The Engineering Projects

Introduction to POS System

Hi Guys! Hope you are doing great. Today, I am going to unlock the details on the Introduction to POS system. The POS stands for point of sale which is a process where a transaction is made when customers select some product and finalize it after checking out from the main window. It is very useful for keeping the track record of inventory and the number of sales made per day. There are many benefits of using this method including better user experience, retention of customers, price customization of every product, and keeping the track record of the previous purchase history of the customers. This process refrains you from using old traditional methods of carrying out sale process in which cash registers were used. I'll try to cover each and everything related to POS, why it has become prerequisite for most of the retailers, main benefits and the steps required to set up the POS system. Let's jump right in.

Introduction to POS System

POS is known as a point of sale or point of purchase where a transaction is carried out once the customer picks the products for buying. If you are a retailer or restaurateurs, you cannot run a demanding business without having a proper POS setup. The complete setup of POS system includes computer, credit card reader, receipt printer, barcode scanner, cash drawer and POS software. Following are the main features of POS system.

Purchase History

The technology is evolving day by day with the intention of providing a better user experience that sets you free from the hassle of manually keeping the record of what you pick online and purchase history. Sometimes it happens, you purchase a product and after two or three months you require same product and you find it very difficult to search and pick the right product in the search history of the eCommerce store. The POS system gives you the flexibility of checking the purchase history that helps you making a final decision.

Pick from Variety of Products

The POS system provides an option to the customers to choose among the variety of products available online. There are many POS systems that are highly reliable and safe to use in terms of retaining customers' credit card details. Setting up the POS varies from business to business. If you are running a restaurant then the requirements of the systems will be different as compared to running a medical or garments store. You can give your requirements to the developers of the POS system and ask them to provide you with a relevant system that resonates with your demands.

Cloud-Based Facility

As the nature of the business goes complex, the demands and requirements of setting up precise and accurate POS system increase. Earlier, you had to depend on the developer who would develop your systems and whenever there came any fault, the developer had to move to your place to fix the system. This is where Cloud-Based POS system comes handy where handling the data, transaction, and inventory can be monitored from a remote location. And in case there comes any bug or glitch in the system, it can be fixed from the remote location by your service provider.

Security

When you provide your credit card details to any retailer for a transaction, your information becomes vulnerable. Hackers can steal your information and do purchase using your credit card information. Thanks to technology. Now there comes a POS system that builds on very accurate and complex algorithm that covers main loopholes that may help the hacker to steal your useful information. You need to pick the reliable service provider for setting up your POS system that not only keeps the track record of the inventory but also gives customers a trust and peace of mind so they feel no hesitation picking your store for shopping.

Covers Every Business

Every business is different from other. You can pick any POS system that comes with the features that truly aligns with your business. There are a variety of packages available that almost cover every industry ranging from automobiles sector, beauty salon, medical store, sports retailer, electronics, dry clearer, spare parts, and many more. Many POS service provides are out there but when it comes to providing quality service, only few stand out. What we highly recommend is Shopify POS Service Provider which provides everything you require for running a reliable business. They come with highly qualified experts that incorporate your entire idea into reality and give you technical support all the way from beginning to setting up whole POS system.

Points of Consideration

There are some points you must consider before you provide your requirement to the developers who build up your POS system. ONE. POS system includes barcode scanner that leaves a big footprint in terms of easing a theft process for your employee. Your employee can manipulate the entire data of the customers and the transaction process by simply bypassing some products from the scanning process. This may help the employees to give products free of cost to their close friends. It is important every POS system comes with admin window which is only accessible by the administrator where he can monitor and check the record of sale and purchase order, especially where a refund or negative receipt is required. TWO. The product price in your business may vary day to day, so it important that only legit personnel can access and change the pricing of a certain product. In the back end, the POS must be password protected which is only accessed by the administrators. THREE. The growth of your business mainly depends on the number of sales you make and an inventory you are left with. You need to keep the balance between them. All this can be managed and accessed by the backend of the running POS system. So, it is advised to keep that data as secure as possible so no one from outside can approach those files or manipulate them and use for their personal gains. FOUR. Some retailers get afraid of choosing POS system. They think picking POS system would decrease their sales and they need to start all over again for making the reputation of their business. However, this is a myth that gives you nothing but turns out to be a main hurdle in your business growth. If you want to excel and grow, you need to think out of the box and make yourself adaptable with the recent technology. If you are running an online business then setting up POS system must be your first priority. That's all for today, I hope you have found this article useful. However, if you are unsure or have any question, you can ask me in the comment section below. I'd love to help you according to best of my knowledge. Thanks for reading the article.

Introduction to Arduino Nano

Hi Friends! I hope you are doing fine. Today, I am going to give you a detailed Introduction to Arduino Nano. We will also discuss Arduino Nano Pinout, datasheet, drivers & applications. It is a Microcontroller board developed by arduino.cc and based on Atmega328p / Atmega168.

Arduino boards are widely used in robotics, embedded systems, automation, Internet of Things(IoT) and electronics projects. These boards were initially introduced for students and non-technical users but nowadays Arduino boards are widely used in industrial projects.

Any kind of technical support and help is readily provided by the Arduino community. I have also designed this video tutorial on Arduino Nano:

• Here's the figure showing the key points of Arduino Nano:

• Here's the table showing important features of Arduino Nano:

No.	Nano Features	Value
1	Microcontroller	Atmega328p
2	Crystal Oscillator	16MHz
3	Operating Voltage	5V
4	Input Voltage	6V-12V
5	Maximum Current Rating	40mA
6	USB	Type-B Micro USB
7	ICSP Header	Yes
8	DC Power Jack	No

• Here's the quick overview of Arduino Nano Pinout:

No.	Pin Number	Pin Description
1	D0 - D13	Digital Input / Output Pins.
2	A0 - A7	Analog Input / Output Pins.
3	Pin # 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11	Pulse Width Modulation ( PWM ) Pins.
4	Pin # 0 (RX) , Pin # 1 (TX)	Serial Communication Pins.
5	Pin # 10, 11, 12, 13	SPI Communication Pins.
6	Pin # A4, A5	I2C Communication Pins.
7	Pin # 13	Built-In LED for Testing.
8	D2 & D3	External Interrupt Pins.

• Arduino Nano offers three types of communications protocols, shown in the below table:

No.	Communication Protocols	Description
6	Serial Port	1 (Pin#0 is RX, Pin#1 is TX).
7	I2C Port	1 (Pin#A4 is SDA, Pin#A5 is SCL).
8	SPI Port	1 (Pin#10 is SS, Pin#11 is MOSI, Pin#12 is MISO, Pin#13 is SCK).

• Here's the memory details present in Arduino Nano:

No.	Memory Type	Value
7	Flash Memory	32KB
8	SRAM Memory	2KB
7	EEPROM	1KB

Compare with other Arduino Boards:

• Arduino UNO
• Arduino Pro Mini
• Arduino Mega 2560
• Arduino Due
• Arduino Micro
• Arduino Lilypad
• Arduino YUN

Introduction to Arduino Nano

• Arduino Nano is a small, complete, flexible and breadboard-friendly Microcontroller board, based on ATmega328p, developed by Arduino.cc in Italy in 2008 and contains 30 male I/O headers, configured in a DIP30 style.
• Arduino Nano Pinout contains 14 digital pins, 8 analog Pins, 2 Reset Pins & 6 Power Pins.
• It is programmed using Arduino IDE, which can be downloaded from the Arduino Official site.
• Arduino Nano is simply a smaller version of Arduino UNO, thus both have almost the same functionalities.
• It comes with an operating voltage of 5V, however, the input voltage can vary from 7 to 12V.
• Arduino Nano's maximum current rating is 40mA, so the load attached to its pins shouldn't draw a current more than that.
• Each of these Digital & Analog Pins is assigned with multiple functions but their main function is to be configured as Input/Output.
• Arduino Pins are acted as Input Pins when they are interfaced with sensors, but if you are driving some load then we need to use them as an Output Pin.
• Functions like pinMode() and digitalWrite() are used to control the operations of digital pins while analogRead() is used to control analog pins.
• The analog pins come with a total resolution of 10-bits which measures the value from 0 to 5V.
• Arduino Nano comes with a crystal oscillator of frequency 16 MHz. It is used to produce a clock of precise frequency using constant voltage.
• There is one limitation of using Arduino Nano i.e. it doesn't come with a DC power jack, which means you can not supply an external power source through a battery.
• This board doesn't use standard USB for connection with a computer, instead, it comes with Type-B Micro USB.
• The tiny size and breadboard-friendly nature make this device an ideal choice for most applications where the size of the electronic components is of great concern.
• Flash memory is 16KB or 32KB that all depends on the Atmega board i.e. Atmega168 comes with 16KB of flash memory while Atmega328 comes with a flash memory of 32KB. Flash memory is used for storing code. The 2KB of memory out of total flash memory is used for a bootloader.
• The SRAM memory of 2KB is present in Arduino Nano.
• Arduino Nano has an EEPROM memory of 1KB.
• You can download Arduino Nano Datasheet by clicking the below button:

Download Arduino Nano Datasheet

• The following figure shows the specifications of the Arduino Nano board.

