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."