Magazine 3

Contents 1.Minimotor -Jayashree Get to know about the smallest motor

2.Robotics-Poongundran.D.K & Senthil Kumar.K Places where the lives of humans are in the hands of these tiny machines

3.Biometrics-Arun Vetrivel The latest regarding security and authentification.

4.Circuit debugging-Arun Kumar & Santosh.S An alarm to protect your automobile.

5. IELTS- Tony Thomas Want to study in Canada, U.K or Australia? Look up.

6.Student’s section A few puzzles to solve and laws more practical in nature.

Head of the department: Dr.A.Ebenezer Jeyakumar Faculty Advisor: Dr.N.Devarajan Editor: Ram Prasad.V Cover Design: Karthik.G

Anand.S

Tech cuts

MINIMOTOR While the age of nanobots is not with us yet, a tiny inexpensive motor with simple circuitry and easy manufacture may become the motive force in micro medical applications in the near future, according to a Penn State engineer. The smallest of these ultrasonic, piezoelectric motors developed by researchers at Penn State’s Materials Research Institute is about the size of a grain of rice. They are 1.8 millimeters in diameter and 4 millimeters long. Tiny but powerful, the smallest motor’s rotation can just be stopped with the pressure of thumb and forefinger, but those only slightly larger will tear the skin and draw blood. "Initially, our applications for these motors are aimed at medical uses," says Dr. Kenji Uchino, Professor of Electrical Engineering. "Because the motors are so small, and can be manufactured so cheaply, they appear ideal for applications where small diameter, disposable instruments are required." Some of these applications include specialized urinary catheters and endoscopic instruments. Currently, catheters with instruments to break up kidney stones must be about 3 millimeters in diameter to accommodate the instruments. The 1.8-millimeter diameter motor would allow the catheter to become smaller and consequently more comfortable. The motor itself has sufficient power to break up kidney stone materials. Another application, although one not requiring such a small motor, would be on the end of an endoscope. A mirror could be controlled by this motor to allow the light delivered by the fiber optic filament to illuminate a larger area of the upper digestive tract and allows physicians to view larger areas. "Also, because these motors are not electromagnetic, but electromechanical or piezoelectric, they are inherently non magnetic, which, with proper choice of materials, would allow them to be used in surgery performed using Magnetic Resonance Imaging, " says Uchino. "Brain surgery is sometimes done this way." The researchers have fabricated the prototype motors from readily available materials because they want to mass-produce the motors inexpensively. Each motor consists of a hollow metal tube and two sides flattened at 90 or more degrees. Two strips of PZT (Lead Zirconate Titanate) that is piezoelectric are fastened to the

flattened areas. This tube becomes the motor’s stator. Inside the tube, the rotor consists of a rod held down with a spring or just a spring. Piezoelectric materials deform when an electrical voltage is applied to them. By deforming the strips on the outside of the stator, the tube wobbles. This wobble causes the rotor to spin and the motor to move. Electromagnetic motors have not been shrunk below 10 millimeters in size. They are very high speed and only about 2 percent efficient. The efficiency of the piezoelectric motors is about 28 percent. Initially, piezoelectric motors were made with tubes of piezoelectric materials, but they proved too expensive. Now, Uchino chooses aluminum, stainless steel, plastic or brass tubes that are readily available off the shelf. With the proper materials, the motors can be inexpensively manufactured and tailored to a variety of applications. Besides medical applications, they could function in appliances, computers and even wristwatches. -Jayashree Lighter side Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Watson replies, "I see millions of stars." "What does that tell you?" Watson ponders for a minute. "Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are

millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?" Holmes is silent for a moment, then speaks. "Watson, you idiot, someone has stolen

our tent."

ROBOTICS Robots in danger zones: Robots form an important part of land mines and bomb detection squads in many countries. Besides such land combing operations the robots go deep down the earth’s crust where temperatures are unbearable and also search for buried treasures in the deepest of oceans and sometimes work in nuclear reactors. The very purpose of deploying robots is to shield humans from hazards. However in most of the robots used, the robot’s operator controls it from a safe distance and guides the fully armed robot to the danger zones. The robots are equipped with cameras, grippers, sensors and other tools required to detect and defuse the explosive devices. One such robot called Dervish developed by Stephen Salter of the University of Edinburgh has the ability of withstand the force of about 11 anti-personal mines during landmine operations. This tripod like machine can roll through mine fields, detonating buried mines and still managing to survive the blast. Another robot named Maverick, developed by Solex Robotics does the routine undersea search. Using ultrasound techniques, the robot checks out for oil leakages in tankers that travel on the high seas and fix the metal besides cleaning up the coil spillage. Robots were recently used to recover humans trapped under the debris of World trade center. Robosurgery: Robots are increasingly being used during certain types of microsurgery. The surgeon can control the surgery from a terminal in the room or at times several miles away from the patient while robots go on about their job. Around a year ago, surgeons from the New York Presbyterian hospital performed a robotic heart surgery using the ‘Da Vinci‘ surgical system. This particular technique requires making four puncture wounds, each about 2.5cm in diameter through which surgeons operate on the heart using pencil sized instruments. The team, which performed the operation, was quite satisfied with the results and the patients recovered well before the required the time frame. Senthil Kumar.K & Poongundran.D.K