• It is programmed using Arduino IDE which is an Integrated Development Environment that runs both offline and online.
• No prior arrangements are required to run the board. All you need is a board, a mini USB cable and Arduino IDE software installed on the computer.
• USB cable is used to transfer the program from the computer to the board.
• No separate burner is required to compile and burn the program as this board comes with a built-in boot-loader.

Now, let's have a look at Arduino Nano Pinout in detail:

Arduino Nano Pinout

• The following figure shows the pinout of the Arduino Nano Board:

• Each pin on the Nano board comes with a specific function associated with it.
• We can see the analog pins that can be used as analog to digital converters, where A4 and A5 pins can also be used for I2C communication.
• Similarly, there are 14 digital pins, out of which 6 pins are used for generating PWM.

Let's have a look at the Arduino Nano Pinout in detail:

Arduino Nano Power Pins

• Vin: It is the input power supply voltage to the board when using an external power source of 7 to 12 V.

• 5V: It is a regulated power supply voltage of the board that is used to power the controller and other components placed on the board.

• 3V3: This is a minimum voltage generated by the voltage regulator on the nano board.

• GND Pin: These are the ground pins on the board.
• There are multiple ground pins on the board that can be interfaced accordingly when more than one ground pin is required.

Arduino Nano Function Pins

• Reset Pin: Arduino Nano has 2 reset pins incorporated on the board, making any of these Reset pins LOW will reset the microcontroller.

• Pin#13: A built-in LED is connected to pin#13 of the nano board.
• This LED is used to check the board i.e. it's working fine or not.
• AREF: This pin is used as a reference voltage for the input voltage.

Arduino Nano I/O Pins

• Analog Pins: There are 8 analog pins on the board marked as A0 - A7.
• These pins are used to measure the analog voltage ranging between 0 to 5V.

• Digital Pins: Arduino Nano has 14 digital pins starting from D0 to D13.
• These digital pins are used for interfacing third-party digital sensors and modules with Nano board.
• PWM Pins: Arduino Nano has 6 PWM pins, which are Pin#3, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11. (All are digital pins)
• These pins are used to generate an 8-bit PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal.
• External Interrupts: Pin#2 and 3 are used for generating external interrupts normally used in case of emergency, when we need to stop the main program and call important instructions.
• The main program resumes once interrupt instruction is called and executed.

Nano Pinout for Communication Protocols

• Serial Pins: These pins are used for serial communication where:
  1. Pin#0 is RX used for receiving serial data.
  2. Pin#1 is Tx used for transmitting serial data.

• SPI Protocol: Four pins 10(SS->Slave Select), 11(MOSI -> Master Out Slave In), 12(MISO -> Master In Slave Out) and 13(SCK -> Serial Clock) are used for SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) Protocol.
• SPI is an interface bus and is mainly used to transfer data between microcontrollers and other peripherals like sensors, registers, and SD cards.
• I2C Protocol: I2C communication is developed using A4 and A5 pins, where A4 represents the serial data line (SDA) which carries the data and A5 represents the serial clock line (SCL) which is a clock signal, generated by the master device, used for data synchronization between the devices on an I2C bus.

Arduino Nano Programming & Communication

• The Nano board comes with the ability to set up communication with other controllers and computers.
• The serial communication is carried out by the digital pins, Pin 0(Rx) and Pin 1(Tx) where Rx is used for receiving data and Tx is used for the transmission of data.
• The serial monitor is added to the Arduino IDE, which is used to transmit textual data to or from the board.
• FTDI drivers are also included in the software which behaves as a virtual com port to the software.
• The Tx and Rx pins come with an LED which blinks as the data is transmitted between FTDI and USB connection to the computer.
• Arduino Software Serial Library is used for carrying out serial communication between the board and the computer.
• Apart from serial communication the Nano board also supports I2C and SPI communication. The Wire Library inside the Arduino Software is accessed to use the I2C bus.
• The Arduino Nano is programmed by Arduino Software called IDE which is a common software used for almost all types of board available. Simply download the software and select the board you are using.
• Uploading code to Arduino Nano is quite simple, as there's no need to use any external burner to compile and burn the program into the controller and you can also upload code by using ICSP (In-circuit serial programming header).
• Arduino board software is equally compatible with Windows, Linux or MAC, however, Windows are preferred to use.

Arduino Uno Vs Arduino Nano

• Both Arduino Uno and Arduino Nano come with the same functionality with little difference in terms of PCB layout, size and form factor.
• Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on Atmega328 and comes with 14 digital I/O pins out of which 6 are PWM. There are 6 analog pins incorporated into the board. This board comes with everything required to support the microcontroller like a USB connection, a Power jack, a 16MHz oscillator, a reset button and an ICSP header. You don't require an extra peripheral with the board to make it work for automation.
• It is a complete ready-to-use device that requires no prior technical skills to get hands-on experience with it. You can power it by using a DC power jack, battery or simply plug it into the computer using a USB cable to get started.
• Arduino Nano is small and compact as compared to Arduino Uno. It lacks the DC power jack and comes with Mini USB support instead of regular USB. Also, the Nano board comes with two extra analog pins i.e. 8 pins as compared to 6 analog pins in the Uno board. Nano board is breadboard friendly while Uno board lacks this property.
• However, both devices run at 5V, come with a current rating of 40mA and 16MHz of the clock frequency.

Applications of Arduino Nano

Arduino Nano is a very useful device that comes with a wide range of applications and covers less space as compared to other Arduino boards. Breadboard-friendly nature makes it stand out from other boards. The following are the main applications of Arduino Nano:

• Engineering Students' Projects.
• Medical Instruments
• Industrial Automation
• Android Applications
• GSM Based Projects
• Embedded Systems
• Automation and Robotics
• Home Automation and Defense Systems
• Virtual Reality Applications

That's all for today. I hope you have got a clear idea about the Nano board. However, if still you feel skeptical or have any questions, you can approach me in the comment section below. I'd love to help you according to the best of my knowledge and expertise. Feel free to keep us updated with your valuable feedback and suggestions, they help us provide you quality work that resonates with your requirements and allows you to keep coming back for what we have to offer. Thanks for reading the article.

Introduction to Arduino Uno

Hi Friends! Hope you are doing great. Today, I am going to give you a detailed Introduction to Arduino Uno. It is a microcontroller board developed by Arduino.cc and is based on Atmega328 Microcontroller. The first Arduino project was started in Interaction Design Institute Ivrea in 2003 by David Cuartielles and Massimo Banzi with the intention of providing a cheap and flexible way for students and professionals to learn embedded programming.

