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Radical Transformational Leadership workshop for 7th and 8th grade children in Udavi

In Udavi school we have organised RTL session for children in 7th and 8th grade. Once in a week we have a session with them. Sanjeev, Nirmala, Dhavaselvy, Muthukumaran, Helena, Honor, Kavitha and Nina are the resource people. The workshop has 7 sessions and 11 tools. Each session is 2 hours.

Week 1: 19/11/2022 Stand and fears

1. I learned stand and fear. I thought I don’t have fear. I learned to be courageous. I learnt my fear and next time I will think of fear as a cartoon character.

2. Still I didn’t find my fear. I learnt my friends’ stand and fear and what they care about which usually we don’t talk about.

3. I learnt what equity is and my fear. I learnt courage and to work from it.

4. I learnt different qualities and fears. I learnt to use courage.

5. I have fear and it is there. I should know how to transcend it. Fear is normal. Second time I did the exercise I noticed that my fear had reduced. 

 

Week 2: 26/11/2022 4 profile and Background Conversation 

Stand and fear:

  1.     How to control fear.
  2.     How to control fear and give name for my fear and act from my universal values.
  3. How to name my fear and put down my fear being in my values and learnt what are my universal values.

4 profiles

  1.     Ignore the issue in society, be yourself (in values).
  2.     Treat everyone equal
  3.     From my universal values I see everyone is my friend.
  4.     Treat everyone equally by being in my universal values and do not ask caste.
  5.     Do not judge others based on their dress or their profession.
  6.     See everyone as equal and do not judge them.
  7.     Do not see cast and treat them equally by being in my universal values.

Background Conversations and deep listening:

  1.     Deep listening to each other and should not allow my background conversation.
  2.     Do not hurt others by not listening to them.
  3.     I should listen to others while having conversations.
  4.     I should listen to them with wholeness (deep listen).
  5.     I should not have background conversation and listen to others instead of finding the flaw (background conversation)
  6.     It is my choice to listen to others.

Week 3 :  03/12/2022 Story of stuff and introduction to Conscious full spectrum Response model

Following are the system principles children came up with. 

Insights:

1. Cause and effect of the problem and to identify the solution.

2. If something has happened, some we can change some we can’t. (Eg: if a scale is broken I can’t do anything for it)

3. Not to pollute and a system is working together. 

4. I learnt not to cut the trees. I learn about systems.

5. I learnt about a system and it’s cause and effect. 

6. Design using all three circles. Only one or two circles does not give a sustainable solution.

7. I am also part of the system and I need to change if I wish to see change. 

 

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D-Flip Flops from Electronics Comp store don’t work

~ Sanjay Tumati

We have an electronics lab as part of STEM land and students who are interested including the old students who have studied in STEM land either at Isai ambalam school or Udavi come to the lab to learn and build things using electronics.  This blog is to share one of their experiments at the lab.

The students were excited as they were going to do an interesting experiment in the lab. One wave of the hand over a sensor would turn on an LED and another wave would turn it off. However, the entire experiment was ruined by faulty D Flip Flops (from now on referred to as DFFs). It was not a complete loss. The students learnt how to test a DFF (Reliability via connectivity and functionality via understanding a DFF

  1. Connect the power supply and ground and observe the current display on the power supply. Some devices heated up immediately drawing hundreds of mA from the supply
  2. Some devices started heating up on connecting Set and reset pins to ground
  3. Some started heating up on connecting other connections
  4. Students did connectivity checks between Set/reset/Clock/Data pins to supply and ground and found that in the faulty ones, the resistances were in the order of 100s of Ohms and not open circuit as was expected.
  5. Just a couple of DFFs out of a dozen worked and those also went bad in a few minutes

This is the site from where we ordered the DFFs, Buy Electronics Components Online in India – Electronic Components Store

Surprising, because this site is usually very reliable and they send us quality components. We also ordered the CD4013 which is from the venerable CD40xx series. What did we do wrong with the DFFs? It can’t be that DFFs are uniquely susceptible to ESD handling. CD4017 and CD4033 which use several of these were just fine.

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How to Install WSL and Ubuntu (LTS) on the Windows platform

~Sandhiya.B and Ajay

This post consolidates the information needed to set up the Ubuntu terminal on a Win 11 Machine. The Ubuntu terminal is useful to programmers to access unix power tools, write shell scripts, etc.

Step: 1   Turn Windows Features On or Off

  • Go to the search bar and type “Turn Windows features on or off” and open it.

