoHS-compliant,
input-offset voltage of 200µV and series to reduce surface temperature rise halogen-free, and Vishay Green, it sup-
extremely low input-voltage noise den- by 23%, ensuring high ruggedness against ports automated optical inspection for
sity of 7nV/√Hz, an input bias current overcurrent loads. In addition, a high per- automotive systems.
of 2pA enables accurate photodiode- formance metal alloy for the resistive mate- Vishay Intertechnology
current measurement in optical-sensing rial provides low temperature coefficient of www.vishay.com
applications such as smoke detectors. resistance that makes reliable and highly
Unity-gain stable and fully specified on accurate current detection possible even in
a load of 47pF, the TSV7722 can be used the low resistance values. Integrated multicore processors
as an input buffer for analogue-to-digital ROHM Semiconductor To satisfy demands from military and avi-
converters (ADCs). www.rohm.com onics sectors, the QorIQ T4240 processors
STMicroelectronics can address extremely compute-intensive
www.st.com application scenarios. Comprising up
Touchscreen controller to 12 dual-threaded PowerArchitecture
Simplifying system development for cores (24 virtual cores) and attaining fre-
Satellite image processing ultrawide screens often seen in elec- quencies of 1.8GHz,
SRAM tric vehicles (EVs), advanced driv- these deliver elevat-
The 144Mb quad data rate II+ er-assistance systems (ADAS), and ed levels of perfor-
(QDR-II+) SRAM is a high-speed exter- premium vehicles is the new maX- mance while taking
nal cache memory ideal for radar, on- Touch MXT2912TD-UW up only minimal board space. The pro-
board data processing, and networking touchscreen controller. cessors feature an extensive range of I/O
applications in space. This automotive-quali- options including 10Gbit Ethernet, 1Gbit
Unlike DRAM with fied, single-chip solution Ethernet, PCIe, USB, SATA, and RapidIO.
higher latency and addresses display sizes up Thanks to the data path acceleration
memory bank restric- to 114cm (45 inches) with a very wide logic embedded into each T4240, packet
tions, the new SRAM aspect ratio, supporting liquid-crystal classification and processing efficiencies
reduces the overall system complexity display and OLED display technologies. can be boosted significantly. Operational
in radar and imaging applications by It reduces the need for multiple touch temperatures spanning from -55°C to
delivering higher performance that controllers within a vehicle’s human- 125°C are supported.
enables on-system satellite image machine interface display. It also enables Teledyne e2v
processing with better resolution and detection and tracking of multi-finger www.teledyne-e2v.com
faster processing speeds. It operates up touch through thick gloves and a wide
to a maximum frequency of 250MHz, variety of overlay materials and thick-
delivering up to 36Gbps throughput. It nesses, even in the presence of moisture. High flexibility microcontroller
is radiation-hardened for up to 200 krad Microchip Technology NuMicro M0A21/M0A23 series is a 32-bit
(Si) and is latch-up immune, improving www.microchip.com Arm Cortex-M0 high-performance micro-

24 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 New Products
controller for automotive and industrial high-speed trigger module that connects Android ‘TagStaff’ app. Each Tag360-ID
applications. It provides rich analogue to both EtherCAT and non-EtherCAT scans for other Tag360-ID devices in its
and digital peripherals motors while the ECAT-TRG4 includes vicinity and based on the RSSI signature
in SSOP20, TSSOP28 high-speed position comparison trig- and duration of the contact, records ‘con-
packages, especially ger (4 channels, 10MHz linear/table), tact events’ between tags.
suitable for small form pulse outputs (12MHz), encode inputs TagBox
factor applications. It could be suitable (20MHz), and support for encoder www.tagbox.co
for the battery management system, re-driver operation. The new modules
automotive ultrasonic radar control, feature sliding side-by-side installation
automotive lighting, automotive body and screwless design to reduce instal- Single-board computer
control, and power applications. The lation costs and support nearly all field The IB953, a 146mm×102 mm single-
series offers up to 18 I/O pins in SSOP20 applications in a smart factory. board computer is powered by 11th Gen
and up to 26 I/O pins in TSSOP28 with ADLINK Technology Intel core processors and offers impres-
optimised pin functions and features www.adlinktech.com sive I/O and computing performance,
32kB flash, 4kB SRAM, and four sets of making it an ideal platform for a broad
32-bit timers. range of demanding appli-
Nuvoton
Cellular IoT kit cations in factory auto-
www.nuvoton.com The B-L462E-CELL1 Discovery kit mation, machine vision,
brings together the critical hardware healthcare, as well as
and software building blocks including retail environments. It features a 5G com-
Lithium-ion coin cells GSMA-certified embedded SIM (eSIM) patible M.2 3052 socket with the latest
The new CoinPower A4 battery cells to quickly develop Intel processors built on 10nm SuperFin
consist of optimised electrodes, higher power-conscious cel- process, delivering up to 25% faster
compression, and a new electrode lular IoT devices that performance and greater AI acceleration.
balancing for higher charging voltage. connect to the Internet IB953 supports high-speed interfaces to
Seven through LTE-Cat M and NB-IoT net- deliver reliable processing for business-
different works. It is well suited for embedded critical data operations with 2x SATA
cell types developers and IoT evangelists, and III, 3x USB 2.0, 3x USB 3.1, 2x COM,
with a affordable for OEM and mass-market and 3x M.2 sockets (NVMe and CNVi
diameter of 9.4mm×16.1mm and customers. The kit features an ultra- supported). Additionally, it features 2x
capacities of 29 to 155mAh are available. small size all-in-one cellular module GbE ports, 2x DDR4-3200 slots, TPM
The cells provide numerous possibilities from Murata, which embeds an ultra- (2.0) data encryption technology, ErP/
for future development of wireless and low-power STM32L462 microcontroller, EuP energy-saving function, and a wide-
mobile gear in a wide range of applica- ST4SIM-200M GSMA-certified eSIM, and range 12~24V DC power input suitable
tion areas. The lithium-ion button cells an LTE-M/NB-IOT chipset. The kit lever- for different industrial applications.
empower independence from wireless ages out-of-the-box data connectivity IBASE Technology
headsets, medicals to measuring and and enables remote SIM provisioning www.ibase.com.tw
security systems as well as automotive and SIM over-the-air updates.
to Industry 4.0 applications. STMicroelectronics
VARTA Microbattery www.st.com
Audio streaming device
www.varta-ag.com The OtterCastAudioV2, an open source
audio streaming device, is based on a
Bluetooth based ID tag Sochip S3 SoC. It supports AirPlay web
modules & boards Tag360-ID is a 43mm×22mm×72mm interface, Shairport Sync, Snapcast, Spo-
Bluetooth LE wearable identification tify Connect, and Pul-
EtherCAT modules card, designed to enable real-time loca- seAudio sink/source,
The ECAT-4XMO motion control and tion tracking and contact tracing of allowing synchronised
trigger module, and the ECAT-TRG4 trig- on-site personnel (such as employees, multi-room audio with
ger module are two new modules in the facility visitors, or con- the power of Ethernet. The firmware
6-CH EU series digital I/O that enable tract staff) across indoor is built using Buildroot, a simple, effi-
higher performance in and outdoor facilities cient, and easy-to-use tool to generate
automatic assembly, of all sizes including embedded Linux systems through cross-
test and inspection hazardous environments and restricted compilation. It includes S3 128MB DDR3
equipment across a zones. Using Nordic’s nRF52840 SoC- 1.2GHz single-core Cortex-A7 and has
multitude of applications including enabled Bluetooth LE connectivity and SDIO Wi-Fi+BLE, 100BASE-T, USB-OTG
cell phone glass inspection, battery cell received signal strength indication (RSSI) connectivity feature. OtterCastAudio also
assembly, camera lens assembly and capability, it can monitor its proximity to features an integrated headphone ampli-
test, and glue dispensing machinery and determine interactions with other fier (30mW into 32Ω, 60mW into 16Ω).
as well as inspection equipment. The Tag360-ID ID cards, and/or Bluetooth 4.0 Ottercast
ECAT-4XMO is a 4-channel control and (and later) smartphones running the iOS/ https://cast.otter.jetzt

26 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 New Products
Compressor reference boards operating temperature range of -40°C to clearly seeing signals with an unbanded,
+125°C, with 100% available power at preselected sweep from 2Hz to 110GHz
For rotary refrigerator compressors, 100°C baseplate temperature. and up to 11GHz analysis bandwidth.
two new reference boards have been Flex Power Modules Keysight Technologies
designed. Both are turnkey solutions www.flexpowermodules.com www.keysight.com
for low-power compressors that can be
used for building final mass-production
application boards. I/O card for digital signals Mixed-signal scopes
Since the design of The new Digital I/O card offers engi- The PicoScope 6000E series mixed-
the reference boards neers and scientists a cost-effective signal oscilloscopes (MSOs) have four
is system tested, way to generate and acquire fast digital new 4-channel models, each of which
developers can dras- signals. The model M2p.7515-x4 is a can be configured with 16 optional
tically reduce their half-length PCIe card that measures just digital channels. With bandwidths of
own system development time. The 1 6 8 m m × 107 m m . 750MHz or 1GHz, 8-bit or 8/10/12-bit
REF_Fridge_D11T_MOS is a ready-to- The tiny form factor flexible resolution, and up to 4GS deep
use three-phase inverter that provides means that it can be capture memory,
an easy-to-use power stage based on the inserted into almost these enhance
digital motor control iMOTION smart any desktop PC, turn- the existing Pico-
driver. The REF_Fridge_C101T_IM231 is ing it into a powerful tool for applica- Scope 6000E
ideal for customers aiming for a higher tions such as logic analysis or pattern portfolio com-
level of integration and a reduced foot- generation. The card features 32 parallel prising 350MHz and 500MHz models.
print. A combination of an iMOTION channels that can be clocked at speeds The new compact oscilloscopes deliver
IC IMC101T-T038 with a 3-phase CIPOS up to 125MHz. Designed for maximum a cost-effective test and debugging
micro intelligent power module offers a versatility, the cards come with 1GB solution for engineers, developers, and
compact inverter solution for low-power on-board memory as standard and a scientists working on high-performance
motor drive applications. variety of different acquisition and digital and mixed-signal designs.
Infineon Technologies replay modes. Pico Technology
www.infineon.com Spectrum Instrumentation www.picotech.com
www.spectrum-instrumentation.com

Converter for RF power amplifier Single/dual power supplies

The BMR685’s power-handling capa-
T&M solutions The new R&S NGA100 series provides a
bilities make it well-suited to high-power choice of single and dual outputs with
RF power amplifier applications, for mmWave signal analyser up to 35V/6A per output, or 100V/2A
both LDMOS and GAN needing a 50V Enabling the test of millimeter-wave per output. Single output models supply
rail. The new converter provides high (mmWave) innovations in 5G, aero- up to 40W, dual output models up to 80
efficiency of up space, defense, and satellite communi- W power. The dual model outputs can be
to 97.2% at half cations is the new N9042B UXA X-series combined to provide up
load. It has an signal analyser that to 200V or 12A. A linear
output voltage provides wide analy- design has been imple-
range of 25V to sis bandwidth and mented throughout the
55V and can deliver up to 26A output deep dynamic range output circuits, which
current. Its input voltage range is 36V to help customers significantly improves
to 75V, and isolation between input and solve their most difficult mmWave chal- performance. The resulting higher accu-
output is 2,250V. The BMR685 includes lenges including tight design margins racy means engineers can be confident
digital functionality, accessed over a and timelines, complex modulation, of supplying exactly the right power
PMBus interface, which enables easy and stringent standards. It ensures that level without any need for an addi-
monitoring of temperature, voltage, and designs meet the latest standards with tional multimeter. The standard level
current, as well as simple adjustment ready-to-use measurement applica- of readback resolution, 1mV/100µA,
of output voltage. The converter has an tions and signal analysis software while is enhanced for currents under 200mA

WE LOVE TO Launched a New Product related to electronics?

Share its details with us at [email protected]
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www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 27

 New Products
to a resolution of 1µA, ideal to test low dispense fluid simultaneously for appli- The series has been designed for IT solu-
current levels typical of IoT applications cations with multi-up, panelised, or pat- tion providers, distributors, and alliances
in standby and sleep mode. terned parts with consistent spacing. In as well as IT professionals across vertical
Rohde & Schwarz second configuration, two different fluids segments including banking, financial
www.rohde-schwarz.com are dispensed on the same part from two services, retail, healthcare, government,
different valves such as for dam-and-fill and education.
encapsulation and in high-mix produc- Schneider Electric
Imaging colorimeters tion environments. www.se.com
and photometers Nordson Electronics Solutions
The ProMetric imaging colorimeters and www.nordson.com
photometers ensure quality displays Enterprise data backup
and are optimised to balance measure- The high-performance unified SAN/
ment accuracy and speed for applica-
chemicals & Adhesives NAS storage system EonStor GS with a
tions in display comprehensive set of backup methods is
test labs and Adhesive crosslinkers suitable for a wide range of applications
high-throughput The Trixene Aqua range of water based that require enterprise data backup. It
production lines. blocked isocyanate dispersions have a provides data protection and backup
ProMetric imag- wide pH range, further enhancing soft methods such as Infortrend RAID, hard
ing systems feature optical filters that handle. This is beneficial in textile pro- disk scanning
match standard CIE colour-matching cessing where the products can be used, mechanism,
functions, enabling light measurement for example, for hydrophobic resins remote replica-
that simulates the human photopic applied in waterproof tion to another
response. Each measurement capitalises treatment, for breath- EonStor GS or public/private cloud and
on the full resolution of the system’s able fabrics, and for cache backup technology to write data to
calibrated, temperature-stabilised image silk screen printing the SSD module when the system is pow-
sensor, quantifying light values such as to improve the prints’ ered off. To meet the enterprise’s RTO
luminance, chromaticity, and intensity resistance to wash and RPO, it supports all-flash configura-
across millions of data points in seconds. cycles. The Trixene tion, which in combination with backup
Capturing data across the entire display Aqua products are excellent crosslinkers software helps to quickly recover data,
at once ensures the efficiency of display and adhesion promoters for aqueous so that enterprises can resume normal
test applications, where multiple points coating systems. They boost the chemi- operations not long after disasters.
must be measured and rapidly compared cal and mechanical resistance of coat- Infortrend Technology
to evaluate uniformity, contrast, random ings and sizing formulations to allow www.infortrend.com
defects, and pixel-level variation. much better performance and durability
Radiant Vision Systems in the final application.
www.radiantvisionsystems.com LANXESS
Consumer
www.lanxess.com
Disposable tracking device
manufacturing This disposable electronic wristband
Equipment Enterprise-class (DEW) is a wearable tracking solu-
products tion that is designed to assist medical
Fluid dispensing system authorities to track persons who need
The new, high-accuracy ASYMTEK Forte Micro data centre to undergo quarantine at a designated
MAX fluid dispensing system comes with The EcoStruxure Micro Data Center place. The wristband, when paired with a
dual-valve jetting in two modes, and C-Series with the new 43U features intel- mobile application, ascertains the person
patented, real-time correction to accom- ligent cooling technology for enhanced is staying at the desig-
modate skewed parts. Designed for high- protection and energy efficiency. It nated place, provides
volume electronics manufacturing, Forte automatically switches between three alerts in case the person
MAX improves throughput for PCB and cooling modes depending on the real- leaves or tampers with
flex circuit assembly, MEMS, and electro- time needs of the system. By helping the device, thus sup-
mechanical assembly when dispensing customers deploy IT simply, securely, porting an efficient
sealants, encapsulants, underfills, and and reliably in any edge management of the quarantine process.
precise coating. The system dispenses computing or commercial The wristband is developed using the
from two identical or environment, the new, fully Nordic NRF52805 controller, an SoC
two different valves equipped model eliminates ARM Cortex-M4 processor clocked at
using a single set of the need for a purpose-built 64MHz. This single-mode system fully
hardware. In one IT room, saving up to 40 supports the 2.4GHz Bluetooth beacon
configuration, two percent in field engineering technology.
high-frequency Intel- costs and reducing mainte- Prodigy Electronics
liJet jetting systems nance costs by 7 percent. www.prodigyelectronics.com

28 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 The Future

Digital Twin Benefits From

Collaboration With IoT
Digital Twin is an upcoming technology that is considered to be the next big innovation.
However, there is more to Digital Twin than simply providing simulation

W
Arnab Ghosh hen we hear the word ‘twin,’ thing. That thing could be a car, tunnel,
the image of a human twin pos- bridge, jet engine, or anything else attached
sessing identical features such with multiple sensors whose function is to
as the same eyes, lips, and nose comes to carry out data connection, which can be
our mind. Digital Twin is similar to that. It mapped to the virtual model.
is defined as the virtual representation of a But is Digital Twin all about simulation?
physical object or system across its entire Are physical world scenarios replicated in
lifecycle, which uses real-time data or data the digital world? Not exactly. Digital Twin
from other sources to enable learning, initially starts as a simulation but goes on
reasoning, and dynamic recalibration for to perform real-time updates, unlike digital
improved decision making. simulation. Results can be obtained by run-
As Digital Twin is constantly evolving, ning, testing, and conducting assessments
its definition varies from company to com- on a simulated version of a physical asset.
pany. For instance, GE states that Digital Simulation is static and so does not know
Twin is a software representation of a how the actual thing will behave in the real
physical asset, system, or process designed world. Parameters always need to be fed in
to detect, prevent, predict, and optimise the simulator to make it more realistic.
through real-time analytics to deliver busi- In short, a Digital Twin is the virtual
ness value. In simple terms, Digital Twin representation of a system across its entire
is defined as a virtual model of a physical lifecycle. This includes its designing, opera-
tion, and production.
Early use of
Digital Twin
In the year 1970, NASA
successfully launched
the spacecraft Apollo 13
into space. However, due
to some technical issues,
it could not complete its
intended mission and
had to return to Earth.
It is said that NASA had
used the concept of Digi-
tal Twin back then at a
time when IoT did not
even exist.
The story goes like
this: Before the space
mission began, a simula-
3D model of a pump, which is the twin of the original (Credit: Noria Corporation) tor was built to train the

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 29

 The Future
such as a lightbulb, refrigerator, or a
machine in a factory. Anything that
can communicate with other entities
via the Internet can be a part of the
Sensor/ Internet Internet of Things.
Actuator and Cloud
Controller
IoT comprises sensors, actuators,
and controllers. Sensors are electrome-
chanical or electrochemical devices,
which sense physical entities and
convert them into electrical signals.
Actuators are devices that receive
Internet those electrical signals and perform
a physical action. And finally, the
controller, which acts as the brain,
controls both sensors and actuators.
It provides electrical signals to the
actuator and reads electrical signals
from the sensor.
Sensor/ When IoT devices communicate
Actuator and Edge Gateway Cloud
Controller
information in conjunction, the data
gets stored in the cloud. IoT architec-
IoT in a nutshell ture may look simple but it has several
drawbacks. Absence of the Internet
a Digital Twin. But connection, for instance, can lead to
it qualifies as an catastrophic failures as the sensor and
example of Digital the actuator won’t be able to communi-
Twin as it combined cate with the cloud, causing data loss.
multiple things for Also, if every individual sensor
communication pur- tries to communicate with the cloud
poses. This made the at the same time, the transmission of
whole system capable many packets will interfere or slow
of multitasking and down the path from the sensor or
responsive. controller to the cloud. To avoid such
In 1977, several scenarios, edge computing is used.
flight simulators were When edge computing and IoT
introduced, which work together, the sensor and control-
allowed pilots to prac- ler do not talk to the cloud directly.
tice their flight tech- Instead, communication takes place
niques. In 1982, Auto- through an edge gateway, which
Apollo simulators at mission control in Houston (Credit: NASA) CAD was launched, aggregates all the data and transfers it
which eased the to the cloud. Here, no Internet connec-
chosen astronauts to face any emer- design of 2D and 3D models in the tion is required between the sensor/
gency. On the day of the big event, times to come. actuator and the controller and the
the astronauts aboard Apollo 13 had In 2002, Dr Grieves introduced the edge gateway.
access to only its telemetry data. first concept of Digital Twin and in This way, response is obtained
Fortunately, the same telemetry data 2011, NASA published several papers even when there is no Internet con-
was accessible by the ground station on the subject. In 2015, GE became the nection. This can reduce the latency
on the Earth as well. Despite being first company to take the Digital Twin and the number of messages being
far apart by several thousand kilome- initiative. After 2015, several industrial sent to the cloud. The edge gateway
tres, communication was established organisations started adopting Digital can process data locally and send only
wherein exchange of messages took Twin as part of their operations. important and meaningful informa-
place thanks to virtual representation. tion to the cloud.
Before giving various instructions, IoT and its shortcomings
verification was done. If the results As we all know, IoT stands for the Where Digital Twin meets IoT
were satisfactory, only then commu- Internet of Things. Since we humans Digital Twin without IoT is nothing
nication ensued. This constant contact have been using the Internet for a long but a static simulation model. With
played a big role in bringing the Apollo time to communicate with each other, the addition of Digital Twin we can
13 spacecraft safely back to Earth. the term IoT is also referred to as the get real-time data from physical things
Since there was no use of IoT, Internet of People. The word ‘things’ via IoT. That makes the entire thing a
it could not technically be called generally refers to physical objects living-learning model.

30 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 The Future
Let us understand this from the
perspective of a car. To simulate a car
in a difficult situation and examine

Digital Twin Compute Power Required

how it will behave, we need to feed
in some parameters. But the actual
result is sometimes different from that Prediction
obtained from the simulation. Instead,
Orchestrate
if we connect particular sensors, which
in turn are getting directly displayed Emulate
over the Digital Twin, then that will Simulation
give a whole lot more realistic data.
Visualisation
Where Digital Twin meets AI
Digitisation
Digital Twin is a continuously learn-
ing system, powered by various algo-
Level of Digital Twin Complexity
rithms.
Let us assume that we have several Key parameters to consider when designing Digital Twin
pumps in our factory. To make Digital
Twin models of each pump, we first
need to make 3D models of them. The
Benefits to an organisation using Digital Twin
engineer will work to collect the physi- 1. Digital Twin allows simulation and testing of new systems before manufacture, allowing
cal, mechanical, electrical, and other results to be obtained beforehand.
parameters to make a 3D design. And 2. Digital Twin improves productivity by predicting failure.
after that the actual objects will be 3. Digital Twin helps understand data to provide better service. If you have a multiple-threaded
Digital Twin, there will be a lot of orchestration happening.
fitted with sensors, which will deliver
4. Digital Twin offers remote troubleshooting. It greatly increases visibility and traceability so
data to the digital replicas. And this that real-world events can be interpreted accurately.
Twin will display the live data and
store it in a database (as historical
data). This data can be used to train That’s a key point to understand
a model. while using Digital Twin. Therefore, Models of Digital Twin
Let us now assume that hundreds to extract the actual damage that has 1. Physics based model (Structural
of pumps are working and being happened, those references will need model): Incorporates Newtonian
tracked for the past one or two years. to be calculated once again and fed mechanics. The sensor input is used for
resolving forces and moments. Structural
So, every time a pump gets dam- to the model to make it better. It is an
analysis/finite element analysis is used
aged, some physical parameter gets iterative process. Slowly, the model for resolving high-level structural state in
changed. So, by having data, a model will improve and its accuracy of pre- every step. The decision is supported by
can be created that can predict any diction will become high. aggregated performance analysis.
pump malfunctions. If it is repeating This use case is also important for 2. Machine learning based model (AI
the same phenomena, which occurred wind turbines. Digital Twin can pre- based model): Incorporates various
earlier, a prediction can be made that dict the correct alignment of the wind computer science statistics and data
this pump will not function well after turbine, that is, in which direction the science. With the assistance of a sensor,
any unintended changes can be detected
some time. So, before the malfunc- wind turbine will get the most power endlessly.
tion occurs, parts can be replaced or from wind. Not only that, it can also
repaired, preventing any losses. tell at what time the predictive main-
tenance should happen. growth. And post-Covid that will
Jet engine case study increase even more rapidly.
Suppose there is a jet engine that Future In summary, the concept of Digital
has sensors and is pushing data to It is estimated that companies will be Twin has been there since long time.
its Digital Twin. If the jet engine has investing up to US$1.1 trillion in IoT Now that we are noticing its potential
been running for some time, then by 2023. There will be 1.9 billion 5G and what we can achieve in collabo-
chances are some damages might cellular subscriptions by 2024, which ration with IoT and AI, it is gradually
have occurred. Based on the previous will push the use of IoT to a huge gaining acceptance by different indus-
historical database and the predic- extent. The total economic impact of tries. Digital Twin holds a big poten-
tive model, Digital Twin will try to IoT could range anywhere between tial. Going by the numbers, it will soon
predict the estimated damage that US$4 trillion to US$11 trillion by 2025. find widespread applicability.
has occurred in a particular part. According to Market & Markets,
The article is based on the talk Digital Twin & IoT
But when the engine is physically the global Digital Twin market was
by Arnab Ghosh, Developer and Researcher at
inspected, there might not be the same valued at US$3.1 billion in 2020. But Accenture Solutions, India that was presented at
scenario because predictive models it is projected to reach US$48.2 bil- the February edition of Tech World Congress and
are not 100% accurate. lion by 2026, which would be a huge India Electronics Week 2021.

