Build your own remote seat opener for your byke



Before we start, short disclaimer;

- you will be doing this at you're own risk
- any damage done to your bike will not and will never be my responsibility :D

Ok with that out of the way; here's what you need























 1. First off you'll need an actuator, you can buy this is in auto supply shops, these are the actuators used for central locking systems for cars. I'd suggest you get the one used to open the trunk, its the one with two wires.


2. Cable housing, you can buy this at bike shops


3. Derailleur cable, this is the one with the flat stopper, used for derailleurs (duh!) :D


4. nut & bolt and a washer, to lock down the cable


5. drill, multimeter, soldering gun, some shrink tube


6. six-pack of beer and some chips (optional) 
























1. Before fiddling with electrical, its a good idea to remove the negative contact of your battery to prevent any short circuits.


2. Next would be to disassemble the lock mechanism that the seat employs, this is usually held down by a couple of screws.


3. You'd need to drill a small hole somewhere where it'll act as a stopper for the cable, I used the mounting of the keyhole for the seatlock


With all that in place, you're ready to put it together











Before anything, test the actuator, also good to find out how far the travel of the actuator will be


1. Find a place to put the actuator, it'll be great if you can find an inconspicuous place so it won't be seen, good thing underbones have a lot of fairings so I hid it under one of them.

2. then thread the derailleur cable into the seat lock mechanism, thru the cable housing and thru the hole that'll act as a stopper

3. loop the cable around the pulling end of the actuator and tie it down with the nut & bolt & washer.

























The actuator will come with two wires, positive and negative. Tap the positive to the ignition line of the bike (the reason behind this is when you're parked and the engine is turned off, the switch won't work). 

Next is to tap the other wire into the body frame, this completes the circuit so this is the line where we'll be putting the switch. Please don't put the switch on the positive line, you'll burn the switch :D

I believe its good practice to join wires, solder them and shrink-wrap them to prevent any short-circuits.

Just put everything back together and you'll be able to access your utility box or underseat storage without turning off your engine. Even better, since its connected to the ignition line, when you turn off your engine, the switch won't work.

Hope this helps someone!

Here's a link to the video of the Remote Seat Opener in action!

Know More About Windows8


We know what you're going to say, but trust us: Windows 8 is not only cool, it's potentially a game changer.
Windows 8 has a completely new visual interface that's unlike anything you've seen on a PC before. It's optimized for touch screens on mobile devices like tablets, but it will also work for those with a traditional mouse and keyboard setup.
The result is a computer that operates as a hybrid, with all the functions of a standard PC operating system but the user experience of a tablet. Apple says we're already living in the "post-PC world." Windows 8 is a sign that Microsoft agrees -- and if it has its way, tablets and PCs may soon be indistinguishable. -David Goldman

Google's Virtual Reality Glasses


                   This is one of the Google's Coolest Invention.Augmented reality may end up being one of the hottest fashion accessories of 2012. Google is secretly working on Android-powered virtual reality glasses that it plans to begin selling by the end of the year, according to reports in the New York Times.
                 Details are scant about the rumored glasses, but the basic idea is to beam contextually relevant information straight to your eyeballs. Like augmented reality apps, the glasses could deliver an added layer of information about, say, a landmark you’re looking at, or offer up a discount to a restaurant that catches your gaze.
                “If facial recognition software becomes accurate enough, the glasses could remind a wearer of when and how he met the vaguely familiar person standing in front of him at a party,” the New York Times’ Nick Bilton theorizes. “They might also be used for virtual reality games that use the real world as the playground.”

Kick scooter converted into awesome all-terrain electric scooter




Ben Katz has spent the last few months ripping apart and reassembling an old kick scooter to build what he describes as an all-terrain electric scooter. He's mixed in bits and pieces from robotics projects and mountain bikes, supersized the wheels, created custom shocks, built a novel disc brake, and added lots of aluminum to make a pretty sweet ride. He still has a few finishing touches to add but it's ready to roll, as you can see in the video after the jump.
A student of Atlanta's Paideia School and member of its robotics team, Katz was inspired to hit the workshop and remodel his scooter after getting up close to numerous electric vehicle builds from MIT research affiliate Charles Guan at last year's Atlanta Mini Maker Faire. As luck would have it, he'd already managed to gather many of the necessary components for the modification when some old robotics projects got dismantled.