Arduino UNO is a very valuable addition in electronics that consists of a USB interface, 14 digital I/O pins(of which 6 Pins are used for PWM), 6 analog pins and an Atmega328 microcontroller. It also supports 3 communication protocols named Serial, I2C and SPI protocol. You should also have a look at this video presentation on Arduino UNO:

• Few main features of Arduino UNO are shown in the below figure:

Arduino UNO Features and Technical Specs
No.	Parameter Name	Parameter Value
1	Microcontroller	Atmega328
2	Crystal Oscillator	16MHz
3	Operating Voltage	5V
4	Input Voltage	5-12V
5	Digital I/O Pins	14 (D0 to D13)
6	Analog I/O Pins	6 (A0 to A5)
7	PWM Pins	6 (Pin # 3, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11)
8	Power Pins	5V, 3.3V, Vin, GND
9	Communication	UART(1), SPI(1), I2C(1)
10	Flash Memory	32 KB (0.5KB is used by bootloader)
11	SRAM	2 KB
12	EEPROM	1 KB
13	ICSP Header	Yes
14	Power sources	DC Power Jack & USB Port

I'll try to cover each and everything related to Arduino Uno, so you get a clear idea of what it does, its main features, working and everything you need to know. Let's get started.

Where To Buy?
No.	Components	Distributor	Link To Buy
1	Arduino Uno	Amazon	Buy Now

Introduction to Arduino Uno

• Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board, developed by Arduino.cc, based on the Atmega328 microcontroller and is marked as the first Arduino board developed(UNO means "one" in Italian).
• The software used for writing, compiling & uploading code to Arduino boards is called Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment), which is free to download from Arduino Official Site.
• It has an operating voltage of 5V while the input voltage may vary from 7V to 12V.
• Arduino UNO has a maximum current rating of 40mA, so the load shouldn't exceed this current rating or you may harm the board.
• It comes with a crystal oscillator of 16MHz, which is its operating frequency.
• Arduino Uno Pinout consists of 14 digital pins starting from D0 to D13.
• It also has 6 analog pins starting from A0 to A5.
• It also has 1 Reset Pin, which is used to reset the board programmatically. In order to reset the board, we need to make this pin LOW.
• It also has 6 Power Pins, which provide different voltage levels.
• Out of 14  digital pins, 6 pins are used for generating PWM pulses of 8-Bit resolution. PWM pins in Arduino UNO are D3, D5, D6, D9, D10 and D11.
• Arduino UNO comes with 3 types of memories associated with it, named:
  • Flash Memory: 32KB
  • SRAM: 2KB
  • EEPROM: 1KB
• Arduino UNO supports 3 types of communication protocols, used for interfacing with third-party peripherals, named:
  • Serial Protocol
  • I2C Protocol
  • SPI Protocol
• You can download the Arduino UNO datasheet by clicking the below button:

Download Arduino UNO Datasheet

• Apart from USB, a battery or AC to DC adopter can also be used to power the board.

Features of Arduino Uno Board

• Arduino Uno comes with a USB interface i.e. USB port is added on the board to develop serial communication with the computer.
• Atmega328 microcontroller is placed on the board that comes with a number of features like timers, counters, interrupts, PWM, CPU, I/O pins and based on a 16MHz clock that helps in producing more frequency and number of instructions per cycle.

• It is an open-source platform where anyone can modify and optimize the board based on the number of instructions and tasks they want to achieve.
• This board comes with a built-in regulation feature that keeps the voltage under control when the device is connected to the external device.
• A reset pin is present in the board that resets the whole board and takes the running program in the initial stage. This pin is useful when the board hangs up in the middle of the running program; pushing this pin will clear everything up in the program and starts the program right from the beginning.
• There are 14 I/O digital and 6 analog pins incorporated in the board that allows the external connection with any circuit with the board. These pins provide flexibility and ease of use to the external devices that can be connected through these pins. There is no hard and fast interface required to connect the devices to the board. Simply plug the external device into the pins of the board that are laid out on the board in the form of the header.
• The 6 analog pins are marked as A0 to A5 and come with a resolution of 10bits. These pins measure from 0 to 5V, however, they can be configured to the high range using analogReference() function and AREF pin.
• Only 5 V is required to turn the board on, which can be achieved directly using a USB port or external adopter, however, it can support an external power source up to 12 V which can be regulated and limit to 5 V or 3.3 V based on the requirement of the project.

Arduino Uno Pinout

Arduino Uno is based on an AVR microcontroller called Atmega328. This controller comes with 2KB SRAM, 32KB of flash memory, 1KB of EEPROM. Arduino Board comes with 14 digital pins and 6 analog pins. ON-chip ADC is used to sample these pins. A 16 MHz frequency crystal oscillator is equipped on the board. The following figure shows the pinout of the Arduino Uno Board.

Arduino UNO Pin Description

There are several I/O digital and analog pins placed on the board which operates at 5V. These pins come with standard operating ratings ranging between 20mA to 40mA. Internal pull-up resistors are used in the board that limits the current exceeding the given operating conditions. However, too much increase in current makes these resisters useless and damages the device.

• LED. Arduino Uno comes with a built-in LED which is connected through pin 13. Providing HIGH value to the pin will turn it ON and LOW will turn it OFF.
• Vin. It is the input voltage provided to the Arduino Board. It is different than 5 V supplied through a USB port. This pin is used to supply voltage. If a voltage is provided through a power jack, it can be accessed through this pin.
• 5V. This board comes with the ability to provide voltage regulation. 5V pin is used to provide output regulated voltage. The board is powered up using three ways i.e. USB, Vin pin of the board or DC power jack.
• USB supports voltage around 5V while Vin and Power Jack support a voltage ranges between 7V to 20V. It is recommended to operate the board on 5V. It is important to note that, if a voltage is supplied through 5V or 3.3V pins, they result in bypassing the voltage regulator that can damage the board if the voltage surpasses its limit.
• GND. These are ground pins. More than one ground pins are provided on the board which can be used as per requirement.
• Reset. This pin is incorporated on the board which resets the program running on the board. Instead of physical reset on the board, IDE comes with a feature of resetting the board through programming.
• IOREF. This pin is very useful for providing voltage reference to the board. A shield is used to read the voltage across this pin which then selects the proper power source.
• PWM. PWM is provided by 3,5,6,9,10, 11pins. These pins are configured to provided 8-bit output PWM.
• SPI. It is known as Serial Peripheral Interface. Four pins 10(SS), 11(MOSI), 12(MISO), 13(SCK) provide SPI communication with the help of the SPI library.
• AREF. It is called Analog Reference. This pin is used for providing a reference voltage to the analog inputs.
• TWI. It is called Two-wire Interface. TWI communication is accessed through Wire Library. A4 and A5 pins are used for this purpose.
• Serial Communication. Serial communication is carried out through two pins called Pin 0 (Rx) and Pin 1 (Tx).
• Rx pin is used to receive data while Tx pin is used to transmit data.
• External Interrupts. Pin 2 and 3 are used for providing external interrupts. An interrupt is called by providing LOW or changing value.

Communication and Programming

Arduino Uno comes with the ability of interfacing with other Arduino boards, microcontrollers and computers. The Atmega328 placed on the board provides serial communication using pins like Rx and Tx. The Atmega16U2 incorporated on the board provides a pathway for serial communication using USB com drivers. A serial monitor is provided on the IDE software which is used to send or receive text data from the board. If LEDs placed on the Rx and Tx pins will flash, they indicate the transmission of data. Arduino Uno is programmed using Arduino Software which is a cross-platform application called IDE written in Java. The AVR microcontroller Atmega328 laid out on the base comes with built-in bootloader that sets you free from using a separate burner to upload the program on the board.

Applications of Arduino UNO

Arduino Uno comes with a wide range of applications. A larger number of people are using Arduino boards for developing sensors and instruments that are used in scientific research. Following are some main applications of the board.

• Embedded System
• Security and Defense System
• Digital Electronics and Robotics
• Parking Lot Counter
• Weighing Machines
• Traffic Light Count Down Timer
• Medical Instrument
• Emergency Light for Railways
• Home Automation
• Industrial Automation

There are a lot of other microcontrollers available in the market that are more powerful and cheap as compared to the Arduino board. So, why you prefer Arduino Uno? Actually, Arduino comes with a big community that is developing and sharing knowledge with a wide range of audiences. Quick support is available pertaining to the technical aspects of any electronic project. When you decide Arduino board over other controllers, you don't need to arrange extra peripherals and devices as most of the functions are readily available on the board that makes your project economical in nature and free from a lot of technical expertise. That's all for today. I hope you have got a lot of information regarding the Arduino Uno board. However, if you are unsure or have any questions you can approach me in the comment section below. I'd love to help you according to the best of my knowledge. Keep your feedback and suggestions coming; they help us provide you quality work that resonates with your needs and requirements. Thanks for reading the article.