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 31

 Innovation

Amazing Flying Warehouse

For Delivery From The Sky
This article covers some technologies being considered for the logistics involved in quick delivery
of the goods through future drone delivery systems, including a flying warehouse up in the sky

T
Dr Anand Nayyar and he advancements in new technologies service in the UK in December 2016 to
Dr Magesh Kasthuri have changed the world to a large deliver packages within thirty minutes of
extent. In recent years, the informa- receipt of an order.
tion and communications technology (ICT), A UAV delivery service, however, has
artificial intelligence, drones, and robotics some technological limitations. Drones
have become the focus of intense develop- can fly for a limited time only due to power
ment, which has led to active convergence constraints of their lithium batteries, which
between seemingly unrelated sectors. limits their scalability and serviceability. The
Logistics is one such sector that is enjoy- logistics companies are therefore developing
ing the recent advancements in technologies. new systems to deal with the limitation so
The Internet of Things (IoT) and ICT have that they can provide faster service to more
automated logistics systems to ensure that customers. One state-of-the-art system is the
all processes from customer order to deliv- airborne fulfilment centre (AFC) delivery
ery are performed with hundred percent system of Amazon.
precision. This allows customers to check The AFC delivery system was first
delivery status in real time and receive the revealed in April 2016 when Amazon pat-
ordered goods within a few hours. ented a flying warehouse that would deploy
Another revolution is now underway UAVs to deliver parcels to customers. In this
courtesy drones. The drone delivery system system, an AFC would store goods as well
ensures economical and swift services as small UAVs in the sky at an altitude close
because of maneuverability, flexibility, to the stratosphere.
and low cost. Several logistics companies When an order is received, a UAV car-
like DHL, Amazon, FedEx, and Alibaba rying the ordered items would be deployed
have introduced drones for goods delivery from the AFC to the customer, as shown in
to their customers. Amazon launched its Fig. 1(a). It will return to an Amazon mate-
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) delivery rial handling facility (MHF) after performing

(a) (b)

Fig. 1(a) and (b): Amazon AFC delivery system

32 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Innovation
the task. A shuttle would take off from Use of UAVs in industries monitoring the health of crops, and in
the MHF and supply inbound and out- security and defence for detecting the
bound resources to the AFC, as shown UAVs present a powerful tool for col- presence of those who should not be
in Fig. 1(b). lecting data remotely. In inspection in a given area.
The AFC delivery system could scenarios, using a UAV to collect Here are some of the most common
let customers receive their products data instead of a person doing so can deliverables created from drone data:
within ten minutes of placing the make a big impact on safety, since it Photos and videos. One of the most
order. The AFC would maintain some reduces the exposure of personnel to common deliverables for commercial
inventory so that a UAV can leave with potentially dangerous scenarios such drone work are still photographs and
the ordered goods immediately after as climbing a cell tower or walking videos. These might be for professional
receipt of the order. The UAV deployed along scaffolding inside a giant tank photography or videography purposes
from the AFC would quickly descend to collect visual data. People also use (at weddings or family photo shoots),
towards the customer to deliver the UAVs to collect data for surveying, aerial shots of real estate to help
items. During the descent, the UAV mapping, or even to help investigators market it, or even high-end cinematog-
would use little or no power. Hence, find human remains. raphy for filmmaking.
Amazon would be able to provide Here are the primary types of data 3D maps. Across various industries
faster services to customers located far currently collected by drones: 3D maps are becoming a common
away and its UAVs would safely return Visual data. This is by far the most deliverable for drone data, helping
to MHF after delivery. common type of data a drone is used to people to better visualise the spaces in
One of Amazon’s primary objec- collect. By flying over an area or object which they are working.
tives is to secure and expand its of interest, a drone can help see things Orthomosaics. An orthomosaic is a
ecosystem by attracting more sellers that might not be otherwise visible and photo representation of an area created
and customers to its marketplace. A collect a record of what is seen. by stitching together several photos.
recent study showed that nearly 25% Thermal data. After visual data, Orthomosaics are used in construction
people are willing to pay a substantial thermal data is one of the most to visualise building sites, in public
premium for same-day or immediate common types of data industries col- safety to record the details of places
delivery. The rapid delivery capability lect using drones. Aerial thermal data where large groups of people com-
of the AFC system can enlarge Ama- can help firefighters determine where monly gather, or in civil engineering
zon’s ecosystem by increasing the to focus their efforts during a raging to track the progress of a large project
number of Amazon Prime subscribers fire, or help inspectors identify poten- such as restoring part of a beach.
and sellers. tial problem areas in a solar array. Actionable reports. In some indus-
Shipping cost is also a major con- Lidar data. A light detection and tries a deliverable produced from drone
cern for Amazon, as it incurs a net loss ranging (lidar) sensor ‘illuminates’ a data could include a report gener-
on shipping annually. In this regard, target with a laser light and measures ated by industry-specific software. For
the AFC delivery system can reduce the reflection to create data points that example, Pix4D’s agriculture-specific
transportation costs and operating can be used to map the area. Aerial software Pix4Dfields allows users to
energy by staying or moving in the lidar can be used to help companies in produce agricultural indices to better
stratosphere where air density and various industries to create 3D maps of understand plant stress as well as
resistance are low. The AFC will use an area, which can be used for project aggregating vegetation index maps
electric and renewable energy such as planning or progress tracking. Since into zones.
solar energy. These factors will enable lidar can penetrate tree cover and Following are some of the top
the company to provide a sustainable even earth to reveal structures hidden industries and sectors using drones for
membership service by reducing ship- underground, it has also been used by commercial purposes today, along with
ping costs archaeologists to help them discover the ways that they are using them:
American e-commerce giant new sites of interest for excavation. Agriculture. Farmers use drones to
Amazon now has patents for flying Multispectral data. Multispectral collect data on their crops and then use
drone warehouse, an underwater data is collected by sensors that meas- that data to improve their yields.
warehouse, a bee-hive like warehouse, ure reflected energy within several Chemicals. Drones are being used
and mobile ground based fulfilment specific sections (or bands) of the elec- in the chemicals industry to improve
centres. As per the latest reports from tromagnetic spectrum. Aerial multi- indoor inspections by taking the place
CB Insights, the retail giant has been spectral data can be used in agriculture of inspectors in collecting visual data
focussed on shortening the distance and conservation to monitor plant and inside large assets used in chemical
between warehouses and consumers tree health, and it is also being used by processes.
for some time. It has considered vari- law enforcement agencies to help find Conservation. One of the main
ous formats for warehouse network human remains. ways drones are helping conserva-
expansions like flying warehouse, Hyperspectral data. Hyperspectral tion efforts is by providing detailed
mobile truck mini warehouse, under- sensors measure energy in narrower vegetation maps to help track for-
water warehouse, local re-stocking and more numerous bands than mul- estry work and water mapping to
stations for drones, and multi-level tispectral sensors. Aerial hyperspectral better understand how water moves
drone-docking fulfilment centre. data can be used in agriculture for through an area. Drones that shoot out

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 33

 Innovation
seeds from the air have also
been invented, which could
help reforestation efforts in
places that have been clear
cut.
Construction. Mapping
and surveying construction
sites can be quite slow when
done by walking a site.
Drones help speed up these
efforts, allowing construc-
tion companies to provide
real-time maps of progress
and surveys that can help
them both plan for projects
and improve projects that Fig. 2: Implementation design of Amazon’s flying warehouse
are underway, leading to
significant savings. FCC units, and risers. house in the US, announced plans for
Delivery. Consumer drone deliv- Power generation. In power gen- an airborne fulfilment centre (AFC)
ery has yet to be rolled out at a large eration, indoor drones are also help- such as an airship.
scale anywhere in the world but it ing inspectors to access areas that The airship will be stocked with
does present a major contribution for would otherwise be difficult to reach. lots of products and would float at
commercial drones. Medical drone Drones can also help keep inspectors an altitude of around 13,700 metres,
delivery is currently taking place away from the possibility of harm by it said. When a customer places an
throughout the world in countries radiation at nuclear power plants by order, a drone will fly down and
as far-reaching as Rwanda, the US, taking the place of inspectors in col- deliver the parcels. Amazon said the
and Switzerland (where Flyability is lecting visual data of key assets like process would require little power as
headquartered). boilers. the drone will be gliding down rather
Filmmaking. For years now, high- Public safety. Law enforcement, than having to take off and land.
end drones have been used instead of fire departments, and search and “When the UAV departs the AFC, it
helicopters to capture aerial shots for rescue have all adopted drones over may descend from the high altitude of
movies as latter are more expensive the last several years. Police use the AFC using little or no power other
and cumbersome to work with. drones to help them get better situ- than to guide the UAV towards its
Mining. Mining companies are ational awareness and to map densely delivery destination and/or to stabilise
turning to tough indoor drones like populated areas, firefighters use the UAV as it descends,” the patent
the Elios 2 to help them create maps drones to collect thermal data that can filing explains. The firm revealed
of their mines. These maps lead to pinpoint where they should focus their several uses for the flying warehouse.
improved safety and can also help efforts, and search and rescue person- One example is that of a football
companies locate ore that might oth- nel are using both thermal and visual match where customers may want
erwise be lost. sensors on drones to help find people certain items such as food or mer-
Insurance. Insurance companies missing in the wilderness. chandise. Ahead of the game, the AFC
are always processing claims, espe- Sewer maintenance. Indoor could stock up on items and deliver
cially after large storms. Drones are drones have been helping inspectors these during the game through UAVs
helping insurance companies process enter city sewer systems to collect when ordered. It could also be used
claims on roof damage much more visual data that can be used to identify as a giant advertising board, allow-
quickly by allowing adjusters to col- the source of a problem or to evaluate ing customers to order the items on
lect visual data from the sky instead the condition of the infrastructure display, all of which can be ordered
of by climbing up ladders. Insurance as part of the regular maintenance within minutes.
companies are also using drones for process. The UAVs would be able to com-
accident reconstruction, helping them municate with each other via a mesh
to piece together how an auto colli- Amazon’s flying warehouse - network to give information such as
sion took place so that they can verify technical aspects weather and the best route for driv-
the validity of auto-related insurance American e-commerce giant Amazon ing. These could also recharge on the
claims. will fly a warehouse at an altitude of airship, as per the report. Amazon’s
Oil & Gas. Indoor drones like the around 13,700 metres (45,000 feet) filing explains that the blimp would
Elios 2 are making a big impact in oil that would act as a launch pad for remain in the air and be refuelled
& gas industry by providing inspectors UAVs, with an aim to deliver con- and replenished using a shuttle. This
with a tool for collecting high-quality signments in a jiffy, media reports could be a smaller aircraft capable of
visual data inside assets crucial to the announced recently. Amazon, after docking onto the AFC and unloading
oil refining process such as tanks and winning a patent for flying the ware- products as well as fuel.

34 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Innovation
Business case for
Amazon’s flying warehouse
Amazon being the largest online retail
shop that maintains warehouses of
products from various sellers across
geo locations, improving customer
experience and turnaround time for
delivery of products have been matters
of great concern for them. They have
conceptualised the flying warehouse
which has UAVs deployed for product
delivery.
Both Amazon and Walmart have
been researching a lot since a decade
on improving their customer experi-
ence in delivering products to remote Fig. 3: Amazon’s AFC vehicles (Image source: Amazon press release)
locations and simplify product deliv-
ery based on various factors including the UAV delivery team. UAVs will be Walmart is also experimenting with
frequently ordered items, urgency in GPS enabled and move as per path its own flying warehouse concept for
critical orders, and many more. To programmed for their delivery. Usu- quickly delivering daily supplies like
handle this kind of customer experi- ally, a delivery location or city will be pantry items to its premium regular
ence, flying warehouse is being experi- closer to 80 kilometres (50 miles) and customers.
mented and Amazon has received a the UAV would be expected to deliver We can expect Amazon flying
series of patents for it in 2016 and is within an hour in most cases. UAVs warehouse targeting delivery of daily
making a heavy investment in deploy- will be tracked and monitored by the supplies like food and drinks next,
ment of AFCs and the UAVs. support team in AFC to manage the after medical supplies, for its regu-
delivery. lar customers on subscription basis
Implementation design of Amazon ground warehouse. This (say, daily delivery to customers with
Amazon’s flying warehouse is the regular Amazon warehouse monthly payment from prime cus-
Amazon flying warehouse was con- where all products are stored by tomers). As per an article on Amazon
ceptualised a decade ago and imple- various vendors. Select items from flying warehouse on futurism.com,
mentation of the draft design started this ground warehouse will be taken we can expect retail industry to use
in 2013 and later matured to its final to AFC acting as a temporary delivery this disruptive technology to realign
design in 2016 when it was patented. store for the nearest delivery locations. supply-chain process. As a result,
In August 2020, Amazon got official A single Amazon ground warehouse small retail shops in large cities could
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can be used to provide products for get replaced with UAV based delivery
approval to use drones for medical multiple AFC locations. in next ten years.
supply delivery. Replenishment shuttle. It is a Also, we can expect a cloud of
The important components in the carrier flight that takes goods from AFCs to be set up across multiple
conceptual design of Amazon flying a ground warehouse to an AFC for geo-locations in a country (like edge
warehouse, shown in Fig. 2, include delivery later on receipt of order from locations) to fulfil and share product
the following. the nearest locations. Replenish- delivery across locations. This will
Airborne fulfilment centre (AFC). ment shuttle will fly as per schedule enable faster delivery and ensure
This is the flying warehouse, a costly like once in a week. Any inventory product availability based on auto-
investment, to be built in the sky near- requirement on day-to-day basis will matic replenishment of the products
est to the delivery sites. It would be be monitored in ground warehouse in demand.
used for storage of products received and considered for order fulfilment
from a ground warehouse and as through replenishment shuttle in the Dr Anand Nayyar is PhD in wireless sensor
parking/flying space for drones. AFC next trip. networks and swarms intelligence.
He works at Duy Tan University,
will also have technicians for repairs
and maintenance and a support team Future trends Vietnam. He loves to explore open
source technologies, IoT, cloud
to handle the packages. It would be Amazon warehouse is experiment- computing, deep learning, and
a one-time investment of varying ing with medical supply delivery as cyber security
size depending on the products to be there is a huge demand to supply
handled. urgent medical requirements like Dr Magesh Kasthuri is a senior
distinguished member of the
Unmanned aerial vehicles oxygen cans, emergency injections, technical staff and principal
(UAVs). These are small transport- and drugs. UAVs can deliver quickly consultant at Wipro Ltd. This
ing vehicles or carriers that would even in remote locations, which is article expresses his views
and not that of Wipro
lift products to deliver as directed by important in case of emergencies.

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 35

 Anti-Covid

Some Open Source DIY

Oxygen Concentrators
If you have been wondering why do-it-yourself (DIY) and open source communities are not
proposing any solution for the oxygen concentrators that are in great demand due to the
ill effects of Covid-19, here are some of the best open source DIY designs that have been
recently introduced by them for setting up or manufacturing oxygen concentrators

T
Ashwini Kumar Sinha he outbreak of the second wave of designs too, for which parts are easily avail-
Covid-19 has led to a huge shortage able, thereby reducing the cost of their basic
of oxygen concentrators in India. assembly to as low as US$ 300 (approx.
Thankfully, some techies are paving the 22,000 rupees)! Here are a few that EFY
way for quick manufacture of oxygen team has found for you. Those looking for
concentrators with their open source do-it- further information about these concentra-
yourself (DIY) designs to save lives. tors are advised to contact the developers
There are some open source Indian directly.

MARUT ReapRap
Claimed to be India`s first open source oxygen concentrator, ReapRap delivers oxygen with a concentration of
Marut has been designed using easily available parts that 90% (flow rate details not provided). Unlike other
can be obtained from any hardware shop in India. It also oxygen concentrator designs, it uses a MOSFET that
gives the flexibility to choose between a DC-DC converter (to drives the solenoid valve. The design is compact; the
get 12V to 24V, or 12V SMPS) and a 220V solenoid. Accord- whole thing is about the size of a shoe-box without
ing to availability in the market, it uses Pressure Swing the compressor.
Adsorption technology for separating nitrogen and oxygen For details: https://reprapltd.com/open-source-
for concentration. This concentrator can deliver oxygen with oxygen-concentrator
a concentration of 90 to 92% at a flow rate of ten litres per


minute while consuming only 750 watts.



For details: https://www.technido.com/marut

36 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Anti-Covid
Bharat O2 Open OX


Bharat O2 is also an open source oxygen concentrator Open OX delivers oxygen with a concentration of 85 to
designed in India that can be made using locally avail- 95% at flow rate of six litres per minute and consumes
able parts. This design 580 watts of power. It uses Zeolite Adsorption technol-
does not use any sole- ogy for oxygen separation. The motherboard of this
noid valve or electrical oxygen concentrator provides a connector that is suit-
relay, which reduces able for most
the chances of poten- medical-grade
tial failure. Instead, oxygen sen-
a custom-built PSA sors. While
valve is used that the electro-
reduces the build cost galvanic sen-
as well. The valve sors have a
has been made using low life span,
motor parts by the it gives you
design team. Bharat the flexibility
O2 has a 4-way swing to use ultra-
valve that eliminates sonic oxygen
the use of conven- sensors that
tional parts used in use the speed
the Pressure Swing of sound to
Adsorption technique, hence eliminating sixteen mechanical measure the amount of oxygen in a gas or liquid
and six electrical failure points. It can deliver oxygen with a sample.
concentration of 93% at five litres per minute. For details: https://openox.hacklab.kiev.ua
For details: https://bharato2.org

OxiKit OX

 OkiKit can deliver oxygen
concentration of 92% with
Developed by PubInv,
OX open source oxygen
a flow rate of 24 litres per concentrator aims at pro-
minute while most other viding 95% medical-grade
oxygen concentrators are able oxygen concentration
to deliver only 5 to 15 litres with a flow rate of ten
per minute. The Azure IoT litres per minute, which
Hub is developing the design is good considering the
with more features like Wi-Fi flow rate.
connectivity. Device data For details: https://
from the pulse oximeter and github.com/PubInv/Ox
concentrator can be automat- https://app.jogl.io/
ically uploaded to the Global project/580?t= documents
Telehealth Services. The flow
rate can also be automated
based on the oxygen satura-
tion level and Bluetooth pulse
oximeter readings.
For details: https://oxikit.
com/

Conclusion
Overall, the most efficient and innovative open source design among the above-mentioned is Bharat O2. It eliminates
sixteen mechanical and six electrical points and thus reduces chance of failure. Also, the custom-built valve helps reduce
the cost of the project.
If we need a high flow rate with good oxygen concentration level, then OxiKit and MARUT may be preferred as these
are able to deliver a good flow rate—ten litres per minute in case of Marut and twenty-four litres per minute in case of
OxiKit—without compromising the oxygen concentration level.

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 37

 Anti-Covid

Some Open Source

Anti-Covid Solutions
The second wave of Covid-19 outbreak has created a critical situation for us all. Thankfully, the open
source community and several groups of enthusiastic techies have taken up the challenge and are
offering some excellent solutions for combating the coronavirus.
The open source community is also providing a low-cost design for polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
testing. The entire device can be made for about 50 dollars (approx. 3,700 rupees) only.
EFY team has reviewed and shortlisted some of the open source products. Hope you will find the
information useful in these difficult times.

Pocket PCR
As we know, the PCR test is one of the reliable solutions for covid
detection. This Pocket PCR is an open source testing device that is
small and affordable but powerful like a full-fledged thermocycler
with large laboratory machine-like features. Even in this small size,
the device features PID temperature control with great accuracy. It has
5×0.2ml PCR tubes while its overall size is 33mm×105mm×50mm
and weighs just 50 grams. It can be powered with any 2A power adap-
tor or computer port.
For details: https://github.com/GaudiLabs/PocketPCR/tree/master/
PCB_Layouts/PocketPCR_PCB/RocketPCR
http://gaudi.ch/PocketPCR

OpenPCR
OpenPCR is a small and affordable PCR machine that features an adjustable-
height heated lid. This enables heating of the top of the tube up to 120 degrees
Celsius, preventing any substantial condensation. It includes an intelligent GUI
based control system that helps the device to run using any C (connected via
USB). The GUI helps to program the PCR protocol. OpenPCR allows flexibility of
disconnecting after being programmed. The machine will, however, continue to
carry out the reaction while an LCD shows its live status with estimated remain-
ing time.
For Arduino code and details: https://openpcr.org
https://github.com/jperfetto/OpenPCR

UV Robot
This UV robot sanitises large areas such as hospitals, offices,
halls, and hotel rooms without creating any risk of exposure
to dangerous UVC light. Unlike other UVC robots, this device
gives wireless access to its GUI with a real-time video feed
(for controlling the UV robot).
For details: https://www.electronicsforu.com/electronics-
projects/hospital-sanitizing-robot

38 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Anti-Covid
uECG Ninja Lamp PCR
This device helps track the health and heart data of a person. Besides being cost-effective and affordable, the Loop-
Unlike other ECG devices, this open source device is very Mediated-Isothermal-Amplification (Lamp) PCR is easy
small, weighs just to make. You
nine grams, and just need a few
is quite afford- resistors, MOS-
able. It gives a FETs, heater for
backup of up to tube holder, and
nine hours and connect them
you can obtain to an Arduino.
the recorded data The device gets
Image courtesy: www.hackaday.com on both phone ready in no time
and PC. at a cost of about 300 dollars.
For details: https://hackaday.io/project/164486-uecg-a- For Arduino code and details: https://hackaday.io/
very-small-wearable-ecg project/174501-covid-19-detectors-300-real-time-pcr-50-lamp
https://github.com/ultimaterobotics/uECG https://github.com/hisashin/NinjaLAMP

Thermal screening camera with recognition Skin temperature scanner

While other contactless temperature sensors and ther- While thermal screen-
mometers need a person to check the results one by one, ing cameras are quite
which can be tiring, this costly, this open source
device combines facial temperature scanning
recognition features device enables you
and an automatic con- to make a thermal
tactless thermal screen- camera at an excep-
ing system. It can be tionally low cost. The
deployed at entrance to whole device is also
places like offices, malls, small and portable;
or airports. It includes it can be carried and
a robust database that mounted anywhere.
stores images of regular For details: https://
visitors’ faces along with hackaday.io/project/170595-skin-temperature-scanner
their names and temperature at the time of entrance for future
tracking.
For details: https://www.electronicsforu.com/electronics-
projects/smart-door-camera-with-facial-recognition-feature-
for-thermal-screening
Pulmonary ventilator
This ventilator helps a person facing difficulty in breathing.
It has a face mask that pushes the pressurised air through a
Smart Watchz patient’s nose or mouth for breathing. It is an open source
This Smart Watchz uses a sensor for capturing a person’s non-invasive ventilator that can be tried in an emergency,
temperature, hand movements for sneeze and cough as long as the patient is not sedated or intubated.
detection, and pulse For details: https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/david-
and SpO2 meters for pascoal/open-source-covid-19-pulmonary-ventilator-4f4586
health data. Using
the collected data, the
system tries to detect
the Covid-19 symp-
toms. It also supports
data logging.
Fo r d e t a i l s :
https://www.
instructables.com/
Smart-Watchz-With-
Corona-Symptoms-
Detection-and-Da

www.EFYMag.com electronics FOR YOU • JUNE 2021 39

 Trends

How HMI Technologies

Are Enhancing Safety
And In-Vehicle Experience
As we are moving towards smart, connected, and autonomous mobility, the interaction
between the vehicle and the human has also evolved. The HMI solutions of today not only
enhance the in-vehicle experience and convenience but also deliver personalised experiences.
Only the information that is critical at a particular moment is communicated to the driver

V
Rosemary Joshy ehicles are transforming from a smart mobility not any longer a discussion
means of transportation to mobile for tomorrow, rather a reality of today, the
living spaces. The future of mobility drivers will be co-drivers or passengers soon.
is driven through innovations that make the Hence one of the major differentiators is the
vehicles safer, seamlessly connected to the user experience that we can provide.
mobile ecosystems, and more convenient Human machine interface (HMI) pro-
for drivers and passengers. Safe, connected, vides this great user experience to see, feel,
convenient are the critical parameters that and hear through the design excellence,
the consumers today are evaluating for their technology, and intelligent information man-
buying decision. With autonomous and agement. It has made in-vehicle experiences
more connected, informed,
and integrated. Further,
according to the Future
Automotive Industry Struc-
ture—FAST 2030 report,
HMI is one of the seven
trends that will reshape
the automotive industry
by 2030.
HMI technologies
that will enhance
safety and in-vehicle
experience
Long ago the radio, warn-
ing chimes, and, of course,
the passengers were the
sounds we could hear in
the vehicle, but now the
vehicle itself is becoming
a smart communication
partner. Vehicles have more
to talk than ever before. An
ever-increasing number
of sensors and the vehicle
Glasses-free 3D effect: The Lightfield Display allows a comfortable perception of 3D depth as well the rendering of being a part of the Inter-
highlights and other light effects net of Everything create

40 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Trends
a flood of information that needs to
be filtered and communicated to the
driver. Moreover, the driver expects
the vehicle to be a digital companion.
As a result, solutions are required that
ensure intuitive, easy, and, above all,
safe interaction between the driver
and vehicle.
The smart voice assistant is an
intelligent speech assistant that can
learn and adapt to user behaviour, pref-
erences, and context. It provides fluent
and intuitive natural language interac-
tion with context awareness and seam-
less transition between various func-
tions. For example, the driver might ask
for route planning for navigation. The
driver might then ask about free park-
ing spaces at the destination and even
dictate a text message to book a table
at a restaurant in the vicinity of the The vehicle becomes an always helpful and smart companion
destination. The system ensures coher-
ent communication, sends the relevant step in the design of human-machine create sound by vibrating certain sur-
data from the navigation system to the interaction of vehicles and brings out faces in the vehicle to produce sound.
parking space assistant, matches the a new measure of safety and comfort The speakerless audio system is a
Internet search for restaurants to the by generating an unprecedented 3D revolutionary system, where 3D sound
location of the recommended park- experience without special eyewear or reproduction surrounds the passengers
ing garage, and, finally, transfers data head-tracker cameras. in a detailed and vivid soundscape to
from the navigation system (estimated With this innovative technology, maximize their in-car audio experi-
time of arrival) and restaurant search information can be safely conferred ence. This system not only reduces the
(address and e-mail contact) to the to the driver in real time, which allows weight and space by up to 90 percent
e-mail and voice recorder program in the interaction between the driver compared to the conventional audio
order to reserve a table. and the vehicle to become more intui- system but also assists in enhancing
The intelligent assistant even tive and comfortable. The safety is the audio quality significantly.
understands the request “search enhanced with Natural 3D lightfield It could be an ideal system for
for restaurants there” and correctly as it provides a superior usability, electric vehicles as well, where saving
interprets “there” as the previously because the perception of informa- space and weight are top priorities.
selected destination. The intelligent tion can be accelerated as this visual With this system, many components
assistant also detects meaningful con- experience is closer to the real world. become unnecessary due to vibrating
nections without the driver having to This 3D experience is not limited surfaces in the vehicle just as speaker
issue standard commands now and to driver as the passenger can also diaphragms. Actuators cause compo-
then. The assistant can also handle experience this in the pillar to pillar nents, such as the A-pillar trim, door
multiple questions, or two tasks com- displays. The 3D image produced by trim, roof lining, and rear shelf, to
municated in a single sentence. If the the Lightfield display consists of a vibrate so that they emit sound in dif-
driver says, “I would like to get to the total of eight perspectives of the same ferent frequency ranges.
mall as quickly as possible and eat object that vary subtly according to However, these HMI functions
Chinese food somewhere nearby,” for the point-of-view. The display uses would not be possible without the
example, the assistant will calculate parallax barriers, slanted slats that change in the vehicle architecture. The
the route and also search for Chinese divide the image for the viewer. As cockpit high-performance computer
restaurants near the destination. if looking at real objects, two differ- (HPC) integrates all cockpit domains
As we move towards autonomous ent, slightly offset views reach the like clusters, infotainment, camera
and connected driving, the amount right and left eye, resulting in a three- into another powerful high-perfor-
of information to be displayed on the dimensional image. mance computer, which is the centre-
screens also increases. The convention- Not just the display, the audio sys- piece of user experience in the vehicle.
al 2D display would no longer be suf- tems are also transforming. The speak- The shift in architecture to move away
ficient. However, the usual 3D displays erless audio system that uses Ac2ated from numerous individual control
require additional gear that hampers Sound, enhances the vehicle’s interior units to a few high-performance com-
the in-vehicle experience for the driver with its immersive sound quality. The puters is to reduce cost and complexity
and passengers. The new Natural 3D technology replaces conventional loud- for vehicle manufacturers over whole
Lightfield display is an evolutionary speaker technology with actuators that vehicle lifecycle.

