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ActiveBOM® provides a tool for getting real-time insight into the parts you need for your designs, and it supports “early and often” monitoring of your BOM to prevent manufacturing delays and setbacks. Additionally, it assists in identifying part choices that can be risky, such as the Not Recommended for New Design (NRFND) and End of Life (EOL) components shown in the demonstration. Best of all, it’s already part of Altium Designer 18 and there...

If you were unable to attend the July 19th live ActiveBOM® webinar, you can view the the presentation slides and video recording at your convenience. If you prefer, you can also review the summary below for the session highlights. I briefly discussed some of the challenges design engineers encounter as they search for, select and source parts for designs. Then, I introduced ActiveBOM and provided a demonstration, followed by a summary and Q&A...

  Learn about Embedded Passives Technology with Bruce Mahler from Ohmega Technologies. OhmegaPly® embedded resistor-conductor material is popular, but it’s not new. Ohmega has been making this product since 1972. So why is it getting so much attention lately? It’s reliable and has stood the test of time for five decades--but emerging technologies are making it more relevant than ever. Tune in to learn more about embedded passive and embedded...

WARR Hyperloop team with Elon Musk after their 2017 win of the Hyperloop Pod competition II. Judy Warner: Please share briefly about the history of the WARR Hyperloop and the Technical University of Munich. Martin Riedel: WARR Hyperloop started out as a group of six students in the fall of 2015 and has since grown to nearly 40 students that compete in the SpaceX Hyperloop Competition every year. WARR Hyperloop is part of a larger student...

Judy Warner: How long have you been designing PCBs and what led you to the profession? Bill Brooks: I’ve been designing boards since about 1970. My father introduced me to electronics. He was an aerospace professional working in R&D at Hughes Aircraft Company, UCSD, and later at Aerospace Incorporated. He decided to open up a printed circuit shop out of our garage in Vista, CA while I was still in junior high school. In 1969 he taught my...

Taking the time to set up routing rules to govern a PCB's minimum trace spacing and width for your layout can be tedious. Many designers would prefer to jump in and start trace routing without going through this setup process first. This can be dangerous, though, as you may inadvertently route a trace routing at the wrong width or pack your routing in so tightly that you don't have the room to make any width corrections later on. The more rigid...

After moving to a new city, I couldn’t resist visiting the local library to pick up my library card and explore educational resources. As I walked in, the librarian cheerfully handed me a pamphlet on using a 3D printer. I was thrilled to see how easy it is becoming to access a 3D printer. Once restricted to research universities and high-budget labs, 3D printing is now ubiquitous. 3D printed electronics are also starting to become more reliable...

  As the most commonly used material grade in the PCB industry, FR4 materials are plentiful, inexpensive, and well understood in terms of processing. Materials make their way to a huge range of products, and advanced FR4 versions are available for products with wireless capabilities or requiring higher reliability. Going even further, FR4-grade materials are also available for high-density designs with laser drill processing, further moving the...