  • The check box is seen and find “Windows Subsystem for Linux” (if the check box is off, turn it on ) and also find “Virtual machine platform” (if the check box is off, turn it on ), And click the ok button.

  • It requires restarting your system to click on the “Restart now” button.

Step: 2 Wsl Installations:

Install Wsl [Windows Subsystem for Linux],

  • After installation click the “Finish” button.

Step: 3 Ubuntu Installations:

  • Open the Microsoft Store (search for “store” from the start menu)
  • Search the store for “Ubuntu” many versions are shown just install Ubuntu(recommended) or any versions that are needed for you.

  • Click the “Get” or “Install” option.
  • Once the download is completed click on the “Launch” or “Open” option.

  • Once the ubuntu app is opened its interface is seen which is shown in the below image

  • After installing enter the username and password for the ubuntu machine.
  • NOTE:

(Username should be in lowercase and the Password need not be matched with windows)

  • Once the username and password are set then ubuntu is ready to use,

Step: 4 (if needed) to run on Windows terminal

  • To run ubuntu on a windows terminal, First install the windows terminal in the Microsoft store,
  • Ignore if already installed.

  • Click the “Get” or “Install” option
  • Once the download is completed click on the “Launch” or “Open” option.

  • Once the Windows terminal app is opened its interface is like the below image,

  • And choose the ubuntu terminal and its interface looks like the below image,

  • There you go! Now it’s ready for use.

In some exceptional cases there occurs some errors:

  • The Error looks like this, the image given below

                

  • To solve this error, open file manager and go to local disk c.

Go to the user and user profile and go to App data (if not found, it is in hidden files) and go to the local folder and click on Microsoft file and go to windows apps and copy the path, which is shown below.

  • Go to the search bar and type “edit environment variables for your account” and open it, click on environment variable and double click on the path and Click on the new button paste the copied path and click ok,

  • Now the error is fixed and the windows terminal can run the ubuntu machine.
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STEMland youths excel in CII PUDUCHERRY INNOVATION CONTEST 2022

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of the industry in India, partnering with industry and government alike through advisory and consultative processes. CII Puducherry Innovation Contest organized in partnership with Atal Incubation Centre, Pondicherry Engineering College Foundation is an ideal platform for the Students and Startupreneurs of Puducherry to showcase their innovative ideas, proof of concept, and prototypes. The event is structured through a 3-stage process that involves application shortlisting, online presentations, and a Pitch round. Boot camps, personal mentoring by Industrialists, and guidance by AIC are the salient features of the contest. Winners of the contest will get an opportunity to take their ideas to next level in the Atal Incubation Centre, PECF, and an opportunity to avail of seed funding.

The energetic youths of STEMland Vikinesh. R, Mugilan.M, and Punithavel.M from the Acharya College of Engineering and technology as the team participated in CII Puducherry Innovation Contest 2022 and presented their project “SALTWATER LAMP” and got selected for the finals of the Pitch round. They worked on this project to address the problems encountered by the fishermen and the public during disasters.

From left, Vikinesh. R, Mugilan.M, and Punithavel.M.

First, they conducted a survey to formulate the objective and worked on a solution – saltwater lamps. They used the STEMland tinkering lab to develop this project. This project paved the way to help fishermen during the night-time, deep sea fishing, and the public during disasters. The project employed salt water to produce electricity through which the lamp glows. The team presented the project to the C3streamland team to have a final rehearsal before presenting in the contest and took feedback for growth.

The project set out to be a benchmark and inspired many rural youths to use the STEMland tinkering lab for developing projects.

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Visualizing trigonometric ratios using scratch program

~ Soundhariya, Sandhiya.B

Trigonometric ratios are the ratios of the length of sides of a triangle. These ratios in trigonometry relate the ratio of sides of a right triangle to the respective angle. The basic trigonometric ratios are sin, cos, and tan, namely sine, cosine, and tangent ratios. The other important trig ratios, cosec, sec, and cot, can be derived using the sin, cos, and tan respectively. Using scratch, the visualization of trigonometric ratios is comprehendible.

Let us have a look at the right-angled triangle drawn using the scratch shown below. Trigonometric ratios can be used to determine the ratios of any two sides out of a total of three sides of a right-angled triangle in terms of the respective angles.

The values of these trigonometric ratios can be calculated using the measure of an acute angle, θ in the right-angled triangle given below. This implies that the value of the ratio of any two sides of the triangle here depends on the angle. We can alternatively find the values of these trig ratios. Also, only the base and perpendicular will interchange for the given right triangle in that case.