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 41

 Trends
The cockpit HPC can drive multi- Besides, the driver receives an even anticipates the wishes of the
ple displays in the vehicle for driver intuitive and reliable confirmation for driver. A natural dialogue between
and passengers. The user will be able every action initiated. This strength- the driver and the vehicle is realised
to distribute content across multiple ens the trust in the vehicle’s functions by using cloud based voice services.
displays. For example, using gesture and clearly indicates that the driver is An assistant has been linked to
control, driver can drag navigation and will remain in constant control of several vehicle functions to support,
content from the central display onto the situation. This kind of trust is par- for example, an interactive user manual
driver display, and can also arrange ticularly important when looking at that immediately explains to the driver
various elements in the display areas future technologies such as automated the meaning of warnings or error mes-
they like, thus providing a custom- driving. Autonomous and connected sages. Depending on the warning and
ised user experience. In autonomous driving increases the complexity of the based on the driver’s user behaviour,
driving mode, the driver can immerse mobility world and provides so many the digital companion offers smart sug-
gestions on how to proceed.
Summing up HMI’s role
As we are moving towards smart, con-
nected, and autonomous mobility, the
interaction between the vehicle and
the human has also evolved. The HMI
solutions of today not only enhance
the in-vehicle experience and con-
venience but also deliver personalised
experiences. Only the information that
is critical at a particular moment is
communicated to the driver by these
advanced HMI solutions. This mini-
mises the distraction and increases

into the connected entertaining world

as the cockpit HPC merges the multi
display content into one big screen
providing all the services and apps for
entertainment.
Holistic HMI enabled future
Holistic human-machine solutions
will lay the foundation for autono-
mous, connected, electric, and shared
mobility by providing an end-to-end
experience for users, and not be lim- The Ac2ated sound and AMBEO mobility solutions from Continental and Sennheiser create a truly
ited to booking a ride and transporting lifelike, immersive 3D sound experience, revolutionising audio technology in the car
passengers to their destination. The
concept also helps the drivers to plan features for the user, and these fea- the safety of a vehicle, and contributes
the next course of their journey and tures are made accessible to the user to the industry’s shared Vision Zero -
provide relevant information about with a simple intuitive holistic HMI. Zero Fatalities, Zero Injuries, and Zero
social events. Information is collected, Following the concept of a holis- Crashes. HMI makes the processing
prioritised, and quickly presented in tic HMI, the entire vehicle can be and management of information easy,
a focused and clear way. The flow of turned into a digital companion using intuitive, and reliable.
information is reduced by taking the artificial intelligence. Based on deep
driving situation and the driver’s con- machine learning algorithms, the Rosemary Joshy is head of
dition into account. Only the relevant digital companion remembers and Engineering, Human Machine
information and appropriate actions interprets the user’s behaviour, adapts Interface Business Unit,
Continental Automotive India
are offered in the respective situation. navigation or infotainment offers, and

42 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Circuits

Effective Power Management

For Wearable Devices

A smart wearable whose battery runs out in a few hours is not desired by anyone. But by identifying
the associated problems and carefully designing the power circuitry, this battery issue can be avoided

W
Vinay Prabhakar Minj e are living in an era when Some of them also enable a wireless interface
electronic devices are an inte- between a patient’s doctor and the device for
gral part of our daily life as remote monitoring and control. This keeps
these have made it very convenient for the doctor informed about the patient’s health
us to study, work, exercise, travel, com- status without either of them visiting the other.
municate, and monitor things. Wearable For some neonatal cases, there are spe-
devices, in particular, have become so cial forms of necklaces and even earbuds
lightweight and useful that many people that can monitor a newborn child’s body
like to carry them around every day. temperature and pulse. Such devices need
In healthcare applications, wearables a power management system that can last
can be used to monitor heart-rate, blood for at least nineteen hours before recharge.
pressure, SpO2 level, calories burnt during
exercise, sleep tracking, and more. These Battery challenges
devices monitor a patient’s health, allow With so many features and functionalities,
personal diagnosis, and fitness tracking. the battery management system (BMS) of a

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 43

 Circuits
the processed data to another user/
receiver.
These blocks generally require
low-power electric current in micro-
amperes (mA). So, most of the time,
the low-power transmitter outputs
something like 160mW at a maxi-
mum data rate of 200kbps, whereas it
practically consumes around 190nW.
When the device is duty-cycled by
0.013%, usually the wireless trans-
mitter consumes a much larger
amount of power and therefore oper-
ates in a duty-cycle fashion in order to
minimise the overall power consump-
tion of the device.
Patients admitted to an ICU are
those who are critically ill and are
generally unable to breathe on their
own. So, to ventilate their lungs, the
clinician creates an airway inside
a patient’s windpipe to provide
artificial respiration. This is known
as Intubation, wherein a plastic
tube called an Endotracheal Tube is
wearable takes more time to charge. consider generating energy from ther- inserted into the mouth so that one
Despite improvement in batteries’ mal, vibration, or solar sources. How- end reaches the trachea (windpipe)
capacity in the last decade, the stored ever, energy harvesting brings some while the other end is connected to a
charge drains rapidly after a limited design challenges with itself, since mechanical ventilator.
period of time. This decreases a wear- harvested energy has voltage swings However, due to lung secretion,
able’s lifecycle and, as a result, the and depends on the availability and mucous, or blood clot, these tubes
battery needs to be regularly replaced size of the harvester. get obstructed, which results in
or changed to a rechargeable battery, compromised respiratory efficiency
which increases maintenance and Block diagram changes and can result in brain damage or
cost. A typical block diagram of wearable even death. Since there are only two
Also, a BMS that lasts for only device has sensors for heart rate, ECG, to three minutes available for taking
four to six years is not helpful. Battery pulse-rate, pedometer, and others. proper action, the blockages need
lifetime is a critical issue in wearable These invariably require good inter- to be removed immediately for the
devices. facing with the controller through endotracheal tube to pass air, else the
Small size factor is another critical some ADCs or some other type of patient will die within no time.
issue for wearable devices. A battery’s analogue front-end converters. Right To perform intubation, expert
complex internal structure can signifi- selection of the controller is important hands are required, generally of an
cantly increase the size and cost of the to save power. anesthesiologist. But in most cases,
devices, making it inconvenient for If we consider some blocks such these specialists are not available in
people to wear them. as blocks of the sensor, energy source, time. So, in such a scenario, a smart
Some of the new ways to achieve and power management (for ana- device can be worn by the patients in
efficient power management are: logue front-end processing, wireless ICU or other critical hospital environ-
1. Bluetooth LE 5, Wi-Fi, or RFID. transceivers, and processor), the ments. The device’s sensor can act as
They consume low power (in micro- energy source powers up the entire a connection between the mechanical
watts) and offer effective data transfer device. So, the power management ventilator and endotracheal tube to
facilities on an SoC. block should efficiently distribute monitor and detect obstructions in
2. Advanced CMOS technology. It this power to the different blocks in real time.
has enabled the evolution of low-pow- the system. After designing the smart devices
er circuits and systems. It allows the After that, the sensor block will with the help of traditional operation-
device to operate at a sub-microwatt collect data and send it to the digital al amplifiers, ultrasonic sensors, or
power level. processor where the digitised data acoustic sensors, the main challenge
3. Energy harvesting sources. With would be processed and saved in is the battery since endotracheal intu-
the shrinking transistor size, there is memory. The data can also be stored bation can last four to eight days. To
a need for efficient management of to calculate the average value. Finally, overcome this, you need to develop
power sources. This means we should the wireless transceiver block sends a circuit that enables the device to

44 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Circuits
run for 70 to 78 hours with a single for power management (with respect transistors in a single chip, leak-
charge, has a processor block and to the blocks). Whereas digital blocks age power becomes critical. This
analogue front-end block, and 1.5kb can be operated at 0.4V to minimise becomes important especially when
of SRAM. Some devices also include power consumption when data is there is a multi-core SoC, that is, an
EEG bands, heart rate monitor, atrial transferred via a wireless transmitter- SoC that has cross-voltage and per-
fabrication detector, and more. receiver. Thus, multiple voltage levels forms some virtual circuit switching
are required in a single chip. So, the operations (data transfer from one
Reducing dynamic power block requires a voltage level of may place to another with the help of
There are too many power dissipating be up to 1V. low-latency as well as low-power
components in an integrated system. This type of voltage scaling can consumption).
One of the approaches to minimise give the required power to the blocks. Although CMOS transistor size
power consumption is to reduce the Otherwise, if a block that is not sup- is shrinking and the device speed is
dynamic power. Dynamic power is posed to consume too much power improving, the leakage current is also
the power consumed by the circuit gets a large voltage or current, the rapidly increasing. This is due to the
when it is switched on. It comprises battery will not last long. channel lengths in CMOS and PMOS
switching power and short-circuit There are some good architectures devices. The impact of leakage power
power. out there like the 16-core ARM micro- becomes worse as the average power
The short-circuit power is related processor where each core requires consumption is dominated by power
to current and flows directly from a dynamic voltage frequency scaling during the adder time. Therefore,
supply voltage to the ground. When (DVFS) block. Voltage regulators duty cycle technique is employed to
both NMOS and PMOS networks are that convert the input voltage to the ensure the system enters a low power
momentarily switched on, the loss of desired output voltage level can be mode during idle time when the
short-circuit power is relatively small used. Integration of multiple volt- supply voltage is reduced for some
and switching power dominates the age regulators is needed to support blocks and supply discontinued for
dynamic power consumption. Here, dynamic voltage scaling. those blocks that do not require it.
the switching power is kept in a Thus, the area of the power man- This arrangement with the help of
quadratic manner with the voltage agement unit is dominated by voltage soft programming saves lots of power
supply. regulators. As the number of desired while performing operations like
Quadratic manner relates to the regulated voltage levels increases, walking and trekking as well as send-
comparative behaviour of voltage, the number of voltage regulators also ing data via Bluetooth LE to mobile
total current, leakage current, and increases, which results in a large based applications. When the device
dynamic power when a graph of area overhead. Therefore, supporting wakes up momentarily, it consumes
energy with respect to the voltage is multiple regulated voltage levels with power in milliamps to perform repeti-
plotted. a minimum number of voltage regula- tive tasks of sensing, processing, and
To further reduce the power tors needs to be explored. communicating, and then falls asleep
consumption, frequency scaling can till the next task is assigned.
be done in conjunction with voltage Leakage power The average power consumption
scaling. Reducing voltage and fre- Leakage power is the power con- of a device depends on its p-active
quency is referred to as dynamic volt- sumed by the circuit when it is inac- state when the device is in its active
age frequency scaling. It significantly tive. Although some activities can be mode. The average power consumed
reduces the dynamic power according performed in the sleep mode, these by a device thus depends on the
to a device’s required performance. are limited to the microcontroller total of the active power+power
However, increasing the voltage only. With soft programming you consumed by the transceiver+power
frequency scaling and operating it can control the sensors and the trans- consumed by features that are always
at a sub-threshold voltage increases mitter block, that is, when it has to on (even in sleep mode).
the leakage energy (since the device power up and when it has to go into To manage power effectively, you
operates longer and slower in this deep sleep mode. That will save a lot have to focus on all these elements.
region). Therefore, it is better to oper- of power. Focus on every block that is a part of
ate near a sub-threshold region where The leakage power can be deter- the device like sensors for processing
both leakage and dynamic power are mined when the circuit is operating blocks, transmitting-receiving blocks,
optimal for a highly power-constraint but a part of it is inactive. It means and voltage regulator blocks, and
wearable device. that when the IR sensor, pulse rate assemble them in such a way that the
sensor, and SpO2 sensor try to send device consumes minimum possible
Voltage scaling data to the microcontroller, it is not power.
Supply voltage scaling is done to received properly because some part
produce the desired voltage level for of the controller is still inactive. This The article is based on the talk ‘Balancing Power
each block. Since these blocks consist type of power is also called Active & Conservation In Smart Wearables’ by Abhijeet
of an SRAM that operates at a mini- Leakage, that is, some blocks are Bhagat, CEO, Atmen Technovention, which was
mal voltage of 0.9V in 45nm CMOS active while some are inactive. presented during January edition of Tech World
technology, there is a requirement Due to the large number of Congress 2021.

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 45

 Systems

Python: The Super Champ

For Machine Learning
Machine Learning (ML) is a technology
used to make any software process
improve through experience with
the help of algorithms. It is a part of
artificial intelligence (AI) and uses
training data to improve decisions and
predictions, without the need for any
explicit programming. ML was first
conceived by Arthur Samuel of IBM in
1952. This article highlights Python as
the best language for ML

I
Debojit Acharjee n business, ML is used to resolve various available, but the three main traditionally
problems and the process is referred to used approaches are supervised, unsuper-
as predictive analysis. To run any static vised, and reinforcement learning.
process, it’s possible to program a computer
using specific algorithms. However, the com- Supervised learning
puter must modify its program and improve As the name suggests, this learning approach
the algorithm to handle dynamic processes in involves training the agent by a supervisor,
real time. Arthur Samuel of IBM created the which is usually the user. Here, the training
world’s first ML program to run checkers video is given to the agent using a set of training
games on IBM 701 computers in 1952. data, as examples or data models. The data
There are mainly two objectives of ML— contains a label and a feature. The set of
one is to classify data models, which have data also contains the mapping of the input
been developed using I/O data, and the other and output data based on the data model.
is to predict future outputs based on that data. So, when any new data is fed into the agent
These two objectives can be achieved using as input data, it also generates new output
various learning algorithms, and also with the data based on the data model. A simple
help of a powerful programming language example of a data model would be a table
like Python. containing rows and columns, which has
data about various laptops with different
TYPES OF LEARNING APPROACHES specifications and price tags. So, by look-
In ML, an agent can be made intelligent using ing at the table one can understand which
various learning approaches and algorithms. laptops are expensive and which are cheap.
In such a learning process, ML has to go If this model is used for ML training, then
through three stages—training, validation, the agent would be able to predict if a laptop
and testing. This is done in order to process with higher CPU speed will cost more or less.
the input data and modify the algorithm for The accuracy and method of process-
improving prediction and performance. There ing the data depends on the algorithm and
are various types of learning approaches the training data used for the ML. If the

46 JUNE 2021 • electronics FOR YOU www.EFYMag.com

 Systems
1 N
output data is not satisfactory, modi- Standard deviation= N i 1 First you find the centroids and
fication is done to the algorithm and (xi - µ)2, xi is the featured data start- create the two clusters (C1, C2) by
the training data by the supervisor. ing with the index value of i. taking the values of two Data IDs
Then the agent is fed again with new 3. Summarise data by class. (1,2):
data and the output is collected (as a 4. Calculate the probability using Clusters X Y Centroid
feedback to the supervisor). In case the Gaussian Probability Density Func-
the output is not satisfactory, more tion formula: , where C1 1 2 (1,2)
modifications are done and the cycle µ is the mean and д is the standard
continues until the agent is stable deviation. C2 3 4 (3,4)
and matured. Here, the Naive Bayes 5. Predict class probability using
algorithm is used because it’s best the equation: Now you find in which cluster (C1
known for its ability to classify and P(Class|dataset)=P(X|Class)×P (Class) or C2) the next values of Data ID (3)
predict data. …which is a simplified version of will be included by using the Eucli-
The Naive Bayes algorithm works the Naive Bayes formula. dean distance formula as follows:
on the following formula: C1 = √(5–1)2 + (6 – 2)2
P(B|A) P(A) Unsupervised learning = √(4)2 + (4)2
P(A|B)=
P(B) This learning approach requires no = √32 = 5.65
where, A, B=events supervisor and the agent uses unla- C2 = √(5–3)2 + (6–4)2
P(A|B)=probability of A given B belled data for input processing. = √(2)2 + (2)2
is true The algorithm used in this learning = √8 = 2.28
P(B|A)=probability of B given A approach helps the agent to find struc- Now, as the value of C2 is less than
is true ture in its input, so that it can group C1, the Data ID (3) will be clustered
P(A), P(B)=the independent prob- or cluster data based on its patterns. with C2.
abilities of A and B Here, the input data is clustered by the Next, the new centroid values of
However, if you need to under- agent accordingly, and can also dis- C2 are:
stand the above formula in simple cover hidden data. After clustering the C2 = ((XC2 + X3)/2,(YC2 + Y3)/2)
English, then it is: data, the agent tries to find similarities = ((3+5)/2,(4+6)/2)
Prior × Likelihood between them and creates a relation- = 4,5
Posterior =
Evidence ship model. This learning requires a Similarly, the values for the next
The Posterior probability for super- proper learning environment and the Data IDs can be found by using the
vised training would be the expected better the input data, the better is the new centroids of C2 and carrying on
prediction data. To get that data, learning. The algorithm used in this the clustering process.
the Prior probability data is always learning is called K-Means and the The algorithm is:
updated. You can say that it’s like his- formula is: 1. Cluster data into k groups,
tory data. Likelihood is the data that J
k
j 1 i 1 || xi
n (j)
– cj ||2 where k is predefined.
you can assume from previous events, Here, 2. Select random cluster centroids
but Evidence is the data that is already J=objective function from the k points.
known and correct. k=number of clusters 3. Allocate data to the nearest
Example. If the chance of getting n=number of cases clusters according to the Euclidean
attacked by a dangerous computer xi(j)=case i distance calculations.
virus is 1 percent but the detection of cj=centroid for cluster j 4. Calculate new cluster centroids
any virus by cybersecurity software is xi(j) – cj=distance function for next data.
10 percent, and 90 percent of viruses Clustering can also be done using 5. Repeat steps from 2 to 4 until no
are not harmful, then the probability a simple Euclidean distance formula: further clustering is possible.
of getting any harm from a dangerous √ (xx – x1)2 + (xy – y1)2 Reinforcement learning
virus would be: Here, X x and Xy are observed
P(Harm) × P(Virus|Harm) values and x 1 and y 1 are actual/ This type of learning works based on a
P(Harm|Virus) =
P(Virus) centroid values. reward/penalty policy and the agent is
=
1% × 90%
= 9%
Example. You can divide the fol- programmed to do certain predefined
10% lowing data set into two clusters: functions in an environment. After
The algorithm is: executing the functions, the agent gets
1. Separate the training data by Data ID X Y feedback from the environment, either
class. 1 1 2 as a reward or penalty. This changes
2. Summarise data sets by find- the state of the environment and the
2 3 4
ing the mean and standard deviation agent also gathers the state of the
using the formulae: 3 5 6 environment as an input. Depending
| |
Mean on the state and reward values, the
where, x is the feature data and N is 4 7 8 agent takes decisions. Depending on
the number of feature data. 5 9 10
the rewards and state changes, the
µ=(x1+ x2 + x3… + xn)/N agent improves its quality of perfor-

www.EFYMag.com electronics FOR YOU • JUNE 2021 47

 Systems
mance. This type of learning approach If the agent is in state S4, then when the input data is available, and
is used in service robots to train there are three possible actions that reinforcement learning is required
them in certain environments and it can change the state to S1, S3, and S4. when there is no training data and the
doesn’t require any training data sets This will be calculated using a simpli- agent is required to be trained from
or data models. Here, the Q-learning fied formula: the working environment. Apart from
algorithm is used and works with the Q(sate, action) = R(state, action) these, there are many other learning
following formula: + y × Max[Q(next state, all actions)] approaches like self-learning, feature
Q new (s t , a t ) ← Q old (s t , a t ) + Q(S1, A4) = R(S1, A4) + 0.8 × learning, sparse dictionary learning,
α.(rt + y. maxaQ(st+1, a) – Qold (st, at)) Max[Q(S4, A1),( S4, A3),( S4, A4)] anomaly detection, robot learning, and
Here, = 1 + 0.8 × 0 = 1 association rule learning.
Qnew is the new state of the agent Here, the value of Max[Q(next
st is the state of the agent in time t state, all actions)] is zero, because the Hardware and software for ML
at is the action taken by the agent Q values were initialised to zero. To run any computer program (algo-
in time t. So, as the new Q value for Q(S1, rithm) a central processing unit (CPU)
α is the learning rate A4) is 1, the Q values will be updated: is required. Most of the CPU hardware
rt is the reward in time t States A1 A2 A3 A4 contains multiple cores, but such
y is the discount factor S1 0 0 0 1 CPUs are designed for serial opera-
Example. If the agent takes actions tions and do not provide high through-
S2 0 0 0 0
(A1,A2,A3,A4), causes state changes Q put. However, a graphics processing
(S1,S2,S3,S4), and receives a set of = S3 0 0 0 0 unit (GPU) can have a higher number
rewards R, then the Q values will be S4 0 0 0 0 of cores compared to a CPU and has
initialised and the rewards data will be Similarly, the next states are deter- higher throughput also. A CPU has
created as follows: mined by the agent, and the Q values more cache memory that can be used
States A1 A2 A3 A4 will keep on updating. for complex operations, but a GPU can
S1 0 0 0 0
The algorithm is: be used for simple operations even if it
1. Agent starts in state (st) and Q has lesser cache memory. That’s why
Q S2 0 0 0 0
values are initialised. a GPU can be used with the help of
= S3 0 0 0 0 2. Take action at and wait for a compute unified device architecture
S4 0 0 0 0 reward (rt) and state (st) change. (CUDA), which is also known as Gen-
States A1 A2 A3 A4 3. Update the reward (r t ) and eral Purpose computing on Graphics
state (st) values. Processing Units (GPGPU).
S1 0 0 1 4. Calculate the next action using Even though a GPU is useful for
S2 0 0 0 the Q-learning formula. ML, it has certain limitations, one of
R 5. Update Q values. which is that its architecture cannot
= S3 0 0 1 Among the three learning approach- be customised for specific purposes.
S4 0 0 1 es, supervised learning is used only To overcome such limitations, a spe-
when both the input and output data cial kind of chip (hardware) is used,
Here, the reward values are either is available along with the data model. called the field programmable gate
1 or 0 based on the actions. Unsupervised learning is used only array (FPGA). Such a chip can be pro-

Fig. 1: Types of learning approaches

48 JUNE 2021 • electronics FOR YOU www.EFYMag.com

 Systems
Programmable I/O Cells

Logic Cells Programmable Interconnect

Cores

ALU ALU

Control Units/Caches
Control Unit
ALU ALU

Cache

DRAM DRAM

CPU GPU FPGA

Fig. 2: Different types of processors

Python 29.90%
deep neural networks built on a
tape based automatic differentiation
Java 19.10% system. The Tesla Autopilot (advanced
JavaScript 8.20%
driver-assistance system) used in Tesla
cars was built using PyTorch.
C# 7.30% • KNIME or the Konstanz Informa-
PHP 6.20% tion Miner is free software that can do
data analysis and reporting using ML
C/C++ 5.90%
and data mining. It integrates various
R 3.70% components for agent learning and
data mining through its modular data
Objective-C 2.40%
pipelining ‘Lego of Analytics’ concept.
Swift 2.30% It provides a graphical user interface
TypeScript 1.80%
(GUI) and Java database connectivity
(JDBC) features for blending various
Trend percentage between February 2019 and February 2020
data sources for modelling, data analy-
Fig. 3: Trend percentages of programming languages (Reference: www.statista.com) sis, and visualisation without or with
only minimal, programming. It has
grammed as per the purpose, and its tions of ML such as computer vision, been used in areas like pharmaceutical
architecture can be customised for the NLP, and reinforcement learning. This research, CRM customer data analysis,
specific agent in ML. An FPGA chip can software is best suited for beginners business intelligence, text mining, and
contain thousands of memory units, in ML, and is also used for education financial data analysis.
which are more than in a GPU, and purposes. • Keras provides a Python inter-
can give better throughputs. Another • Shogun is free software that sup- face for artificial neural networks
advantage of using an FPGA for ML ports languages like Python, R, Scala, and is well known for its modularity,
is hardware acceleration, which can C#, Ruby, etc. It supports vector agents, speed, and ease of use. It supports
accelerate certain parts of an algorithm, dimensionality reduction, clustering backends like TensorFlow, Micro-
making it more efficient than a GPU. algorithms, hidden Markov models, soft Cognitive Toolkit, Theano, and
In order to take full advantage and linear discriminant analysis. PlaidML. It is designed to enable fast
of the hardware, good ML software • Apache Mahout is popular soft- experimentation with deep neural
can help build ML models as per the ware that provides expressive Scala networks and is user friendly too.
requirement. There is a lot of such DSL and a distributed linear algebra
software available online—both pro- framework for deep learning compu- Python for ML
prietary and free. Among the free soft- tations and native solvers for CPUs, Many types of programming lan-
ware, TensorFlow, Shogun, Apache GPUs as well as CUDA accelerators. guages like Python, C/C++, Java/
Mahout, PyTorch, KNIME, and Keras • PyTorch was developed by Face- JavaScript and R are used for ML
are more widely used and are the book’s AI Research (FAIR) lab and is but Python is the most widely used
popular ones. mainly used for ML applications such because of its simplicity and features.
• TensorFlow can help build ML as computer vision and natural lan- It was created in the late 1980s and
solutions through its extensive inter- guage processing. It provides Tensor was first released in 1991, by Guido
face of a CUDA GPU. It provides sup- computing (like NumPy) with strong van Rossum, as a successor to the ABC
port and functions for various applica- acceleration via GPUs, and supports programming language.

www.EFYMag.com electronics FOR YOU • JUNE 2021 49

 Systems
ence implementation
of Python and can
compile Python-like
code to C/C++.
Another reason
for using Python for
ML programming is
the vast collection
of libraries that are
designed for the
latter. These librar-
ies include Numpy,
Scipy, Scikit-learn,
Theano, TensorFlow,
Ke r a s , P y To r c h ,
Pandas, and Mat-
plotlib. Such libraries
make it possible to
implement ML algo-
Fig. 4: Python data type hierarchy rithms with simplic-
ity and convenience.
According to one survey done by when compared with other object- The syntax used in Python is simple
Statista (a German company special- oriented programming (OOP) lan- and any mathematical statements can
ising in market and consumer data), guages like C++ and Java is that it is be expressed with minimum coding.
Python is the most popular program- possible to write Python code without For example, if you need to imple-
ming language in the world. Unlike making any use of the OOP concept. ment the Naive Bayes algorithm using
any other language, Python gives the Python code can be used interpre- Python, it can be done using the code:
options to build ML programs using its tively. Any Python statement can def bayes_algo(p_a, p_b_a, p_b_not_a):
robust library and cross-compilation be interpreted using the interpreter not_a = 1 - p_a
ability. Moreover, the syntax used in prompt (>>>), and can be executed p_b = p_b_a * p_a + p_b_not_a * not_a
Python is simpler than that of C/ C++ immediately without compiling the p_a_b = (p_b_a * p_a) / p_b
or Java. whole program. This is just like how return p_a_b
For example, if a program is writ- the interpreter works in the BASIC pro- You can see that it’s very simple to
ten to print the line ‘Hello World’ gramming language, but such a feature implement such mathematical formu-
using C /C++, Java, and Python, it is not available in C/C++ or Java. In lae using the Python code, without the
will be done as follows: Python, variables are not required to be need to explicitly declare any variable
// Print “Hello World” using C++ Program declared explicitly, but in C/C++ and or including any preprocessor/direc-
#include <iostream> Java, the variables must be declared tive like #include, in C/C++.
int main() { and their type remains static. As simple is better than complex,
std::cout << “Hello World!”; For writing various types of code, Python can be used for the develop-
return 0; the ability of the programming lan- ment of various complex applica-
} guage to handle various data types tions with optimised programming
is also important. Python not only code. One empirical study found that
// Print “Hello World” using Java supports the primitive data types Python is more productive than con-
class HelloWorld { like Character, Boolean, Integer, and ventional languages, such as C/C++
public static void main(String[] args) { Floating Point like C/C++, Java and R and Java, for programming problems
System.out.println(“Hello, World!”); programming languages, but also addi- involving string manipulation or
} tional data types like None, Complex dictionary searches, and the memory
} Number, Dictionary, and Tuple, which consumption is also better than Java.
makes it more flexible to implement That’s why many large organisations
# Print “Hello World” using Python complex algorithms using Python code. like Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc,
print(‘Hello, world!’) Python also supports various math- use Python, which is also helping such
As you can see, to print ‘Hello ematical functions with the help of its companies to grow.
World’ using C/C++ and Java, 4-5 libraries, which makes it possible to
This article was first published in March 2021
lines of code are needed, whereas in program different types of code for ML.
issue of Open Source For You
Python it can be done using a single Cross-compilation is another great
line of code. The syntax used in Python feature of Python and any code written
is like the English language and it’s in it can be compiled to the C/C++ Debojit Acharjee is a
easy to comprehend. programming language. This can be software engineer/writer
Another special feature of Python done using CPython, which is a refer-

50 JUNE 2021 • electronics FOR YOU www.EFYMag.com

 Do-It-Yourself Fun Stuff

Mind

A Few Facts About Deep

Mind

ic
pt
Learning In A Web Browser
TensorFlow.js

na
Mind

Sy

Br
ain
Keras.js

.js
Brain.js
Data privacy has given an impetus to browser based deep

ConvNetJS
learning, as it helps data remain in the vicinity of a device. WebDNN

Another factor driving its demand is quicker page loading

ConvNetJS
Pradip Mukhopadhyay

D
eep learning in a browser may to evolve at a very quick pace. In fact, models into the browser and make it
seem as odd as a camel being it is safe to say that the era of browser suitable for inference.
‘the ship of the hills.’ However, based DL has just begun, and that Warm up. This is the next step,
the advent of platforms such as WebGL interactive gaming is the main force where the browser consumes the
(JavaScript to render interactive 2D) driving its evolution. trained model. Experimental results
and WebGPU (graphics and applica- Of the various steps in a DL show TensorFlow.js is ahead in the race.
tion acceleration) has made it possible workflow, decision making, which is Inference. This is the decision-
to run deep learning (DL) programs based on trained data sets (what we making step, where the inference is
on a Web browser—mostly routed call inference), dominates the scene. made locally. Basically, the warmed-up
through gaming software, and plat- Although training is still feasible, model is used to get the result of the
forms. Although it is possible to have people prefer to train globally and localised test data set.
both learning (from data) and inference infer locally in the Web browser.
(for example, whether it will be ‘partly To infer something, the first step An example
sunny’ tomorrow), the latter technical- is to load the trained model on to Let us look at a very simplified
ly happens in the Web browser based the browser. This is called the model JavaScript example of TensorFlow.js
on the model deployed remotely on the warm-up step, and is perhaps the most in action. The total code looks some-
device. One major driving force for this sluggish in the entire inference process. thing like this:
is the increased awareness about data It has been experimentally deter- <!DOCTYPE html>
privacy, as it helps data remain within mined that TensorFlow.js is x1 to x2 <html>
the vicinity of the device itself. Quicker slower (with respect to the CPU) com- <head>
response and page load time is another pared to its native counterpart, when <script src=”https://cdn.jsdelivr.
driving factor. run on a browser. Interestingly, it has net/npm/@tensorflow/tfjs/dist/tf.min.js”>
The concept of running deep learn- also been found that tfjs running in </script>
ing tasks on Web browsers originated an integrated graphics card equals or </head>
around 2015. Andrej Karpathy devel- even outperforms the native Tensor- <body>
oped ConvNetJS during his stint as a Flow on the CPU for the same infer- <h2>TensorFlow JS example. Input a
PhD student at Stanford, which was the ence task (Reference: https://arxiv.org/ number and get prediction near to (3*
very first incarnation of DL in a Web abs/1901.09388). Also, the inference input)-1.</h2>
browser. Some of its notable succes- task does not clog up the CPU com- <p>
sors are WebDNN, Mind, and Keras.js. pletely. Experimental results show it <span>
Around three years back, in early 2018, tops up around 80 percent of the CPU. <label>Enter an integer here</label>
Google propelled the movement by Deep learning in a browser <input type = “text”
developing TensorFlow.js (tfjs), which involves three distinct steps. id = “inputNumber”
can be termed the defining moment of Model import. This is the most placeholder = “Enter a number”
this journey so far. time-consuming step of importing value = “” />
the already trained models into the <label>(Beyond 1 to 10)</label>
Features browser. TensorFlow.js has the tfjs </span>
Before delving into more details, let us converter (https://github.com/tensor- </p>
look at some of the salient features of flow/tfjs/tree/master/tfjs-converter) to <button onclick=”do_prediction
browser based DL, which continues load the natively trained TensorFlow ()”>Predict</button>

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 51

 Do-It-Yourself
Deep Learning Browser Open Source Frameworks Table 1
Platform Description
TensorFlow.js This is Google’s open source initiative released in March 2018. So far, it is the best in the breed. It consists of various components.
TensorFlow.js supports WebGL, a browser interface of OpenGL. This means that if the GPU is available, it will accelerate using it, other-
wise it will fall back to the CPU. More details are available at https://github.com/tensorflow/tfjs
Keras.js The semantic is exactly similar to that of TensorFlow in Python. More details at https://github.com/transcranial/keras-js
WebDNN This is from the University of Tokyo. It is the fastest DNN execution framework in a browser.
Details are at https://github.com/mil-tokyo/webdnn
ConvNetJS ConvNetJS is a JavaScript library for training deep learning models (neural networks) entirely in your browser. It is no longer maintained.
Details are at https://cs.stanford.edu/people/karpathy/convnetjs/
Brain.js This is a GPU accelerated neural network in JavaScript for browsers and Node.js. Details at https://github.com/BrainJS
Mind This is a flexible neural network library for Node.js and the browser (https://github.com/stevenmiller888/mind).
Synaptic Synaptic is a JavaScript neural network library for Node.js and the browser. Its generalised algorithm is architecture-free, so you can
build and train basically any type of first order or even second order neural network architectures (https://github.com/cazala/synaptic).

