Let me share with you, a hilarious experience from my college days. I did an undergraduate engineering (B.E.) course in Computer Science from Jadavpur University of Kolkata, my home town. As most of you know it was a 4-year course, with theoretical and practical classes related to Computer Science and engineering spread over these years.
The incident I will talk about, happened in the first semester of the third year. It was September, 2006. We had to take a lab course titled "Design Lab-1". Students were supposed to form groups of 3, and each group was assigned a project involving digital logic and basic electronics. A circuit had to be designed and implemented on a breadboard, using ICs of Logic Gates, Flip-Flops, Resistors and wires. It was a course I thought I would enjoy thoroughly. At that time I was really passionate about digital system design.....and could do them pretty well...both the design and the implementation. In my group were two friends- Arijit and Avisek. The class was to be conducted by the strict, angry and fearsome Prof Suranjan Ghosh and the mild and friendly Prof Mita Nasipuri.
Our first project was "Frequency Divider Circuit". It was assigned in July, and we were given two weeks time for it. Prof Ghosh threatened that failure to meet the deadline will result in a Zero for the project. The lab assistant, Bimalda, told us that the threat should be taken seriously.I designed the circuit on paper within a few minutes, and got it approved by the prof. We were ecstatic....half the job had been done in no time. But the joy was short-lived. While trying to implement in hardware, we ran into all sorts of trouble. Half the ICs seemed to be defunct, and we could not manage the CRO to display the output. The input clockpulse too seemed problematic. Soon the two weeks ran out, our implementation still far from over. Most of the groups had not been able to complete their projects...so the prof threatened to give Zero to all these groups. Fortunately after a lot of appeals he agreed to extend by a week. The three of us worked overtime, bunking class after class to sit in the lab and complete the circuit. We found that the J-K Flip-Flop, IC 7476 was not working, and the clockpulse input was also not working properly. After making elaborate changes, we finally managed to get the circuit working, and got Prof Nasipuri to approve it. A mild-natured lady, she did not press too hard and accepted our demo.
The second project was the design of a digital clock, with interrupt button. Once again the design was complete quickly, and implementation started. But I fell sick and could not come to college for a week, causing vital loss of time. After rejoining, I often had to bunk classes to complete the implementation. This time I kept on checking the outputs of every single component as I inserted them, so that no redesigning would be needed. But still we ran into the last day, the circuit not yet complete. I ran to the lab well before the lab hours (3:00PM-5:15PM), and skipped lunch and several classes. Shortly before 3:00PM my group-partners joined. The circuit was now almost complete and it had been performing decently, but suddenly we found it had become totally defunct. No output was coming at all. I was at a complete loss to explain how come the input power was just getting lost. Time was running out.....something had to be done quickly. I started applying power to the circuit, and check at varoius point if it was receiving the power or not. Suddenly I discovered a short circuit. A 470Ohm resistor was not working, so I had replaced it temporarily by a wire, and forgotten about this. The wire had very low resistance, so the current was flowing fully through it, and the main circuit had no input at all. Arijit ran to get a new 470Ohm, we put it in, and Bingo!!! the clock was running perfectly. I threw my hands into the air and jumped up, Arijit and Avisek hugged me....we had made it!! Both the profs were around in the lab, supervising the other groups who too were struggling with their projects. We called Prof Nasipuri again, and got the project accepted by her.
Our work was over....we could go home now. But suddenly Arijit wanted to show it to Prof Ghosh as well...he wanted to face his angry comments as a challenge. Me and Avisek tried to dissuade him but he was adamant. He went and called the Prof, who was then looking into the circuit built by another group-Ankit,Sagar and Swagato. He said he would see ours once he was done with theirs'. Meanwhile, we readied the final demo for him. And to our shock, the circuit wasn't working now!!!!!!!! How come? We had no idea....may be someone had accidentally disturbed the loosely constructed wirings....resulting in a loose connection somewhere. But how will I find that out? The prof will be coming to us in a minute...if we could not show him the demo he would overrule Prof Nasipuri's grading and just give use a zero!!!
We stared at each other....not knowing what to do. Finally, we did the only option left....just evaded the prof's eyes and ran out of the lab!! We escaped the lab and came out on the adjacent corridor....but what to do next? Our circuit was still lying on the table, and so were our bags. We could not go home without getting them...but if we reentered the lab we would be caught! I peeped in from behind the door.....Prof Ghosh had finished with Ankit's group and was staring curiously at our circuit....and wondering whose circuit it was. Fortunately Debarshi from another group (with Chiradeep and Haimasree) called him at that point, and he joined them. His back was now turned towards our circuit. This was our only chance. Me and Avisek entered the lab, and moved stealthily to the table. I lifted my bag and the circuit, Avisek lifted his own and Arijit's bag. I managed to sneak the circuit into the cupboard where they were kept, and ran out, followed by Avisek. Out of the lab, the three of us ran in three different directions, lest Prof Ghosh would catch us!
