IIIT Hyderabad launches an e-cracker

The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH) has come up with an innovative solution that uses electronic circuits to make all the light and sound and strike the right balance between tradition and eco-friendly practices.

Dr. Aftab Hussain, Associate Professor at the Center for VLSI and Embedded Systems Technology (CVEST) at IIITH explains that his e-cracker is compact, rechargeable, and reusable.

“The primary charm of firecrackers is the creation of light and sound, which can be created using electronic circuits. To design the cracker, we studied the light and sound outputs of the chemical firecrackers and created a circuit that can approximate that output. The key engineering challenge was the distribution of power to the circuit using a small lithium-ion battery,” he said.

The solution came with the creation of an LED matrix and a set of several



speakers to increase the light and sound output.

The working prototype includes a microcontroller, battery management system, amplifiers, speakers, and the LED matrix, all contained in a small 10x10x10 cm box.

When the firecracker is switched on, it emits sounds of the crackers bursting while simultaneously making the LEDs flicker, producing an effect similar to that of a chemical firecracker. The entire setup is placed inside a box designed in such a way that the circuit on the hardboard PCB is concealed, revealing only the 4 speakers on 4 faces and a flexible PCB with the LEDs on top in a dome-like structure.

Transistors and resistors are used for setting the voltage while capacitors are used for noise filtering. Additional features such as choosing the type of cracker sound as well as the ability to burst the e-cracker from a distance with the help of Bluetooth make it more attractive.