<p id=”prediction”>Predicted Value: units:1,

TensorFlow JS example. Input a number and
</p> inputShape:[1],
get prediction near to (3*input)-1.
<script> bias: true
async function do_prediction(){ })
Enter an integer here 12 (Beyond 1 to 10)
const model=tf.sequential(); );
model.add( The model is built Predict
tf.layers.dense({ with SDG (stochastic
Predicted Value:34.72138214111328
units:1, descent gradient) as
inputShape:[1], optimiser, MSE (mean Fig. 1: The demo program output
bias: true square error) as loss
}) function, and the accuracy measure- Predict button:
); ment yardstick. This code looks very <button onclick=”do_prediction()
model.compile({ similar to the familiar Python Keras ”>Predict</button>
loss:’meanSquaredError’, code. And the output in your favourite
optimizer: ‘sgd’, model.compile({ browser is something like what’s
metrics: [‘mse’] loss:’meanSquaredError’, shown in Fig. 1.
}); optimizer: ‘sgd’,
const train_labels = tf.tensor1d metrics: [‘mse’]
Takeaway
([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]); }); It is an accepted fact today that the
const train_output = tf.tensor1d Next, we need to get the training fully connected neural network based
([2, 5, 8, 12, 14, 18, 21, 23, 26, 29]); data set ready. We are training with 1 inference works perfectly in browsers.
await model.fit(train_labels, to 10 as input (x values) and input * 3 Typically, it is not the training but the
train_output, {epochs:100}); -1 as output (y values): inference that happens in the browser.
const inputVal = parseInt(document. const train_labels = tf.tensor1d([1, 2, 3, Keeping in mind the fact that Con-
getElementById(‘inputNumber’).value); 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]); vNetJS is not maintained any more,
document.getElementById const train_output = tf.tensor1d([2, 5, 8, Google’s TensorFlow.js is the best bet
(‘prediction’).innerText += model. 12, 14, 18, 21, 23, 26, 29]); in this regard. It is not necessary that
predict(tf.tensor1d([inputVal])).data Now, let’s do some training with the browser’s host must be GPU accel-
Sync(); the ‘fit’ method of TensorFlow layer’s erated, because the sort of inference
} API: that runs on a browser does not fully
</script> await model.fit(train_labels, train_output, exploit the GPU. Hence, running it in a
</body> {epochs:100}); ‘normal laptop’ is good enough as far
</html> Next, let’s have the prediction, as the inference task in the browser is
Let us understand this code a bit. by getting the input text the user has concerned.
The first part of the code is purely the given. Note the TensorFlow.Js layer’s
This article was first published in March 2021
html code for the input textbox, the ‘model.predict’ API (there’s no change
issue of Open Source For You
Predict button, and the output section. when compared to Python Keras!):
The ‘script’ portion is where the Ten- const inputVal = parseInt(document.
sorFlow.js magic works. It just creates getElementById(‘inputNumber’).value); Pradip Mukhopadhyay has
a very simple, linear regression sort document.getElementById(‘prediction’). 20 years of experience across
the stack—from low level
of one-layer sequential dense model. innerText +=model.predict(tf.tensor1d
systems programming to high
const model=tf.sequential(); ([inputVal])).dataSync(); level GUIs. He is a FOSS
model.add( In the end, the ‘do_prediction()’ enthusiast, and currently works
at NetApp, Bengaluru
tf.layers.dense({ method is invoked on clicking the

52 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Do-It-Yourself

EF Y
Simple Millivolt Meter A. Samiuddhin S.C.
Dwi
vedi

Using Arduino

M
ost multimeters
make voltage
measurements
starting from one volt and LED−
Vss
1
some start from 200 mil- POWER USB 16 LCD1 VR1
VO
INPUT 16x2 LCD 3
livolts. With such devices LED+ VDD
lower-value measurement IOREF
DRIVER AREF 15
RS R/W EN D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7
2
GND
becomes difficult, especially RST 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
VR1=10K
ARDUINO
for DIY projects. Here is a 3.3V 12
5V 11
circuit that can measure low GND 10
voltages, starting one mil- GND 9
8
Vin
livolt onwards, with better
ATMEGA328

resolution.
7

Circuit and working 6

DIGITAL

GND
A0 5 R1
A1 4 150E
ANALOG

Circuit diagram of the mil- A2 3

livolt meter is shown in Fig. A3 2
A4 TX 1
1. It is built around Arduino A5 RX 0
_
T1
Uno board (Board1) and MEASURE
TEST POINT
16×2 LCD display (LCD1). BOARD1 ARDUINO UNO UPTO 1000mV
T2
The voltage to be meas- +
ured is applied at analogue
input pin A0 of Board1
through test probes T1 and Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of millivolt meter
T2. The analogue reference
voltage is changed to internal 1.1V for board based on ATmega328P micro- Construction and testing
better resolution. controller. It has fourteen digital
The Arduino is the brain of the input/output (I/O) pins, six of which You can assemble the circuit on a PCB
circuit that calculates the voltage can be used as PWM outputs and or breadboard. The Arduino can be
based on the ADC value using the six as analogue inputs. It includes a powered by an external 9V battery or
program, which is displayed on 16MHz crystal, USB connector, power a 9V, 500mA adaptor. After uploading
LCD1. The voltage at analogue pin jack, and ICSP header and comes with the source code (mV_Meter.ino) to
A0 should not exceed 1V. If it does, pre-loaded Arduino bootloader in its Board1, connect it to LCD1. Use test
‘Over range’ alert message is dis- ATmega328P chip. probes for better accuracy and low
played on LCD1. attenuation.
Arduino Uno is a popular open Note. This circuit measures only
source microcontroller development low voltages of 1mV to 1V. Do not
try to measure negative voltages, or
Parts List reverse the polarity of the cable, as it
Semiconductors:
efy Note would destroy the Arduino. There may
The source code be a small tolerance (deviation) in the
Board1 - Arduino Uno
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon):
of this project readings due to parasitic elements in
R1 - 150-ohm is available the PCB.
VR1 - 10-kilo-ohm pot for free download
Miscellaneous: at source.efymag.com A. Samiuddhin, a circuit designer,
LCD1 - 16x2 LCD module is B.Tech in electrical and
- Test probes electronics engineering. His
- 9V, 500mA adaptor or interests include LED lighting,
9V battery power electronics, microcontrollers,
and Arduino programming

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 53

 Do-It-Yourself
EF Y
o
i The
San

DC Motor RPM Display Souvik Kumar Das

On Smartphone Using Arduino and Shibendu Mahata

T
his project presents an Arduino
based speed monitoring system
where the RPM (revolutions per
minute) of a DC motor is continuously
displayed on a smartphone using Blue-
tooth communication.
T h e A rd u i n o p ro g ra m m i n g
employs an interrupt service routine
to determine the motor speed. The
authors’ prototype of the project is
shown in Fig. 1.
Circuit and working
The main components used in this
project are:
Arduino Uno. Arduino Uno  is an
AVR ATmega328P microcontroller
based development board with six
analogue input pins and fourteen Fig. 1: Authors’ prototype of the speed monitoring system
digital I/O pins. The microcontroller
has 32kB ISP flash memory, 2kB RAM,
and 1kB EEPROM.
Speed sensor. In this project, an R1 R2 R3
1K 22K
opto-coupler based speed sensor 1K CON2
8 FOR
module is used. This type of sensor Vcc
LED1 OUTPUT
generates square wave of a certain fre- CON1
3
IN1+
1 Vcc
quency which depends on the speed FOR VR1 2
IN1−
OUT1
OUT
5V 10K
of motor. Opto-coupler module FC-03 IC1 GND
5
was used during testing. IN2+
OUT2
7 C1
6
Coded disc encoder. It has some IN2− 1u
GND 16V
holes which help the opto-coupler IRTX IRRX 4
type of speed sensor to generate the GND
SENSOR
square wave as mentioned above. A IC1=LM358/LM393
coded disc encoder with twenty holes
is used in this project. Fig. 2: Internal circuit diagram of Opto-coupler type speed sensor module (FC-03)
Bluetooth module. The popular
HC-06 Bluetooth module used for this the opto-coupler type speed sensor in the coded disc, the speed (in RPM)
project sends the data from Arduino module (FC-03) is shown in Fig. 2. The =((pulse×6)/20).
Uno to the Android based smartphone. circuit diagram for the monitoring of After determining the motor speed,
You can also use HC-05 Bluetooth the motor speed on smartphone using the Arduino sends this data to the
module in place of HC-06. Arduino Uno is shown in Fig. 3. smartphone (to display) via the Blue-
Arduino Bluetooth controller. As shown in Fig. 3, the output of tooth module. Pin TX of the Arduino
This software is based on the Android the speed sensing module is connect- is used for this purpose.
platform and helps in communication ed to digital pin 2 (D2) of the Arduino.
of the smartphone with the HC-06 Using an interrupt based approach, Software
Bluetooth module. Arduino Bluetooth we can detect the pulse produced by The source code is written in Ardui-
Controller by Giumig Apps was used the sensing module (in every ten sec- no programming language. The
during testing. onds), which depends on the speed of ATmega328/ATmega328P is pro-
The internal circuit diagram of the motor. Since there are twenty holes grammed using the Arduino IDE

54 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Do-It-Yourself
efy Note
The source code
initialises the serial of this project
BOARD1 port with a baud is available
rate of 9600. The for free download
POWER USB attachInterrupt(0, at source.efymag.com
INPUT
counter,FALLING)
DRIVER AREF function calls the
IOREF GND
RST 13
interrupt handler
“counter” when-

ARDUINO
3.3V 12
5V 11
GND 10 ever a signal con-
GND 9
8
nected to interrupt Arduino Bluetooth Controller app
Vin
pin 0 of the Arduino from an Android phone and select
ATMEGA328

CON4 makes a high-to- Terminal Mode. Now switch on the

FOR 7
CON3 low, that is, falling motor. As the encoder disc rotates
6
DIGITAL

HC−06 FOR
Vcc A0
A1
5
4
SENSOR edge transition. between the optical encoder groove,
ANALOG

GND
TX
A2 3
Vcc After uploading the RPM of the motor can be read
OUT
RX
A3
A4 TX 1
2
GND
the code to Ardui- on the smartphone. The RPM can
A5 RX 0 no board (Board1), also be read on the serial monitor of
connect HC-06 Arduino.
Bluetooth to CON4
and sensor digital
output to CON3. Souvik Kumar Das is passionate
about electronics and MCU-based
Fig. 3: Circuit diagram for speed monitoring on smartphone Mount the disc system design
encoder wheel on
software. the shaft of the DC motor. Place the
Shibendu Mahata is M.Tech (gold medallist)
Select the correct board from Tools disc encoder between the groove of in instrumentation and electronics engineering
→Board menu in Arduino IDE and the opto-sensor, as shown in the pro- from Jadavpur University. He
has several publications in the
burn the program (sketch) through the totype above. domain of signal processing in
standard USB port in your computer. Pair the Bluetooth between the reputed internationals journals and
conferences to his credit
Here, Serial.begin(9600) function smartphone and HC-06. Open the

Job
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www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 55

 Do-It-Yourself
EF Y
vedi
Dwi
S.C.

LED Light For Bikes T.K. Hareendran

To Improve Visibility

O
pting for an LED bike head- option. A strobe light, also known as 10k pot VR1 is in its minimum posi-
light is quite cost-efficient a stroboscopic lamp, makes a biker’s tion, the LED is on with full bright-
when it comes to improving night/foggy-day journey safe because ness, and when it is in its maximum
your visibility on the road. It makes it continuously produces regular position, the LED is off. Between these
your presence known to the others flashes of light. It can also be used two positions, the light source acts as a
and provides you with a clear visibility to warn other vehicles and pedestri- strobe light fluctuating at a frequency
so that you can avoid dangers and pay ans and to clear the path during an between 25Hz (fast strobe) and 2Hz
attention to the road. Riding a bike emergency. The author’s prototype is (slow strobe). The pot is powered by
with the stock headlight alone is often shown in Fig. 1. Digispark’s onboard 5V DC regulator,
troublesome! and its wiper (middle terminal) is
You can now make this inex- Circuit and working connected to analogue input A1 (P2)
pensive and easy-to-make LED bike Circuit diagram of the LED bike light of the Digispark.
light (primarily to support the stock is shown in Fig. 2. The key hardware Likewise, Digispark’s P1 I/O pin
headlight) that also has a strobe light in this design is a Digispark ATtiny85 goes to the gate of the lamp driver
microcontroller develop- MOSFET IRL520N (IRF1). The 100-
ment board (Board1), ohm resistor R1 is the gate resistor
which operates on a of IRF1 whereas the 10k resistor R2
9V USB battery. It is an works as a pull-down resistor. These
Attiny85 based microcon- two resistors are essential because
troller development board the gate of the MOSFET is basically
similar to the Arduino a capacitor. So, when a voltage is
line, only cheaper, small- applied to the gate without the gate
er, and a bit less powerful. resistor, the resultant inrush current
If you are wondering can damage the microcontroller’s I/O
why use a slightly expen- if it is unable to quickly source that
sive Digispark instead of much current. Here, R1 limits the
cheaper discrete compo- maximum current and R2 assures that
nents, the reason is the IRF1 is always in a known state. Fig.
light’s two modes—steady 3 shows a casual oscilloscope snap
glow and strobe. That captured while poked into TP1.
Fig. 1: Author’s prototype means when knob of the If you are using a non-USB version

CON2
CON1
FOR BOARD1 9V CON3
FOR P5
9V FOR
P4
VR1 W.LED
P3
1 P2 10K
P
2 P1 TP1
S1 P0 D
CHANGE 5V
GND IRF1
VIN IRL520N
BATT.1
FOR G
9V USB R1 S
BATT. 100E
D1
C1 5817 R2
GND 10K
220u
25V

W.LED = WHITE POWER LED (REFER TEXT)

Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of LED bike light Fig. 3: Oscilloscope snap (see text)

56 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Do-It-Yourself
Parts List LED+

Semiconductors:
BOARD1 - Digispark ATtiny85
microcontroller
development board Rballast
IRF1 - IRL520N MOSFET
D1 - 1N5817 Schottky diode
W.LED - White power LED for bike
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon):
(a) (b)
R1 - 100-ohm LED-
R2 - 10-kilo-ohm
VR1 - 10-kilo-ohm pot Fig. 4: Ballast resistor Fig. 5: Proposed enclosures (a) and (b)
Capacitors:
C1 - 220µF electrolytic
Miscellaneous:
CON1, CON3 - 2-pin connector
CON2 - 9-pin connector
BATT.1 - 9V USB battery

of the 9V battery, the 2-pin connector

CON1 can be used to connect its exter-
nal charger to recharge the battery. It is
worth noting that the nominal output
of most rechargeable 9V LiPo batter-
ies is only 7.4V (8.2V maximum). So,
there is a possibility that the Digispark
board will reset due to power drop Fig. 6: White LED torch head for testing
when a high-power lamp is energised.
The 220µF electrolytic capacitor C1 ing can trigger seizures in persons /* LED Bike Light v1
mitigates that episodic hiccup. Since suffering from photosensitive epilepsy * Key Hardware: Digispark Attiny85
Digispark has an onboard voltage (https://psychology.wikia.org/wiki/ Development Board
regulator, you can safely use a 2S, 3S, Photosensitive_epilepsy)! * Arduino IDE: 1.8.13 (Windows10x64)
or 4S LiPo battery pack instead of the * Author: T.K.Hareendran
proposed 9V USB battery. Construction * Adapted Open-Source Code. Thanks to
There is no fixed rule on how If you are considering building a www.bukovac.si */
many lumens of brightness you need real-world model of this LED bike int headLamp = 1;
for your bike light, but typically you light, please use a rigid, waterproof int val = 0;
will need approximately 500-lumen enclosure. Some reference models are int onTime = 0;
front light to see where you are going shown in Fig. 5. int offTime = 0;
than to be just seen. So, use a pair of For a quick functionality test, a void setup() {
one-watt ‘star white’ LEDs in series large white LED torch head can be pinMode(headLamp, OUTPUT);
as the light source, and try to tweak scavenged from an old torchlight to act }
it later after some road trials. Include as the light source, as shown in Fig. 6. void loop() {
a suitable ballast resistor to limit the val = analogRead(1);
operating current, as shown in Fig. 4. Software onTime = val;
The LED lamp needs some optics The Arduino’s pretty simple sketch offTime = (-2000000 / (onTime + 1000)) +
to improve the light coming from it. (code) ported for Digispark is given 2000;
Nowadays, LED reflector/lens plus a here. It turns the lamp drive pin (P1) onTime = onTime / 4;
holder come together as a kit. Howev- on and off with delays in between offTime = offTime / 4;
er, while choosing it, check its ‘beam set by the pot connected to analogue if (onTime > 12) {
angle’ specs—the angle over which input A1 (P2). In order to get much digitalWrite(headLamp, HIGH); }
the light would be distributed. Narrow better strobes, however, a bit of com- delay(onTime);
beam angles (for example 40°) have plex math is applied in an interest- if (onTime < 250){
a tight beam of light and wide beam ing way to fine-tune the time delay digitalWrite(headLamp, LOW); }
angles (around 120°) have a larger function. delay(offTime);
coverage for wide area lighting.
Also note that a clear lens provides
a crisp-edged beam of light and a dif-
fused lens offers a more uniform light efy Note T.K. Hareendran is an
output, especially when multiple The source code electronics designer, hardware
lamps are used. beta tester, author, and
of this project product reviewer
Warning. Sometimes strobe light- is available
for free download
www.EFYMag.com at source.efymag.com electronics For You • June 2021 57
 Do-It-Yourself
EF Y
vedi
Dwi
S.C.

Tricolour Led Nameplate Vinaya Kumar K.

With Arduino

N
ameplates are generally made is for red colour,
of wood, acrylic sheet, or GND another for green,
BICO1 BICO2 BICO3
a metal and fixed on a wall and the third is
or kept on desk. The author’s pro- a common cath-
totype of an acrylic nameplate that POWER USB ode. The image of
INPUT
can display the name of a person, a bicolour LED is
designation, the department in office, IOREF
DRIVER AREF R1 shown in Fig. 3.
GND
or house number, etc, in tricolour is RST 13 R3 R5 Arduino Uno
ARDUINO
shown in Fig. 1. 3.3V
5V
12
11
is an open source
development
Circuit and working
GND 10
GND
Vin
9
8 R6
board based on
Circuit diagram of the tricolour LED AT m e g a 3 2 8 P
ATMEGA328

R2 R4
name plate is shown in Fig. 2. It can 7
microcontroller.
be built around Arduino Uno board 6 It has fourteen
DIGITAL

A0 5
(Board1) and three bicolour LEDs A1 4
digital I/O pins of
ANALOG

(BICO1-BICO2). A2 3 which six can be

A3 2
First, all the name plate letters A4 TX 1 used as PWM out-
BOARD1 R1− R6 = 220E
glow in red colour, one by one from A5 RX 0
ARDUINO UNO puts, six as ana-
left to right. The colour changes from BICO1 − BICO3 = BICOLOUR LED
logue input pins,
red to yellow and then from yellow to a USB connection,
green, one by one from left to right. Fig. 2: Tricolour LED nameplate circuit a power jack, an
The circuit uses bicolour LEDs, ICSP header, and
not tricolour, whose red and green reset button. Nameplate sequence
colours make yellow colour when is obtained by a program written in
combined. The LEDs’ one terminal Arduino programming language using
Arduino IDE. The source code tricol-
our.ino is uploaded to the Arduino
board.
Construction and testing
Assemble the circuit on a breadboard
or veroboard. Carve out the name-
plate details on a black acrylic sheet
Fig. 3: Bicolour LED (see Fig. 4) and fix the LEDs inside
the acrylic box. When the circuit is
switched on, the bicolour LEDs will
Vinay serve as backlight.
a Ku Give 5V DC supply available from
NIE InEEE Depa mar K.
stitute rtm a laptop or desktop to Arduino board
of Tec ent
hnolo through a USB cable. Then upload
gy
Fig. 1: Author’s prototype
the source code tricolour.ino to the
board. On switching the circuit on, the
Parts List Fig. 4: An acrylic nameplate colours of the nameplate will change
Semiconductors: as per sequence described above.
Board1 - Arduino Uno
BiCO1-BiCO3 - 3-pin bicolour common-
cathode LED Vinaya Kumar K. is an
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon): efy Note instructor in EEE Department
R1-R6 - 220-ohm The source code of of NIE Institute of Technology,
Mysuru (Karnataka)
this project is available
for free download
at source.efymag.com
58 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com
 EF Y Do-It-Yourself
o
i The
San

Animal Classification With RPi Camera Ashwini Kumar Sinha

For Survey And Monitoring

H
unting continues to make
many animal species extinct,
and the governments are
unable to do much except introducing
some laws and conducting regular
surveys. But conducting a survey is
not an easy task, especially without
the help of technology.
The smart camera in this project
uses Python code that has pre-
trained TensorFlow models for forest
monitoring and survey. The models
help us in matching and mapping
the image in frame with the model’s
trained data and thus in identifying
those animals.
The images of elephants being
detected with the help of author’s pro- Fig. 1: Elephants being captured by author’s prototype
totype is shown in Fig. 1. The author’s
prototype that uses a Raspberry Pi (or
RPi) with a camera module is shown
in Fig. 2.
The Raspberry Pi captures a video
image using the camera, then using
the OpenCV module it cuts the video
into frames. Next, using OpenCV and
other modules, it processes the image
of detected species and maps it with
a category and pre-trained detection
model. If the detected animal species
is not there in the category list, it
gives the output as ‘none’ and saves
that image with data and timestamp
in database folder so that it can be
studied later. Fig. 2: Author’s prototype
If the detected animal species
matches with any of the animals
listed in new.pbtxt database, it identi-
fies the name of the animal and saves
it in text file forestdb.txt with time and
date. It also saves the image of that
animal with a time stamp in another
folder for future reference.
In this way the smart camera
keeps track and creates a database
with pictures of animals present in
a forest. It can also help in studying
animal behaviour and the presence
and growth of flora and fauna in the
forest. Fig. 3: Object_detection folder

www.EFYMag.com electronics FOR YOU • JUNE 2021 59

 Do-It-Yourself
Bill of Materials Table 1 Coding
Component name Quantity Description Approx. Cost (`) It is assumed that you have Raspberry
Raspberry Pi 4/Zero W 1 Any version of RPi 4,500 Pi (RPi) ready with Raspbian OS and
RPi camera 1 Camera module 300 Python IDE and have access to the
HDMI/RCA cable 1 For video output 200 RPi desktop either with VNC or HDMI
based display. (Note. We are using
Wires Depends For connection 30
Python3 Environment and the code is
Total cost 5,030 compatible with Python3 and above
versions only.) So, we may start with
the installation of modules and librar-
ies for this project.
Open the Linux terminal on your
Raspberry Pi and install the required
libraries using following commands:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo nano /etc/dphys-swapfile

Change the line CONF_SWAPSIZE=100

to CONF_SWAPSIZE=1024
Continue with the following com-
mands:
sudo /etc/init.d/dphys-swapfile stop
sudo /etc/init.d/dphys-swapfile start

sudo pip3 install opencv

Fig. 4: Code with modules and libraries sudo pip3 install numpy
wget https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py
pip3 install dlib
pip3 install tensorflow

Fig. 5: Defining path for the new label file

Fig. 6: Saving the detected image with timestamp in a defined path folder

Fig. 8: Creating category of animals/species for

Fig. 7: Creating file named New.pbtxt under data folder display in New.pbtxt

60 JUNE 2021 • electronics FOR YOU www.EFYMag.com

 EFY Note
Do-It-Yourself
The source code of this
After installation of the libraries tensorflow.git project is available
using above-mentioned commands, git clone https://github.com/tensorflow/ for free download
you can proceed with the cloning of models at source.efymag.com
TF modules, examples, and files using After successfully cloning, go to
the following commands: the directory→research→object_
git clone https://github.com/tensorflow/ detection→detect.py file in Python
IDE (see Fig. 3). Now under- next part of the code stores the output
stand and change the code. of detection result in a string variable
The first part of the code called ‘NAME.’ Then we have the code
has the required library and that marks the detected image name
modules, as shown in Fig. 4. with date and time.
We have to set the path of the Next, we have a conditional state-
text file that has the category ment that checks the output result of
names of species/animals for detection. If the condition of the result
detection. Here we have set the of detection is not ‘[ ]’ then it saves
category labels in New.pbtx the result with date and time in a text
Fig. 9: Detected animals file, as shown in Fig. 5. The file. The next part of the code saves
the detected image in ‘databasefolder’
folder. Here you can change the path
for image storage as per your choice
(see Fig. 6) and then save the code.
Go to the data folder and create a
file named New.pbtxt (see Fig. 7) and
label with IDs for different animal
species for detection and display (see
Fig. 8).
Testing
After finishing the coding part, con-
nect the camera module to Raspberry
Pi camera port using a ribbon cable,
as shown in the prototype. Open the
code in Python IDLE and run the script
forestsurvayfinal2.py and wait for a
few minutes so that it can load all the
tensor flow modules. This will open a
new window with the camera video
output.
Bring the camera in front of the
Fig. 10: The contents of forestdb.txt file animal such as a cow, sheep, etc to
be identified. Whenever an animal
appears in the camera frame, the
detected image will be processed by
the computer and saved in a text file.
It will save that frame in the database-
folder with date and timestamp. Ani-
mals captured by the camera in photo
frame are shown in Fig. 9.
Open the forestdb.txt file to see the
list of species/animals detected along
with time and date (see Fig. 10). If
you want to see the images/pictures
of those detected animals, open data-
basefolder and click on each image file
having the date and time of capture
(see Fig. 11).

Ashwini Kumar Sinha is an electronics

hobbyist and tech journalist at EFYi
Fig. 11: The images of detected animals stored in databasefolder

www.EFYMag.com electronics FOR YOU • JUNE 2021 61

 Do-It-Yourself
EF Y
vedi
Dwi
S.C.