Introduction to Atmega16

Hey Fellas! Hope you are doing fine. Microcontrollers play an important role in the development of embedded systems. They are used where automation is an integral part of the system. Today, I am going to unlock the details on the Introduction to Atmega16.  It is a 40-pin low power 8-bit microcontroller which is developed using CMOS technology and based on AVR architecture. This is the most commonly used AVR microcontroller which belongs to Atmel Mega family. You must have a look at microcontroller called Atmega328 that also belongs to the mega family. Other microcontrollers that are readily available and fall under AVR category are Atmega 8 and Atmega 32. All these controllers perform similar tasks, however, they are only different in terms of their memory size and cost. I'll discuss each and everything related to this controller so you don't need to scrape through the internet and find all information in one place. Let's dive in and explore what is this about, its main features, pin diagram and everything you need to know.

Introduction to Atmega16

• Atmega16 is a 40-pin low power microcontroller which is developed using CMOS technology.
• CMOS is an advanced technology which is mainly used for developing integrated circuits. It comes with low power consumption and high noise immunity.
• Atmega16 is an 8-bit controller based on AVR advanced RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) architecture. AVR is family of microcontrollers developed by Atmel in 1996.
• It is a single chip computer that comes with CPU, ROM, RAM, EEPROM, Timers, Counters, ADC and four 8-bit ports called PORTA, PORTB, PORTC, PORTD where each port consists of 8 I/O pins.
• Atmega16 has built-in registers that are used to make a connection between CPU and external peripherals devices. CPU has no direct connection with external devices. It can take input by reading registers and give output by writing registers.
• Atmega16 comes with two 8-bit timers and one 16-bit timer. All these timers can be used as counters when they are optimized to count the external signal.

• Most of the necessary peripherals required to run automatic functions are incorporated in this device like ADC (analog to digital converter), Analog comparator, USART, SPI, which make it economical as compared to a microprocessor that requires external peripheral to perform various functions.
• Atmega16 comes with 1KB of static RAM which is a volatile memory i.e stores information for short period of time and highly depends on the constant power supply. Whereas 16KB of flash memory, also known as ROM, is also incorporated in the device which is non-volatile in nature and can store information for long period of time and doesn't lose any information when the power supply is disconnected.
• Atmega16 works on a maximum frequency of 16MHz where instructions are executed in one machine cycle.

Architecture of Atmega16

Following figure shows the architecture of Atmega16 that is based on Harvard Architecture and comes with separate buses and memories. Instructions are stored in the program memory.

1. CPU

CPU is like a brain of the controller which helps in executing a number of instructions. It can handle interrupts, perform calculations and control peripherals with the help of registers. Atmega16 comes with two buses called instruction bus and data bus. The CPU reads the instructions in the instruction bus while data bus is used to read or write the corresponding data. The CPU mainly consists of the program counter, general purpose registers, stack pointer, instruction register and an instruction decoder.

2. ROM

The controller program is stored in ROM, also known as non-volatile programmable flash memory. The flash memory comes with a resolution of at least 10,000 write/erase cycles. Flash memory is mainly divided into two parts known as Application flash section and booth flash section. Program of the controller is stored in the applications flash section. While booth flash section is optimized to work directly when the controller is powered up.

3. RAM

The SRAM (static random access memory) is used for storing information temporarily and comes with 8-bit registers. This is just like a regular computer RAM which is used to supply data through the runtime.

4. EEPROM

The EEPROM (Electronically Erasable Read Only Memory) is non-volatile memory used as a long time storage. It has no involvement in executing the main program. It is used for storing the configuration of the system and device parameters which continues to work in the reset of the application processor. EEPROM comes with a limited write cycle up to 100,000 while read cycles are unlimited. While using EEPROM, write minimum instructions as per requirement, so you can get benefit from this memory for a longer time.

5. Interrupt

The interrupt is used for an emergency which puts the main function on hold and executes the necessary instructions at that time. Once the interrupt is called and executed the code switches back to the main program.

6. Analog and Digital I/O Modules

Digital I/O modules are used to set a digital communication between the controller and external devices. While analog I/O modules are used for transferring analog information. Analog comparators and ADC fall under the category of analog I/O modules.

7. Timer/Counter

Timers are used for calculating the internal signal within the controller. Atmega16 comes with two 8-bit timers and one 16-bit timer. All these timers work as a counter when they are optimized for external signals.

8. Watchdog Timer

The watchdog timer is a remarkable addition in this controller which is used to generate the interrupt and reset the timer. It comes with 128kHz distinct CLK source.

9. Serial Communication

Atmega16 comes with USART and SPI units that are used for developing serial communication with the external devices.

Atmega16 Pinout

Following figure shows the pin diagram of this AVR microcontroller Atmega16.

• Atmega16 is preferred over other microcontrollers like Atmel 8051 because it comes with much faster ability to execute instructions and consist of modified RISC processor.
• It has a built-in flash which comes with features of a bootloader. It has built-in 10-bit ADC, SPI, PWM, and EEPROM.

Pin Description of Atmega16

Atmega16 comes with 40 pins where each pin is used to perform a specific task. There are total 32 I/O pins and four ports. Each port consists of 8 I/O pins.

• PORTA = 8 Pins ( Pin 33 - 40 )
• PORTB = 8 Pins ( Pin 1 - 8 )
• PORTC = 8 Pins ( Pin 22 - 29 )
• PORTD = 8 Pins ( Pin 14 - 21 )

Following are the main functions associated with pins. PORTA. Pins from 33 to 40 fall under PORTA. It acts like analog inputs to A/D converter. However, in the absence of A/D converter, PORTA is used as an 8-bit bidirectional I/O port. It comes with internal pull-up resistors. PORTB. Pins from 1 to 8 belong to PORTB. These are I/O bidirectional pins. This port also consists of internal pull-up resistors. PORTC. PORTC is an I/O bidirectional port that consists of 8 pins. Pin from 22 to 29 belongs to this port.  Similar to other ports, it  comes with internal pull-up resistors. PORTD. Pin from 14 to 21 belongs to this port. It is a bidirectional port where each pin can be used as input or output pin. However, there are additional features associated with this port like interrupts, serial communication, timer, and PWM. Reset. Pin9 is an active low reset Pin. A low-level pulse for longer than minimum pulse length will produce a reset. Short pulses are unlikely to produce reset. VCC. Pin10 is a power supply pin for this controller. The power supply of 5 V is required to put this controller in a running condition. GND. Pin11 is a ground pin. AREF. Pin32 is an analog reference pin mainly used for A/D converter. AVCC. Pin30 is an AVCC which is a supply voltage pin for PORTA and ADC. It is connected to VCC through a low pass filter in the presence of ADC. However, in the absence of ADC, AVCC is externally connected to VCC. Pin 12 & 13. A crystal oscillator is connected with these pins. Atmega16 works at the internal frequency of 1MHZ; the oscillator is added to generate high clock pulses and frequency.

Applications

AVR controllers come with a wide range of applications where automation is required. Following are the main applications of Atmega16.

• Medical equipment
• Home automation
• Embedded systems
• Arduino Projects
• Used in automobiles and industrial automation
• Home appliances and security systems
• Temperature and pressure control devices

That's all for today. I hope you have got enough information regarding Atmega16. If you are unsure or have any question, you can approach me in the comment section below. I'd love to help you in any way I can. Feel free to keep us updated with your valuable suggestions and feedback. They help us provide you quality content. Thanks for reading the article.