Construction began with the tearing apart of his well-used Royce Union Transit, which he says is a slightly better scooter than the ubiquitous Razor. To the basic frame, Katz added 12.5-inch (317.5 mm) wheels with knobby pneumatic tires, the rear also being fitted with a 60t sprocket salvaged from school, but before that could happen he needed to make new front and rear suspension assemblies.
The front fork came from an old mountain bike, to which custom-created shocks were fitted to form a leading link suspension arm. The rear also got some mountain bike action in the shape of two shock absorbers with 1500 lb/in springs. A motorless test run revealed some handling problems so Katz rebuilt the front fork, which slightly raised the angle of the deck but improved performance.
Next up, three CIM motors from dismantled robotics projects were hooked up to a reworked gearbox and encased in an aluminum housing before being mounted underneath the scooter's platform.

"The motor controller I am using (a Kelly KDS72200E controller rated for 120A continuous and 200A peak at up to 72V) is sealed within an aluminum enclosure, so it is safe from water and debris," Katz explained. "There are some exposed contacts, but they are between the deck and the battery case, so they are somewhat shielded. All that said, I would definitely not ride the scooter in the rain or through seriously wet conditions without at least adding fenders to prevent water from being slung into the scooter by the wheels."
Braking on kick scooters generally involves pushing a lever down onto the rear wheel and the Katz scooter also has a brake lever at the back of the platform, but it activates caliper grips positioned on either side of the rear sprocket to make a rather novel disc brake. The faithful mountain bike was again the donor for new handlebars, fitted with a hall effect twist grip throttle. Katz then bolted on a new custom deck made from carbon fiber bonded to a later of polycarbonate, and added a Hella master power switch.

In front of the motor and controller, underneath the deck, Katz mounted eight Turnigy 5000 mAh 4s Li-Pol battery packs in a 16S2P configuration (59.2V, 10 Ah) into an aluminum case fronted by a removable polycarbonate cover. While this may appear to leave them prone to off-road damage, Katz told us that's not necessarily true.
"The batteries are less exposed than they appear to be," he said. "I am using 'hardcase' lithium polymer batteries, which are already enclosed in a plastic shell. Additionally, the underside of the battery case is protected by a layer of polycarbonate. I do plan on completely enclosing the battery case later on though."
On the subject of keeping the batteries juiced up, he told us that "charging is very slow, but it is limited by my cheap charger, not the batteries. The scooter has a 600 watt-hour battery pack, and I have only a 50 watt charger, so if I drained the battery completely, it would take around 12 hours to charge. Typically, I don't drain the battery nearly that much, so it takes 3 - 4 hours. However, with a higher quality (and much more expensive) charger, the pack could be fully charged in 2 hours or less."
Although the all-terrain claims might just be a tad ambitious, the Katz mod will certainly manage to conquer many more off-road situations than the old kick scooter it used to be, and it zooms up to a top speed of 25 mph (40 km/h) without requiring any energetic pushing action from the rider.
"The range will vary drastically based on how aggressively and over what terrain it is ridden," said Katz. "I've been riding it about half on, half off road, and get about 8 miles per charge. On a flat road at a constant speed, it would probably go at least 12, although I have not tested those conditions."
"So far, I have tested the scooter on roads, rough dirt/mulch trails, and grass. As far as handling and traction, it works well on all the terrains I have tested it on. However, I have had some problems with the chain coming off the drive sprocket on large impacts, like when I ride over roots. I am currently adjusting the configuration of the sprockets to fix this problem."



Total build cost is reported to be around US$450, but Katz admits that he "got a significant number of the parts for free, so starting from scratch, the build would have cost at least twice that."




Modern Periodic Table


Introduction to Modern Periodic Table of Elements:




               


          The periodic table is a tabular display of the chemical elements, organized on the basis of their properties. Elements are presented in increasing atomic numberAtomic number is the number of electrons present in an atom of an element.Atoms of all the elements try to get 8 electrons in their outer most shell (valence shell) of the atom (Octet rule). In doing so, each atom gain or lose /share electrons with the atoms of   other elements resulting in the formation of compounds.The atoms of rare gases or noble gases have their outermost shell (valence shell) completely filled. Hence they do not react

             The main body of the table is a 18 × 7 grid, with gaps included in to keep elements with similar properties together, such as the halogens and the noble gases. These gaps form four distinct rectangular areas or blocks. The f-block is not included in the main table, but rather is usually floated below, as an inline f-block would make the table impractically wide. The periodic table accurately predicts the properties of various elements and the relations between properties.
     