Concerning θ, the ratios of trigonometry are given:

Sine: Sine of an angle is defined as the ratio of the side opposite (perpendicular side) to that angle to the hypotenuse.

cosine: The cosine angle is defined as the ratio of the side adjacent to that angle to the hypotenuse.

Tangent: The tangent angle is defined as the ratio of the side opposite to that angle to the side adjacent to that angle.

Cosecant: Cosecant is a multiplicative inverse of sine.

Secant: Secant is a multiplicative inverse of cosine.

Cotangent: Cotangent is the multiplicative inverse of the tangent.

The above ratios are abbreviated as sin, cos, tan, cosec, sec, and tan respectively in the order they are described. So, for Δ ABC, the ratios are defined as:

sin θ = (Side opposite to θ)/(Hypotenuse) = AB/AC

cos θ = (Side adjacent to θ)/(Hypotenuse) = BC/AC

tan θ = (Side opposite to θ)/(Side adjacent to θ) = AB/BC = sin ∠C/cos ∠C

cosec θ = 1/sin θ = (Hypotenuse)/ (Side Opposite to θ) = AC/AB

sec θ = 1/cos θ = (Hypotenuse)/ (Side Opposite to θ) = AC/BC

cot θ = 1/tan θ = (Side adjacent to θ)/(Side opposite to θ)= BC/AB

Unit Circle and Trigonometric Values:

Unit circles can be used to calculate the values of basic trigonometric functions- sine, cosine, and tangent. The following diagram shows how trigonometric ratios can be represented in a unit circle.

Degrees to radians:

In geometry, both degree and radian represent the measure of an angle. One complete anticlockwise revolution can be represented by 2π (in radians) or 360° (in degrees). Therefore, degree and radian can be equated as:

2π = 360° And π = 180°

Hence, from the above equation, we can say, 180 degrees is equal to π radian.

Usually, in general geometry, we consider the measure of the angle in degrees (°). Radian is commonly considered while measuring the angles of trigonometric functions or periodic functions. Radians are always represented in terms of pi, where the value of pi is equal to 22/7 or 3.14.

Trigonometric ratios of some special angles:

In the trigonometric ratios table, we use the values of trigonometric ratios for standard angles 0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90º. It is easy to predict the values of the table and to use the table as a reference to calculate values of trigonometric ratios for various other angles, using the trigonometric ratio formulas for existing patterns within trigonometric ratios and even between angles. The trigonometric ratios of 45° using scratch are shown below.

In right Δ PQR, if ∠P and ∠Q are assumed as 30° and 60°, then there can be infinite right triangles with those specifications but all the ratios written above for ∠P in all of those triangles will be the same. So, all the ratios for any of the acute angles (either ∠P or ∠Q) will be the same for every right triangle. This means that the ratios are independent of the lengths of the sides of the triangle.

The trigonometric ratios of 30° and 60°simulated using the scratch program are shown below.

The trigonometric ratios of 90° and 0° using scratch programming are shown below.

Trigonometrical Ratios of 0 degrees are commonly called standard angles and the trigonometrical ratios of these angles are frequently used to solve particular angles. In ∆ABC is a right-angled triangle. If the length of the side BC is continuously decreased, then the value of ∠A will keep on decreasing. Similarly, the value of ∠C is increasing as the length of BC is decreasing. When BC = 0, ∠A = 0 , ∠C = 90° and AB = AC.

Trigonometric Ratios Table:

Attached the scratch link: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/754205615

The summarization of the value of trigonometric ratios for specific angles is in the table below:

Some of the applications of trigonometric ratios are:

  • Measuring the heights of towers or big mountains
  • Determining the distance of the shore from the sea
  • Finding the distance between two celestial bodies
  • Determining the power output of solar cell panels at different inclinations
  • Representing different physical quantities such as mechanical waves, electromagnetic waves, etc.

 

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Ambient light sensor using a photoresistor and Arduino Uno

This project is about using a photoresistor along with an Arduino Uno board to determine the brightness of a room which is bright or average light or dark. A photoresistor which is also called an LDR (LIGHT DEPENDENT RESISTOR) and two LEDs and Breadboard and a 1 k ohm Resistor and 2 resistors for the LEDs which range from 100 ohms to 220 ohms are used. The jumper wires are used to connect Arduino digital pins to the breadboard. The output is displayed through the LEDs and Serial Monitor.

WIRING: The photoresistor is wired into analog pin 0 and a 5V on the right side of the breadboard. It runs through a grounded 1K ohm resistor. An LED on the opposite side of the breadboard into digital pin 13 and grounded a 220-ohm resistor slightly to the right of the first LED, a wired LED of a different color is employed, just with a different digital pin.