Biometrics A biometric is a measurable physical characteristic or personal trait used to recognize the identity or verify the claimed identity of a person automatically. Biometric Authentication: Biometric

authentication

measures

the

unique,

invariable

biological

characteristics of an individual. One of the most common biometrics used today is fingerprint information. A biometric can be used to protect secret data such as a password, providing both security and convenience. The biometric information is captured during enrollment and translated into a template, which is stored for subsequent authentication. The template can be stored on a portable device such as a smart card or ibutton and in a database on a server, or any other appropriate environment. During authentication, the biometric information is captured and compared against the stored template. If the user is valid, the two images will match Pattern Recognition: Bioscrypt(a technique) uses a pattern recognition algorithm as the basis for its fingerprint authentication systems. This algorithm processes the entire fingerprint image, rather than simply selecting a limited number of minutiae points. This means that pattern recognition algorithms are more robust as they are not significantly affected by the loss of information when a finger is scarred, damaged or dirty. This has allowed Bioscrypt to develop extremely reliable authentication systems. Secure Replacement for Passwords: The volume of confidential information and binding business transactions that is flowing across personal computers is rapidly accelerating. As a result, today's enterprise environments must carefully safeguard both stand-alone and networked PCs to prevent access by unauthorized users. However, the safeguard most commonly in places - a password - is continually at risk of being forgotten, shared or stolen. Bioscrypt's advanced biometric technology, which replaces a password with a physical characteristic of the user, provides a secure and convenient solution. Arun Vetrivel

Circuit debugging

Auto Burglar Alarm This alarm circuit is based on two 555 timers. The alarm will sound the car horn if anyone opens the car door while the circuit is armed. The timers will allow a person to leave the car without sounding the horn. To turn the circuit on, S1 is closed. To set the alarm, S2 is opened (it is normally closed). This will give a person about 5 seconds to get out and close the door. R1 and C1 set the exit delay time. If anyone opens the doors for more then two seconds the horn will sound until power is removed from the circuit. R2 and C2 set the 2-second time. Closing S2 deactivates alarm.

Santosh.S & Arun Kumar Lighter side A veteran politician was asked what he had learned in the rough and tumble of the political arena.”Well,” he said,” I found it wasn’t so much whether you won or lost, but how you placed the blame!”

Future zone

IELTS

IELTS exams are conducted by University of Cambridge along with British Council and IDP Education-Australia. IELTS tests the complete range of English language skills, which will commonly be encountered by students when studying or training in the medium of English. All candidates take the same Listening and Speaking Modules. There is an option of Academic or General Training, Reading and Writing Modules. Academic is suitable for candidates planning to undertake higher education study. General Training is suitable for candidates planning to undertake non academic training or work experience, or for immigration purposes. Most Australian, British, Canadian and New Zealand academic institutions accept IELTS. The duration of the test is 2hrs 45 min. There are four sections as mentioned earlier. Results are obtained in two week’s time. Candidates receive scores on a band scale from 1 to 9. There is no pass or fail. The results are valid for 2 years. A score of 9 represents an expert user who is fluent in the language and is accurate in his answers. A score of 8 makes him a very good user while a score of 7 grades him as a good user. Various materials are available for preparation. Reading magazines and newspapers helps a lot as the exam tests the language of the student rather than his aptitude. Like GRE, IELTS is also an online test. There are ten centers in India.There is a center in Chennai the details of which are given below: IELTS Administrator IDP Education Australia 10 A "Rain Tree Place" New # 7, McNichols Road, Chetpet Chennai -600 031

For further details, visit www.ielts.org , www.britishcouncil.org .in Tony Thomas

Student’s section Law of Nations In an underdeveloped country, don't drink the water; in a developed country, don't breathe the air.

Allen's Axiom

When all else fails, follow instructions.

Agnes Allen's Law

Almost anything is easier to get into than out of.

Puzzles 1. Place the numbers from 1 to 15 in the 3* 5 array so that each column has the same sum and each row has the same sum.

2. Shoelace Clock: You are given some matches, a shoelace, and a pair of scissors. The lace burns irregularly like a fuse and takes 60 minutes to burn from end to end. It has a symmetry property in that the burn rate a distance x from the left end is the same as the burn rate the same distance x from the right end. What is the minimum time interval you can measure? 3. You have containers that hold 15 pints, 10 pints, and 6 pints. The 15-pint container starts out full, and the other two start out empty: (15, 0, 0). Through transferring liquid among the containers, measure exactly two pints for yourself to drink and end up with 8 pints in the 10-pint container and 5 pints in the 6-pint container. Find the most efficient solution. 4. Divide an equilateral triangle into three contiguous regions of identical shape if (a) All three regions are the same size; (b) all three regions are of different size; (c) two of the regions are the same size and the third region is a different size. 5. (a) What region inside a unit square has the greatest ratio of area to perimeter? (b) What volume inside a unit cube has the greatest ratio of volume to surface area?

Lighter side Customer: "You've got to fix my computer. I urgently need to print a document, but the computer won't boot properly." Helpdesk: "What does it say?" Customer: "Something about an error and non-system disk." Helpdesk: "Look at your machine. Is there a floppy inside?" Customer: "No, but there's a sticker saying there's an Intel inside."