GPS Based Dot-Matrix Kamal Das

Display Clock

P
resented here is an LED based 2D in Fig. 2. It uses two Arduino Nano Maxim Integrated whose operating
matrix display clock. There are a boards (Board1 and Board2), a NEO voltage is 4V to maximum of 5.5V. Its
number of technologies used to 6M GPS module, and a readymade 8x8 pin 19 is for power supply, pins 4 and
create various displays in use today. dot-matrix display board. 9 are for ground, pin 1 for Data In,
The basic display systems we know Note that the system works with pin 12 for Load, and pin 13 for Serial
are segment displays, 2D displays, 3D two different Arduino boards, one Clock. (The pin details are not shown
displays, and also mechanical displays. of which (Board2) controls the dot- here.) Pin 24 is Data Out pin for for-
The LED display is a flat panel display matrix display and the other (Board1) warding the data to other segments.
which uses an array of LEDs as pixels. generates serial clock data from GPS Interfacing Arduino with display.
This project is for making a GPS based module at TX1 pin and feeds to RX0 Arduino Nano (Board2) is preferred
LED dot-matrix clock. The EFY Lab’s pin of Board2. for interfacing; it has a USB interface
prototype is shown in Fig. 1. The project has four sections: 8x8 to connect to PC or laptop. First install
dot-matrix display, display driver, Arduino IDE and connect Arduino
Circuit and working interfacing of Arduino Nano board Nano to USB port of the PC. Open the
Circuit diagram of the GPS based with dot-matrix, and GPS module. Arduino sketch/program (EFYlabma-
dot-matrix display clock is shown Dot matrix display. The ready- trixdisplay.ino), then include librar-
made 4-in-1, 8x8 ies from Manage Libraries option.
display board (DIS1) Search for MD_Parola 2.7.4 and MD_
shown in Fig. 3 is MAX72XX 2.10.0 libraries and install
well integrated and them. Now, upload the Arduino code
comes with five pins (EFYlabmatrixdisplay.ino) to Board1.
(Vcc, GND, CLK, CS, As you can see from circuit in Fig. 2,
and Data). The whole CLK pin of display module (DIS1) is
module comes in four connected to pin 13 (D13) of Board2,
8x8 common-cathode Data pin to pin 11, CS pin to pin 10,
dot-matrix form with GND to GND pin, and Vcc pin to +5V
each dot-matrix driven pin of Arduino Nano (Board2).
by MAX7219 IC. Interfacing Arduino with GPS.
Display driver. Here the other Arduino Nano (Board1)
The display driver is used for calculating and parsing the
Fig. 1: EFY lab’s prototype IC MAX7219 is from GPS data received through the NEO
6M GPS module. The program (efylab-
BOARD1 = ARDUINO NANO BOARD2 = ARDUINO NANO GPSclock.ino) written in Arduino pro-
gramming language is compiled using
CON2
Arduino IDE. Open Arduino IDE,
D13
USB
D12 D13
USB
D12
FOR DIS1 open the sketch, then include library
3V3 D11 3V3 D11
REF D10 REF D10
MODULE
CLK
from Manage Libraries option. Search
A0
A1
D9
D8
A0
A1
D9
D8
CS for tinyGPS++ by Mikal Hart that
CON1
FOR GPS A2 D7 A2 D7
DATA
GND
provides object oriented analysing of
6M MODULE
A3
A4
D6
D5
A3
A4
D6
D5
VCC NMEA data to Arduino. Click install
GND A5 D4 A5 D4 Tiny GPS++ from Manage Libraries
TX A6
A7
D3
D2
A6
A7
D3
D2
window. You also need softwareSerial
RX
5V GND 5V GND CON1
VCC BOARD2
RST BOARD1 RST RST RST
FOR
GND RX0 GND RX0
5V
ICSP

ICSP

VIN TX1 VIN TX1

GND
efy Note
The source code
of this project
Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of GPS based dot-matrix display clock is available
for free download
at source.efymag.com
62 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com
 Do-It-Yourself

Fig. 3: Readymade 4-in-1 8x8 dot-matrix display board Fig. 4: NEO 6M GPS module

Parts List the code using correct serial COM port Finally, if everything is okay and
and Arduino board. The serial out is the programs are uploaded to respec-
Semiconductors:
available in serial port at 9600 baud. tive Arduino boards, switch on the
Board1, Board2 - Arduino Nano
DIS1 - 8×8 dot-matrix display
In the code, GPS time is set to UTC power supply and wait for the GPS
module time by adding 05:30 IST for Indian to connect to satellite. Once connec-
GPS - NEO 6M GPS module time zone. (The time will show up tion is established, the dot-matrix
with antenna with an interval which can be delayed display will show the current date
- 5V, 2A DC power supply or changed through the program code.) and time.
- Jumper wires Here, NEO 6M GPS module is con-
nected to Arduino Board1. Again, TX1
library for this project. After installing pin of Board1 is connected to RX0 pin Kamal Das is a track maintainer
all the libraries, compile the source of Arduino Board2. The GPS module in Eastern Railways and is also
an electronics hobbyist
code (efylabGPSclock.ino) and upload used during testing is shown in Fig. 4.

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 Do-It-Yourself
EF Y
vedi
Dwi
S.C.

DC Motor Bidirectional Control Pamarthi Kanakaraja

With TV Remote

T
his project describes how a DC or DVD remote control. The goal is infrared (IR) 38kHz pulse train for the
motor can be moved in forward to construct a simple bi-directional purpose without using any microcon-
or reverse direction using a TV motor driver that uses modulated troller or programming.
The author’s prototype is shown
in Fig. 1.
Circuit and working
Circuit diagram of the project is shown
in Fig. 2. It is built around IR receiver
module TSOP1738 (IRRX1), decade
counter 4017B (IC2), motor driver
L293D (IC3), PNP transistor BC557
(T1), two BC547 NPN transistors (T2
and T3), 5V regulated power supply
(IC1), and a 9V battery.
The 9V battery is connected
through diode D1 to voltage regulator
7805 to generate 5V DC required for

Truth Table Table 1

of L293D Motor Driver
Cases IN1 IN2 Motor status
O0 - high 1 1 Off state
O1 - high 0 1 Forward direction
O2 - high 1 1 Off state
O3 - high 1 0 Reverse direction
Fig. 1: Author’s prototype Q4 - high (Reset) 1 1 Off state

IRRX1
TSOP 3 R4
O0
1738 1K
16 VDD
O1 2
1 2 3
R5
GND
VCC
O/P

4
T1 15
O2 1K
RESET 9 1 16 8
R1 C1 BC557 7
O3 EN2 EN1 VCC VREF
47E 4.7u T2 15 11
14 CLK
IC2 IN4 OUT3
16V O4 10 BC547 10 14
4017B IN3 IC3 OUT4
C3 1 7 M1
IC1 R2 13 O5 IN2 L293D OUT2 6
1 3 1u CLK EN
2
150K R6 IN1 3
D1 7805 16V O6 5
GND GND GND GND
OUT1
1K
1N4007 12 CO 13 12 5
2 O7 6 4
R3
1K 9
BATT.1 8 O8
R7 M1 = 5V DC MOTOR
Vss
9V C2 O9 11 1K
100u LED1
16V T3
CLOCK
BC547
PULSE

GND

Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of the DC motor driver

64 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Do-It-Yourself

Fig. 3: Actual-size PCB layout Fig. 4: Components layout of the PCB

Parts List When the remote’s key is released, R6, which means input terminals IN1
capacitor C3 discharges through resis- and IN2 of IC3 become high. At this
Semiconductors:
IC1 - 7805, 5V voltage regulator
tor R2 and the clock line becomes stage, the motor is again in off state.
IC2 - 4017B decade counter zero. So every time the user presses Case 4. When a key is pressed once
IC3 - L293D motor driver and releases a key on the remote, the more, the fourth pulse arriving at CLK
D1 - 1N4007 rectifier diode counter receives a single pulse at its line increments the counter by one for
LED1 - 5mm LED
T1 - BC557 PNP transistor clock input and LED1 glows to confirm the fourth time. Now O3 output of IC2
T2, T3 - BC547 NPN transistor that the pulse has been received. goes high, while the remaining outputs
IRRX1 - TSOP1738 IR receiver During operation there can be five are low, so transistor T3 conducts.
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon): possibilities: Which means the voltage at collector of
R1 - 47-ohm
R2 - 150-kilo-ohm Case 1. When the remote’s key T2 becomes high (IN1 of IC3) and volt-
R3-R7 - 1-kilo-ohm is pressed, the first pulse arrives and age at the collector of T3 becomes low
Capacitors: the O0 output of decade counter (IC2) (IN2 of IC3). So, inputs IN1 and IN2 of
C1 - 4.7µF, 16V electrolytic goes high while pins O1 through O9 IC3 are at 1 and 0 levels, respectively.
C2 - 100µF, 16V electrolytic
C3 - 1µF, 16V electrolytic
are low, which means transistors T2 In this condition, the motor rotates in
Miscellaneous: and T3 are in cut-off state. The collec- reverse direction.
BATT.1 - 9V battery tors of both the transistors are pulled Case 5. When a key is pressed for
M1 - 5V/12V DC motor to high state by 1-kilo-ohm resistors fifth time, the fifth pulse arriving at
- Jumper wire
- 16-pin IC socket
(R4 and R6), so both the input ter- CLK line increments the counter by one
- Heat-sink for IC1 minals IN1 and IN2 of motor driver once again. Since O4 (pin 10 of IC2) is
L293D (IC3) become high. At this wired to Reset input pin 15 of the IC2,
stage, the motor is in off state. pressing for the fifth time brings the
the project. Capacitor C2 (100µF, 16V) Case 2. When a key is pressed decade counter IC back to power-on-
is used for ripple rejection. again, the second pulse arriving at reset condition with O0 high.
Under normal condition, output CLK line increments the counter by Thus, the circuit operates as a
pin 3 of IR module IRRX1 is at logic one. That is, when the second pulse bi-directional motor driver that is
high, which means transistor T1 con- arrives, O1 output of IC2 goes high, controlled with an infrared remote
nected to it is cut-off and so its collector while the remaining outputs are low. control.
terminal is at logic low. The collector So, transistor T2 conducts and T3 is
of T1 drives the clock pulse of decade cut-off. Which means the voltage at Construction and testing
counter IC2. collector of T2 goes low (IN1 of IC3) The circuit can be assembled on a
On pointing the remote towards and voltage at collector of T3 becomes Veroboard or a PCB whose actual-size
IR module and pressing any key, the high (IN2 of IC3) and the inputs IN1 layout is shown in Fig. 3. The com-
module receives the 38kHz IR pulses and IN2 of motor driver IC3 become 0 ponents layout for the PCB is shown
from the remote control. These pulses and 1, respectively. In this condition, in Fig. 4.
are inverted at the collector of T1 and the motor rotates in forward direction. After assembling the circuit, con-
given to clock input pin 14 of decade Case 3. When a key is pressed nect 9V battery across BATT.1. Refer
counter IC2. once again, the third pulse arriving at the Truth Table (Table 1) for opera-
The arriving IR pulses increment the CLK line increments the counter by tion and follow the steps described in
decade counter at the same rate (38kHz) one again. So O2 output of IC2 goes Case 1 through Case 5 above.
but because of the presence of RC filter high. As nothing is connected to O2
(R2=150k and C3=1µF) at clock input pin and output pins O1 and O3 are
pin 14 of IC2, the train of pulses appears low, so both transistors T2 and T3 go Pamarthi Kanakaraja is an
as a single pulse at the counter. Thus, on to cut-off state. Collector terminals of assistant professor (R&D cell) at
pressing each key, the counter advances both the transistors are pulled to high K.L. University, Vaddeswaram,
Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
by a single count only. state by 1-kilo-ohm resistors R4 and

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 65

 Chip Shortage Till Q2 of 2022
The worldwide semiconductor shortage will persist through 2021, and is expected to recover to normal levels by
the second quarter of 2022, according to Gartner, Inc.

1Q 21 2Q 21 3Q 21 4Q 21 1Q 22 2Q 22 3Q 22 4Q 22

Source: www.gartner.com

MediaTek Closes Gap with Qualcomm

MediaTek is poised to dominate the overall smartphone chipset market in 2021 while Qualcomm is expected to do the same in fast-growing
5G smartphone chipset market. The competition has never been so fierce, as MediaTek has narrowed the gap with Qualcomm

4G Mass Market/Low-Tier 5G Mainstream/High-Tier 5G Flagship/Premium-Tier

Smartphone SoC Capacity by Process Node and Foundry

Samsung
Apple
(millions of units)

MediaTek MediaTek Advantage

MediaTek

Advantage
Apple
Apple

Samsung

Samsung

Qualcomm Qualcomm Qualcomm Qualcomm Qualcomm

12nm 8/10/11/14nm 7/6nm 7nm 5/4nm 5nm

tsmc Samsung tsmc Samsung tsmc Samsung

Source: Counterpoint Research

66 JUNE 2021 • electronics FOR YOU www.EFYMag.com

At-a-glance view of key industry trends that
can shape the future of your business…

PCs Record High Growth in India

Company 1Q 21 Shipments 1Q 21 Market Share 1Q 20 Shipments 1Q 20 Market Share Year-over-Year Unit Change (1Q 21 vs 1Q 20)
1. HP Inc. 1,023 32.9% 506 28.2% 102.1%
2. Dell Technologies 677 21.8% 466 25.9% 45.4%
3. Lenovo 624 20.1% 360 20.0% 73.4%
4. Acer Group 240 7.7% 218 12.1% 10.5%
5. Asus* 169 5.4% 92 5.1% 83.9%
5. Apple* 167 5.4% 38 2.1% 335.5%
Others 211 6.8% 117 6.5% 79.5%
Total 3,111 100.0% 1,797 100.0% 73.1%
India PC Market, Top Five Companies, Market Share, Year-over-Year Growth 1Q21 (Shipments in thousands of units)
A total of 3.1 million PCs were shipped, recording the highest ever first-quarter shipments to India. Notebooks remained the driving category with more than
three-fourths share of the PC category, registering a stellar 116.7% YoY growth in the first quarter of 2021. Additionally, the desktop category remained steady and
showed initial signs of recovery. (Source: IDC)

Four-Wheeler EVs Grow 52.9% YoY in India

India sold 236,803 electric vehicles in FY 20-21, which is 1.3 percent of the total vehicles sold during the period.
E2W (electric 2-wheeler) segment contributed 60.7 percent of the sales. E2W and E3W, both saw a decline in sales,
while E4W (electric 4-wheeler) segment registered 52.9 percent growth in sales over FY 19-20

80% 60%
EV Sales contribution in India (FY 20-21) 52.9%

1.3% 60.7% 40%

60%
20%

40% 37.3% 0%
-5.4%
98.7% -20%
20%
-37.2% -40%
Electric Vehicles 1.9%
Other Fuel Vehicles 0% -60%
E2W E3W E4W
Sales Growth

Source: TechArc

Each Tech Giant Acquired at least one AI Company in 2020

In 2020, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon (FAMGA) collectively acquired over a dozen artificial intelligence start-ups
to enhance existing products and enter new markets. Historically, many of FAMGA’s prominent products and services have come out
of acquisitions of AI companies—such as Apple’s FaceID or Google’s contributions to healthcare through DeepMind

Scape Mapillary
Technologies Deeptide
Facebook
Xnor.ai Dark Sky Voysis Inductiv Scout Vilynx
Apple
CyberX Orions Systems
Microsoft
AppSheet
Google
Zoox
Amazon
Jan-20 April-20 July-20 Oct-20

Source: www.cbinsights.com

www.EFYMag.com electronics FOR YOU • JUNE 2021 67

 My Story

The Most Important Lesson

In Life Is Learning To Lose
Gracefully
It takes a lot of guts to seek a warrant to conduct
income tax raid on a person who is the 150th
most wealthy person in the world, and the guts
need to be super strong when you know that
this person has very influential connections
in the political circles of India. Saurabh Kumar,
Executive Vice Chairperson, Energy Efficiency
Services Limited (EESL) Group, during his tenure
as an Indian Revenue Services officer, did not
think twice before seeking such a warrant,
and despite a lot of influential people warning
him against doing so, he went ahead and
conducted the raid.
Later, he went on to draw on paper what
EESL would look like. Despite being one
of the brains behind EESL, he decided
not to take a position in the same as
CEO, as some would call it a selfish
move. Today, he is making sure
that EESL delivers on saving the
environment, and at the same
is helping entrepreneurs
in their business. This is
Saurabh Kumar’s
story!

Saurabh Kumar
Executive Vice Chairperson,
By: Mukul Energy Efficiency Services
Yudhveer Singh Limited (EESL) Group

68 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 My Story

B
orn and brought up in
Prayagraj (known as Allahabad
back then), Kumar belongs to a
middle-class family. Good in academ-
ics, Kumar learned the true meaning
of hard work and honesty from his
grandfather, who was a government
servant. There was no business ele-
ment in Kumar’s family.
“There is no legacy you can hang
on to, no wealth you can turn back
to, to be successful and give your life
its true meaning. The only choice is
to work hard. The basic thing and
requirement is to be honest with
yourself. There is no substitute for
hard work, and if you do not do hard
work, life will become very hard for
you,” says Kumar, recalling the advice
he received from his grandfather and
father.
Kumar learnt the above-mentioned
fact of life at a very young age. Most Saurabh Kumar and cricket
of the learnings like this came to him
through his grandfather. He is proud years old when his grandfather retired. 1989 and was all set to go abroad for
of the fact that his grandfather was The things that he recalls from those work,” recalls Kumar.
respected by one and all, not because days include his grandfather’s official Amazingly, around fifty of his
he was a government servant but car not showing up any more on the batchmates from IIT Kanpur are work-
because he was honest and listened door, but other government officials’ ing outside India and are getting paid
to problems people faced on profes- cars coming and leaving their house handsomely well. And the person who
sional as well as personal level. His every day. These were the people did not want to be in the government
grandfather was posted as deputy who came looking for advice from his gave five competitive exams for gov-
commissioner with the India Customs grandfather and he never said no to ernment jobs and cleared one of the
department before retiring from the anyone when it came to personal or toughest ones out there - the coveted
job. As is well known, this designation professional help. Civil Services!
gives a lot of power to an individual. “My grandfather was one of the The inspiration to drop his dream
“A lot of government servants most competent officers back in the of working abroad and giving the
forget that people respect them 1970’s. To top it all, he was honest, UPSC Civil Services exam came from
because they are sitting in an impor- and I think being competent and being his mother. He cleared the UPSC exam
tant chair. People mostly respect the honest at the same time is a rare trait in his second attempt and got posted
chair and not the individual. An indi- in people,” he says with pride about in the Indian Revenue Services (IRS)
vidual earns respect beyond that chair his grandfather. team. If you have heard of income
by proving his professional worth and tax raids, you must know it is the IRS
through good behaviour. My grand- Never wanted to be officers that make them possible.
father was one such individual, who a government servant “I was all set to leave India when
earned respect by excelling at what he Despite most of Kumar’s family my late mother inspired me to try
did,” says Kumar, who is now the vice working in the government, he never my hands at the civil services exami-
chairperson of EESL. thought of being in the government nation. Initial plan was to try the
He adds, “The chair I am sitting on service. After finishing his schooling, exams at least once. People who have
today is not permanent for me, but if he passed several entrance exams and appeared in the exams know the rigors
I am able to earn respect from people got admitted to the Indian Institute of associated with the exams. Today,
through professional competence, that Technology (IIT), Kanpur. And, while when I look back at those days, I have
will last forever.” he does not say so, probably his love no regrets. Instead I am all thanks to
Kumar never had the opportunity for energy-efficient devices started my mother who inspired me to take on
to visit his grandfather’s office with there while he was pursuing Electrical the exams,” shares Kumar laughingly.
him. However, he does remember and Electronics Engineering. Kumar at that time had enrolled as
officials from the government visit- “To be very honest, landing a gov- a research associate with IIT Kanpur
ing his house, after his grandfather ernment job was never on my To Do but was seeking to head outside India.
retired, to seek suggestions and advice list. Actually, I did not want to be in He is quite sure that if not UPSC, he
about work. Kumar was around ten the government at all. I graduated in would have been working outside

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 69

 My Story
did not leave any room to take up read-
ing any other kind of books. But once
he started pursuing his masters in
Japan, he was able to find more time
for reading. What caught his attention
in books and content? Well, anything
and everything around environment
and its sustainability!
Jared Diamond’s work in the book
titled ‘Collapse: How Societies Choose
to Fail or Succeed’ has moved him a lot
and allowed him to see what happens
in the world with a new perspective.
This book is known for its coverage
of economic and environmental dis-
asters.
“Jared Diamond in this book talks
about the Amazon Forest. A phrase
that he uses in the book is Landscape
Amnesia. He explains how a part of
the forest goes on to be completely
degraded in just ten years of time,
damaged in a way that it has almost
become impossible to replenish it.
Such things leading to collapse is all
that book is about,” Kumar explains
about the book.
The greatest lesson that this book
taught him is that rather than looking
at everyday things, we as humans
should pay close attention to what
should be preserved and when it
should be preserved. The book tells
Saurabh Kumar in office great tales of why civilisations fail due
to landscape amnesia. This is where I
India in a technical role. If at all Kumar to find time for watching anything on could connect the dots between him
was to change anything from his early TV. But I was into a lot of reading,” trying super hard to make EESL a hit
days, he would like to stop being an says Kumar. in India and beyond. Kumar seems
introvert. Kumar, in fact, is into lot of reading greatly concerned about saving energy
since his childhood. He was a fond because it, in turn, saves the environ-
R.K. Laxman, Amitabh reader of the work by Alistair Mclean ment.
Bachchan, and Cricket and Sydney Sheldon till his ninth More proof of his concern for
The first time Kumar got any access to standard in school. He, however, start- environment comes through another
a television set was when he was sev- ed giving more time to preparation for book and the documentary based on
enteen years of age. His family did not entrance exams for IIT after the tenth the book, which is close to his heart.
own a TV before that. Kumar recalls standard. Allahabad, as a city, was The name of this book is ‘Guns, Germs
that he used to wait for the newspaper not particularly known for any kind and Steel.’ BBC made the documentary
every day to see the cartoons made of entrance exam coaching back in based on this book authored by Jared
by R.K. Laxman. Though he was the 1980s, and most of the preparation Diamond. The book is a portrayal of
also fond of other cartoon series like that Kumar did was through school the Latin American history. It tells
Asterix, R.K. Laxman continues to and on his own. how Europeans were able to take
remain his favourite. Kumar stopped “The eleventh and twelfth stand- control of the Latin American region
watching movies in 1990 after he ards were only about studies and by using guns, germs (biological war-
stopped liking the work of his favour- nothing else. The only recreational fare!), and steel.
ite actor Amitabh Bachchan. activity that I did in these classes Kumar’s favourite sports now
“I was seventeen when we got was playing cricket,” says Kumar. His happen to be tennis and golf. Tennis
our first TV, so there was no chance favourite cricketers till date happen to because it gives him an hour away
of watching cartoons or anything else be England’s David Gower and India’s from work every morning, and golf
on TV before that. Then I got admit- Sunil Gavaskar. is something that he wants to pursue
ted to IIT Kanpur and was never able He recalls that the syllabus at IIT more after he retires. He, like some

70 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 www.opensourceforu.com

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 My Story
CBI calling me and asking me how I
Some less known facts about Saurabh Kumar can do this and join the Power Minis-
try and not them? The rule was that if
Favourite Book: Collapse by Jared Diamond
you do not go on deputation then you
Favourite Sports: Tennis and Golf
are not allowed to apply for deputation
Favourite Cricketer: David Gower, Kapil Dev, and Sunil Gavaskar for next five years, and this is how my
Favourite Actor: Amitabh Bachchan professional innings changed from
Favourite Actress: Saira Baanu IRS to the Power Ministry,” explains
Favourite Food: Handi Mutton and Kebabs Kumar.
Hobbies: Tennis, Golf, and Cooking He then went on to work with the
Power Ministry and the Bureau of
of us out there, relates sports to pro- “An income tax raid has to be Energy Efficiency. Kumar was working
fessional and personal life, and has coordinated in a way that every official with the Power Ministry when he went
learned to implement the learnings strikes the individual or the institution to Japan to study for masters degree.
from the four sports he has played to be raided at the same time. These
keenly. Cricket has taught him the raids that we were going to conduct United Nations and walking
importance of being a team player, were not simple as we were going to away from EESL
tennis and badminton have taught raid the 150th most rich person on the Soon after working with the Power
him to be fully focused on the task at Forbes list at that time. This person’s Ministry and BEE, Kumar landed a job
hand, and golf has taught him to be father was known to have lunch at with the prestigious United Nations
patient in life. least once a month with the then (UN). He was working with the UN
His greatest learning in life, how- Prime Minister of India,” says Kumar. in Bangkok when the government of
ever, comes from all the sports, and Yes, he did raid one of the richest India asked him if he was interested in
it is, “Learning to lose,” in his own persons back in 2000-01, despite a lot working with EESL. He requested the
words. One knows the true meaning of pressure from many places. This government of India for six months
of winning when one understands and incident once again proved to him before joining EESL. And how was
learns what losing is like. “If you learn why men who are competent and his experience working with the UN?
to lose gracefully, you learn to enjoy honest at the same time are difficult Landing a job with the United
the game and how to take decisions on to find, but those with these quali- Nations is a dream for many civil
the go,” he explains. ties really make big in life. Atal Bihari servants. The job offers perks that no
Vajpayee ji was the prime minister other job in the world can match. You
Raid on the 150th most rich (PM) at that time, and despite the PM get a salary that is not only unmatch-
The journey of Kumar, from being a being a close friend of the father of the able but is also not taxable, children’s
respected and looked upon IRS officer person Kumar was seeking a raid war- education is funded by the UN, you get
to becoming the executive vice chair- rant for, Vajpayee ji did not shy away diplomatic status, a blue passport, and
person of EESL, has been a phenom- from granting him that warrant. a lot of other things.
enal one. His fellow colleagues often “That day I learned from the “Joining EESL would mean I will
refer to him as “Jack of all trades and prime minister that if you are able to have to leave two other jobs and join
master of none.” However, a close segregate your personal life from your an organisation that had a turnover
look at what he has done in life shows professional life, you become success- of five crore (50 million) rupees and
on the contrary that he has been a ful. But that is something not usually twelve employees back in 2012-13. Yet
master of everything he has done. found out there,” explains Kumar. I left my job with the IRS and with the
“I joined the tax department in Kumar and his team went on to UN and decided to work with and for
Delhi in 1994. I worked on various conduct raids at this person’s premises EESL,” explains Kumar.
things during the next seven-eight and seized more than two billion (200 Like most of the civil servants,
years. At the end of eight years, most crore) rupees. He was also able to find Kumar was also excited about the
of the civil servants apply for deputa- details about how this person and work that UN did, and he joined
tion. This deputation is in one of the his company had drawn money out the same under UN’s environment
ministries. I had also applied for the of a public financial institution. The programme. His starting salary with
deputation and got selected as Deputy income tax department, in the process the UN was 10,000 dollars a month.
Secretary, Finance, in the Power Min- of these income tax raids, had to call This salary was also non-taxable. He
istry,” shares Kumar. in CBI. Inspired by the way Kumar started working around the 1K Proto-
However, there was this incidence worked, one of the directors showed col with the UN. For information, this
that everyone should know before we interest in getting Kumar transferred protocol and the work done around
speak more about Kumar’s innings to the CBI from the IRS. However, as the same is one of the most successful
with and after the Power Ministry. Kumar had already applied for depu- programmes ever run by the UN. The
The incident started with Kumar and tation with the Power Ministry, he got programme addressed ozone layer
his team doing more than 110 income the role of deputy secretary with the healing and controlling the amount of
tax raids in the country in a span of ministry. chloro-fluoro carbons being released
two years. “I remember the special director of in air.

72 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 My Story
Kumar was responsible for taking
care of the funding and achieving the
targets set by various governments
in Asia in terms of healing the ozone
layer and lowering the amount of
chloro-fluoro carbons in the air. The
work was quite exciting, as per Kumar,
as it gave him a chance to be close
to the environment and save it from
collapsing.
“One thing I realised while work-
ing with the UN is that you are as good
as your national counterpart is. If the
national counterpart does not work,
you cannot work either. It is also my
personal opinion that organisations
such as the UN are overstaffed. This
leads to a lot of duplicity in the work,”
explains Kumar.
He adds, “For example UN, UNDP,
UNICEF, and the World Bank are all
doing the same thing, but it is the
money of the people that is funding
these organisations.”
He started finding that he had not
enough work to do at the UN. He,
however, worked for one-and-a-half
years more with the UN to make sure Saurabh Kumar in kitchen
that his work justified everything he
was getting from the organisation. Love at IRS and two daughters want them to do and would be happy
This was also the time when he had to see them do.”
an open offer from the World Bank to Kumar is married to Anupama Anand, When free, Kumar loves to cook
leave the UN and start working with whom he met while being trained for Handi Mutton using an earthen pot
them. But he refused! IRS at an academy in Nagpur. His wife over fire originating from cow dung.
This is where Kumar actually is currently posted as Commissioner of His colleagues at EESL consider the
revealed the brains behind what all Income Tax in the Delhi region. Kumar Handi Mutton cooked by him an abso-
EESL does today. Kumar and his then says his wife is his biggest support. On lute delight. And the person who was
boss sat together to propose forming being asked how he proposed his wife once an introvert has now transformed
the EESL. Both of them spoke to Anil for the marriage and how love struck, into what they call the soul of a party.
Rajdhan and chartered out a business he answers in the words of Shake- He never misses a chance to crack
plan around EESL. Kumar was the one speare and says, “Love looks not with jokes and make everybody around
who had written the plan for setting the eyes but with the mind and there- him laugh.
up EESL. fore is winged Cupid painted blind.” All this would have not been pos-
“The plan then was written by Anupama Anand has humanities sible without the support Kumar gets
PwC in a formal way. Initially, when educational background and so must from his wife. “I have been work-
the company was formed around 2010, have read a lot of work of Shake- ing continuously for the last eight
the ministry wanted me to join as CEO. speare. Their elder daughter gradu- years, and my wife and daughters
I politely declined the offer because ated from the USA and is now working have stood by me in every decision I
everybody knew that I was one of the in a digital marketing start-up in Pune. have taken,” says Kumar. Though the
brains behind the forming of EESL. I The younger daughter has completed couple worked in the same depart-
never wanted people to say that EESL her graduation and is looking for an ment initially, they have no difference
was created by Saurabh because he internship in Boston, USA. of opinion about anything related to
wanted to be a CEO,” explains Kumar. On being asked if any of the two work. Because of the simple reason
This is when Kumar backed away daughters want to be civil servants that they never talk about work once
from working with the organisation like their parents, Kumar answers, they are back home.
he had charted out on paper, the one “Absolutely not, they are not even Kumar, in his tenure with the IRS,
that would bring him closer to saving remotely connected to being or want- has also been an assessing officer for
energy and environment, and also ing to be civil servants. I and Anupa- all the political parties in India includ-
give business opportunities to a lot of ma have encouraged them to choose ing BJP and Congress. But that’s a
people in the country. their own path, and that is what we story for a different time.