Introduction to 8051 Microcontroller

Hello Friends! Hope you are doing great. I am back to give you a daily dose of valuable information so you can excel and grow in your relevant field and keep coming back for what we have to offer. Today, I am going to unlock the details on the Introduction to 8051 Microcontroller. This is an 8-bit Microcontroller developed by Intel in the 1980s. It is considered as a small system on an integrated chip that comes with CPU, I/O ports, timers, counters, RAM and ROM. The Microcontroller is a one step forward to a microprocessor. Both Microcontrollers and microprocessor work in a similar way with some exceptions. Microcottler comes with everything required to run an embedded system like CPU, I/O ports and inbuilt peripherals like timers, counters, and interrupts. While processor comes with the processing unit and in order to make it work like a microcontroller, separate peripherals are required to connect with the microprocessor. Other examples of microcontrollers are PIC Microcontroller, Atmel & Arduino etc. The 8051 is the most common used microcontroller nowadays. If you are a newbie and trying to get your hands on very first time with a microcontroller you will be advised to start with 8051. It is the most commonly used Microcontroller in Embedded Systems. Technology is evolving and becoming more advanced day by day. Gone are days, when you required separate systems or chips to perform a specific task. Now, most of the chips and electronic systems are developed with the purpose of performing multiple tasks using a single system that comes with a number of integrated circuits incorporated in it that sets you free from the hassle of spending lot of money on the individual system, making our project highly economical in nature. I'll try to discuss each and everything related to 8051, so you get a clear idea of what it does, its main features, working, applications and everything you need to know. You should also have a look at these 8051 Microcontrollers Projects. So, let's get started with Introduction to 8051 Microcontroller:

Introduction to 8051 Microcontroller

• The 8051 Microcontroller is a 40-Pin integrated chip that comes with CPU and other peripherals like I/O, timers, counters, RAM and ROM.
• It is widely used in an embedded system, consumer electronics, automotive systems, robotics and security cameras.
• The 8051 microcontrollers have made a renowned place in the market in terms of their availability, low cost, and operational flexibility.
• Before the inception of microcontroller, everything that required automatic action was designed with the processor. That made overall project more costly that would cover more space.
• The 8051 was developed using Intel 8051 MSC-51 architecture.

 

• Older versions of 8051 used assembly programming language, however, recent editions can be programmed using more advanced language like C, Python or JavaScript.
• Microcontrollers have revitalized the robotics and removed the need for extra devices to make them function like an automatic system.
• Earlier, microcontrollers were produced using N-MOS technology that came with more power consumption and less efficiency. However, recent CMOS technology introduced in the development of the microcontrollers requires less power as compared to its predecessor.
• 8051 comes in a variety of packages but the most common package is a DIP (dual inline package). However, it is also available in other surface mount packaging like 44 - Lead TQFP (Thin Quad Flat Package) and 44 – Lead PLCC (Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier).

8051 Architecture

Following features of the microcontroller define the overall architecture of the controller.

• CPU. The central processing unit is considered as the main part of the controller that is capable of performing different tasks based on the instructions given by the user.
• It is a like a brain of the device that reads instructions from data memory (ROM). However, a user has no direct control over the internal function of CPU except code with a number of instructions embedded into the unit through the compiler.
• Storage Memory. CPU is used to call and execute the set of instructions. A memory is required to store those number of instruction. There are two sets of memory locations present in the device called ROM and RAM.
• The ROM comes with 4k bytes memory while RAM comes with 128 bytes. The information stored in the ROM memory is known as code or program memory. This memory is non-volatile where information sustains over a long period of time and doesn't require a constant source of power supply to hold information in it.
• While RAM memory is volatile in nature and stores information for short period of time and requires a constant source of power supply to retain information in it. As you remove the power supply the RAM memory removes from the memory location.
• Interrupts. Interrupts are very useful in case of emergency. They are used to put the main program on hold when a specific function is required to perform over the main function.
• The system switches to the main program after the interrupt is called and executed properly. There are five interrupts present in the architecture of 8051 known as INT0, TF0, INT1, TF1, R1/T1
• All these interrupts are used to pause the main program. TF0 and TF1 are timer interrupts while INT0 and INT1 are external interrupts. R1/T1 is a serial port interrupt.
• All external interrupts are low level triggered where flags are cleared when the processor is connected to the interrupt service routine.

• Serial Port. The 8051 comes with UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) which is used for serial communication in 8051. The serial port is duplex i.e. it can transfer or receive data. Serial port comes with three pins called Tx, Rx and ground.
• Buses. Buses are the valuable addition in the development of the microcontroller that are used for the data transmission. Mainly two buses are used for the communication called Data Bus and Address Bus and are 8 bit and 16 bit respectively.
• The size of the address bus predicts the amount of memory a system can address. The 16-bit address bus determines it can address memory up to 2 (64k).
• Address bus comes with four addressing modes called immediate addressing mode, direct addressing modes, register addressing mode, register indirect addressing mode.
• The Data Bus is used for the transfer of data for a particular application within microprocessor and memory I/O devices. It is bi-directional and used for sending and receiving data.
• The CPU's circuitry determines the width of the data bus.
• I/O Ports. Microcontroller comes with four I/O ports called P0, P1, P2, and P3. These ports are used to interface controller with other devices. Each port comes with 8 pins, making it an 8-bit port. Once these ports are reset, they are used as an output port. However, we need to program them in order to use them as an input port.
• Timers/Counters. 8051 microcontroller comes with two 16 bit timers and counters. Timers are used to count the internal signal of a particular function of the controller while counters are used to count the external signals of the peripherals connected to the controller. These timers are further divided into an 8-bit register.
• Oscillator. It is added in the controlled for generating clock pulses. It works as a clock source for CPU of the controller. The oscillator works over a certain frequency when a certain voltage is applied.

8051 Basic Circuit

Following figure shows the pin diagram of 8051 microcontroller. As figure shown above, 8051 comes with 40 - Pin Dip that contains 20 pins on each side. It has four ports and 8 pins are associated with each port. Let's describe the function of each port one by one. Port 0. Pin number from 32 to 39 belong to Port0. These pins are bidirectional and come with internal pull-up resistors. Port0 is multiplexed with data and address bus. Port 1. Pin from 1 to 8 falls under Port 1 that is the 8-bit port where each pin is bidirectional. This port comes with internal pull-up resistors. Port 2. Pin from 21 to 28 falls under Port 2. All the port 2 pins are bi-directional like port 1 and are used as I/O pins. Port 2 pins behave like a higher order address/data bus when external memory is accessed. Port 3. Port 3 contains pins from 10 to 17 number. All pins of the port 3 come with special functions. Following are the main functions associated with each pin. RST. Pin 9 represents the reset pin. The controller will be reset by holding RST HIGH for at least two machine cycles. GND and Vcc. Pin 20 represents the ground pin that represents 0V and connected to the negative terminal of the power source, while Pin 40 represents the power source pin that requires 5 V. PSEN. Pin 29 is PSEN (Program Stored Enable Pin) which is used for reading external program memory. ALE. Pin 30 is ALE ( Address Latch Enable) that is mainly used for separation of external address from data. VPP. Pin 31 is external access enable pin used for external program memory. If this pin is set LOW, it can fetch the code from external program memory.

Applications

The 8051 comes with a wide range of applications, but it is mainly used for the embedded system. Following are some applications it is used for.

• Industrial automation
• Process control devices
• Home Applications (Camcorder, Music InstrumentsTVs, VCR, Video Games, Oven)
• Safety devices and automotive applications
• Temperature sensing and safety devices
• Parking indication system
• Fire detection and defense applications
• Defense and medical equipment
• Arduino DC motor speed control
• GSM based electricity meter billing
• Voice controlled system
• Communication Systems (Intercoms, Answering Machines, Mobile Phones, Paging Devices)
• Aeronautical and Space systems
• Robotics and Automation

So, that was all for today. I hope you have enjoyed today's tutorial about 8051 Microcontroller. Will meet you guys in the next tutorial. Take care and have fun !!! :)

PCB Solution You Need by WellPCB

Hey Friends! This is a platform where we keep you updated with useful information so you keep coming back every now and then. Today, I am going to give a quick review about one of the best PCB solution providers called WellPCB. Developing electronic project becomes easy when you know all components will be produced as per your requirement. You can't compromise anything when you need accurate and precise results. The breadboard is useful for developing the electronic project, but it provides a temporary solution and takes a lot of your time because misplacement of one wire can put you in trouble. However, when things go complex and require a permanent solution, breadboards fail to fulfill the requirement. In that case, you switch your mode of operation from breadboard to PCB that provides a permanent solution and sets you free from the hassle of constantly checking the whole circuitry again and again. There are many PCB prototype and assembly services that claim to be best for providing flawless PCB solution to your electronic projects. However, you can not predict the performance of companies unless you have practical experience working with them. The company we prefer most of the time is WellPCB that keeps your demands on the top and helps you design your project.

