We finally had a chance to acquire some tools and materials that were missing in eLab, so that everyone can have better conditions to develop projects, workshops and other events.
Workshop summary: Power supplies
eLab’s first activity was a success, we had a full house and a very positive feedback from the participants. For 4 hours we had a great team spirit, lots of fun and everybody learned without even noticing.
eLab has an electronics recycling bin!
eLab has now an electronics recycling bin!
Anyone who has old electronic devices or small home appliances to trash can now bring them to our recycling bin. We will disassemble them and desolder all the components we can, so they can be reused later.
This way, not only you’re getting rid of the trash but at the same time you’re contributing to a bigger diversity of components available in eLab, helping the environment as well, of course!
Workshop – Power Supplies
We are proud to announce that eLab will organize its first workshop. In this workshop we will show you how to convert an ATX power supply unit (PSU) from an old computer, into a very simple Lab power supply with the most common voltages (-12V, -5V, 3.3V, 5V and 12V). Very useful for electronic beginners who are in need of a power source for designing, building and testing circuits. Each participant will have the opportunity of acquiring basic knowledge about an ATX PSU and put it to the test converting their own power supply provided by eLab.
Power Over Ethernet (PoE) Adapter
Description
Power over Ethernet or PoE, is the technology used for power transmission in network equipment, via network UTP cable, together with data. PoE is useful in situations when we want to connect network devices that are far away from a power source. In this situation we take advantage of the Ethernet cable, because there are 4 pairs of wires, but for the majority of networks, only 2 pairs are used for data transmission. PoE uses 2 unused twisted pairs, for electrical transmission needed to power the device. Continue reading Power Over Ethernet (PoE) Adapter
Week 3 – 30th January 2012
In eLab’s third week, we’ve continued the projects we had previously started:
- eLab’s logo is almost finished, the circuit is complete, there is only some adjusts left to do to some LEDs. Soon it’ll be visible to everyone above our lab’s door.
- The RFID reader for our entry system control is still in development, it is an ambitious project and has been offering us some difficulties, although we have started to obtain some visible results.
Week 2 – 23rd January 2012
In our second week, after the opening of eLab, several small projects were initiated:
- Desk lamps were installed in each work station to allow better conditions for our activities.
- An acrylic eLab’s logo was made for LEDs to be added later, with the purpose of identifying our Lab from the exterior.
- The RFID card reader project for the entry control system was started this week. The circuit was designed and the components identified.
- A heating system was also initiated, as a project for acrylic bending, through recycled halogen light bulbs from old scanners.
Welcome to eLab Hackerspace
Welcome to eLab’s blog! This will be the first of many posts about the projects developed by the Electrical and Electronics Engineering students, ex-students of the Superior Institute of Engineering in the University of the Algarve and also from other members.