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 73

 Startup

Electronics Start-ups And

India: The Time Is Now
The government has announced schemes that are promising
tens of billions of rupees as incentives for manufacturing
electronics within India. The big and small companies, as
they start operations in the country, will need a lot of
support from the local companies, and these support-
providing companies will have a lot of opportunities
to establish themselves as big names in the
world of start-ups

Mukul Yudhveer Singh

R
ome was not built in a day! takes a lot of hard and smart work, which are paving the way for the exist-
While this idiom might have but when it comes to electronics ing electronics start-ups to become
different meanings for differ- start-ups, that hard and smart work successful and are creating room for
ent individuals and institutions, for requires a little more effort than the new electronics start-ups to emerge.
the electronics start-ups ecosystem in rest of the lot. Nitin Kunkolienker, president of
India it might stand for the hard work Look at the number of successful the Manufacturers’ Association for
and dedication required to enable start-ups that have originated in India. Information Technology (MAIT), in a
them to become the next big thing. The contrast between service and recent interaction with Electronics For
Let us face the fact that setting up software start-ups and the electronics You magazine group, noted that the
an electronics hardware start-up is a start-ups will be more than enough to recently announced production linked
far cry from setting up a software or testify to what has been said above. incentive (PLI) schemes by the gov-
services start-up. Of course, making Fortunately, a lot of things have ernment of India carry the potential
any of these start-ups successful started to change in the country, to create an ecosystem for electronics

74 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Startup
start-ups that the country has never
witnessed before. The time is now
“A lot of big companies are coming 1. The world is looking towards a new destination for manufacturing electronics.
to India for electronics manufacturing. 2. The government of India has introduced various PLI schemes promising billions of
These companies will need support rupees as incentives for manufacturing electronics locally.
from local players in a lot of things, 3. Global champions setting shop in India will need a lot of support from the local players.
and this is where the MSMEs and the
4. India has almost become the biggest market for consumer electronics and
electronics start-ups can come in.
smartphones.
Mark my words, this decade will be
5. Talent from India is already helping global companies create global products.
the decade of electronics start-ups in
the country,” explains Nitin.
The government of India, during
Where are the opportunities?
the last twelve months, has announced 1. The lowest hanging fruit is IP and technology creation. Indians have already done
PLI for manufacture of smartphones, wonders here, and it is time Indians start doing the same for India.
air-conditioners, IT hardware prod- 2. Start-ups can also start working in the field of ATMP. This is where India is lagging
ucts, batteries, and a lot of other behind as compared to countries like Thailand, Singapore, and China.
products concerning the electronics 3. Designing SoCs, or ICs, or ASICs is also a low hanging fruit. Indians working in
sector. Though these schemes offer multinational companies designing these prove that the talent pool does exist in India.
hundreds and thousands of millions of 4. Semiconductors are a big opportunity, but these require a lot of investment. Start-
rupees as incentive to global and local ups can work on establishing a fabless semiconductor model in India like the one in
companies, the clause that requires Silicon Valley.
production to be desi (indigenous)
does spell some big opportunities for years. If we continue with low-value He adds, “The next 40 percent
MSMEs and start-ups working in the addition manufacturing, then the value comes from IP and technology.
electronics domain. number of components and products This is the area where India has great
we import, and the import bill, will talent and is doing great work, but
Where are we today? keep on getting towards the increas- the problem is that this talent is either
The total market of electronics in India ing side.” working for a global design centre or
in 2019, as per a report by Forst & Sul- As a  matter of fact, India imported in a service company. The number of
livan, was approximately $160 billion. 115,000 crore (1.15 trillion) rupees companies doing innovation as well
The country, as per the report, met the worth of electronics components as manufacturing are just a few! Even
demand for electronics in the same during 2019-20, and 37 percent of smartphones, one of the biggest sell-
year by importing 50 percent and pro- these were imported from China. ing verticals of electronics, do not get
ducing 50 percent locally. While that The bill of smartphone components designed in India.”
means that around $80 billion worth that the country imported during this Most of the smartphone manu-
of electronics manufacturing took time was 56,039 crore (560.39 billion) facturing units in the country import
place in the country, we still imported rupees; 25,441 crore (254.41 billion) CKD units and assemble them in
$80 billion worth of electronics that rupees worth of such components India before selling them to Indian or
year. But there is a catch to the $80 were imported from China. international consumers. It is also to
billion worth of electronics produced It is worth mentioning here that be noted here that despite 24 semicon-
in the country. India is the second biggest market for ductor companies having their large
“The biggest challenge for the elec- smartphones in the world. In absolute captive design centres in India, a fab-
tronics sector in India is the low value numbers, the country, during fiscal less semiconductor ecosystem, similar
addition manufacturing that we are 2020, imported electronics worth 3.7 to the one that exists in Silicon Valley,
doing in the country. This is resulting in trillion rupees, according to Statista. is absent in the country. 
the overall valuation of electronics pro- The value of electronic products A report published by NEC and
duced in India to less than 17 percent. exported from India amounted to 829 Assocham in 2018 notes that, while
That simply means that the $80 billion billion (0.829 trillion) Indian rupees electronics manufacturing has been
worth of electronics manufacturing during the same fiscal. continuously growing since the past
we did in India, originally added value “Almost 40 percent of an electronic few years, the exports have remained
of around $14 billion dollars only,” product’s value is made up of the constant at around $6 billion in con-
explains Sanjeev Keskar, founder and components used in it. These compo- trast to the imports that have been
CEO, Arvind Consultancy. nents include semiconductors, PCBs, growing year on year.
He adds, “Now imagine a market capacitors, passive components, and “Why can’t we create IPs and tech-
as big as $160 billion and India get- a lot of other things. The problem is nologies that create that 40 percent
ting only $14 billion. It is a very, very that 90 percent of these components value. The last 20 percent value is into
alarming situation. What makes the are imported into India. It also means EMS, packaging, testing, quality, and
situation grimmer is the fact that the that the 40 percent market will be dif- all other aspects,” adds Keskar.
market will evolve to be around $360 ficult to capture in the short term,” A lot, rather most of the EMS com-
billion dollars in the next five to six explains Keskar. panies in the country, focus on setting

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 75

 Startup
up SMT lines, importing products in and capacity in the country has pro- An initiative of MeitY to create
the CKD status for assembling and gressively declined, and many units a ‘fund of funds,’ as per a report by
selling them in India. There are also have either ceased operations or are Invest India, will work with venture
big and small companies that even operating at low capacities. capitalists (VCs) to promote innova-
export these out of India after assem- One of the PLI schemes reads, tion, IP creation, research and devel-
bling them here and giving them the “The IT Hardware manufacturing opment (R&D), and commercialisa-
‘Made in India’ tag.  sector faces the lack of a level playing tion. $101.38 million is committed
“This is where start-ups can come field vis-à-vis competing nations. As through EDF to eleven ‘Daughter
in, do innovation and become the per industry estimates, the electronics Funds,’ which in turn will provide
game changers for the country. The manufacturing sector suffers from a risk capital to companies developing
talent that is working in global cap- disability of around 8.5 percent to 11 new technologies in areas including
tive semiconductor design centres percent on account of lack of adequate electronics, nano-electronics, and
can come in and help create a fabless infrastructure, domestic supply chain information technology. The targeted
ecosystem for semiconductors in the and logistics; high cost of finance; corpus from EDF outlay is $846 mil-
country. That is how 40 percent of inadequate availability of quality lion.
the IP and technology value can be power; limited design capabilities and Additionally, to position India
realised within the country and we can focus on R&D by the industry; and as a global hub for ESDM and push
do a much better value addition than inadequacies in skill development. further the vision of the National
what we are doing already,” explains There is a need for a mechanism to Policy on Electronics (NPE) 2019,
Keskar. compensate for the manufacturing three schemes—namely the Produc-
There is a strong chance that most disabilities vis-à-vis other major tion Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI),
of the professionals and institutions manufacturing economies.” Scheme for Promotion of Manufac-
will read everything mentioned by And this is just the tip of the turing of Electronic Components and
Keskar as a big challenge. But these iceberg. The government may have Semiconductors (SPECS), and Modi-
challenges are the ones that are the been trying to address big companies fied Electronics Manufacturing Clus-
right set of opportunities up for grabs through such statements, but when ters Scheme (EMC 2.0)—were notified
for MSMEs and electronics start-ups it comes to start-ups and MSMEs, by the government on April 1, 2020.
in the country. these problems amplify! The biggest “IP is one thing but eventually a
The government of India, as men- problem starts with finances, then system-on-chip (SoC), or IC in simple
tioned earlier, has already announced comes the availability of testing and words, is the second overlap over IP. If
many policies focused on electronics certification facilities, followed by the you can develop IP, there are tremen-
manufacturing in the country. While availability of components they need, dous opportunities to develop these
the component manufacturing eco- market launch strategies, and various ICs or ASICs. These are used to solve
system will take around five years, other things.  application-specific problems. We
the low hanging fruit—creating IP “The manufacturing disability have talent from India that is develop-
and technology—can be started to be vis-a-vis China, South Korea, Japan, ing these ASICs for global giants, but
worked upon from this very moment.  and some other countries is one of we do not have any Indian company
“Creating products and innova- the biggest challenges electronics developing that in or outside India,”
tion is the need of the hour and start- start-ups face. I think with the new explains Gupta. 
ups can play a huge role here,” adds government policies in place a lot of The third biggest opportunity for
Keskar. these challenges will be addressed start-ups in the electronics field, as per
Electronics, in terms of import aptly,” feels Keskar. Gupta, is the ATMP facilities enabling
bills, capture the second position “I think we are all set to create his- testing and packaging. Companies
after oil. India’s electronics imports, tory. We missed the industrial revolu- located near India—including Thai-
in 2019 were worth $55 billion, and tions earlier but as we enter this new land, China, and Singapore—are super
the exports were around $8.8 billion. technology revolution that started active in establishing such ATMP
According to the Commerce ministry, with the invention of electronics, we facilities. However, India seems to be
the exports of consumer electronics are on a point where India can bounce missing this bus as well. 
goods almost doubled to $11.8 billion back into glory. We have the right “We are just toddlers into the field
in 2020 from $6.4 billion in 2018. talent. We are the youngest nation of ATMP facilities. I think if we can
in the world, and we will remain like establish good ATMP facilities, we will
The challenges and that for the next two to three decades. be able to add another 20 to 30 percent
opportunities This is our time,” feels Sanjay Gupta value in the products,” feels Gupta.
Though there are a lot of opportunities of NXP Semiconductors. These three opportunities, as
up for grabs for the MSMEs and elec- The first and foremost point that the Gupta explains, are not just oppor-
tronics start-ups, it still is not going to electronics start-ups and the associated tunities for electronics start-ups, but
be a walk in the park for them. The ecosystem should look to capture is the these are the challenges that, once
government of India, itself, did not creation of IPs in the country. IP crea- addressed, will help enable the dream
shy away from admitting that the IT tion, as per Gupta and Keskar, is the of making India a hub of electronics
hardware manufacturing capability heart of anything electronic. manufacturing for the world. And if

76 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Startup
a semiconductor fab gets operational
in the country along with these, that
Speakers
would be the icing on the cake.
“The time right now is presenting
the biggest opportunity to anyone and
everyone associated with electronics
in India. IP creation, IC creation, and
ATMP facilities are the three biggest
opportunities where we can really
start running. We have the talent, we
have the opportunity, and it’s time we
developed an ecosystem and created
Kishor N. Narag, Nitin Kunkolienker, president Sanjay Gupta,
history in India,” explains Gupta. founder and CEO, of the Manufacturers’ vice president &
Narnix Technologies Association for Information country manager,
What can work for start-ups? Technology (MAIT) NXP Semiconductors
An electronics start-up looking to start
working on an idea would, on an aver-
age, require 1.5 to 2.0 million rupees
for purchasing equipment required
to start operations. This includes
instruments that would be used to
test prototypes. Most of the time such
investments prove to be big hurdles
for electronics start-ups.
“This is where good incubation
centres can help electronics start-ups. Sanjeev Chopra, CEO, Sanjeev Keskar, founder and
Good incubation centres have inte- Electropreneur Park CEO, Arvind Consultancy
grated lab facilities that are equipped
with most of such equipment and not know about the funds that big He says, “Their only challenge is
instruments that an electronics start- corporations park for helping start- to find out ways to monetise quickly!
up needs. Electronics start-ups should ups under programs like CSR. A good Electronics start-ups should always
be proactive in reaching out to such incubation centre can help start-ups think of remaining in the game for
incubation centres,” advises Sanjeev get access to these funds as well (pro- at least five years. If software and
Chopra, CEO, Electropreneur Park. vided the idea is good). These funds, services start-ups take three to five
Good incubation facilities for at the very least, can be used to cover years to become Unicorns, electronics
start-ups can also help them source expenses during the prototyping start-ups might take one or two more!”
components by helping them meet stages. Additionally, the mentors that The government of the country has
with the right set of people in the come attached with such funds are always been under criticism for not
supply chain. The value of the right often the kind of experts every start- offering enough help to the electron-
set of components, as per Chopra, up dreams of getting mentored from. ics industry. The same government
is usually realised after start-ups “Ideas around electronics start-ups has now announced schemes that are
make mistakes in the initial phases usually fail when the founders are not promising tens of billions of rupees as
of product development and choose able to demonstrate the effectiveness incentives for manufacturing electron-
components without any consulta- of what they intend to achieve. A lot of ics locally in the country. The big and
tion with experts. start-ups, we have realised, have bril- small companies, as they start opera-
“A good incubation centre will liant ideas but they do not pay atten- tions in the country, will need a lot of
help you get consultations from tion to effectively demonstrating what support from the local companies, and
experts who have been there and done they intend to do,” explains Chopra. these support-providing companies
that before. The right consultation will He adds, “The chances of your will have a lot of opportunities to
make their game and the wrong one start-up getting funded increase if your establish themselves as big names in
will break the same,” says Chopra. demonstrations are on the point!” the world of start-ups.
He adds, “What if the components “The kind of innovation that the “The global business models are
you used were at the end of their life Indian start-ups are struck with, going to witness a sea of changes in
cycle? You will simply have to redesign unfortunately, is business models. the coming times. All nations are delv-
a lot of things once again. As someone There’s less focus on the technology ing into their exit strategy from China.
looking to create history, this is some- and more focus on being successful in As they say, crisis often begets oppor-
thing start-ups should be looking to the short run, sell away the idea and tunity. This corona crisis is leading to a
avoid.” move to another one,” feels Kishor lot of opportunities. The only question
A lot of individuals looking to N. Narag, founder and CEO, Narnix is: Is India ready to grab these oppor-
start working on an idea usually do Technologies. tunities?” says Narang.

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 77

 Policies

New Chip Import

Monitoring System And
Its Impact On PLI Schemes
The government of India has made amendments to the rules that govern chip imports in the
country and made it mandatory for the importers to feed data to the new system. Subsequently,
the government is trying to make India ‘atmanirbhar’ (self-dependent) for the manufacture of
electronic goods in India. Will the new rules help or hinder? EFY tries to find out

bunch of companies now openly share the

kind of chips and chipsets they are using
in a particular device. The same, for every
valid reason, helps an end consumer decide
whether he wants to go with the device or
not!
The government of India, in an update
shared very recently, has amended the
import policy for integrated chips. The
Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)
vide Gazette Notif. 5/2015-20 dated 10th
May 2021 shared the amended import policy
for Integrated Circuits (ICs) with HS Codes
85423100, 85423900, 85423200, 85429000,
and 85423300. This in simple words means
that the importers of chips need to post the
details of their consignments on online ‘Chip
Import Monitoring System (CHIMS),’ prior to
filing the Bill of Entry. The objective of this
amendment is to obtain the technical and
statistical details of IC chips getting imported
into the country.
There is one major problem (which
might trigger many others)—India imports
100 percent of the chips used in the country!
Second, there seems to be a China angle to
the same. India imported about $50.7 billion
worth of electronics in 2019, and more than
half of these imports were from China and

C
Mukul Yudhveer Singh hips, well they power anything Hong Kong. In fact, 20 percent of India’s
and everything electronic. As a electronic items’ imports are of micropro-
matter of fact, they have become cessor chips. Out of the $10 billion worth
more than just what powers an electronic of microprocessor chips imported in the
device, and the proof of the pudding lies country, around $7 million worth of chips
in the advertisements of laptops and were imported from China.
smartphones that you see. More than a The new amendments, slated to come

78 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Policies
into effect on 1st August 2021, man-
dates the importers to submit advance The questions on the new rules
information in an online system for 1. No clarification on what happens if a consignment needs to be sent back
import of items and obtain an automat- 2. The CHIMS portal will provide a databank to select the chip which has been imported.
ic registration number by paying regis- This should be comprehensive and updated regularly for new versions and technologies
tration fee of one rupee per thousand, 3. Must avoid delays and red-tapism with no requirement for personal interface in the
subject to minimum of 100 rupees and overall process.
maximum of 500 rupees on CIF value. 4. Companies might need to depute an extra person just to punch in details about
It also states that importers can consignments, which often have a large number of items.
apply for registration not earlier than 5. Any delayed response from CHIMS portal may lead to further delay in filing Bill of Entry
60th day before the expected date of & clearing of consignments, this should not lead to Demurrage & detention charges.
arrival of import consignment and 6. Requirement for pre-registration before arrival of consignment is a serious challenge.
can apply till the date of arrival of the Any changes in the items or quantities or even part numbers can delay the process
import consignment. The automati- and prove to be costly to the importer.
cally generated registration number 7. Registration should be post facto… after arrival of the goods and filing of B/E.
shall remain valid for a period of 75 8. Might hinder the growth of other PLI schemes around various verticals of electronics
days. Importers shall have to enter manufacturing.
this registration number and expiry
date of the registration in the bill of
entry to enable customs clearance of meet and run after officers for getting ment, as per the association, in effect
the consignment. approvals again and again.” becomes a prior permission to import,
The new amendments have come which must be avoided. Invariably,
More paperwork at a time when the government of there are delays due to several reasons
There used to be a time when India, as India has also introduced various and this will have cost implications for
a country, was ranked 142 in terms of production linked incentive (PLI) manufacturers.
ease of doing business. It was the first schemes for promoting local manu- The association has also recom-
time in 2019 that the country’s rank facture of electronics in the country. mended that updating information on
was raised to 69 among 180 countries. There were reports by the media that CHIMS should be a post-facto require-
In 2020, the World Bank gave India the government was gearing up to ment—after the filing of bill of entry
63rd rank out of 190 countries for the offer $1 billion as incentives to chip and arrival of the consignment. This
same. Now, while the country has companies that are ready to set up may be allowed within one week (five
been raising its standards, the new fabrication plants here. As a matter working days) of import, as the same
amendments in terms of chip imports of fact, a close look at most of the PLI will ensure accurate information and
might add red-tapism to the overall schemes reveals the importance of prevent delays in arrival of consign-
process. This, when clubbed with the these chips for such schemes to be ments for manufacturers. To ensure
fact that there have been more laws successful. Be it a smartphone or a compliance, it may be mandated that
announced around the import of other machine used to design and fabricate import of the next consignment will
electronics goods like telecom equip- PCBs, chips are integral to all of them. not be allowed unless details are filed
ment, might make the ‘ease of doing The total outlay for PLI around within the stipulated time and penalty
business in India’ a little more difficult smartphones alone is 409.51 billion imposed in case of delay in filing.
once again. rupees. While the scheme is meant Not to be discussed but not to be
“The lead time of chips ranges to increase India’s efficiency in the left alone as well, the Internet servers
from eight to twelve weeks. I think manufacture of these, there is nothing that the government of India relies
the new amendments will lead to about the manufacture of chips men- upon are questionable too. The ease
unnecessary paperwork. May be the tioned in the scheme. The delays in of booking a railway ticket through the
government wants to collect some importing of chips can severely impact government of India’s railway portal is
data, but it is unnecessary work for us. all the PLI schemes and the companies well known. Even a small problem in
We might have to depute an additional that received the nod to participate in the speed of the server on the delivery
professional to do all the entries on the these schemes. day of a consignment full of chips can
system. It will increase our burden,” An industry body (name not be a nightmare for the importer.
says Sunil Hasija, MD, Elektronika revealed on purpose) in an email A lot of professionals associated
Sales. addressed to the Ministry of Electron- with the industry, who did not agree to
He adds, “We also have to find out ics & Information Technology (MeitY) reveal their names, are of the view that
what kind of system will the govern- has also tried to mention these prob- the new system will bring the concept
ment be using in terms of customs lems to the government of India. The of red-tapism when importing chips.
clearances once these new amend- email, which the team at EFY man- The process that the industry had
ments come into effect. If I submit aged to have a look at, has requested once lauded the current government
a bill of entry, sometimes it goes to the government to make it mandatory for might now become something to
an officer in Delhi and sometimes to pre-register on CHIMS prior to arriv- scrutinise and speak against for a lot of
to another city. You can’t go out to al of the consignment. This require- national and international companies.

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 79

 Policies
(EFY was not able to find a single posi- by unnecessary time,” says a hardware result in loss to the manufacturer.
tive comment from the industry for engineer not wishing to be named. This might add to the overall cost of
the new amendments while preparing Many other electronics manufac- manufacturing electronics products
this article!) turing companies that EFY reached for a company in India, thus creating
out to had the same reaction towards a roadblock in the way of making the
The product design and cycle the new amendments. It is important country ‘atmanirbhar’ in terms of
Every professional in the hardware to realise that often there are mistakes electronics manufacturing, and creat-
side of electronics knows that a new in ordering as well as dispatching a ing a negative mindset for India in
product goes through several changes consignment full of chips. The present many other countries.
before it enters the final production process to ship back the consignment Further, a company looking to
stage. The final production stage is the and request a new one, keeping cus- import different types of chips under
one where companies usually place toms clearance in mind, is simple. The one consignment may also find it dif-
orders in bulk for the kind of chips they importer fills in a form and the wrong ficult to make entries on CHIMS as
are embedding into the product. Before consignment is sent back before the the present changes have not clarified
that it is not unusual for companies and new one arrives. However, there is no anything on this front. It is not clear
their research and development teams clarity on what happens to the wrong whether a company, as an example,
to try hundreds of chip looking to import 5,000
combinations. chips for a smartphone,
Sanket Bandyopad- 3,000 for a laptop, and
hyay, co-founder & VP, 7,000 for a smartwatch can
Daikoku Innovations, in a do so under one consign-
recent interaction with the ment or three different
Electronics For You team consignments?
had shed light on the dif- Similarly, CHIMS man-
ferent stages of a product dates the importers to fill
cycle. These stages consist in all the technical speci-
of the ideation phase, fea- fications of every chip to
sibility study, design and be imported. There are
development, testing and instances when an importer
verification, collateral pro- will only know (or want
duction, manufacturing, to know) about the tech-
feedback and improve- nical specifications of a
ment, all of which have particular variety of chips
one thing in common— that are associated with the
they all require the prod- product the manufacturer
uct and components to be is developing. These might
tested again and again. also add additional work
Now one problem that that an importer will have
the product development to do in addition to what he
teams might have to face is already doing.
will come in the form of The positive about the
finalising the set of chips they intend consignments when the new amend- amendments made in the chip imports
to use well in advance. Then there are ments take place. laws seems to be the country’s eager-
instances when a lot of components The key issue that the industry ness to become self-reliant (atmanirb-
need to be changed after the feedback association is concerned about is the har) in terms of manufacturing chips.
and improvement stage. This applies requirement under CHIMS for filing The data that gets fed to the CHIMS
both to third-party manufacturers as information prior to arrival of the system might help in knowing what
well as original equipment manufac- consignment. This is going to create kind of chips are in demand, so that
turers. serious roadblocks in imports of their manufacture within the country
“We usually submit the credentials semiconductors for which electronics can be considered.
of the components finalised to the manufacturers are completely depend- This takes us back to the age-old
purchase team three to four months ent on foreign sources. There are sev- question: When will India have its
before the manufacturing stage starts. eral uncertainties with respect to items own semiconductor fab? Most compa-
The lead time on a lot of chips that are covered in each bill of entry, their exact nies will need time to get accustomed
imported is six to eight weeks. The new value, volume, scheduling, etc, which to the new rules. Thankfully, the gov-
rules may cause difficulty if there is a is likely to result in inaccuracies in the ernment of India is providing the facil-
change in the kind of chips that we are information uploaded on CHIMS. ity of online testing of CHIMS, without
looking to embed in the product. The Any kind of delay in clearing of payment of registration fee, till the
new rules might lead to getting the consignments due to reasons beyond amendments come into practice. This
product manufacturing stage extended the control of the importer can also should clear lot of doubts.

80 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Startup

Tips For Getting Investors

For Your Start-up
Are you working hard but still not getting investors for your start-up? Here’s how you can
systematically raise your start-up’s value to the stars!