PCB Prototype and PCB Assembly Service Provider

If you come with a technical background, you must be aware of the importance of quality PCB. You can not compromise your whole project for the sake of getting low-quality product. When you intend to design your project, you are highly concerned about picking the right PCB solution provider that helps you achieve your goals and turns your innovative ideas into reality. This is the reason, today I am going to give an unbiased review about an outstanding PCB service provider. Following are the main reasons why you should prefer WellPCB over others.

Quality Assurance

This company comes with 10-years experience in the designing of printed boards and encompasses all the certification required to produce the quality product. Following are the certifications they have got so far, based on the quality product they produce.

• ISO14001 (2004) ISO9001 (2008), Certified
• UL Certified
• TS16949 (2009) Certified
• All products follow the IPC & ROHS Standard

These certifications will help you make the final decision about PCB board you intend to produce. They don't put your demands on stake for getting their financial gains. They know how to keep customers satisfied by providing dynamic and flawless service, so customers feel no hesitation in choosing their company again and again. They have allocated separate department for maintaining quality assurance that keeps a proper check on the quality of the product. They do a regular inspection of the PCB equipment and follow strict protocols to maintain the top-notch service.

Flexible PCB Manufacturing Services

You can get a single layer or double layer board based on your requirements. However, the number of layers would increase when the nature of your project goes complex. Don't you worry, you can place an order for getting PCB covered with up to 32 layers. This gives you the flexibility of choosing the number of layers from many given options. Finished copper ranges from 0.5 to 5 ounces where the thickness of 1-ounce means; 1-ounce of copper will be laid out on the area of one square foot of the board. Finished board thickness ranges from .2 to 5 mm that all depends on the complexity and the nature of your board. When you have given all options to choose from, it helps you make a final decision that aligns with your demands and helps you incorporate the board into the project.

PCB Assembly

PCB assembly is an important service provided by them. If you are not too technical, you’d prefer getting both PCB and PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) services from one stop. This company not only provides you quality board but also helps you mounting the required components on the board, so you can pay attention to other parts of the project like designing and troubleshooting. You can choose from Surface Mount or Thru-Hole technology. They provide you a number of boards ranging from a single layer, double layer, rigid board, multilayer, to rigid-flex boards. The final product you get will be covered with silkscreen and solder mask that makes copper traces in place and provides insulation in case board is subjected to high temperature and pressure.

Fast Delivery

Time is very important especially when you are working on client's project and you have to deliver on time. Lead time is very fast and you can get your board ready between 1 to 5 working days. However, it mostly depends on the nature of the board and the number of board you intend to get. Mass production requires more time, in that case, lead time can increase from 7 to 14 working days.

Economical Price

You will get quality boards in economical price. If you order few or in bulk, don’t worry about the quality of the boards. Note. Don’t forget to claim 100$ bonus if you are a newbie and joining their community very first time. You can get 10 pieces covering one or two layers in just 3.99$. However, low price doesn’t put you in doubt of getting the low-quality product. The final product you get will truly resonate with your demands. In case you find the final product you got is not what you ordered, you can replace the order immediately. They come with quality customer service and go extra mile unless they are sure customers are completely satisfied. You can get an instant quote here. That’s all for today. I hope you have got enough information about why you should prefer this company that helps you fulfill your demands and requirements at first place. In case, you are feeling unsure or have any question you can ask me in the comment section below. I’d love to help you in any way I can. Give your valuable feedback and suggestions, they help us provide you quality content that resonates with your field of interest. Thanks for reading the article.

Why CDNs Are Important?

The internet is a dynamic miraculous world that has virtually become the lifeline of the world today. Most aspects of human life are now dependent on technology, which is mostly driven by the internet and the world can become dysfunctional if we subtract the cyberspace from the equation of life.  Every single minute million of terabytes worth of data get transferred from every corner of the world to every corner of the world. Despite that, almost every single user gets a smooth and seamless experience without many hurdles. Videos are loaded, and the information is relayed within seconds. Ever wondered how on earth things run so smoothly without networks getting crashed? The internet itself cannot handle the data transfer of this magnitude. At the backend, the real job is carried out by a network of geographically dispersed servers that are known as Content Distribution Networks (CDN). The CDNs are there to ensure that users have access to geographically relevant information and websites can run smoothly without getting crashed. Here are a few benefits of CDNs which makes it vital for you to get it for your site.

Performance

Imagine you are a fashion retailer or a cosmetic brand with a considerable following. Think of someone like Sephora. Everytime you announce a sale to increase your revenues, your website crashes because it fails to take the traffic load. As a result, your sales strategy goes down the drain. Say you are trying to load a video, but it takes minutes to buffer the video and makes the whole experience much more frustrating for you. This is where CDNs come into the picture. CDNs are geographically allocated servers and have cached data on them. When a user tries to access a website or send information, he is redirected to the CDN that is nearest to his location and data is relayed from that server. As a result, the overall performance of the network, the speed of data transfer and the quality of user experience improve exponentially.

Availability

You are in a high business season, and the last thing you would want is your customer being unable to shop because every time he tries to place an order, he ends up with a "404 Connection Timed Out." This is a classic case of website crashing due to high traffic. It is essential that information remains available to every customer regardless of the web traffic. This is why it is crucial that all users are not dependent on a single server but are distributed over many servers with their desired information being available on the respective server.

Security

Over the years the internet has become a significant storage hub for essential data and the primary base for significant financial transactions. With thousands of E-commerce platforms emerging every day, cyberspace has become a haven for criminals and hackers to exploit the system's volatility and put a massive amount of data at stake. It is imperative that your data is secured and is protected by layers of sophisticated technological tools. A good CDN provider such as inxy CDN will offer you a strategy to mitigate such risks of data breach and will have the most advanced cloud-based data storage systems.

Smoke Detector with Arduino & MQ2 Sensor

Hello everyone, I hope you all are  doing great. In today's tutorial, we are gonna have a look at How to design a Smoke Detector with Arduino. Its quite a simple project but if you are working on any security project then you must add this feature in it. You should also download this Gas Sensor Library for Proteus, and design its simulation. I will use gas sensor MQ2 for this project. I have purchased MQ2 Gas Sensor module as its quite easy to interface with Arduino. Arduino board I'm using is Arduino UNO. I have also designed an LPG Gas Leak Detect using Arduino using this MQ2 Sensor. So, let's get started with How to design Smoke Detector with Arduino & MQ2 Sensor.

Smoke Detector with Arduino & MQ2 Sensor

• First of all, we need to connect some jumper wires between Arduino and MQ2 smoke sensor shield.
• Here's the image of our Gas sensor and you can see, it has four pins in total.

