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2:49 Unified PCB - Features Watch Video

How to Choose a Test Lab for FCC Certification of IoT Products FCC certification testing is an important (and legally required) step for IoT systems and other products that transmit and receive data. Choosing the right lab makes a huge difference in the ease of your certification process. I’ve been an engineer in some very heavily regulated industries where products are tested out the wazoo to make sure they’re safe. Even so, getting FCC certification for an IoT product was still a significant endeavor Read Article

How Tesla Rethought Lithium Ion Cells Through Modular Design and Vertical Integration Lithium Ion batteries provide high performance and fast recharging, making them ideal for electric vehicles. However, their cost has always been a barrier to adoption in the world of electric vehicles. Tesla has sidestepped this issue by adopting a highly scalable modular approach. Every battery package they construct is made out of hundreds of one single standard cell. Tesla is taking their lithium battery production in-house, constructing the Read Article

PCB Designer Mike Brown Offers Advice: Stay Hungry, Keep Growing, Nurture Relationships Mike Brown is a PCB Design Consultant. He caught the design-bug at the tender age of 17 and has never looked back. Recently, he shared the story of his career path from being a young, to design manager, to entrepreneur and finally selling his company, Interconnect Design Solutions (IDS), last year to the Maryland-based contract manufacturer, Zentech Manufacturing. Warner: Mike, looking back, what indicators can you see from your childhood that Read Article

The Worst PCB Design Advice I've Ever Heard: PCB Design Tips & Tricks - Altium Audio Bites Altium Audio Bites, giving you bite-sized information that's easy to digest and apply to your everyday design tasks. From our PCB Design Tips & Tricks audio series here is: The Worst PCB Design Advice I've Ever Heard. All our audio series are from real PCB designers in the field, detailing their day to day problems and experiences. We hope you can learn from this as much as we have. Give it a listen and let us know what you think in the comments Read Article

How To Use A Modular Approach: PCB Design Tips & Tricks - Altium Audio Bites Altium Audio Bites, giving you bite-sized information that's easy to digest and apply to your everyday design tasks. From our PCB Design Tips & Tricks audio series here is: How to Use a Modular Approach. All our audio series are from real PCB designers in the field, detailing their day to day problems and experiences. We hope you can learn from this as much as we have. Give it a listen and let us know what you think in the comments below. Read Article

Designing PCBs for IoT: How to Plan for FCC Certification The FCC standards for electronics is certainly something serious that needs to be considered. FCC Certification is a critical part of bringing IoT products to market. To pass successfully, you need to plan for the testing before you even begin to design your PCB. Read on to learn about the key considerations for your design. When I worked on my first internet of things (IoT) product, I was at a startup that was just past the two guys in the Read Article

How 3D Printed Prototypes are Changing the Landscape of PCB Design PCB Printers - 3d Printers for PCBs are now a reality and not just for PCB prototypes It’s no surprise that you hate waiting for PCB prototypes. In the time it takes for the test board to arrive you could probably invent a new method for fabricating prototypes. Lucky for you, someone already came up with a new method. New 3D printers use nanoparticle technology to suspend metals in ink (I don’t know how this works, so don’t ask) in order to print Read Article

How to Protect Your PCB Designs from Counterfeit Electronic Components Just like Gucci or Coach handbags, counterfeiting electronic parts is big business overseas and it causes major problems in the printed circuit board component supply chain. Counterfeit electronic components that are sold as genuine can affect everything from your new electronic alarm clock to mission-critical military systems, such as thermal weapons sights, missile guidance systems, and aircraft. Whenever electronic parts are relabeled or Read Article

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Structuring Your Design Data Management to Avoid Design Missteps When it comes to PCB design, one very important aspect of the overall process is proper data management and documentation. While the immediate consequences may not be as apparent, mismanagement of your data can have both a direct and indirect effect on your project and design. Proper implementation of data management and documentation ensures the organization, traceability, accountability and reproducibility of your design data. Read on to learn Read Article

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Flexible PCBs and the Internet of Things: How the Landscape of PCB Design is Rapidly Changing The Internet of Things is a new category of exciting gadgets and appliances transforming the consumer market. However, developing that smartwatch isn’t as easy as putting it on. PCB designers are encountering unique challenges when developing powerful hardware solutions for these products. These PCB’s have to pack performance into a small space while preserving reliability and product budget. Thankfully, recent improvements to an oft-overlooked Read Article

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Which Altium PCB Design Software is Right For You? Confused as to which Altium professional PCB design product is right for you? Are you just looking to dip a toe with CircuitMaker®? Are you a professional PCB just starting out or are you a full blown Printed Board design maestro who needs all the flexible horsepower that Altium Designer® offers? Find out what Altium software is right for you. Our CMO, Ted Pawela, recently did a live interview with the folks over at Adafruit. One of the questions Read Article

The Best PCB Design and Manufacturing Practices for Moisture Management A source of PCB malfunctions during PCB manufacturing, especially in outdoor environments, comes from moisture on the boards. Fortunately, there are several options for protecting your boards when they are deployed. Read on to learn which is best for your application. I once had an outdoor sensor system with a custom PCB protective coating that would stop recording data for two hours at dawn every day. This was not because the board needed its Read Article

High-Speed PCB Design Principles: Keep Traces Short and Direct Your signals travel at the speed of light, and so does their EMI. As you know, high-speed PCB design can often have issues with EMI. This EMI risk can come from long traces that form transmitting or receiving antennas. Longer traces also cover more distance, which increases the chances that sensitive circuits are affected along the way. Using short traces that take direct paths will help reduce EMI risk from both antennas and trace proximity. I Read Article