Fortunately Prof Ghosh had forgotten that we had called him, and remained busy with the other groups. The grades given to use by Prof Nasipur prevailed.... :-D
The incident I will talk about, happened in the first semester of the third year. It was September, 2006. We had to take a lab course titled "Design Lab-1". Students were supposed to form groups of 3, and each group was assigned a project involving digital logic and basic electronics. A circuit had to be designed and implemented on a breadboard, using ICs of Logic Gates, Flip-Flops, Resistors and wires. It was a course I thought I would enjoy thoroughly. At that time I was really passionate about digital system design.....and could do them pretty well...both the design and the implementation. In my group were two friends- Arijit and Avisek. The class was to be conducted by the strict, angry and fearsome Prof Suranjan Ghosh and the mild and friendly Prof Mita Nasipuri.
Our first project was "Frequency Divider Circuit". It was assigned in July, and we were given two weeks time for it. Prof Ghosh threatened that failure to meet the deadline will result in a Zero for the project. The lab assistant, Bimalda, told us that the threat should be taken seriously.I designed the circuit on paper within a few minutes, and got it approved by the prof. We were ecstatic....half the job had been done in no time. But the joy was short-lived. While trying to implement in hardware, we ran into all sorts of trouble. Half the ICs seemed to be defunct, and we could not manage the CRO to display the output. The input clockpulse too seemed problematic. Soon the two weeks ran out, our implementation still far from over. Most of the groups had not been able to complete their projects...so the prof threatened to give Zero to all these groups. Fortunately after a lot of appeals he agreed to extend by a week. The three of us worked overtime, bunking class after class to sit in the lab and complete the circuit. We found that the J-K Flip-Flop, IC 7476 was not working, and the clockpulse input was also not working properly. After making elaborate changes, we finally managed to get the circuit working, and got Prof Nasipuri to approve it. A mild-natured lady, she did not press too hard and accepted our demo.
The second project was the design of a digital clock, with interrupt button. Once again the design was complete quickly, and implementation started. But I fell sick and could not come to college for a week, causing vital loss of time. After rejoining, I often had to bunk classes to complete the implementation. This time I kept on checking the outputs of every single component as I inserted them, so that no redesigning would be needed. But still we ran into the last day, the circuit not yet complete. I ran to the lab well before the lab hours (3:00PM-5:15PM), and skipped lunch and several classes. Shortly before 3:00PM my group-partners joined. The circuit was now almost complete and it had been performing decently, but suddenly we found it had become totally defunct. No output was coming at all. I was at a complete loss to explain how come the input power was just getting lost. Time was running out.....something had to be done quickly. I started applying power to the circuit, and check at varoius point if it was receiving the power or not. Suddenly I discovered a short circuit. A 470Ohm resistor was not working, so I had replaced it temporarily by a wire, and forgotten about this. The wire had very low resistance, so the current was flowing fully through it, and the main circuit had no input at all. Arijit ran to get a new 470Ohm, we put it in, and Bingo!!! the clock was running perfectly. I threw my hands into the air and jumped up, Arijit and Avisek hugged me....we had made it!! Both the profs were around in the lab, supervising the other groups who too were struggling with their projects. We called Prof Nasipuri again, and got the project accepted by her.
Our work was over....we could go home now. But suddenly Arijit wanted to show it to Prof Ghosh as well...he wanted to face his angry comments as a challenge. Me and Avisek tried to dissuade him but he was adamant. He went and called the Prof, who was then looking into the circuit built by another group-Ankit,Sagar and Swagato. He said he would see ours once he was done with theirs'. Meanwhile, we readied the final demo for him. And to our shock, the circuit wasn't working now!!!!!!!! How come? We had no idea....may be someone had accidentally disturbed the loosely constructed wirings....resulting in a loose connection somewhere. But how will I find that out? The prof will be coming to us in a minute...if we could not show him the demo he would overrule Prof Nasipuri's grading and just give use a zero!!!
We stared at each other....not knowing what to do. Finally, we did the only option left....just evaded the prof's eyes and ran out of the lab!! We escaped the lab and came out on the adjacent corridor....but what to do next? Our circuit was still lying on the table, and so were our bags. We could not go home without getting them...but if we reentered the lab we would be caught! I peeped in from behind the door.....Prof Ghosh had finished with Ankit's group and was staring curiously at our circuit....and wondering whose circuit it was. Fortunately Debarshi from another group (with Chiradeep and Haimasree) called him at that point, and he joined them. His back was now turned towards our circuit. This was our only chance. Me and Avisek entered the lab, and moved stealthily to the table. I lifted my bag and the circuit, Avisek lifted his own and Arijit's bag. I managed to sneak the circuit into the cupboard where they were kept, and ran out, followed by Avisek. Out of the lab, the three of us ran in three different directions, lest Prof Ghosh would catch us!
Fortunately Prof Ghosh had forgotten that we had called him, and remained busy with the other groups. The grades given to use by Prof Nasipur prevailed.... :-D
hehe..funny incident ...was really laughing towards the end :D
ReplyDeleteAmazingly you have not yet forgotten the resistance values :O
ReplyDeleteI think it was during design lab-2 that IC-7476 turned into a slang :D
ReplyDeletei said "i have never seen such a 7476 man as SG" :D
ReplyDeleteoh My God!!!! ... I couldn't remember this incident ... and i'm always like that, but sorry for the trouble that happened due to me on that day.
ReplyDelete