Here’s a handy gadget that allows the user to turn speaker systems on and off with a TV or laptop computer. It can also be used to turn on lamps and other electric appliances. The gadget is environmentally green, since it uses a unique Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) voltage regulator to reduce standby power consumption to only a few milliwatts.
The SCR regulator is much more energy efficient and robust against damage from power surges than the zener diode regulator that would normally be used in this type of circuit. The gadget also uses a triac to switch the load instead of a mechanical relay, for a more compact size, lower power consumption, and improved reliability.
The editors of Design News have handpicked your favorite Gadget Freak cases from over the years, bringing them together in a dynamic digital edition, complete with videos, which you can view here!
I use a similar circuit to turn on a shopvac whenever any woodworking tools are turned on for dust collection. It was built from an 30 year old Radio or Popular or Elementary Electronics magazine article (was that yours?.) Is that a Klipsch in the background?
It would indeed be very unique if it actually used a "Selective Catalytic Reduction" voltage regulator. With better editing, I think the article would have stated more correctly that it uses a Silicon Controlled Rectifier voltage regulator.
No, I created the original version of this gadget back in 1973 entirely on my own. The updated version is also entirely my work. Up until I saw a Sears unit for power tools in 2003, I had never seen or heard of such a thing before. I have already emailed the editor about the SCR mistake. I don't know where he got that from. I took for granted that everyone who would be interested in building the gadget would know what an SCR was.
Looks like a very nice design! I was going to make my own using a hall effect sensor, a PICAXE micro, and a relay. The use of a MPU gives a bit more flexibility in programming the current sensing sensitivity and delayable on-off period.
If you google SCR, the term Selective Catalytic Reduction occurs right after the Wikipedia article on Silicon Controlled Rectifier. I suppose the term Selective Catalytic Reduction sounded cooler.
Andrew Morris designed a circuit that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
7 