Photoresistor working principle:

A photocell or photoresistor is a sensor that changes its resistance when light shines on it. The resistance generated varies depending on the light striking the surface. High intensity of light incident on the surface will cause a lower resistance, whereas a lower intensity of light will cause higher resistance.

WORKING: If the photoresistor reads a value above 450 ohms, it prints “It is quite light!” on the serial monitor and turns all LEDs off. If it reads a value between 230 ohms and 450 ohms, it prints “It is average light!” on the serial monitor and turns on the left LED. This only leaves us with values below 230 ohms to account for. If a value is below 230 ohms, it prints “It is quite dark!” on the serial monitor and turns on both LEDs.

Components setup:

Applications:

The ambient light sensor is used to control the backlight of LCD-based applications to control the display brightness of mobile for reducing battery life. The applications of this sensor range from consumer electronics to automotive. This is the main benefit of mobile applications.

These devices are used to replicate the sensitivity arc of the person’s eye, allowing mobile displays and the levels of its brightness to be attuned more accurately. These sensors are used in automotive applications like headlight control & cockpit dimming.

The main feature of this sensor is an automatic alteration to save power & to increase the LCD screen’s life in handy display devices. Additionally, these sensors control the backlighting based on the program set by the maker.

This sensor is also used in indoor as well as outdoor lighting for turning on/off which includes street lighting and electronic signals.

LDR photoresistor code

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Updated Features in Udavi and IsaiAmbalam  School Software

~ Sandhiya.B

In STEM land we give freedom to children to choose their plans on their own. Using the software children choose their plan for a week and work accordingly. Teachers conduct an assessment in line with the plan.

For the past two years, the school software was not much in use because of Corona Lockdown.  Children started using the software again this year.

Udavi School children encountered the challenge of putting the plans as they faced difficulty while choosing advanced topics without knowing the basic concepts for the goal because the goals are in sorted order. The school software was updated to comfort children’s activity in choosing the goals by adding space for extra goals and options for selecting/choosing a few basic goals.

For Isai Ambalam children of creche and kindergarten, the school software has been used for the assessment and progress card. The essential content, learning program, and learning completion columns were bilingual and some of the parents found it difficult. So, the software is updated with the feature of the native language Tamil for more accessibility for parents, teachers, and students.

The newly added features work well and the performance has paved a progress curve in the activities. It gives more access to the users which enhances efficiency

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Smart dustbin using Arduino

The smart dustbin is built on a microcontroller-based platform Arduino Uno board which is interfaced with the Servo motor and ultrasonic sensor. An ultrasonic sensor is placed at the top of the dustbin which will measure the stature of the dustbin. The threshold stature is set at a particular level. Arduino will be programmed in such a way that when someone will come in front of the dustbin the servo motor will come into action and open the lid for the person to put the waste material into the dustbin. The lid of the dustbin will automatically open itself upon the detection of a human hand.

Servo Motor:

SERVO MOTOR is an electromechanical device that produces torque and velocity based on supplied current and voltage. It can push or rotate an object with great precision. Servo Motor SG-90 is used. It will perform its angular rotations when a signal will be provided by the microcontroller. The servo motor rotates approximately 180 degrees (90 in each direction).

Infrared sensor:

IR SENSOR is a radiation-sensitive optoelectronic component with spectral sensitivity in the infrared wavelength. It is used for object detection.

Connections: –

The Red Pin of the Servo Motor is connected to Arduino 3.3v. The Black Pin of the Servo Motor is connected to Arduino GND (Ground). The Orange Pin of the Servo Motor with Arduino Pin 8. VCC of the sensor is connected with Arduino 5v.

The Smart Dustbin as you can see in the picture above is built using Cardboard. This is a custom-made Smart Dustbin equipped with HC-SR04  Sensor, Arduino, and a Servo Motor. It is programmed using the Arduino code.

Code:

#include<Servo.h>
Servo myservo;
int angle = 0;
int angle step= 50;

void setup(){
myservo.attach(8);
pinMode(2,INPUT_PULLUP);
}
void loop() {
if(digitalRead(2) == HIGH){
myservo.write(180);
}
else{
myservo.write(-180);
delay(3000);
}

Once there is no one in front of the  Sensor the Smart Dustbin Lid remains closed.

The smart dustbin is a carefully designed solution that solves the social issue of waste disposal.

