Final Assessment (40%): Product Exhibition

3D Optical Mouse- Main Part 1 (The Components)

For my product exhibition, my team has chosen 3D Optical Computer Mouse. I will describe the components of it, i.e. the electrical board and the components mounted on it.

An optical mouse works in a completely different way from a ball mouse. It shines a bright line down onto your desk from an LED (light-emitting diode) and then detects the reflected light with a photocell. This is what it looks like underneath:

As mouse is being moved, the pattern of reflected light changes—and the mouse uses this to figure out the hand movement of the user. Inside an optical mouse is much more hi-tech than a ball mouse. Where a ball mouse is almost entirely mechanical, an optical mouse is almost entirely electronic. When the cover is taken off,this is what it looks like:

In this mouse, there are two LEDs. The first one (marked here as LED#1) shines down onto the desk. The light from that is picked up by a photocell that has a lens mounted in front of it. The lens magnifies the light bouncing off the desk and makes the mouse operate more accurately. The second LED at the back (marked LED#2) lights up a red plastic strip along the back of the mouse so the user can see it's working. This mouse also has a wheel at the front to scroll pages on-screen much faster. Like the chip in a ball mouse, the chip inside an optical mouse does all the measuring and sends details of movements to your computer.

Summarizing How The Gadget Functions

What you need is an intelligent spoon, a mixing spoon that uses sensors to measure different food qualities, like acidity, during the cooking process. This automated kitchen utensil was developed by two students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2005. The students were working in MIT's Counter Intelligence Lab, which tries to create smart technology products that make our time in the kitchen easier. Smart technology automates appliances and devices with computers so that most of the work and the required thought are eliminated from everyday tasks.

While cooking may become intuitive, the intelligent spoon could really help new cooks or clumsy cooks get on the right foot in the kitchen. They may eventually learn from their intelligent spoon and feel more comfortable cooking on their own. However, the intelligent spoon is not for sale yet, and there are several unknowns, including cost and ease of use. Smart appliances in general are not widely available in the marketplace, in part because they're usually more expensive than traditional appliances and because they can be more complicated to use. Many people may not trust a smart appliance when the regular one works just fine. In the case of the smart spoon, not everyone will want to drag a laptop into the kitchen for cooking advice.Still, we may see the smart spoon in stores one day there are already some sensor spoons for sale.

Describing Main/ Major and Minor Parts or Components

Hi everyone... In my last post, I just briefly cited about Smart Spoon. It was like an introduction on my chosen gadget. Now I will go on detail where I will explain the Smart Spoon using the term 'minor/major' part.

Major Part
Without any doubt, the sensors on the spoon are the major part of Smart Spoon. The spoon is equipped with sensors that measure temperature, acidity, salinity, and viscosity, and is connected to a computer via a cable.Data from the sensors will be collected and sent to a built-in temporary storage in the spoon. It is to ensure the precision of data received, at the same time any errors on first reading can be recovered. The sensors evaluate the different properties of the food, and send them to the computer for further processing. There are four sensors on this spoon. They are pH,temperature,salinity and viscosity. Smart Spoon contains zinc, aluminum and gold sensors.





pH: measures the acidity of the food.
Temperature: measures the heat provided and can be used to avoid overheating.
Viscosity: Can describe the fluid's flow in food, either
it is too thick or vice versa.
Salinity: In food it is very important to measure the saltiness of food. This single component can destroy the taste of food if not controlled.
Apart from consolidating measurements that are normally done by an array of equipments into a single spoon, the information obtained can be used to advise the users what their next step should be; for example, it tells the user if there is not enough salt in the brine prepared to make pickles.

Minor Part
The minor parts in this gadget can not be neglected. They include the battery, on/off button, microcontroller, and antenna. These component may sounds simple compare to the sensors, but the Smart Spoon can not be successful without them.

Battery: A rechargeable nickel cadmium(NiCd) or lithium ion(Li-ion) battery can be used in it. Or it can be charged directly through an adapter.The 1.5-2.0 volt battery can last for 2-4 hours with continuos usage.
On/Off Button: A simple, bright, and small button placed on the cylindrical part of the spoon.
Microcontroller: The spoon will be using a silicon chip embedded on a circuit board. This is where all the data received will be gathered and read.
Antenna: In this component,the data collected will be sent to a nearby laptop via bluetooth or wireless connection.

The body of the Smart Spoon is simple. It is about 3cm in diameters at the cylindrical part. Length of the spoon is about 20cm and the width of the scoop is about 6cm. So, this a handy, compact, and simple device.