Uses of Modern Periodic Table of Elements:
  • Knowing the atomic number, it is easy to locate and predict the chemical properties of any element in the periodic table.
  • The position of the element in the periodic table will help us to write its electronic configuration and identify the valence electrons in the atom of the element.
  • It reveals the similarities, differences and trends in chemical properties of the elements clearly.
  • One can easily write the molecular formula and predict the compound formed by the given two elements with the help of the periodic table.



Basics of Periodic Table of Classification of Elements

  1. The periodic table of elements consists of horizontal rows called periods and vertical columns called groups.
  2. There are 18 groups and 7 periods in the periodic table.
  3. The elements of group 1 have one valence electron; group 2 elements have 2 valence electrons and so on. Zero group elements have 8 electrons in their outermost shell. Thus the elements of each group have similar properties.
  4. Thus one can identify the valence electrons of the atom of the element from the group it is placed.
  5. Lanthanides and actinides falling under the same group are shown separately below the table.
  6. The elements in I period have their electrons placed in one shell or they have only one main shell.  The elements of the II period have two main shells and so on.
  7. Elements on the left side of the periodic table are called metals. Elements on the right side of the periodic table are occupied by non metals. The metals and non metals are separated by metalloids. One can tell that the metals take most part of the table by glancing at it.
  8. Metallic to non metallic decreases along a period of the periodic table.



Key words: modern periodic table, modern periodic table with names and atomic numbers, periodic table of elements,modern periodic table 2012

Introduction and classification of Gears

Introduction to Gears:



    What is a gear (or) Explain gears?

       Gears are used to transmit motion and power between rotating shafts by means of progressive engagement of projections called teeth.Gears use no intermediate link and transmit motion by direct contact.
          Gears operate in pairs, the smaller of the pair is called the “PINION” and the larger is called the “GEAR” usually, the pinion drives the Gears and when the teeth are meshed, rotation of one shaft and pinion causes the Gear and its shaft to rotate.

Gears can be used to
  • a.     Change the direction
  • b.     Run angular ways
  • c.      Avoid slipping, which is a common phenomenon in belts.

Applications of Gears:

             Now–a–days, Gears are used in most machinery & they range in size from the smallest gear in watch mechanism to bigger(around 100 feet diameter) Gears in radar antennas. In many machines like machine tools, automobiles, tractors,hoisting, mechanisms, rolling mills, marine engines, etc… Gears play a vital role.


Classification of Gears:

          The Gears of toothed wheels may be classified as follows:
According to the position of the shaft axis:
         
a) Parallel shafts
                    1.Spur Gears
                        2.helical Gears
                       3.Herring bone or double helical gears.

b) Intersecting shafts
                   1.Bevel Gears
                             1.1 Straight Bevel Gears
                             1.2 Spiral Bevel Gears
                             1.3 Zero Bevel Gears

c) Non-parallel shafts
                             1.Hypoid Gears
                             2.Crossed Helical Gears
                             3.Worm and Worm wheel 


Explain about Spur Gears and classification of spur gears?

      

What is a SPUR gear (or) Explain Spur gear?      

           Spur gears have straight teeth cut parallel to the rotational axis. The tooth form is based on the involute curve. Practice has shown that this design accommodates mostly rolling, rather than sliding,contact of the tooth surfaces.The involute curve is generated during gear machining processes using gear cutters with straight sides.Near the root of the tooth, however,the tool traces a trochoidal path, providing a heavier, and stronger, root section. Because of this geometry, contact between the teeth occurs mostly as rolling rather than sliding. Since less heat is produced by this rolling action, mechanical efficiency of spur gears is high, often up to99%. Some sliding does occur,however. 
             
              And because contact is simultaneous across the entire width of the meshing teeth, a continuous series of shocks is produced by the gear. These rapid shocks result in some objectionable operating noise and vibration. Moreover, tooth wear results from shock loads at high speeds. 
            
              Noise and wear can be minimized with proper lubrication, which reduces tooth surface contact and engagement shock loads.Spur gears are the least expensive to manufacture and the most commonly used, especially for drives with parallel shafts. The three main classes of spur gears are: external tooth, internal tooth, and rack-and-pinion.



