How to Plan Your PCB Layout for a High Voltage Design I used to trail run with a friend who is an urban planner. As part of her devious plan to get me to run further before I was too tired and bored, she’d tell me about the various considerations that go into the zoning and construction in a town. There were also a lot of shenanigans with local politics that provided a juicy distraction. Although my friend would disagree, a high voltage PCB layout have some similarities to complex urban planning. In Read Article PLC System vs Embedded System: When You Should Choose a PLC Despite the Higher Cost per Unit Have you ever gone out to a well-reviewed, luxurious restaurant for dinner? I’m sure you paid a pretty penny for it. However, if fine dining is a passion of yours and you enjoyed it then it’s worth the expense. On the other hand, it’s hard not to feel silly paying $20 more than you’re supposed to for a sandwich at an average local restaurant. In this situation, you’re much better off putting that money towards cooking lessons and becoming your Read Article Digital Player Grounding: How a Single Ground Connection Messed up 100 Units of MP3 Players Technology is pretty great and it has definitely made certain things in life easier. However, when you’re juggling parenting, coding, electronics design and occasionally writing an article like this. Sometimes even the coolest apps can’t mitigate the stress we experience in a day. For example, this morning I accidentally mistook salt for sugar and mixed it into my child’s favorite porridge. One small mistake on my part and suddenly my 5-year-old Read Article Google Glass Enterprise Edition Breaks Into Workplace Market Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be the first to do something? It must be a grand feeling to go where no man has gone before, whether that place is a mountain or the moon. There are also a lot of risks that come with maiden voyages. You can plan all you want, but the only way to find out what lies on the edge of the horizon is to go there. Google, now Alphabet, has long been a pioneer in the tech world. Their Google Glass product was a bold Read Article Why You Should Follow These Best Practices In Real Time Clocks Design Have you ever been late for school because your alarm clock decided to stop at 3.15 AM? In high school, my alarm clock wasn’t very pleasant sounding, but the sound of my mom shouting at me was worse. I knew that my clock had stopped because its battery was dead. However, had I paid closer attention, I would have noticed that my clock ran slower as the battery drained off. That way I could have changed it in time and avoided rising to my mom’s Read Article Semiconductor Fibers: What Will Replace Fiber Optic Cable Transmission Lines? The Internet is a strange and wonderful place. I grew up at the end of the age of dial-up Internet when chat rooms were all the rage. Now, I occasionally enjoy using the Internet to play some online games, which was impossible back then. My telephone router and its copper network could barely support enough bandwidth to load an image. Now our networks have been upgraded with blazing fast fiber optics. While these communication systems are Read Article RF Technologies for Low-Power Wireless Communications: Ambient Backscatter I love family reunions, though, with forty people in my extended family they can get a bit hectic. Whether we’re playing cards, swimming, or at the dinner table there’s always someone telling jokes and stories. In fact, most people are trying to talk so sometimes you have to yell to be heard. It can also be difficult to communicate in the electromagnetic spectrum. Your devices often have to “shout” their own signals into the void in order to Read Article Wearable Tech: Functional and Fashionable Technology Do you ever look at old pictures of your parents when they were younger and wonder, “why were they wearing those hideous clothes?” I find the giant glasses to be particularly bad. Fashion is and always has been important, even if trends change. When it comes to the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable electronics, aesthetics often seem to be left by the wayside. Designers seem to let functionality determine to look and form factor, rather than Read Article DRCs in PCB Design: How They Can Save Your Design from Sinking For many years I owned a small boat which gave me hours of fun on the water, but there are a few critical rules that have to be obeyed. One of those rules is that you MUST install the drain plug before putting your boat in the water. It’s a lot cheaper to go for a swim intentionally, rather than unexpectedly in order to retrieve your new boat. Everyone knows that rules are there for our protection. But sometimes, whether accidentally or on Read Article Considerations for Designing a High Voltage PCB I used to think that high voltage applications were only used in power engineering. Since I had no desire to work at a power plant or transformer station, I was safe from having to learn high voltage PCB design considerations. Alas, my interest in space applications proved me wrong and forced me to confront my laziness. It turns out high voltage applications show up in almost every industry, from manufacturing and power plants to medical and Read Article Assessing the Post-Development Hardships of Uncontrolled Data Management For every, team, and business, getting to the release state should be the moment where you can breathe a sigh of relief. This moment, unfortunately, doesn’t always lend itself to joyful celebration. Project completion can mean a) you and your team have successfully constructed a design without any flaws in the documentation process and can now prep for its release, or b) you’ve successfully completed your design but realize a minor (or major) Read Article IoT Resource Bundle From the early days of printed circuit boards, the electronics industry has made huge strides in board materials, copper printing methods, miniaturization, rigid-flex, ELIC, EDA, and much more. Many of the devices we use in our homes, our vehicles, and in our workplaces would not be possible without this continuous evolution of PCB design and technology. The scope of creativity from individuals is unbounded. While the infrastructure for IoT can Read Article RF Technologies for Low-Power Wireless Communications: Ambient Backscatter I love family reunions, though, with forty people in my extended family they can get a bit hectic. Whether we’re playing cards, swimming, or at the dinner table there’s always someone telling jokes and stories. In fact, most people are trying to talk so sometimes you have to yell to be heard. It can also be difficult to communicate in the electromagnetic spectrum. Your devices often have to “shout” their own signals into the void in order to Read Article PCB Editor View Modes PCB editor view modes allow designers to locate and correct errors in particular areas of the board. Altium Designer features multiple ways to view your design, allowing you to be most efficient and to help avoid errors. These different PCB editor view modes have allowed users to find and fix design problems, such as why a flex board does not fold, why components are on the wrong layers, and why dead copper is not being shown anywhere on the board Read Article How to Prevent Hairline Short Circuits in Your PCB Circuit Design What’s worse than finding a strand of hair in your pasta when you’re out on a dinner date? Finding it after it has ended up in your mouth. There are two ways to avoid awkward scenarios like this. For one, you can keep a close eye on your food and make sure it is hair free before it enters your mouth. The second is to ensure that there is no chance of a hair ending up in your food; in this case, you might need to go to a new restaurant. In PCB Read Article High Voltage PCB Design: Creepage and Clearance Distances for High Voltage Designing high voltage PCBs following specific spacing guidelines is critical. In high density circuit boards, spacing is even trickier and more important for protection. Read Article IoT Hardware Boards and Platforms Are Becoming Flexible Do you remember all the fads and obsessions you had when you were a kid? When I was younger everyone was going crazy for Pokemon and whatever electronic gadgets they could get their hands on. These two crazes eventually combined into one ultimate trend, the Tamagotchi. It was a huge hit, building on the portable electronic fever and children’s love of tiny unrealistic animals. Recently two fads in the PCB world have combined, flexible electronics Read Article Pagination First page « First Previous page ‹‹ Page176 Current page177 Page178 Page179 Page180 Page181 Next page ›› Last page Last » Load More