 

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Sri Aurobindo 150th celebration talks with Aurovilians: Sanjeev

As part of the 150th Sri Aurobindo’s birth Anniversary, On the 24th of August 2022, Dr.Sanjeev Ranganathan had a live talk with the Aurovillians in Savitri Bhavan.

Dr. Sanjeev Ranganathan is the executive of the Isai Ambalam school, Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research (SAIIER), and RTL Academy. He received his Ph.D. in Electronics from Columbia University in New York City. He is motivated by his growth as a human being and supports the same in others.

Sanjeev is the recipient of the Lewis Winner award for best paper at ISSCC. He also volunteered for Asha for Education in various capacities and interacted with over 100 NGOs in India working on education. He has worked at Silicon Labs, NXP, ST-Ericsson, and Aura Semiconductor and has built chips used by over a billion people.

He addressed the Aurovillians with his inspiring talk by quoting his life instances with the guidance of Mother and Sri Aurobindo. While volunteering for Asha for Education he perceived Education’s purpose is not to just fit in something but also about standing out. It brought him to Auroville in 2000. He started working on alternative education. He focused on how are we going to support the next generation to do something unique.

He organized education conferences to have accelerated learning. He wanted to create a place for people to learn, experience, and contribute. He explored tribal villages and he did Vipassana, a 10-day silent meditative course that gave him a great feel about the right things to do. He also had a spiritual experience while doing his meditation and saw every being connected. All of us are connected. Once we stop judging people, life becomes easy and amazing.

Sanjeev is passionate about developing critical thinking skills with children and helping them learn and connect with their deepest selves. He believes that this can be achieved by deep meaningful educational experiences for both facilitators and children in the schools, at STEM Science Technology Engineering Mathematics centers, and Aura Auro Design, a technology business he coordinates. In time he created Aura Auro/STEM Land that allows youth to learn, grow, work, and teach as a research project and then a sub-unit of SAIIER.

He always followed the ideologies of Mother and Sri Aurobindo in his endeavors. At Auroville he was introduced to Radical Transformational Leadership which has tools, templates and distinctions used to create whole systems transformational solutions. These tools helped him explore what the root of his existence was and how he need to let it synthesize his life to let it manifest.

With the guidance of Mother and Sri Aurobindo, he continues to progress and help others progress in the beautiful journey of life.

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LOGIC GATES USING ARDUINO UNO

A basic gate is defined as a component with one or more inputs and one output.  The inputs and outputs are all digital.

There are three fundamental gates and a total of seven basic logic gates (plus several derivatives). The gate will set its output to either zero or one, based on the state of the input signals.  It uses the rules of Boolean algebra to determine the output condition. The relationship between the input and output logic levels on a gate can be best illustrated using what is known as a truth table.

Simulating Gates with an Arduino:

All of the Boolean algebra functions performed by the basic logic gates can also be emulated on an Arduino. With that in mind, a logic gate emulator that will emulate six of the seven basic gates has been constructed. It doesn’t include the NOT gate because it only has one input whereas the other gates have two.

Project on logic gates using Arduino Uno board consists of 8 LEDs and 8 resistors for the LEDs and two resistors for the pushbutton switches. The LEDs are connected for the logical output and the pushbutton switches are used for the logical input. The positive terminals of the LEDs are connected to the respective terminals of the Arduino board. The negative terminals are connected to the ground of the Arduino.

The green LEDs are for the logic outputs and the red LEDs are for the input.

The dropping resistors for the LEDs are all 220 ohms.

The two pulldown resistors for the pushbutton switches are 2.2k each.

First, define some Boolean variables to represent the logic states of both the two inputs and six outputs. Next, define some integers to represent the connections to the Arduino from the LEDs and push buttons.

It displays logic states on the serial monitor, so in the Setup routine, initialize the monitor at 9600 bps. The rest of the Setup is used to define the LEDs as outputs and pushbuttons as inputs.

In the Loop, it starts by reading the state of the two pushbuttons, and then displaying the results on the two Red LEDs marked “A” and “B”.

The actual Boolean math consists of the following four characters:

  • NOT =!
  • AND = &
  • OR = |
  • XOR = ^

We use the NOT function (!) to create the NOR, NAND, and XNOR gates.

After determining the Boolean results they are sent to both the serial monitor and the LEDs.  Following a short delay the whole Loop repeats.

Load the sketch and give it a try. Cycle through all four combinations of the two pushbuttons and observe the LED statuses, as well as the status on the serial monitor.

This would be a great training tool for testing our knowledge of digital logic.

Arduino gates using code