The E-Tronic building set deals with exciting topics in electrical engineering / electronics. To start, we will look at the basic features of simple electrical circuits. Then, we will be learning about a variety of electronic components such as resistors, capacitors and transistors. We will be showing you how to install and control these exciting components in different circuits and devices based on several models and practical examples.
History
The history of the field of electronics / electrical technology reaches back to the 17th and 18th centuries. 19th century scientists built on this legacy. Alessandro Volta, for instance, developed the Voltaic pile, which was the first functional battery. Philipp Reis invented the telephone, and the capability for electrical voice transmission. The lights went on around the world in 1879 thanks to an innovation by Thomas Alva Edison - the carbon filament light bulb.
Erasmus Kittler established the world’s first degree program in electrical engineering in 1883 at the Technical University of Darmstadt. In 1884, Heinrich Hertz succeeded in proving the existence of electromagnetic waves. This was the beginning of wireless radio transmission.
J Ambrose Fleming invented the first radio tubes around 1905. Manfred von Ardenne used a cathode ray tube to create the first electronic television.
Another milestone in electronics came in 1941, when Konrad Zuse built the world’s first functional computer.
The invention of the transistor triggered the age of the tube. This allowed many new devices to be built to be very compact. In 1958, Jack Kilby developed the first integrated circuit (IC). This development was what made today's processor chip technology, and the development of modern computers, possible.
You probably already understand how important these inventions were, and how they still enrich our everyday lives today.
Basic principles of electronics
Where does the term “electronics” come from? Electronics comes from the Greek word “Elektron”. You might say it's actually composed of two words, the terms “electron” and “technology”. Electronics, therefore, is electron technology.
The field of electronics can be divided into five areas:
You will be learning about three of these areas in more detail: Analogue and digital electronics, and the logic of digital electronics.
We hope you have enjoyed controlling the models in the PROFI E-Tronic building set. Maybe you can build a few of your own models and control them using the E-Tronics module. At some point, the base program will no longer be sufficient to correctly control the models, and there will not be a specialised program to meet your needs.
Maybe your model has multiple motors and multiple buttons, and you want to carry out a specific technical process. If so, you are ready for the next level of control technology. The fischertechnik ROBOTICS program. It includes control modules you can program yourself. The BT Smart Controller is controlled via a smartphone or tablet using the ROBOPro Smart software, and has 2 motor outputs and 4 inputs. You can use the TXT 4.0 controller to control four motors and 3 servo motors at the same time. It also has eight inputs for buttons, phototransistors or reed contacts. In addition, Bluetooth, WiFi, and many other features are available to you.
