Electric Outdoor Substation Model Project

Earlier in the year I mentioned that I would embark on a year long project to understand the inner workings on an outdoor electric substation. So here I start after taking some time off to study my Chinese - which in fact has improved.

Now this project will basicaly entail creating a model of each unit that is in a subsytation, link them using wires and perhaps use 240V to simulate the working. To add some salt, I will embeed my ArduinoUNO + Raspberry Pi and a few LEDs to make a SCADA system hopefully controlled from my PC or my phone to shutdown/on the sub-station.
Yeah, I know this sounds crazy but it will require funds plus careful planning and drawings to ascertain the project. I will document everything like it would be in a real life project including the Tendering and delivery of the equipment - all this for learning.

Also I noted that there are specific softwares that are used to design substations, so I hope they have 90 Days trials, this will come in handy.

My Chinese exams are in May (HSK) so incase my english starts to depeceiate significantly, kindly notify me :-) :-)

Here in my country Kenya we are going to the polls on 4th of March so hope there will be peace and no violence, am praying very hard for peace.

Anyway let me start...Have an electrifying week + Peace to all Kenyans

Image Credits: Buildpedia.com

Wind Power Kenya is 3 Years Old

Happy New Year to all my readers, hope your year started on a high voltage. Today Wind Power Kenya turns 3 years old, a milestone and remarkable achievement it is. Looking back its been a long and informative electric journey and I am very thankful to you all for taking time to read, comment  & correct me where I make a mistake.

Now this year will be one very busy for me as I try to master my Chinese - which I started learning last year May. Yeah, Chinese is not easy but al make it. Also since now I have my Raspberry Pi and Arduino UNO there is pressure to put them to work so I will be juggling very many things. Anyway Chinese will come first so the rest can chill a little bit. Also I want to start a year long project to model an outdoor  substation so a s to lean what happens inside to detail.

Anyway, that's my year planned, lemme celebrate this achievement :-) [circuit open]

My Raspberry Pi Model B

The Raspberry Pi is perhaps the most sought after device by programmers, hobbyists, electronics gurus,modders and hackers in the embedded systems realms. It also doubles up as a powerful, energy efficient, light and flexible home multimedia system that can work across many peripherals.

So much is the usage that 24hrs after its release, it went out of stock leaving many disappointed. However soon after stocks were replenished and currently its available but not yet in Kenya, sad :-(

The updated model, Model B is the latest in the series from its predecessor, Model A. Am going to cover details later. So mine arrived 2weeks ago and since then its been exploring the device, day in day out, and to say the least about this device....its great. So lets get into details about this device

• Introduction
• General Specifications
• Unboxing
• Usage & Images
• More specs and hacks

Introduction.
In the simplest of terms the Raspberry Pi is small ATM card sized computer developed in UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation with the main intention to teaching basic computer skills in schools. Its distributed by Element 14 and RS Electronics online. The device is quite simple in design and appearance further enhancing its main purpose. There are 2 Models, A and B with B being the latest (29th Feb 2012) and the best. A was released much earlier so am going to concentrate on Model B.

General Specifications.
From an engineering perspective specs are what describe a machine and not paragraphs of information so am going to list the specs in the most understandable manner.

1. Processor: Broadcom BCM2835 SoC (System on a Chip) - ARM1176JZF-S 700Mhz (can be overclocked to 1.3GHz [danger tho'])
2. GPU: VideoCore IV
3. RAM: 512Mb

My Arduino UNO R3

Finally after what seemed forever my Arduino UNO arrived just as I had ordered. Here in Kenya, Arduinos are just making the breakthrough and they're hot cake. So before I go further, let me explain what exactly an Arduino is.

In the simplest of terms, an Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.
Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. The micro-controller on the board is programmed using the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring) and the Arduino development environment (based on Processing). Arduino projects can be stand-alone or they can communicate with software running on a computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP).

To summarize the above, when you are working with Arduino you'll have 2 things, the Arduino Board and your PC. On your PC you'll be running the ADE (Arduino Development Environment) which when you've written the code, will be sent to the Arduino. Secondly you'll have the Arduino board connected to your PC via the cable that comes with it. (Same cable that is used for HP Printers)

Arduino can greatly enhance your creativity since it can run anything from a simple connection of a LED to a robot. Its completely open-source so you can do whatever your mind can do in terms to hacking and modding it. I've had mine for 8 Days so far and i cant remember a day passing without casting a glance at it or reading something new.

▲MY ARDUINO UNO: Note I've had to mount it on a cardboard to reduce chances of shorting the contacts on the underside of the board.