Electronic Kid of India — An Inspirational Story

The world of electronics is changing for the betterment and the new breed of electronic engineers and electronic enthusiasts are now taking over from the traditional engineers. Not only that, kids and teenagers are also improving their skills in electronics by practicing in real life electronic projects and circuits ideas. They are fresh brain that makes them tough competitors to the old thinking professionals in the world of electronics.

Teenagers and kids if guided properly have an advantage that they can learn and adapt quickly. Some of these teenagers very eagerly improve / sharpen their skills and technical understanding that makes them very hard to beat later during their professional careers ahead.

Kids and Teenagers should not be forced to ignore or suppress their inner desire towards electronics skill development in lieu of contemporary school education. Such unique breed of kids/teenagers should be groomed very delicately by their mentors. Their mentors should be able to understand as how to make a balance between the education of the child and their skill development capabilities. The early development of a potent electronic skill will only help a child in their contemporary school education.

One such teenager is Sartaj Singh Virdi — who since his early childhood is passionate about making electronic projects and circuit ideas. His father is his mentor and a guide to him. His regular input has helped Sartaj learn about the basics of soldering, reading colour code of resistors, reading colour code of capacitors, differentiating between the components, understanding of circuit diagrams with reference to the components and assembling of simple / complex circuits on a general purpose Printed Circuit Board (PCB).

HOW IT ALL STARTED:

Sartaj started his journey towards learning electronics with a simple project in which he wired an insulated copper wire (that he took from a faulty transformer) on a ceiling fan bolt and powered the two ends of the wire with a 9 volt battery making it an electromagnet. He was only 9 years of age when he made this electromagnet project. He was absolutely thrilled to see his first electromagnet project work when it attracted iron nails and pins. The inner happiness of Sartaj was clearly visible on this face. It was a major boost to his confidence/interest towards making more of electronic projects. It may not be out of place to mention here that kids tend to lose their interest if they happen to fail in their first attempt — particularly when making electronic projects. To overcome such disappointments they need an active support of their mentors who can guide and prop up their sagging confidence. Luckily for Sartaj, his project worked nicely in the first go. He later presented his first electronic project (The Electromagnet) to his school principal as a mark of respect.

Today Sartaj Singh Virdi is 15, and has made various electronic projects and circuit ideas. Some of the projects are appreciated by the highly qualified professionals in the field of electronics.

ELECTRONIC PROJECTS AND CIRCUIT IDEAS:

• Battery Chargers With Auto Cut-Off
• Mobile Phone Signal Jammers (Oops…) Detector
• Very Reliable 60watt (12volt — 220volt) Inverter
• Powerful Variable Power Supply / Battery Charger
• Soft Latch Switch Circuit — 2 Simple Variants
• Sensitive Clap Switch — Using Op Amp Ic 741 And Cd 4017
• Transistor Tester And Diode Tester Using Ic 555
• Using Regular Potentiometers On A Buck Converter
• Wireless Music Transmission Using Laser Led (Li-Fi School Project)
• Tesla Reborn: Wireless Power Transmission
• Pollution Buster: Air Ionizer School Project
• Flexible Astable Multivibrator — Simple Dancing Lights
• Small Electronic Project for Kids — Magic Of MOSFET (MOM)
• Real-Time Battery Voltage Indicator & Tester (RABIT) Using LM3914
• Contactless Live Wire Tester
• ROMPO: Remote Operated Multifunctional Power Outputs for Kids.
• Generate Extremely Accurate 16777216 Colours in one RGB LED (Project)
• Automatic Staircase/ Street Light without Arduino
• Project for Kids using Arduino with 100% Optimized Code and Complete Simple Brain Teaser Game using Arduino
• How to Make Contactless Soap Dispenser
• Arduino Uno Smart Car Class 7 Project
• Project using Arduino Uno — Ultrasonic Intruder Alarm
• Automatic Staircase Light using Arduino UNO — Auto On/Off
• Class 7 Project Unique Board Game
• Simple Dancing Robot
• Electromagnet Project

Today Sartaj Singh Virdi runs a very successful Facebook Page (Class Projects) …. https://www.facebook.com/classprojectsbysartaj

… and a Youtube Channel by the name of Projects and Gadgets.

The most appreciative part of his journey towards developing his electronics skill is that he never let his school education slip away. He is doing excellent in his regular studies with Mathematics being his favorite subject.

PROGRAMMING INTEREST:

Keeping pace with time and technology he is learning to program in Python, C and working towards improving his skills in WordPress, Javascript, CSS and Content Development / SEO. For this he is taking a constant help from his father. This broadens up his span of skills for the future.

ARDUINO:

He is also making interesting projects for his seniors in Engineering Colleges using Arduino Board like Automatic Street Light System, IR Sensor based projects, Digital Timers, Sensing Cars, Radars etc… Arduino is an open-source hardware and software that is used to design and manufacture single-board microcontroller based digital devices. Sartaj has made a Multi-functional Home Automation System and Practical Street Lighting System using Arduino.

Recently he completed manufacturing a comprehensive workbench for himself. It was a painstaking work for which he spent a lot blood and sweat. It looks and works immaculately.

FEATURES OF WORKBENCH:

1. Multiple independent regulated power supplies that can handle a current of upto 10Amps with voltage handling capability from 0V — 30V .
2. Digital Alarm Clock with Display Dimming Features
3. Battery and All type of Mobile/iPad Chargers
4. Air Ionizer
5. Automatic Soldering Iron Heat Controller
6. Amplifier with inbuilt 20Watt Woofers and Twitters
7. FM Radio
8. Mobile Jammer
9. Volt Meters for every output
10. Transistor and Diode Tester
11. Keypad Based Lock
12. Emergency Light

Workbench Designed and Made by Sartaj Singh Virdi

It is to be noted here that all the features added to this workbench are designed, tested and implemented by Sartaj Singh Virdi. Even the wooden front panel was designed and cut by him as per the requirement of the project. Some of the rare pictures are shared herewith.

His father has always encouraged him get the best tools to make circuits. Today Sartaj Singh Virdi has some of the best tools available in India and he aspires to purchase a Rework Station for his complicated works.

BASIC ELECTRONIC TOOLS AND TOOLKITS:

• Sanwa Analog Multimeter
• Soldron Soldering Iron
• ESD Table Mat from INDE Enterprises
• Magnifying Lamp from INDE Enterprises
• Stannol Solder Wire from INDE Enterprises
• Solder Paste QuickFix
• Workbench made by Sartaj Singh Virdi
• Tweezers from INDE Enterprises
• Pliers
• Precision Cutters

He is planning to purchase a Rework Station from INDE Enterprises to prop-up his reworking skills.

He has just completed a 5 days course on Mobile Repairing to sharpen up his knowledge/skills on how the SMD technology works and what all is required to perform the repair work on it.

OTHER SKILLS:

In addition to making conventional Electronics and Programming projects, Sartaj aspire to be a scientist at ISRO someday. He has successfully competed couple of workshops organized by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with flying colours. A good beginning is half done — so he is well on his path.

This story should inspire many other kids and teenagers who aspire to become electronic engineer or who do not have any clue as what path to follow.

Never let your dreams die and do not suppress your skills. A good mentor at the right time is a must. The new breed of teenagers and kids are the future of this world and if Sartaj can do it at this age then you can do it too. Good Luck.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SARTAJ SINGH VIRDI:

• https://www.facebook.com/classprojectsbysartaj (The most famous Electronic Project Page)
• https://www.technotaj.com (Personal Website)

Author: Karamjit Singh Dhiman