External-tooth gears 

           The most common type of spur gear, has teeth cut on the outside perimeter of mating cylindrical wheels, with the larger wheel called the gear and the smaller wheel the pinion.The simplest arrangement of spur gears is a single pair of gears called a single reduction stage, where output rotation is in a direction opposite that of the input. In other words, one is clockwise while the other is counter-clockwise.
Higher net reduction is producedwith multiple stages inwhich the driven gear is rigidly connectedto a third gear. This third gearthen drives a mating fourth gear that serves as output for the second stage.In this manner, several output speedson different shafts can be produced from a single input rotation.


Internal (ring) gears 

             Ring gears produce an output rotation that is in the same direction as the input, As the name implies, teeth are cut on the inside surface of a cylindrical ring, inside of which are mounted a single external-tooth spur gear or set of external-tooth spur gears, typically consisting of three or four larger spur gears (planets) usually surrounding a smaller central pinion (sun). Normally, the ring gear is stationary, causing the planets to orbit the sun in the same rotational direction as that of the sun. For this reason, this class of gear is often referred to as a planetary system. 
      
            The orbiting motion of the planets is transmitted to the output shaft by a planet carrier.In an alternative planetary arrangement, the planets may be restrained from orbiting the sun and the ring left free to move. This causes the ring gear to rotate in a direction opposite that of the sun. By allowing both the planet carrier and the ring gear to rotate, a differential gear drive is produced, the output speed of one shaft being dependent on the other.


Rack-and-pinion gears

                A straight bar with teeth cut straight across it is called a rack.Basically, this rack is considered to be a spur gear unrolled and laid out fiat.Thus, the rack-and pinion is a special case of spur gearing. The rack-and-pinion is useful in converting rotary motion to linear and vice versa. Rotation of the pinion produces linear travel of the rack. Conversely, movement of the rack causes the pinion to rotate.The rack-and-pinion is used extensively in machine tools, lift trucks, power shovels, and other heavy machinery where rotary motion of the pinion drives the straight-line action of a reciprocating part. Generally, the rack is operated without a sealed en-closure in these applications, but some type of cover may be provided to keep dirt and other contaminants from accumulating on the working surfaces.



What are Helical Gears & give their classification?

                 


                      Helical gearing differs from spur in that helical teeth are cut across the gear face at an angle rather than straight,Thus, the contact line of the meshing teeth progresses across the face from the tip at one end to the root of the other, reducing the noise and vibration characteristic of spur gears. Also, several teeth are in contact at any one time, producing a more gradual loading of the teeth that reduces wear substantially.
                The increased amount of sliding action between helical gear teeth, however, places greater demands on the lubricant to prevent metal-to-metal contact and resulting premature gear failure. Also, since the teeth mesh at an angle, a side thrust load is produced along each gear shaft. Thus, thrust bearings must be used to absorb this load so that the gears are held in proper alignment. The three other principle classes of helical gears are: double-helical, herringbone,and cross-helical.

Double-helical gears  

               Thrust loading is eliminated by using two pairs of gears with tooth angles opposed to each other. In this way, the side thrust from one gear cancels the thrust from the other gear. These opposed gears are usually manufactured with a space between the opposing sets of teeth.

Herringbone gears  

            


             Teeth in these gears resemble the geometry of a herring spine, with ribs extending from opposite sides in rows of parallel, slanting lines. Herringbone gears have opposed teeth to eliminate side thrust loads the same as double helicals, but the opposed teeth are joined in the middle of the gear circumference. This arrangement makes herringbone gears more compact than double-helicals. However, the gear centers must be precisely aligned to avoid interference between the mating helixes.

Cross-helical gears 

              This type of gear is recommended only for a narrow range of applications where loads are relatively light. Because contact between teeth is a point instead of a line, the resulting high sliding loads between the teeth requires extensive lubrication.Thus, very little power can be transmitted with cross helical gears.


Explain Bevel Gears & their classification?



               

               Unlike spur and helical gears with teeth cut from a cylindrical blank, bevel gears have teeth cut on an angular or conical surface. Bevel gears are used when input and output shaft center lines intersect. Teeth are usually cut at an angle so that the shaft axes intersect at 90 deg, but any other angle may be used. A special class of bevels called miter gears have gears of the same size with their shafts at right angles. Often there is no room to support bevel gears at both ends because the shafts intersect. 