B
EFY Bureau uilding an electronics start-up is formula to raising the value of your organi-
undoubtedly a lot of hard work but is sation is to ascertain if it is a start-up or a
also euphoric in a sense. When you company. With so many start-ups coming
build up your start-up, you slowly see your up recently, a lot of people have been using
vision and dream taking shape. It is like the two terms interchangeably. But there is
your first child, and the very first moment a clear distinction.
you hold it in your hands it feels like the “Most people tend to call a company a
most joyous one ever. start-up because of the glamour attached to
So, it is clearly going to hurt when the term. But it’s wrong. To put it simply,
someone undervalues it. The hard work and a start-up is a small company that has not
struggles may feel unacknowledged. You yet found a working and scalable business
may feel baffled and helpless trying to figure model,” says Anand Tamboli, founder and
out where exactly did you go wrong. Read CEO of Anand Tamboli and Co.
ahead to know how you can build assets that He adds, “If you have been working for
will sky-rocket your start-up’s value! more than two years and haven’t found a
The first step towards finding out the scalable and working business model, and

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 81

 Startup
you call your company a start-up even up, it could be a design that you have So, before assembling a team, work
after being in existence for more than come up with or a niche product that on building a proper operating system
two years, you are probably wasting you have discovered. Once you have based on which the team can work.
your time or money, or both.” your MVP ready, your start-up becomes Working out how you will manufacture
Assets are the single most impor- much more solid in its functioning, your product, sell it, repair it, market it,
tant thing that can help raise the even though your valuation might not and so on will provide you with much-
valuation of your start-up explosively. rise much, because it then makes you needed clarity when starting off your
Although it seems simple, you would ready to work on your next asset. electronics business.
be surprised to know how many start- The core product is the next asset At the same time, it is important to
ups forget this critical point while that comes out of your MVP. It is the know how to sell your product. Many
trying to leverage their company. tangible product or service that you entrepreneurs, when starting a busi-
But what exactly are these assets? can sell to consumers. It is what goes ness, want to be the brains behind
And how can you use them to make out into the market and what you the organisation. They want to build
your start-up more valuable? show to the investors. It may be a low- the design and the product but do not
function, low-feature product, but it is want to sell it.
The product still a commercially sellable product. It is your product, after all, and
Assets are essential for driving invest- no one knows it better than you. You
ments into a start-up. It is no secret need to know as well as explain why
that a start-up needs investments to before assembling it is necessary for your target market
survive. No matter how much initial to buy it.
capital is invested in it, without invest- a team, work on Before you can launch your product
ment it is extremely challenging to into the market, it is necessary that you
keep a start-up running. Not only are
building a proper know the ecosystem in which your
the assets required to carry out day-to- operating system product functions. Your electronics
day operations but are also imperative product would consist of several parts
for scaling your business smoothly. based on which like batteries, raw materials, other
“Income follows assets. And assets
create value; they bring in revenue and
the team components, and so on. You must have
a thorough knowledge of the essential
raise a company’s value in the process. can work. parts. The reason behind it is, if you
Until you have all the right assets your have a part that is particularly difficult
job is to build assets. There is no point to source and will render your product
in doing anything else but this,” says Your ecosystem useless, it will subsequently slump
Tamboli. At this stage, Tamboli says, “Most your value.
The first asset is your minimum people will tell you that the team You need to ensure that the whole
viable product, also known as the comes first, and the rest comes later. ecosystem does exist. If your product
MVP. It is the initial idea that drove Unfortunately, it is not the case! You has replaceable parts, you will have to
you towards setting up your start-up. first need to build an operating process make sure that the supplier supplies
It is the foundation of your company and an operating system.” those parts, and a supply chain is
that drives the future operations and Creating an organised set of activi- arranged for those parts. The impor-
actions of your business. But merely ties to follow when creating your prod- tance of this step can especially be seen
having an idea, on its own, is unsal- uct is particularly important before today when a pandemic has halted the
able. The outcome or by-product of you bring in any team to start manu- production of major electronics brands
that idea is what brings in the money. facturing or building your product. and has triggered a major scarcity of
And that is your MVP. You can have the best people in your chips in the electronics market.
If you lack a tangible product, or an team but without a set of guidelines, Tamboli adds, “You want to make
IP (intellectual property) to highlight there is no chronology in the order sure that the ecosystem is resilient.
the true value of your start-up, you will in which a team works, and that will Without any appropriate ecosystem,
end up relinquishing a lot of equity to make your business go haywire. There people will find it difficult to buy your
the investors, which you might regret will be no coordination between them, product. And then your sales will
later. and that can cost your start-up not just suffer, which means fewer customers,
“One of the mistakes start-ups precious time but also a lot of money. less value, and hence lower valuation.”
make is that they try to reach out to Money that you are scarce of. To understand what are the assets
investors early on. And what happens “The team has to sell something, that you lack, simply ask yourself
is, you get the market rate on certain and for that the product has to be valu- one question: What/who is it in your
notional value. And if you are negoti- able. I cannot have a great guy on my organisation that is causing a bottle-
ating with an investor, you will have team and a zero-value product. That neck and stopping it from effectively
to accept whatever number they put is not going to go anywhere. But if you functioning?
because you have nothing to contest it have a great product and do not have Say, if your work stops when your
out,” says Tamboli. a great guy, you still have a positive software developer is not available for
In the case of an electronics start- value,” explains Tamboli. a day, it means his absence is caus-

82 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Startup
ing an assets deficiency. You need to “First of all, you need the opera- battery or deal with routine damage,
improve the system and the process tions team to deliver. Then you need most likely, I won’t be inclined to buy
to remove the deficiency. It may be the admin team to support the opera- it,” as per Tamboli.
a temporary support system, like a tions. After that comes the marketing
stand-by substitute. The answer may and sales team, etc. And by now you Adding the final touch
be different depending upon your will have all the systems that the entire Now that you have done everything,
circumstances and your context in team can use to function effectively,” how do you finally know that you
the business. But there needs to be according to Tamboli. have achieved everything you could?
an answer. “The most important asset test
Marketing of a great and established brand is
Next step When we talk about marketing, it does the question: Is it easy to rebrand?
There are other things that count as not just mean creating fancy advertise- Because when a brand is solid and
assets when determining the value of ments or flyers or content on social pervasive, it almost becomes difficult
your start-up in the market. Your core media platforms, explains Tamboli. to rebrand. If you answer yes to the
product and the methodology you use He says, “Content marketing is much question, it most likely means that
to develop it becomes your IP. Your more than creating superficial content your brand is not solid yet. And if
software system that you use to oper- for marketing. It is also about creating you say no that means you are getting
ate your business (it could be your the content to maintain your product.” there,” says Tamboli.
CRM, accounting system, logistics, With this step, you have arrived
etc) could be another one. at a conclusion towards leveraging
Your sales and marketing process
Content your start-up value, which means it
is also crucial towards raising the marketing is is time to finally reap the benefits of
value of your start-up. Questions like your hard work. You now need to hire
how you get your sales leads, how much more a chartered accountant to assess the
your sales cycle works, what process
does a salesperson follow, how are
than creating value of your company.
There are some common assets
they selling it and to whom, are all superficial that every electronics start-up would
important questions to answer when have at this stage like a unique circuit
trying to seek investors for the com- content for design, or software that cannot be
pany. Answers to all these questions
would highlight how efficiently your
marketing. It copied, or a trademark or name, or
a particular design, purchase orders,
product is sold in the market, which is also about and so on. Everything that you add
further strengthens your position in together increases the total valuation.
the market. creating the “A formal valuation is difficult to
“How will you position your content to contest and argue. Otherwise, it is
company? If you are a B2B supplier, your word against the investors’. And
are you an integrator or an aggrega- maintain your you know it is not a balanced conver-
tor, or something else? How does sation,” Tamboli adds finally.
your company brand show up in the
product. All of this might seem tedious, and
market, and how will you maintain it might be alluring to skip out or jump
that positioning for a longer period For instance, having a video about between stages when building your
in the market? This is important from starting your product and using it may start-up, but it will only slow down
investors’ perspective because if they seem trivial, but you would be sur- your progress. Following the sequence
do not know where your company prised to know that it can work won- is imperative if you wish to raise the
fits in the market, they may evaluate ders for your start-up. It saves you the value of your start-up.
it incorrectly. It could also mean that hassle of replying to hundreds of mails Now that you have the knowledge,
you get a lower valuation, or worse and calls from confused customers. it is time to start hustling, go ahead
they may not be interested at all,” Tamboli explains, “A thoughtfully and build those assets. Soon you will
informs Tamboli. created content can be highly useful start seeing the fruits of your hard
to maintain, sustain, and amplify the work. When you keep building the
The team core product in the market. You will product and associated services you
Once you have a solid product, a func- save time and resources for trivial, will see that the valuation and the
tioning operating system, and a clear repetitive activities.” way people look at your start-up will
idea of other tangible and intangible Another benefit of this type of be quite different.
assets, it is time to finally build a good content, adds Tamboli, is that it gives
team. Creating a good team may seem comfort to the buyer. “For example,
Anand Tamboli is a serial
like a big investment, but it is totally if something goes wrong, as a buyer entrepreneur, speaker,
worth it because they are the people I want to know what to do. To me, if I award-winning author, and
who will help your start-up gain maxi- know, it means the product is reliable. an emerging-technology
thought leader
mum revenue. If I do not know how to change the

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 83

 Startup

Hardware Product Planning

Essentials For Start-ups
And SMEs
Most start-ups and SMEs
assume the prototype
can be quickly converted
to a regular product,
with little effort, which
is a fallacy. Converting
a prototype or an
early-stage version to a
manufacturable product
takes lots of effort,
time, and money

P
S.A. Srinivasa Moorthy lanning is critical for hardware prod- (b) From the supplied BoM assemble
uct start-ups and SMEs. By planning the PC boards, test, and deliver. This is
I mean the technical aspects of the normally known as ‘PCB Assembly.’ This
product and the execution. In my experience, step may involve testing of PCBs if the EMS
in case of most start-ups and SMEs, I have vendor has ‘flying probe’ testers.
seen, planning has been rather transactional, (c) Complete product manufacturing
in the sense that they keep doing it as they with start-ups providing only the documen-
go along—without a final end date as a goal. tation. This type is known as ‘Box Build.’
When a new product is planned there are 3. International and national standards
three aspects which have to be nailed and that the product/solutions should meet.
should not be compromised. These are: Most of the times, these three items are
1. Costing of bill of material (BoM) for given low priority and addressed only in
various volumes and supply chains for Class the last minute, which leads to utter chaos.
A (most critical and high cost) parts. I am not a votary of huge project planning,
2. Manufacturing partner who will but if the essentials are not covered things
manufacture and the type of manufactur- are bound to fail. The above three issues,
ing needed. Typically, there are three types I have seen, come to haunt as the project
of manufacturing, start-ups and SMEs can progresses.
follow:
(a) Get the PCBs soldered (no further Why planning is critical?
processing) and components supplied by When a customer buys a hardware based
the product company. Normally this type is product, factors that are mainly looked at
known as ‘Job Work.’ are cost, performance, and support. I have

84 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Startup
seen that start-ups and SMEs tend to them wanted a pilot trial for the prod- hardware supporter if you want to
focus more on technology. uct which used IoT hardware. The deploy in larger geography.
Let me give an example from some customer was willing to pay for the 3. Planning for product certifica-
Japanese product companies. Even pilot as he saw value in the solution. tion upfront and the agency who will
high-end electronics products from But when the start-up tried building do it. Planning at the end can create
Japanese vendors, if you look at their 50+ prototypes they could not as they huge time and technical pressure.
items like power supplies and other had used parts which were not easily 4. Ensure the target price is under
low-tech components, use older tech- available at a regular price. My advice the radar and product design adheres
nologies like through-hole parts, paper has been that for proving an idea for to it.
phenolic PCBs, etc. a few units’ testing, open source com-
On the contrary, recently I ponents are good but not for serious Tips for planning
reviewed a start-up’s PCB designed designs. Let me give a few important tips for
for a controller. The enclosure was big, Then there was an SME who the start-ups and SMEs to keep the
but they had designed an extremely developed a probe for measuring bat- planning simple.
small PCB with small-footprint SMT tery voltage in a battery production 1. Complete the entire solution
(surface mount technology) parts. line. Basically, in the manufacturing (hardware, software, cloud, etc) in
They were struggling with the design line a bunch of cells are connected one go; do not do the designing in bits
even after three revisions. together and charged. Voltages of the and pieces.
I stepped in because their investor cells are normally measured manually, 2. Identify partners for EMS, tool-
asked me to review. I told them change which was taking time. The battery ing, packaging, etc early on, prefer-
to through-hole parts and use a simple manufacturer wanted an automated ably during the design phase, and firm
two-layer board for the circuitry. They solution. The SME designed a unit up the relationships.
resisted citing SMT as the current tech- and made fifty prototypes. But when 3. Price and volume are intercon-
nology. But their investor gave them it was deployed, no probe was giving nected. So be aware that initial low
no option, so they developed a ‘low- the 1mV accuracy the battery manu- volumes will cost high. This essen-
tech’ board reluctantly. As expected, facturer wanted. So, after a month the tially means start-ups and SMEs have
the design worked. Their software trial was stopped. to call on what is the best price client
team could get the very first version The battery vendor requested me is willing to pay. Typically, if your
of the product working. to analyse what had gone wrong. solution is going to save cost for the
It is not ‘high-tech’ that matters, it (Their worry was whether there was end customer, look at a subscription
is ‘appropriate tech’ that matters. Had any hidden issue in their manual based business model which allows
they done their planning properly, it measurement process?) When I you to recoup the cost of hardware and
would have given them the cue to use reviewed the design, I found the margins through subscriptions.
a simpler technology and they need design was basically done for hand- 4. Understand the standards the
not have wasted time. crafting and was not suitable for large- product needs to comply with. With
Most of the times when you volume production. Primary issues India integrating into the global
develop a new product you have to get were: (a) there were no provisions in market, local compliance standards
your product tested in the field before the design for periodic calibration of are getting harmonised with the global
going for large-scale manufacturing. the probes to meet the desired accu- standards. Designing a standards com-
Most start-ups and SMEs assume the racy, and (b) it was not engineered for plying product costs money and effort.
prototype can be quickly converted manufacturing. Had the team done Plan that well early.
to a regular product, with little effort, detailed planning this project would 5. If you launch a new product,
which is a fallacy. Converting a pro- have been successful. remember the software might have
totype or an early-stage version to a to be upgraded as the bugs are gradu-
manufacturable product takes lots of What needs to be planned? ally getting fixed. True over-the-air
effort, time, and money. Planning for hardware products is (OTA) update will call for a controller
Designers need to understand that done to ensure all the activities includ- with large memory and reliable link.
EMS vendors do not have engineer- ing design, manufacturing, certifica- This will make the product expensive
ing teams to completely engineer tion, and field installation are covered initially. Plan for this too. In case cost
the product for volume manufactur- and suitable actions are planned at the does not allow an OTA-compliant
ing. All this calls for good planning, start of the project. Some of the critical hardware, devise a robust mechanism
without which a product will not be items are: to provide upgrade for the software.
successful. 1. Components for the final manu- This calls for good planning in the
facturing and the sources to be identi- beginning itself.
Some examples fied. This ensures the lead times are
A start-up had a novel design and within reasonable limits.
developed the prototype with open 2. Selection of manufacturing part-
source hardware components. As part ner, components vendors for parts like S.A. Srinivasa Moorthy is
director at D4X Technologies
of their pitching, they presented it to sheet metal, plastics, tooling, mould- Private Limited
their prospective customers. One of ing, cable harness, and third-party

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 85

 Startup

Sourcing Hints That

Start-ups And MSMEs
Can’t Afford To Neglect
When should Mukul Yudhveer Singh microcontrollers, FPGAs, MOSFETs, transis-
a start-up tors, diodes, and more.

R
aising funds is one of the toughest tasks “If you get 98 components out of the
start planning for a start-up today. Be it a software, required 100, you cannot get your product
sourcing of the services, or a hardware start-up, the manufactured. That, I think is the biggest
components for grind is almost similar for each. However, problem that most of the start-ups and MSMEs
their products, there is an additional challenge that a hard- are facing,” explains Keskar.
and how can ware start-up has to address, unlike any other. Another piece of the puzzle revolves around
It is related to making a choice between the set the pricing of the components or the kits of
they ensure that
of components available in the market. components available in the market. The chal-
they get the “Components contribute 40% towards lenge also includes the credit facilities that are
components that the bill of materials (BoM) of any electronic generally not available for start-ups and MSMEs.
they need on product or system. If we take out the PCB and “Start-ups and MSMEs have to pay in
a regular basis, electro-mechanical parts from the 40% BoM advance to procure the components and, often,
without any cost, then the semiconductors, passives, con- the supplier delivers only 92 components (as
nectors, and the display contribute around 30% an example) out of the100 required and pushes
break, and at to the cost. The big companies manufacturing the date forward by one or two months for the
the right price? consumer electronics and mobile phones usu- remaining components. This loss of time results
These are some ally import completely knocked down (CKD) in skyrocketing of inventory holding costs for a
of the things that kits. None of the mobile phones are designed in start-up or an MSME,” explains Keskar.
are important for India. Component sourcing, for these big com- Another challenge faced by a lot of start-
panies, is not a big challenge,” says Sanjeev ups and MSMEs is the ‘just in time’ need of the
any manufacturer,
Keskar, CEO, Arvind Consultancy. inventory. It is a known fact that India depends
but more so for He adds, “But a lot of big distributors find it on imports of components from countries like
a new start-up challenging to work with start-ups owing to the China and Taiwan. The lead time for a compo-
or MSME minimum order quantity targets. Also, if you nent is generally 30 to 45 days.
look at the global components industry, you will “The lead time of 30 to 45 days when
find that it is a cyclic industry. Sometimes it has added with the time taken for customs clear-
surplus capacity and sometimes it faces short- ance, and the price of maintaining the inven-
age of components. The big companies always tory for all these days, can create a huge dis-
get priority from com- ability for start-ups and MSMEs in electronics
ponent makers and hardware. The inventory maintenance costs,
suppliers.” freight costs, and the cost of finance add a
disability of eight to ten percent for start-ups
Many pieces: and MSMEs in India,” says Keskar.
Same puzzle He adds, “On one hand start-ups and
A big challenge that MSMEs are facing a disability of eight to ten
a lot of start-ups percent and on the other they are competing
and MSMEs face is against global brands. In the end market,
in sourcing the set these start-ups and MSMEs have to be com-
of components that petitive in the pricing part as well.”
complement each Though some respite for some of these
other. There are sen- challenges is offered by the online market and
sors, resistors, capac- local traders sitting in places like New Delhi’s
itors, connectors, Nehru Place market, the costs involved in

86 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Startup
such solutions is a big challenge on
its own.
Good Sourcing Practices
“There are local dealers selling com- 1. Start by dividing the components required into three categories: A, B, and C.
2. Category A should have costly components that contribute 60 to 70% of the BoM value.
ponents that have outdated in interna- 3. Category B should have components that contribute not more than 25 to 30% of the BoM value.
tional markets. Of course, these come 4. Category C should have low-priced components contributing less than 10% to the BoM value.
cheap, but the validity of your product 5. Start evaluating the options available for procuring the components right from the design stage.
based on such components will be next 6. Always short-list and approve as many suppliers of components as possible,
to nothing when they hit the market,” 7. For the A category of components, sign pricing and end-of-life commitment with the supplier.
8. For the B category of components, ensure that you approve and qualify as many suppliers as
advises Keskar. you can.
However, going with the authorised 9. For the C category of components, negotiate pricing based on annual requirement instead of
distributors usually means paying more small-volume buying.
than what a start-up or MSME will have 10. At prototyping stage, use online channels to get genuine components in less time.
to pay to an online channel.
ponents. These evaluations should be all the suppliers comes in the form of
The solution done both technically as well as com- negotiation power it empowers you
The solution to most of the problems mercially,” notes Keskar. with. If the suppliers know that you
stated above lies in dividing the bill of He adds, “Negotiate very hard already have other suppliers waiting
materials (BoM) into three parts: A, B, because you are going to give them a to supply you the components, they
and C. Here, the A category of compo- socket. Let’s say that in terms of con- will do everything possible to add your
nents generally include the costly com- trollers there are five options, evalu- start-up into their list of regular clients.
ponents like FPGAs, microprocessors, ate every single of them. Apart from “When you are ready to place the
and microcontrollers that make up for 60 checking them on the technical and final order, you can really negotiate
to 70% of the total bill of materials cost. commercial level, make sure you also with the vendors and finalise with the
The B category of components could know how good the after-sales techni- one ready to supply these at the least
include sensors, MOSFETs, memory cal support is. What if you choose a $1 prices and provide maximum support,”
chips, etc. This category, as Keskar component over a $1.15 component explains Keskar.
explains, usually contributes 20 to 30% but the technical support offered with There are also multiple suppliers
of the BoM value. The C category com- the same is not up to the mark?” ready to provide the C category of com-
ponents like resistors, capacitors, induc- While choosing A category com- ponents in India. Tricks that work for
tors, and connectors usually contribute ponents, another important aspect the C category of components include
10% or lesser to the BoM value. which the start-ups and MSMEs must annual buying. Start-ups and MSMEs
“When planning to source A cat- check is that the manufacturer or the need to remember that the financial
egory components, start-ups and supplier does not have any immediate impact here is not that big as the C cat-
MSMEs must be very very particular. ‘end of life’ plan for the same. egory usually contributes around 10%
They must know that a lot of software “All your efforts will go waste, if or lesser of the total BoM value.
and design efforts go into A category such a thing happens! When you are “Here you should try to go for
of components. The success of your selecting any A category component, annual volumes instead of small vol-
company depends a lot on how you make sure you have a commitment of umes. Big volumes always help nego-
select the A category of components,” at least five years from the manufac- tiate better because you are buying
explains Keskar. turer or the supplier. It is also good to big and helping the supplier clear his
He adds, “This is because once you sign a pricing contract along with this storage houses and make way for new
design using A category of components, commitment,” explains Keskar. batches,” explains Keskar.
with a lot of effort in the hardware, Coming to the B category of Keskar advises that start-ups and
software, and other stacks, you lose components, it is important to note MSMEs should look towards online
on the negotiation power completely. that most of these are usually multi- channels for sourcing components at
The supplier knows you are ‘locked’ sourced parts, parts that are com- this stage as an online channel is the
as changing the specs after a year of patible pin-to-pin. Keeping options fastest medium for sourcing compo-
efforts is almost impossible.” that cover four to six suppliers of B nents within seven to ten working days.
Hence, it is better to start negotia- category components can be a very “Start-ups and MSMEs may end
tions with the supplier when you are good start. However, a start-up needs up paying higher prices but then this
still designing the product. to qualify all the suppliers’ list. method is the finest and fastest way to
“Even the distributors will support “What if one supplier goes into meet any type of critical requirements.
you at the time of designing because shortage, you should always have This channel also ensures that you get
they know that they have competition, an alternate. This is why you should genuine components,” explains Keskar.
and you can easily replace them at the approve and qualify all the suppliers “Component sourcing is not rocket
drop of a hat. I think this is the most providing B category components. science. The only thing that matters is
critical step for any start-up or MSME Always remember that the B category how well you plan your component
to source components effectively. of components contribute around sourcing needs. The key is not to be
Evaluate all the possible solutions 25% of the BoM value,” says Keskar. dependent on one supplier only,” adds
when choosing the A category of com- Another advantage of approving Keskar.

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 Startup

How You Can Market

Your Brilliant Product
Without Spending Fortune
There is, undoubtedly, nothing bigger than creating a good product which, after all, is the crown
jewel of a start-up. But just creating a brilliant product without making its existence known to the
world defeats its purpose

chances of your product being a hit among

consumers are at long odds.
Shivam Dikshit, VP at IoTfy, highlights the
importance of good marketing for building a
start-up. He says, “There are brands that are
doing exceptional work, but they are not known
since they don’t market their product that well.”
But why is marketing such a big deal? And
how exactly do you effectively market your
brand? Dive in to find out the answers.
Bridge between brand and consumer
“Marketing is the first step where the conver-
sion begins before the customers come in
and they want to see what is in it that would
compel them to hook on with the company.
Why would I reach out until and unless I
know that there is something of my need with
a particular organisation?” says Dikshit. This
is particularly important with respect to an

L
Siddha Dhar aunching a start-up is a big deal. Of electronics start-up.
course, getting funds and developing a The electronics industry is immensely com-
great product is crucial to succeeding in petitive with new brands and new products
this intensely competitive space, but there is coming up every other day. Today, a consumer
still something that can make or break your has too many choices to choose from when it
business. comes to an electronic product, and the chances
For the ones still wondering, it is your target that they would go for a new, lesser-known
audience, your consumer, your client, or which- brand’s product over a well-established, popular
ever word you might like to go for. The point brand are extremely low. But not zero.
is, the customer is the king, and they decide This is where a good marketing strategy
whether your product or service is ultimately comes into play. When you are just starting
worth their money and time. out, the most effective way to grab your target
In that case, reaching out to the target customer’s attention is to have a highly effec-
audience and, most importantly, the correct tive marketing plan that ensures your visibility
target audience for your product is para- in the right target group. Once you have their
mount to make your start-up succeed. Even attention, your product can speak for itself.
if, for instance, you have the most innovative Here are some tricks that can help you take
product with the most talented team working the first few steps towards marketing your
on it but if you do not market it correctly, the product.

88 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Startup
Step 1: Establish yourself on the You can also practice target market- Despite a pandemic raging all over
Internet ing with your audience through social the world, you can organise online
media portals like Facebook. You can events and gain an even bigger audi-
Build your website. The first step to add the email addresses of the people ence as they attend it from the comfort
market your startup, says Dikshit, is to who you want to target, and Facebook of their homes.
establish your presence on the Internet can showcase the advertisement to the “From B2B perspective, how this
by building a proper website for your selected email addresses only.” helps is, if you invite a very senior person
business. He says, “Though there are Utilise professional PR services. If from a particular organisation, you can
free-of-cost options available for building you have achieved a well-enough pres- always ask them to share the invitation
a website, I would suggest that you build ence on the Internet and are now won- inside their company, and so from the
a decent website and invest in a proper dering what to do next, a PR firm or entire workforce who gets the invitation,
domain name and web hosting. You can professional can help you achieve and many join and you get a large audience
learn to do that yourself by watching a rectify what you might have missed. with a lot of prospects,” adds Dikshit.
plethora of videos available on YouTube.” PR agencies are highly skilled at
A well-built website that showcases marketing brands, and the obvious Where to begin...
your products and its characteristics can choice when you wish to expand your The formula is the same across all busi-
be a great way to catch attention. But just business reach to the last person on the nesses, says Dikshit, except that the
building a great website is not enough. globe. But hiring a PR service does not paradigm would shift. “For B2C start-
“Once you build your website you necessarily have to burn your pocket. ups, in case of social media marketing,
need to have basic SEO and SEM ena- “There are a lot of free PR dis- the platform from LinkedIn would come
bled. You can submit your websites tribution portals like PR Newswire, to Facebook or Twitter or Instagram for
onto search engines like Google, Bing, Newswire, etc, and then you have that matter, although organising events
etc. There is an entire list of search profile sections in news portals like might not be a choice for B2C.”
engines available and once you add YourStory, NextBigWhat, etc. So, All of this information can seem
yourself onto them, anybody who uses you can compile a company profile too much, especially when you are just
that particular search engine will be of sorts and with little bit of altera- starting out and are juggling multiple
able to locate you,” explains Dikshit. tions you can submit it on all these jobs at the same time. It might seem
Experiment with social media mar- news portals. Also, there are free-of- alluring to hire a marketing profes-
keting. The latest trend in the marketing cost catalogue services available like sional, but given a budget crunch, there
world is social media marketing, and IndiaMart, JustDial, and Trade India are some things start-ups can keep in
it is not hard to understand why. As that can be utilised. You can use these mind before they go ahead.
people begin to spend more and more portals without shedding even a single As per Dikshit, if the product is still in
time mindlessly scrolling through social penny,” informs Dikshit. the developing stage, and there is a need
media, brands are leveraging that to Dikshit further adds, “If you have for that organisation to create a buzz
their benefit by cleverly putting in adver- a budget to spare, investing in PR is around that product before its launch,
tisements and other content to grab their always going to be worth it. And some- they might require a marketing guy. But
customers’ attention, particularly on thing like advertisements in magazines on the other hand, if they understand
platforms where they know their audi- or online portals where your target that the product is exceptionally good
ence would be the most engaged. audience reaches out to will be great.” and it can do on its own, they can keep
“If you are a B2B firm, LinkedIn is a the recruitment aside for later.
preferred medium or, if you are able to Step 2: Build personal connect “If you are creating an electronic
generate some content, you can main- through events product or an electronic design for an
tain a Medium or Tumblr blog. And if As per Dikshit, events are a great way industry with only 4 or 5 players like
you are a B2C company, then channels to highlight your start-up not just to the telecom sector, it does not make
like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram your target audience/customer but sense to hire a marketing guy. It might
come in very handy,” says Dikshit. also to investors and other industry make more sense to hire a seasoned
LinkedIn, in particular, is a wonder- professionals which, in turn, would sales professional instead, who has
ful medium to reach out to the target help you gain massive business experience in that particular industry,”
audience and create a buzz around your generation. A physical event would suggests Dikshit.
product. For this, Dikshit suggests capi- provide you the control to point out There is, undoubtedly, nothing bigger
talising on LinkedIn’s messaging and characteristics of your product or busi- than creating a good product which, after
advertising platform LinkedIn InMail. ness as a whole that you would like all, is the crown jewel of a start-up. But
For instance, creating a short blurb of people to engage with the most. And just creating a brilliant product without
your product and features and sending contrary to popular belief, it might be making its existence known to the world
it out to relevant industry stakeholders cheaper than you think. defeats its purpose. Although following a
can be a nifty way for lead generation. “If you are able to talk with all the good marketing strategy is not the end-all
Dikshit explains, “LinkedIn, as a plat- stakeholders that are involved and step towards making a start-up succeed,
form, is not only for lead generation but strike a deal with them, you would it definitely gives the brand the boost it
also helps to connect with the industry be able to make it work even with a desperately needs to launch and survive
and all the stakeholders that are there. limited budget,” informs Dikshit. in the electronics market.