• This gas sensor has four pins in total, which are:
  • Vcc: We need to provide +5V.
  • GND: We need to ground it.
  • D0: Digital Output.
  • A0: Analog Output.
• So now you will need four male to female jumper wires and connect them as shown in below figure:

• Sensor's pins are labelled on the back side and I have connected these four pins as follows:
  • White Wire: Vcc of Sensor connected with +5V of Arduino.
  • Black Wire: GND of Sensor connected with GND of Arduino.
  • Grey Wire: D0 of Sensor connected with Pin # 8 of Arduino.
  • Orange Wire: A0 of Sensor connected with A0 of Arduino.
• So, now let's design our code in Arduino software in which we will detect whether there's smoke around or not.
• I'm gonna use the analog output of our sensor and will first display the analog value in my Serial Monitor.
• I have used the below code, so copy it and upload in your Arduino board:

int Input = A0;
int SensorVal = 0;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(Input, INPUT);
  Serial.println("Interfacing of Smoke Sensor with Arduino");
  Serial. println("Design by www.TheEngineeringProjects.com");
  Serial.println();
}

void loop() {

  SensorVal = analogRead(Input);
  Serial.println(SensorVal);
  delay(500);
}

• Now open the Serial Monitor of Arduino to check the analog values coming from our sensor.
• If everything goes fine then you will get something like this in your Serial Monitor:

• You can see we are getting the values in range of 420 to 450.
• You should read How to do Arduino Serial Communication, if you don't know how to get data serially.
• Now let's place a burning cigarette near it for smoke. (Cigarettes are injurious to health :P )
• When the sensor will sense smoke in its surroundings then its value will start to increase and in my case it reached to around 650.
• So, let's place a check in our Arduino coding to detect whether there's smoke or not.
• So add below code in your Arduino software and upload it to your Arduino board.

int Input = A0;
int SensorVal = 0;

int Check = 0;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(Input, INPUT);
  Serial.println("Interfacing of Smoke Sensor with Arduino");
  Serial. println("Design by www.TheEngineeringProjects.com");
  Serial.println();
}

void loop() {

  SensorVal = analogRead(Input);
  if((SensorVal > 500) && (Check == 1))
  {
    Serial.println("Smoke Detected . . .");
    Check = 0;
  }

  if((SensorVal < 500) && (Check == 0))
  {
    Serial.println("All Clear . . .");
    Check = 1;
  }
  //Serial.println(SensorVal);
  delay(500);
}

• After uploading the code to Arduino, open your Serial Monitor.
• If everything goes fine then you will get something as shown in below figure:

• Now let me bring the cigarette close to get some smoke. (Cigarettes are injurious to health :P )
• You will get the warning as soon as it will detect smoke as shown in below figure:

• We got the detection of smoke in our Serial Terminal.

So, that's how we can easily design a Smoke Detector with Arduino & MQ2 Sensor. I think now you can quite easily design this smoke detector project at home. I hope you will enjoy it. Will meet you guys in next tutorial. Till then take care and have fun !!! :)

Introduction to PBN - Does it Work for SEO?

Hey Fellas! We are here to help you with the latest information related to your field of interest so you keep coming back for what we have to offer. Today, I'm going to unlock the details on the Introduction to PBN and Why it Important for SEO. This is the fourteenth article of complete SEO series. You can check my previous article on Web 2.0. Before we move forward and check the importance of PBN in SEO, we must know what is PBN? PBN stands for private blogging network and is defined as a number of blogs you build for linking back to your main blog. A huge round of applause is due for the SEO Gurus who still guide you through traditional techniques for SEO that have been abandoned long while ago. It is true, PBN is used for better SEO that ultimately puts your blog on the top of search engines. But wait? Doesn't it work the way as it did before? Of course not. We know that online technology grows and evolves every day and using the same strategies over and over again for your blog to rank higher on SERP, doesn't make sense. Earlier, it was very easy to develop PBN, create a lot of blogs, and link back to your main blog, all the while ignoring if those blogs were relevant to the demands of the visitors. Google works smartly and precisely more than ever before. Most of the people pick internet to keep updated with most relevant and useful information. Google takes visitors' demands very seriously and doesn't rank the blogs that come with minor or no value to the end users. You can check our complete guide of SEO tutorials which contains all posts related to On Page and Off Page SEO. In this tutorial, I'll discuss each and everything related to PBN why it is important, its limitations and everything you need to know.

Introduction to PBN (Private Blogging Network)

PBN is a network that comes with a number of blogs that link back to your main blog. This is not a new trend and has been used quite a while now by most of the marketers. Creation of PBN helps your main blog appear on the top of search results; however, it is not as easy as it looks. Now, search engines come with smart algorithms, that don't prefer using this trend of creating a lot of blogs and link back to your main blog. If you do this, you will come with a higher chance of getting banned or penalized by Google and it will take no time to de-index your pages from the search engine.

• Google not only counts the number of backlinks you get but it also analyzes and detects the quality of backlinks.
• Low-quality backlinks pose a severe threat to the overall growth of your blog.
• Google takes a number of things into account while checking the backlinks like relevance, page authority, domain authority, trust flow rate and citation flow.

1. Content

You have heard "Content is the King". There is no doubt about it. When it comes to checking the quality of your blog, content tops the list. What that being said, you are not going to spend as much time writing the content on PBN blogs as you do writing a content for your main blog. You can do things faster if you adopt a smart approach.

• Spinning the article is a good option as long as the spun article makes sense and adds value to your blog. However, there are tools like Dragon Speak which you can use to write the article faster. This software will write the words as you speak.

Length of the article does matter. Normally, articles that manage to secure a place on the first page of google search come with word length around 1800 to 2000 words.

• However, the articles you post on the blogs fall under your PBN can comprise of length between 300 to 500 word, because the main aim of these blogs is to link back to your main blog and make it appear on the top of search results.

Also, this is not the only approach to write a post for PBN. Everyone develops their own strategies to run PBN. You can try different methods and stick with ones that work for you and deliver valuable results.

2. Domains

Buying and analyzing domains is the first step to make your journey successful with PBN. This is the process that requires special heed and brainstorming from your side. Don't get intimidated by the word "Brain Storming" what I mean here is buying and organizing the domains smartly.

• Developing PBN around low quality and irrelevant sites can put your main blog at a huge risk.

And when you develop your blogging network, with a lot of backlinks from the similar blog at once, Google will weed out your blog from indexing and you may end up getting penalized or complete removal of your blog at the end. Following are the main things you may consider before buying domains.

A. Buying Expired Domains

Of course, you need to work your butt off if you intend to start a blog from scratch for developing your private blogging network. This is where buying expired domains come handy. Because these domains have some history and have some of their page indexed.

• It is true, expired domains lose some authority after they get expired, but when you put some effort on them, you can turn them back on track.

Note: It is advised to explore the expired domains from vendors spread across the web than buying domains from auction websites.

B. Relevance

The domain you pick for PBN must be relevant to your main blog. Suppose if your blog is technology related, then getting a backlink from health blog will be highly deplorable and not recommended at any cost.

• The domain you pick, if not is totally relevant, should come with a remote connection with your main blog. This will make Google think, that you are getting signals and recommendation from the legit websites that fall into your niche.

C. Page Authority and Domain Authority

PA and DA are two terms introduced by Moz.com, that play a vital role in highlighting the authority and quality of any blog. Based on the nature of your main blog, you can pick other blogs with a little higher domain authority.

• However, if you want to remain in a safe side, you can pick the sites that come with 15+ DA.

D. Citation Flow and Trust Flow

Citation flow is the number of total links you get for your blog. And trust flow defines the quality of those backlinks. You can check the TF and CF of any blog by using the sites like Majestic. This tool doesn't predict the overall authority of the blog as Moz does.

• Sites with TF with 10+ are good to get started with your blogging network.

E. Use Waybackmachine

You wouldn't want to buy the blogs that have already been used for PBN. There is a site called Waybackmachine that detects and explores the history of any blog. This tool will help you analyze the quality of backlinks of the domain you intend to buy. In this way, you can easily filter out the blogs that come with spammy links and have already been used for link building.

• However, when you are checking backlinks on the sites like Ahrefs, you need to pay equal attention to the Anchor text ratio.

F. Pick Different Service Provider

Google will catch you up if you all of your blogs belong to the same service provider. Try to develop a strategy for PBN that determines your link building is based on diverse signals.

• GoDaddy is good option to start with, but, don't buy all of your domains from this provider, as it will convey a clear idea you are doing something wrong and sneaky to get higher on the search results.
• You need to maintain a clean and diverse link profile in order to get away from the eyes of Google.

3. Hosting

Picking right hosting plan is very important for maintaining PBN. Don't be surprised if Google bans you for getting a number of backlinks from the sites linked to the same hosting plan. Try to keep every site on its very own hosting. Keep following things in your mind before you intend to host your blog on any server.