                  Thus, one or both gears overhang their supporting shafts. This overhung load (OHL) may deflect the shaft, misaligning gears, which causes poor tooth contact and accelerates wear. Shaft deflection may be overcome with straddle mounting in which a bearing is placed on each side of the gear where space permits. There are two basic classes of bevels: straight-tooth and spirals.


Straight-tooth bevels 

                These gears, also known as plain bevels, have teeth cut straight across the face of the gear. They are subject to much of the same operating conditions as spur gears in that straight tooth bevels are efficient but somewhat noisy. They produce thrust loads in a direction that tends to separate the gears.

Spiral-bevels 

               Curved teeth provide an action somewhat like that of a helical gear, Figure 10. This produces smoother,quieter operation than straight-tooth bevels. Thrust loading depends on the direction of rotation and whether the spiral angle at which the teeth are cut is positive or negative.



Explain Hypoid Gears & their classification?



            Hypoid gears resemble spiral bevels, but the shaft axes of the pinion and driven gear do not intersect.This configuration allows both shafts to be supported at both ends. In hypoid gears, the meshing point of the pinion with the driven gear is about midway between the central position of a pinion in a spiral-bevel and the extreme top or bottom position of a worm. This geometry allows the driving and driven shafts to continue past each other so that end-support bearings can be mounted. These bearings provide greater rigidity than the support provided by the cantilever mounting used in some bevel gearing. 

                Also adding to the high strength and rigidity of the hypoid gear is the fact that the hypoid pinion has a larger diameter and longer base than a bevel or spiral-bevel gear pinion of equal ratio. Although hypoid gears are stronger and more rigid than most other types, they are one of the most difficult to lubricate because of high tooth-contact pressures. Moreover, the high levels of sliding between tooth surfaces reduces efficiency. Infact, the hypoid combines the sliding action of the worm gear with the rolling movement and high tooth pressure associated with the spiral bevel. In addition, both the driven and driving gears are made of steel, which further increases the demands on the lubricant. 

               As a result, special extreme pressure lubricants with both oiliness and anti-weld properties are required to withstand the high contact pressures and rubbing speeds in hypoids. Despite these demands for special lubrication, hypoid gears are used extensively in rear axles of automobiles with rear-wheel drives. Moreover, they are being used increasingly in industrial machinery.


What is a WORM & WORM WHEEL?

                                                       

                           Worm gear sets, consist of a screw-like worm (comparable to a pinion) that meshes with a larger gear, usually called a wheel. The worm acts as a screw, several revolutions of which pull the wheel through a single revolution. In this way, a wide range of speed ratios up to 60:1 and higher can be obtained from a single reduction. Most worms are cylindrical in shape with a uniform pitch diameter. However, a double enveloping worm has a variable pitch diameter that is narrowest in the middle and greatest at the re ends.

                    This configuration allows the worm to engage more teeth on the wheel, thereby increasing load capacity.In worm-gear sets, the worm is most often the driving member. However, a reversible worm-gear has the worm and wheel pitches so proportioned that movement of the wheel rotates the worm. In most worm gears, the wheel has teeth similar to those of a helical gear, but the tops of the teeth curve inward to envelop the worm. As a result, the worm slides rather than rolls as it drives the wheel. Because of this high level of rubbing between the worm and wheel teeth, the efficiency of worm gearing is lower than other major gear types. 

                  One major advantage of the worm gear is low wear, due mostly to the full-fluid lubricant film that tends to be formed between tooth surfaces by the worm sliding action. A continuous film that separates the tooth surfaces and prevents direct metal-to-metal contact is typically provided by a relatively heavy oil, which is often compounded with fatty or fixed oils such as acid less tallow oil. This adds film strength to the lubricant and further reduces friction by increasing the oiliness of the fluid.


Explain RACK & PINION MECHANISM?







                   A rack is a toothed bar or rod that can be thought of as a sector gear with an infinitely large radius of curvature. Torque can be converted to linear force by meshing a rack with a pinion: the pinion turns; the rack moves in a straight line. Such a mechanism is used in automobiles to convert the rotation of the steering wheel into the left-to-right motion of the tie rod(s). Racks also feature in the theory of gear geometry, where, for instance, the tooth shape of an interchangeable set of gears may be specified for the rack (infinite radius), and the tooth shapes for gears of particular actual radii then derived from that. The rack and pinion gear type is employed in a rack railway