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 89

 Startup

Feeling Lost
While Building
Your Start-up?
Consider
Taking A
Mentor’s
Help
Image by rawpixel.com

There is a popular saying: A ship without a rudder drifts at the mercy of the winds. Young
entrepreneurs often find themselves going adrift while on the journey to create a successful
start-up. A mentor can act as a rudder for them to give a proper direction to their efforts

I
Siddha Dhar t is no secret that building a company good for you? If these are some of the ques-
from scratch is an uphill task. Budding tions coming up in your mind, we have got
entrepreneurs spend sleepless nights filled you covered.
with anxiety and experience adrenaline rush
when they have ideas that can take them Why mentorship
nearer to their goals. But if there is a shortfall A mentor is someone who guides an individ-
of insights, their vision can easily muddle up, ual, also known as the mentee, with insights
which may not only sidetrack them from their that help the mentee cruise through difficult
goal but also risk utter failure. choices and develop skills necessary for his/
The initial years of a start-up are extremely her professional as well as personal growth.
crucial. It is more so in the electronics indus- “The best mentors teach their mentees
try, where competition is immense, but oppor- insights that are drawn from their own
tunities are equally high. In such an industry, experiences and provide once-in-a-lifetime
start-ups often find themselves adrift without education, which is beyond any formal aca-
any guidance like a child lost in the supermar- demic education system that we may have,”
ket. This is when a mentor could help. explains N. Kishor Narang, Founder, Narnix
But what exactly does a mentor do? Why Technolabs.
do you need a mentor and, most importantly, A mentor may help with exploring careers,
how do you identify a mentor who could be setting goals, expanding one’s network, and

90 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Startup
identifying other sources. But how is induced role modelling in a certain yet Narang elaborates on this, ”When
it different from coaching? very profound way.” I started electronics design as my
Coaching takes a more perfor- profession, I did not find anybody to
mance based approach to improve A good mentor mentor me and help me in the strug-
one’s on-the-job performance. Men- A good mentor will focus on character gle. But when I started mentoring
torship is more development driven. rather than competence, says Narang. people, my personal credibility in
It looks not only at the current job, It is important to build the character of the past 15-20 years has grown a lot.
but beyond that, taking a more holistic the individuals so that they are capa- Because when they go out in the field
approach towards career development ble of tackling any difficulty, whether and do something exceptional and
and as a person. professional or personal, rather than say that they are from Narnix, that
“It is important to remember that developing competency in only one automatically adds another feather in
we are individuals before we are pro- particular domain that they function in. my cap and helps build my credentials
fessionals. Our performance in our Another key characteristic of a without my knowledge... is that not a
professional life is a reflection of our good mentor is that he/she helps the good enough payback?”
personal traits and shows the kind mentees achieve their dreams, says
of person that we have evolved into Narang. He says, “A good mentor Mentors for electronics
in the last couple of decades,” says avoids overriding the dreams of the start-ups
Narang. mentees. The mentor’s job is not to To scale up an organisation, you need
“Mentoring is to support and give them new dreams; the mentor’s to have a holistic understanding of the
encourage people to manage their own job is to help the young mentees real- business that you are getting into, the
learning in an order that may max- ise their dreams.” domain in which the product func-
imise their potential to become the As entrepreneurs, especially bud- tions, and of course the basic product
person that they want to be,” he adds. ding ones, you are constantly remind- too.
Narang believes a good mentor- ed of the things you cannot achieve, If your goal is to create a start-up
mentee relationship can help trans- of the dreams that are too good to be based on the most lucrative business
form lives. Every business, whether true, of goals that are too big to be opportunity, scale up quickly within
big or small, has a responsibility to the achieved. A mentor’s role is to help 3-4 years and then swiftly exit the
society it is functioning in, and a good you realise those very goals, instead scene with lots of money in your bank,
mentor helps his mentee understand of downplaying it like everyone else. your start-up is destined to fail.
the need of advocating for the well- The mentor observes the defi- “If you set up a company with a
being of the society. ciency that a mentee has and helps clear mind to exit, it will never ever
“The power of mentoring is trans- understand how to overcome this reach a level where you can exit. You
formative for individuals and com- deficiency, and how to build strength may exit, but after failure and not by
munities. Mentoring is a powerful as a person and professional. monetising it. You need to set up a
tool of awareness and understanding Now, you may be wondering what company with a strong foundation
diversity and inclusivity, helping us is in it for the mentor? In a world that you can nurture today and also
recognise the importance of advocacy where you get nothing for free, what in the future. If you build a company
and being advocates for ourselves exactly drives the mentor to work so with that thought process and get the
and others. Advocates can proactively diligently towards improving someone right kind of mentorship, there is a
localise and mobilise for change- else’s life? strong possibility that you will get the
support you need from the ecosys-
tem,” notes Narang.
The core of an electronics start-up
is the technology it works with and,
as with anything technical, it invari-
ably demands certain indispensable
skills from the people working on it.
A talented and skilled team will work
diligently towards building a good
product that is in the market to last.
But humans are not perfect and,
as such, expecting a person to pos-
sess all the skills necessary to grow a
start-up is very far-fetched. However,
with good mentorship, it is possible
to nurture a few, if not all, essential
qualities that are a requisite for a suc-
cessful company.
“The mentor will make sure that
your team becomes a self-sufficient,

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 Startup
well-rounded package within the next skills to design electronic products or, they graduate. This mindset to work
couple of months or years, based on for that matter, develop design solu- hard from an early age is, no doubt,
your aspiration and current standing,” tions for other start-ups. The best way, a terrific trait, but this also sets you
Narang adds. in this scenario, is to acquire these up to commit mistakes that you could
A big part of leveraging a start- skills in the field. But on-field experi- have easily avoided had you gained
up’s growth is to look for means to ence comes with its own terrors. There some experience. Instead of chasing
attract more funds and get investors are numerous hits-and-trials before investors for your yet-to-be-established
interested in the company. Thus, most one can figure out what works the best start-up, you should reach out to men-
start-ups typically look up to mentors for their product and also adds value tors who can help build the technical
who can help them target important to their business. capabilities in you.
investors and other means to scale up Even if you plan to get some work According to Narang, “Mentors
their business. Those are, what Narang experience in another organisation, will ensure that whatever product you
calls, ‘strategic mentors’ who help you chances are that you will be trained release, does not lose its luster after
effectively strategise your company’s in only one particular domain under six months or two years, but instead
growth. They act more like a consultant which your job role functions. The becomes unbeatable in their level of
to your start-up to help you identify the intricate nuances of designing a com- reliance and performance. If you want
correct growth opportunities. plete product, whether hardware or products like Apple’s or Samsung’s,
Of course, their need can’t be software, and explaining the entire you need people who have been in that
unacknowledged, after all, helping architectural process of creating a field before you. How can you expect
individuals form strategies that work design solution is hardly ever impart- yourself or some young team of yours,
for their firm is a subset of the knowl- ed to individuals. The guidance of an which simply pick up some reference
edge that a mentor imparts. However, experienced mentor who has been design from a silicon company and
a mentor’s role is much greater than there, and done that, can work magic download some untested source codes
that. For electronics start-ups, it is in this case. from GitHub, to give you a reliable,
first important to gain the insights of “You need to look out for people global-scale product?”
a technology mentor, who can guide and reach out to those who can The mentorship of an experi-
you through the technical aspects of help you, but not spoon-feed you, to enced professional should be espe-
setting up an electronics start-up. broaden your own understanding of cially sought during the initial years
Narang explains, “You need a what you need to do today, and in the of founding a start-up. It is important
technology mentor who can help you future, to establish your start-up and to let a mentor identify and fill the gap
recognise the technologies available to make it grow to a level of global in your skillset. Even their criticism
to you. He can make your product and acclaim,” says Narang. comes with the desire to help you
service totally technologically rugged On this note, it is also important improve yourself and your product,
and reliable, world-class.” to highlight the need for experience and so should be taken in good stride.
But, as mentioned before, a men- in the electronics field. The first wave Once you have learned everything
tor’s job is not to get things done for of start-ups came three decades ago in that you needed to from your mentor,
you. It is to help you build the ability Silicon Valley. If you look at the found- you will be ready to fly on your own
to do those things yourself. ers of those few successful start-ups, like a young bird leaving the nest. You
you will see that none of them was less can definitely seek the advice of your
Shortcomings than 35 or 40 years of age at that time, mentor later on in your journey, if the
An electronic product’s essence lies in and none was beyond 55 or 60 years. need for help in strategising and under-
its design. The software and hardware The crux of how these companies standing technical features arises.
of a product have a humongous effect gained global success lies in the fact “As the saying goes: The deeper the
on its usability and popularity among that their founders toiled for years in foundation, the higher the skyscraper
the end consumers. For an aspect that their particular domains before they goes. You need a mentor to set that
plays such a major role, you would sought out to create a venture of their foundation,” Narang adds.
think it is important enough to be own. They gained thorough knowl- Finally, it is especially important
included in the academic curriculum edge of the industry they worked in, for budding entrepreneurs in the
of engineering colleges. Unfortunately, understood all the technical aspects of electronics industry to realise that
that is not the case. it, took part in developing and creating the perfect use of technology is not to
“Today we are missing the design products for the organisations they help you become a billionaire by the
competence in our engineers because worked for, without the fear of failure time you are a certain age. The best
it is not taught,” notes Narang. “I do looming over them. They spent years way start-ups can use technology is by
not blame the young people because in the trenches of their domain and creating a better future for themselves,
our education system does not have eventually gained the knowledge to for the others, and for the coming
any subject that teaches you the innovate a product or solution that generations.
design aspect of any electronic prod- they could monetise through their Technology should not drive your
uct, system, or solution as a subject.” own company. narrative but, instead, enable a better
As such, youngsters just out of Many college students today aspire world. And that is exactly what a good
engineering colleges lack the essential to become entrepreneurs right after mentor would help you achieve.

92 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Innovation

Want To Innovate?
Stop Focusing On
Customer Problems

To innovate, you do not need to focus on

customers’ problems. Instead, focus on
their intent

O
Anand Tamboli kay, let us start with the basic and yet lem. His inability to do that due to lack of
core question: What is a problem? resources and tools, on the other hand, can
Sounds trivial, but it is more than a be construed as a problem.
trick question. A quick Google search might Now, if you were to sell him a solution
tell you that a problem is “a matter or situa- to his problem, it is likely that you will offer
tion regarded as unwelcome or harmful and him a good hammer or a drill machine, or
needing to be dealt with and overcome.” you may try to sell him a handyman service.
So, let us take an example to dig down The point is, if you know what customers’
further. Let us talk about Jimmy, our cus- problems are, you can sell them your prod-
tomer. Jimmy is an art lover and recently ucts or services. That is what knowing the
purchased artwork in an auction last week. customer’s problem does - it enables you to
Now he wants to install it on the wall of his sell them what you already have. And there
living room. But Jimmy does not have all are several well-established and proven
the necessary tools to do that. He does not ways to find more about customer problems.
have a hammer, nails, or drill-machine, etc. But innovation is less about selling and
In this scenario, Jimmy wanting to install more about solving. And that is why the
an artwork in his living room is not a prob- approach described above is poorly suited

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 93

 Innovation
for innovation. When you are innovat- makes your competition work twice bottom of those hypotheses and work
ing, you do not want to be blinded by as hard to catch up and compete with on the right one, you must design
customer’s problems. You want some- you. experiments.
thing better and bigger that can give Transformative innovation can Designing appropriate experi-
you solid leverage to innovate better render your competition almost mean- ments that are low-risk, quick to
and use that innovation to get to or ingless. implement, and give maximum
maintain your market-leading position. When problems are known, solu- insights is crucial. When I work with
Innovation is less about selling and tions could be many, and the competi- people for innovation, I often see that
more about solving. tion can spring up easily. No wonder the ideation process and experimenta-
What if you go a few steps further, many businesses these days are trying tion falters. And, in most cases, it hap-
conduct a deep survey, or ask ques- to map customer behaviour and find pens due to a lack of broad expertise
tions differently? You will highly likely out customers’ intent early on. and institutional blindness.
uncover root causes and true intent Of course, you must remember to Institutional blindness is like the
or motive of doing something in the draw a line where it ends because it bokeh in photography. Bokeh is an
first place. In Jimmy’s case, instead is easy to overdo and be nosey. None- effect of a soft out-of-focus back-
of asking, “What are you lacking or theless, making sure that you do not ground that you get when shooting a
struggling with?” you may want to ask, fall in love with your hammer or drill subject with a fast lens shutter at the
“What are you trying to do? And why?” machine is the key. That is particularly widest aperture. It keeps the subject in
In most cases, customers cannot important. sharp focus but pretty much diffuses
specify the solution they want. It is You may have heard that know- the background.
unlikely that you will get exact or ing your ‘why’ in the business is Make no mistake, institutional
near-exact specifications of what they important. Yes, for staying in business bokeh is of utmost necessity for fast
need. But one thing customers can do longer, it is indeed necessary. But in and efficient operation. However, as
effectively is to tell you what they are my view, your customers’ ‘why’ is far as innovation is concerned, you
trying to do and why. And when you more important. Because it enables are better off without it. It is one of
know that you are in a better position you to do things that benefit them the reasons why you need external
to help them. You may know or find a directly and, as a result, it can always perspectives to counter that.
better way for them of doing that thing. ensure that you stay in business Institutional blindness is like the
In most cases, customers cannot longer. If you are trying to innovate bokeh in photography, necessary for
specify the solution they want. and sell a new product or service, fast and efficient operation but dan-
If you ask Jimmy, “What are you it helps make customer behaviour gerous for innovation.
struggling with?” Jimmy may tell you sticky. It puts you in a favourable posi- In addition to different perspec-
that he does not have the tools to hang tion and gives you enough material to tives, you can also be better off by
a piece of art on the wall. Or he may leave your competition helpless. creating conducive team structures
be a bit more specific and tell you that When innovating, your customer’s and operating models within the
he does not have the right-sized drill- ‘why’ is more important than your organisation. Some teams and depart-
bit. And knowing that you can sell ‘why.’ ments think about yesterday, that is,
him a drill machine or a drill bit, do There is a saying in Hindi, “Na analytics, reporting, etc. Some think
not forget, though, that there will be rahega bas, na bajegi bansuri.” Mean- about today, that is, operations, sales,
other drill-machine and drill-bit sell- ing if you eliminate the root cause, the quality, etc. Some even think about
ers who will be competing with you problem vanishes. Finding true cus- tomorrow, that is, R&D, marketing,
for the same. tomer intent and motive behind using strategy, et al. You need one more
If you change your question and the product can help you do that. team that can help you think about
ask him, “What are you trying to do, When you focus on customers’ intent the day after tomorrow and innovate
Jimmy?” He might say, “I am trying rather than their problems, you can for the imminent future.
to install this beautiful piece of art in bring in transformative innovation. Transformative innovation can
my living room and therefore looking Traditionally, most innovations sometimes be complex, but it is highly
for tools to do that.” Now you have solve problems with previous solu- potent. So, develop this potent skill
found something better. If you were tions. Transformative innovation is and do the work that is necessary to
truly innovative, you might avoid different. It helps eliminate the root get there.
selling him a drill machine or drill bit cause of the problem and thus trans- And remember, to innovate, you
altogether. You may suggest him using forms the problem. do not need to focus on customers’
a removable sticker instead and offer It is important to understand that problems. Instead, focus on their
him your removable stickers. Where do transformative innovation needs a intent.
you think your drill machine competi- polymathic approach and behaviour.
tors will go? It needs an ability to connect dots and
Anand Tamboli is a serial
Taking this approach means you ask the right kind of questions. How- entrepreneur, speaker,
not only create a breakthrough product ever, it does not stop there. When you award-winning author, and
but you also successfully render your ask the right questions, it helps you an emerging-technology
thought leader
competition almost meaningless. It form new hypotheses. To get to the

94 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Industry News
Industry Updates

DGFT makes registration compulsory for import of ICs

The Directorate General of Foreign
Trade (DGFT) has made import reg-
istration mandatory for a number of
electronic integrated circuits (ICs)
under the chip imports monitoring
system (CHIMS). With effect from
August 1, importers will have to
give advance information through
an online system and obtain auto-
matic registration number. The items
include ICs like processors and con-
trollers, memories, and amplifiers.

people (on the move)

Chetan Prakash joins CEL as CMD and iconic cars in automotive history including the Bentley
Arnage in 1998, Aston Martin’s DB9 in mid 2000s, and more
Chetan Prakash Jain has taken over
recently the Jaguar XF, F-Type, F-Pace SUV, XE and, others.
as chairman and managing director
of Central Electronics Limited (CEL),
a government of India enterprise that
Tesla makes key appointments for India operations
Tesla has made key appointments for
pioneers in the manufacture of solar
leadership operations in India. The
photovoltaic cells at its Ghaziabad unit
company has appointed IIM Bangalore
in Uttar Pradesh. Jain was earlier joint
alumnus Manuj Khurana as its Policy
secretary and financial advisor, DSIR &
and Business Development head for
CSIR, Ministry of Science & Technology.
India operations. Khurana has previously
He has held several other important
worked with the likes of John Deere,
positions as well including that of
Accenture, Invest India, and some
executive director in Railway Board and general manager-HR in
other organisations. He also founded a
RVNL, a public sector undertaking of Railways.
company called NewMo, which is into
Electronics brand boAt ropes in Shashwat Singh as CIO consulting around new mobility.
Indian lifestyle electronics brand boAt
has hired Shashwat Singh as its new
Sarwant Singh joins Switch Mobility
chief information officer (CIO). Singh, as president and CEO
who served as supply chain technology Ashok Leyland-owned Switch Mobility
leader at consumer products company UK has brought in Sarwant Singh as
Kimberly Clark prior to joining boAt, its president and chief planning officer
took charge in his new role on May 14. (CPO) as well as the chief executive
He has over 15 years of experience officer (CEO) of its mobility service
in leading technology and digital arm, Ohm Global Mobility. Singh was
organisations such as Kimberly Clark, a managing partner at consulting firm
Unilever, and Asian Paints. Frost & Sullivan. Ashok Leyland had
previously acquired majority stake in
Ola Electric hires Wayne Burgess Optare Group and renamed it as Switch
as head of vehicle design Mobility as part of its drive towards
electrification and new mobility services.
Ola Electric has announced the
appointment of Wayne Burgess as head
of Vehicle Design for its entire product
M&M recruits Uli Stuhec as VP and
range including scooters, bikes, and head of electric platform
cars. He brings a wealth of international Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is
automotive design experience, having accelerating growth of its electric vehicle
worked on some of the most legendary sphere by bringing in Dr Uli Stuhec as

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 95

 Industry News

people (on the move)

vice president and head of its ambitious Global Born Electric application engineering, and
platform. Prior to joining M&M, Stulec was chief technology pre-sales. He has experience in
officer at StreetScooter, the world’s largest electric vehicle the renewables sector and is also
delivery truck manufacturer. experienced in various leadership
roles across semiconductor
Millind Kulkarni joins Vikram Solar as CTO technology and solar energy. He
Renewable energy firm Vikram Solar has appointed Milind holds a PhD in chemical engineering
Kulkarni as its chief technical officer (CTO). Kulkarni has and a master’s degree in business
extensive experience spanning 24 years in the fields of administration from Washington
technology development and deployment, product development, University in St. Louis.

Amendments made
in IGCR rules by CBIC
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes
& Customs (CBIC) has announced
there is no need to seek permission
for each import consignment, and
instead one-time import permission
may be obtained for the quantities to
be imported over a period of up to one
year. The importer only needs to send an
email to the local jurisdictional customs
office, informing about the upcoming
import consignment. In another facility
for importers, the new rules allow the Representational image
importer to temporarily unload their
imported material in any warehouse, ing IT hardware products in India. Ministry of Finance sets up
other than their own factory, with a pre- Domestic companies including Lava, helpdesk for Covid related
information to the custom authorities. Micromax, Dixon Technologies, Info- imports
power, Syrma Technologies, Neolync
Companies including Electronics, Optiemus Infracom, The Central Board of Indirect Taxes
Dell and Lava apply Netweb Technologies, Smile Elec- & Customs (CBIC) has set up a dedi-
for IT hardware PLI tronics, Panache Digilife, and RDP cated helpdesk to handle queries for
Multinational companies including Workstations have also shown interest Covid related imports and handhold
Dell, Wistron, Rising Stars Hi Tech (a in manufacturing IT hardware compo- the trade, industry, and individuals
Foxconn subsidiary), and Flextronics nents such as laptops, tablets, all-in- for expeditious customs clearance of
have shown interest in manufactur- one personal computers, and servers. the badly needed goods. Queries and
requests are being received by the
CBIC from various quarters. These
queries relate to availability of duty
Bhupender Saharan, co-founder and CEO of VVDN, exemption benefits, clearance proce-
passes away dures, and requirement of registration
Electronics engineering and manufacturing company VVDN with various ministries, etc.
announced the passing away of its co-founder and CEO
Bhupender Saharan in an accident on 22nd April. Following MNRE releases guidelines
the tragic event, co-founder and president of Global Sales and for solar PV modules
Wireless Engineering, Puneet Agarwal, has been appointed as PLI scheme
the company’s new CEO.
The Ministry of New and Renewable
Milagrow founder Rajeev Karwal passes away Energy has issued the guidelines for
Rajeev Karwal, founder chairman, Milagrow Robots, passed
the production-linked incentive (PLI)
away due to Covid-19 on 12th May. Karwal, 58, was known as scheme for manufacturing solar pho-
the man behind bringing LG Corporation to India in the year tovoltaic (PV) modules in the country.
1997. He had founded Milagrow Business and Knowledge Under the scheme, the manufactur-
Solutions in 2007. Milagrow’s robots came to be of special ing units sanctioned under the pro-
significance during Covid times. gramme would be eligible for getting
PLI on an annual basis on sales of

96 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

 Industry News
high-efficiency solar PV modules for contribute to 15-billion dollars GDP electric vehicle charging infrastructure
five years from commissioning, or for addition per annum in the next four market.
five years from the scheduled com- years from now.
missioning date, whichever is earlier. 1.3% of vehicles sold in India
India EV charging during FY 20-21 were electric
As electronics repair hub infrastructure likely to India sold 236,803 electric vehicles in
India can earn $20 billion grow fast FY 20-21, which is 1.3 percent of the
revenue annually by 2025 India’s electric vehicle (EV) charging total vehicles sold during the period.
Developing India as an electronics infrastructure is expected to witness E2W (electric 2-wheeler) segment con-
hardware repair hub is expected to robust growth in the next five years tributed 60.7 percent of the sales, but
bring in twenty billion dollars as owing to stringent government poli- E2W and E3W both saw a decline in
annual revenue starting 2025, while cies to support alternative fuel. Under sales primarily due to macroeconomic
also creating five million job oppor- the FAME II scheme, the government sentiments hurt by Covid-19. E4W
tunities, according to a recent report of India has decided to provide sub- (electric 4-wheeler) segment registered
released by MAIT, the manufactur- sidies for one million two-wheelers, 52.9 percent growth in sales over FY
ers’ association for IT. Grabbing this half a million three-wheelers, around 19-20. During the period, 4,588 E4Ws
opportunity will lead to a spike in 55,000 four-wheelers, and 7,000 buses were sold in India. The growth in E4W
employment generation, investment running on batteries. The rollout for was also due to the Fame-II scheme
from all over the globe, rise in income, electric buses due to their lower main- which provided provisions for electric
and tax revenue that will ultimately tenance costs is expected to boost the buses for various states.

corporate news snippets

Saietta Group and Padmini VNA to jointly develop Ola Electric to launch e-scooter and set up
motors for EVs charging network
British electric motor manufacturer Saietta Group has signed an Ola Electric is all set to advance its efforts to electrify mobility in
agreement to partner with Gurugram based automotive sup- India, and in a similar sentiment has announced the launch of its
plier Padmini VNA to help introduce Saietta’s branded Axial Flux branded electric scooter in the home market in July this year. In
Technology (AFT) motors to the growing electric vehicle market addition, Ola is also looking to set up 100,000 charging points
in India. Padmini’s customer base includes two-wheeler OEMs across 400 cities through a hypercharger network.
like Hero MotorCorp, TVS, Bajaj Auto, and Royal Enfield.

Qpi Technology planning manufacture of

solid-state batteries
Dr Nagendra Nagaraja, founder, CEO, and chairman of Qpi
Technology has announced a new subsidiary, Qpivolta, to manu-
facture solid-state batteries, and in future all-important Quan-
tum batteries to power anything from cell phones, EVs, energy
utilities, and spaceships. The company is looking to partner with Representational image
battery suppliers, distributors, electronics OEMs, and EV manu-
facturers around the world. Mouser Electronics and Nidhi Prayas inaugurate
innovation labs
Bajaj Electricals now wholly acquires Starlite Lighting Electronic components and chip distributor Mouser Electronics Inc
Bajaj Electricals has acquired the remaining stakes of Starlite inaugurated the Nidhi Prayas Lab and Mouser Innovation Lab at
Lighting Ltd (SLL) for 600 million rupees from its promoters. SLL, DERBI Foundation in Bangalore. Mouser is collaborating with DERBI
which registered a turnover of 1,729 million rupees in FY 2019-20, Foundation and the Nidhi Prayas to empower innovators and start-
was a joint venture engaged in the business of manufacturing dif- ups to shorten the ideation-to-market time in the next-gen product
ferent consumer electrical products, including lighting products space and grow into tomorrow’s tech giants. Mouser Electronics will
like compact fluorescent (CFL) and light-emitting diode (LED) provide the equipment, components, and kits for the Mouser Innova-
lamps, and consumer electrical appliances. tion Lab and provide technical mentoring to the members.

Revolt Intellicorp receives investment from RattanIndia Route Mobile acquires AI platform provider
Announcing its venture into the electric vehicles sector, Rat- Phonon Communications
tanIndia Enterprises is investing 1,500 million rupees in e-bikes Cloud communication service provider Route Mobile has
firm Revolt Intellicorp for a 50% board presence in the company. acquired AI platform provider Phonon Communications Pvt Ltd
Revolt Intellicorp will use this partnership to expand its footprint in for an all-cash deal of 290 million rupees. The acquisition allows
India. This deal happens to be the first investment of RattanIndia Route Mobile to leverage Phonon’s supercharged customer
Enterprises in a new age manufacturing business. As part of the experience platform and enable brands to deliver personalised
deal, Rajiv Rattan will be chairman of the board of Revolt. experiences across digital touchpoints.

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • June 2021 97

 Industry News

INTERNATIONAL news
EVs will be cheaper than combustion vehicles by 2027 Car owners in China can access data generated by
A new study suggests that by 2027 electric cars will be cheaper Tesla vehicles
than combustion vehicles across Europe and could represent Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla said that it is developing a
100% of new sales by 2035. The study, which was commis- platform in China that will allow car owners to access data gener-
sioned by clean transport campaign group Transport and ated by their vehicles. Tesla aims to launch the data platform this
Environment, predicts that small electric cars will cost similar year. This is the first time a service like this is being provided in
to fossil fuel models by 2027. Light electric vans will be less China by any automaker.
expensive than diesel models from 2025, and heavy electric
vans from 2026. Provided policies remain same, electric cars Taiwan’s UMC expanding capacity to meet chip demand
will represent 50% of new sales by 2030 and 85% by 2035.
Taiwanese chip manufacturer United Microelectronics Corp
(UMC) is expanding its capacity, for which it will spend $3.59 bil-
Silicon wafer shipments are setting new records lion over the next few years. Amid a global chip crunch, UMC will
Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments increased four percent guarantee supplies and prices to its clients as part of the plan.
in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the fourth quarter The expansion will take place at an existing UMC facility in the
of 2020, topping the previous historical high set in the third Tainan Science Park. Production is scheduled to start from the
quarter of 2018. Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufactur- second quarter of 2023.
ing equipment had also surged 19 percent from $59.8 billion in
2019 to a new all-time high of $71.2 billion in 2020. South Korea planning to build world’s biggest
chip making base
Bharti-backed OneWeb secures funding from Eutelsat South Korea has announced plans worth approximately $450 bil-
Global communications network OneWeb has secured $550 lion for building the biggest chip making base in the world. Sam-
million in funding from Eutelsat Communications, bringing its sung Electronics and SK Hynix will be investing more than 510
total funding to $1.9 billion in fresh equity. The investment is trillion won and, along with 151 more companies, will be fueling
expected to be completed in the second half of 2021, subject the project. The blueprint for making South Korea the biggest
to regulatory approvals. French geostationary satellite operator name in semiconductor manufacturing has been devised by an
Eutelsat will receive 24 percent equity stake in OneWeb and administration team led by the country’s president Moon Jae-in.
similar governance rights to the UK government and Bharti
Global. DXOMARK now giving ratings for smartphone batteries
The French hi-tech company DXOMARK has now announced a
TSMC planning to build five more fabs in Arizona new score for smartphone battery experience. The proprietary
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is battery test protocol covers a wide range of common real-life
looking to expand its business in the US state of Arizona by uses of smartphones including social media, communication,
building more manufacturing plants there apart from the one and multimedia applications. DXOMARK’s battery test protocol
currently under development. TSMC had announced last year evaluates the entire battery experience and quantifies three main
that it is planning to build a $12 billion dollar factory in Arizona. areas: autonomy (how long a charge lasts, for various intensities
With a planned output of 20,000 wafers per month, this fab is of use); charging (how long it takes to recharge or how much
relatively small. It utilises the company’s 5nm chip manufactur- short recharges increase battery life); and efficiency (how much
ing technology for production. the phone consumes in charging or discharging).

Intel to manufacture advanced semiconductors STMicroelectronics joins mioty Alliance

at its New Mexico plant STMicroelectronics has now become a part of the mioty Alliance,
Intel Corporation will invest $3.5 billion to equip its New Mexico which maintains the specifications and promotes the technol-
operations for the manufacture of advanced semiconductor ogy. ST has announced availability of a protocol stack from ST
packaging technologies. This would include Foveros, Intel’s authorised partner Stackforce that allows customers to create
breakthrough 3D packaging technology. Since 1980, Intel mioty devices using the STM32WL wireless SoC. mioty sends
has invested $16.3 billion in capital to support its New Mexico messages using an advanced telegram-splitting technique, which
operations and currently employs more than 1,800 people at is recognised and standardised by the European Telecommuni-
the site. cation Standards Institute (ETSI).

Volkswagen to design own chips for its Fisker and Sharp collaborate to create automotive
autonomous vehicles screens and interfaces
Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess has revealed that Fisker Inc. announced it has serially nominated Sharp Corpora-
the German auto giant is planning to design and develop its tion, part of the Hon Hai Technology Group, to develop technolo-
own high-powered chips for autonomous vehicles using the gies supporting next-generation in-vehicle screens and interfaces.
required software. Notably, this comes as electric automakers The agreement would include co-creation of technologies and the
all over the world are ramping up efforts to increase their acces- subsequent manufacture of screens and components from Sharp
sibility to chips, which can integrate the custom-designed chips to support the Ocean SUV, Project ‘Personal Electric Automotive
to introduce new features faster. Revolution,’ and potentially two additional Fisker vehicles.

98 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

www.EFYMag.com electronics For You • june 21 99
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Products Page No. Products Page No. Products Page No.
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104 June 2021 • electronics For You www.EFYMag.com

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