• ONE. There are a lot of platforms out there that help you in developing and maintaining a blogging network. You need to be very selective while getting benefit from these platforms. Some platforms do black hat SEO that is not admissible by the search engine. However, Easyblognetworks is a service that helps you grow your blogging network, where it provides link building from multiple platforms.
• TWO. It is advised to host your websites on different IP addresses to make your profile diverse in nature. There are many sources through which you can hide your identity i.e Cloudflare proves to be very handy to hide your IP address.
• THREE. Also, using public SEO hosting services can put your blogging network in danger. You can use infamous SEO hosting services to make your online presence hidden from the eyes of Google.
• FOUR. You can choose any hosting plan based on your requirements, however, it is preferred to use a cheap hosting plan for the blogs under your PBN. You don't like to pay more than 10$ per year for one blog. However, exploring cheap hosting plan is not a walk in the park, you need to wrestle your mind and scrape through the internet to pick a relevant hosting plan. Buying shared hosting is another option that leaves you with satisfaction where you need to pay less than buying a separate hosting plan for your blogs.

4. Create Social Identity

You can't belittle the importance of social media in developing the blogging network strategy to boost your revenue and overall blog authority. Your backlink profile looks clean and natural if you develop social profiles using Web 2.0 for every blog you develop for your blogging network.

• When you create a page with any blog, try to keep that page filled with relevant information i.e what your company does and what kind of content you can provide.
• Avoid creating a lot of profile on a single platform that links back to your blog. If you do so, you will be left out with no choice but getting penalized by Google.

Google gives value to the blog that comes with a lot of signals from multiple platforms that highlight relevancy and provide value to the visitors.

5. Hide your Blogging Network

A blogging network is created with the intention of making it private and hidden from others on the web. You don't want to unlock the strategy and hard work openly you develop for blogging network so other can anticipate and develop a plan like yours. Experts have created platforms like Ahrefs, Moz that make very easy for the competitors to spy on you and speculate the strategy, backlinks and SEO you did for your blogs. But remember, with every problem, there is a solution. Following things, you can do to hide your blogging network.

• You can use .htaccess to block the stalkers. In this way, no one on the net could see your working and files available on the server except you and your hosting provider.
• Based on the budget, you can try differing hosting plan and service provider to make your blogging network diversify in nature.
• No one stalks you like Google does (relatives don't include). It comes with advanced algorithms that detect the recent activity you do across the web very nicely. In order to minimize the stalking from Google, you need to reduce the manual activity on your websites.
• Spyder Spanker is a useful plugin tool that doesn't require FTP to access your hosting. Remember, don't let these things switch your focus away from your main blog. You're working and planning to rank your main blog. It is advised to allocate specific time to every activity you do for your main blog and for maintaining the blogging network. Your online success depends on how you analyze, organize, and develop every plan for ranking your blog higher on the search engines.

Summary

• Buy cheap old domains that come with some online history. It is preferred to look for vendors of the expired domain than to buy a domain from auctions sites. Keep relevancy in mind while weeding through the domains across the web.
• While developing your network, try using different platforms like Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla to make your network sneaky and diverse in nature.
• Compose the content on the blogging network that is relevant to your main blog. You can use article spinner or the platforms that convert your words into writing. Google leaves you in danger if you try to trick it with plagiarized content.
• You can get benefit from the social sites like SocialAdr that develops your social identity across the web. Also, the fan page you create for your blogs must be relevant to the main blog. Don't just create a fan page and get away without updating it regularly.
• Interlinking is good for your main blog and decreases bounce rate as long as you are doing it within the blog. Don't do a mistake of interlinking to all of the blogs involved in the blogging network. You don't want to make Google anticipate you are doing PBN for ranking higher on the search engines.
• Create link building slowly and gradually as your blog grows. Don't create a lot of backlinks from a single blog in a day. Get backlinks from multiple blogs spread over a span of six months.
• Don't link too much to your main site. This looks sleazy and fake. When you write a blog post, try creating outbound links to other sites. If you create outbound links to your client's sites only, it can put your main site in danger.

Note: There are many risks involved doing PBN unless you are an expert in it. If you are new to blogging, don't jump in right away into this trend. First, make your reputation and authority with your main blog. Also, when you are a beginner, you can't make a lot of blogs at once. This strategy works when you get your hands on blogging enough that you are well aware of the benefits and limitations of developing PBN. That's all for today. I hope you have found this article useful. In the next post, we will cover Web Directory Submission. If you are unsure or have any question you can ask me in the comment section below. I'd love to guide you according to the best of my expertise. Keep us updated with your suggestions, they help us provide you quality content. Thanks for reading the article.

5 Tips for Extending Your SCADA System

Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing great. In today's tutorial, I am going to share 5 Tips for Extending Your SCADA System. What do you do if your existing SCADA system isn’t doing the job you need? Obviously, you need to extend it, but doing so can be a frustrating and costly exercise. How do you manage budget, increase efficiency and provide the functionality you need? Of course, it all depends on your specific implementation, but some general tips to keep in mind might relieve some stress.

Look at The Big Picture Again

When you find your SCADA system can’t provide the data or control you need, the first instinct is to quickly patch the missing functions, but over the long haul this can be a costly and inefficient process leading to a tangled web of sensors, RTUs and controls. Take the time to analyze your entire system. If there are flaws or limitations in one area, there may be more in another related area. Step back and look at the whole system and what needs you have. It’s likely you can find several areas that need work and hit them all at once instead of doing multiple projects.

Plan for The Future

There’s two main reasons you will need to extend your SCADA system: something was missed or the system has grown. When you look at your latest extension try to forecast what needs you will have later on. Will your RTUs need to be moved from dedicated communication lines to LAN connections? If so, spending a little extra to get RTUs that handle both and can be switched over once the LAN is in place will head off complete replacements later. Do you need more RTUs or can you handle the sensors through existing ones? What about when the system grows, will that force you to replace the RTUs so you can handle more sensors? Think through your future expansion and make sure you aren’t setting yourself up for another major upgrade in just a few years.

Remember Your Data

Is your data all handled inside the SCADA system? Can you do external data analysis on historical data? If not, you probably need to extend your existing SCADA system to push data to external databases or data warehouses. It might even be necessary to interface with applications outside the system, or ones you develop internally for some customized part of your business. Consider connections to the internet and cloud services, as well as security measures that protect the sensor and control loops from unauthorized access. Your data may be fine if it is available through some external application, but management of your system should be tightly controlled and monitored.

Hear Your Alarms

With the steadily increasing availability personal communication devices, smartphones, tablets, laptops and more, it becomes easier to contact people with alerts rather than having them at the control center. Assess your current alerting systems and make sure they meet your current and future needs. It may be necessary to add more communication software or hardware in order to reliably contact on-call personnel when needed. While it is a great cost savings to not need to staff a control center 24/7, it’s not acceptable to miss an important alert because a phone battery is dead or the volume is set to mute. Make sure your alerting system takes this into account.

Control Your Controls

While it is a good idea to look to the future and to assess the entire system when you upgrade, it’s also wise not to go overboard. A simple metric for things like controls and sensors is to ask “under what circumstances will I use this?” Collecting information that does not influence what actions you take is not very valuable. Installing controls that perform actions which you would not do no matter what data came in from the sensors is also not useful. Be sure you reign in your additions to the system and only add controls that will be used and sensors that gather actionable information. Adding more noise to your system with redundant or superfluous information can cause information overload. Your users may not know what information is important and what actions to take. Your actual monitoring needs are probably quite extensive, don’t increase them unnecessarily.

Conclusion

Your needs for an extension on your SCADA system may seem very urgent, but don’t be stampeded into an unwise, unneeded, or unhelpful change. Always take the time to think about your change and its impact. Rushing into changes on a complex system can result in a whole series of changes as you find the problems you missed in the original planning. Remember the adage, if you don’t have the time to do it right, where will you find the time to do it over? And another, failing to plan is planning to fail. Always take the necessary time to plan. It’s an investment in your future. Was this article helpful and informative? Leave us a comment with your thoughts in the section below.