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How to Setup and Interface with WS2812B LEDs

How to Setup and Interface with WS2812B LEDs for PCB Are you in the mood for a good laugh? Well, I have a story for you. I’m a design engineer with decades of experience, but a LED project recently almost brought me to my knees in despair. I used to think that LEDs were as simple as getting the light emitting diode connected to a limiting resistor and a power supply. Aren’t they? That’s exactly what went through my mind as I worked on an architecture model lighting project a couple of years ago. On Read Article

Intel Will Showcase Future Technology in Electronics and Communication at the Olympics

2018 Olympics: Intel Will Showcase Future PCB Technology in Electronics and Communication Editorial credit: lazyllama / Shutterstock.com I love watching the Olympics. It’s exciting to see the best athletes from each country test their skills against one another. The Olympics are also a forum for host countries to showcase everything that they’re capable of. In the 2018 Olympics countries aren’t the only ones who will be showing off. Intel recently announced a partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that will let Read Article

How FRAM Memory Simplifies Embedded System Data Logging

How FRAM Memory Simplifies Embedded System Data Logging I’ve always found it easier to make decisions when the options were clear-cut. Choosing between black and white, right or wrong, you could make your decision and never regret it. However, decisions that involve picking black, white, or one of many shades of gray really stress me out. I was happy abiding by my binary logic until Ferromagnetic Random Access Memory ( FRAM) came on the commercial market and I was forced to embrace one of the shades Read Article

RS-485

The RS-485 Interface in a Wireless World RS-485 is still relevant, even if it does not use those big D-sub connectors. Read Article

IoT Storage Technologies: Ultra Low Power CBRAM

IoT Storage Technologies: Ultra Low Power CBRAM Do you remember using those old floppy disks back in the day? I remember my computer had two floppy disk drives. You’d put the disk with your program in one and a disk for the data in the other. Eventually, the incredible invention that is the hard drive came about and storage space exploded. Our memory capacity is still increasing, but now the size is becoming less of a factor. When it comes to the Internet of Things (IoT) energy usage is the Read Article

Wearable Technology in the Future Will Be Seamless and Convenient

Why Wearable Technology is the Future and How It Will Be Seamless and Convenient When I was younger I was a bit of a nerd, and I guess I still am. The most visible sign of my nerdiness was my fashion sense or lack of it. Tall socks, cargo shorts, and a brown Pacman hoodie that I wore in every season, except summer, made up my daily wardrobe. I was simply more interested in gizmos and gadgets than I was in looking good. I’m still more interested in fashionable electronic devices than clothes, but the line between the two is Read Article

The IoT is Developing New Technologies for Aging in Place

The IoT is Developing New Technologies for Aging in Place My grandmother has lived down the street from my parents for the past 7 years. She moved down there after it became apparent she had Alzheimer’s disease and my parents realized she couldn’t live alone anymore. However, technology has allowed her to live a semi-independent life. My mother uses nanny cams to make sure my grandma is safe and happy and goes down to the house whenever grandma needs help. This arrangement has kept my grandmother out of Read Article

PLC vs Embedded System: When You Should Choose a PLC Despite the Higher Cost per Unit

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

How a Single Ground Connection Messed up 100 Units of MP3 Players

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

How to Prevent Hairline Short Circuits in Your PCB Circuit Design

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

How Google Glass Technology Works and What Makes It Tick

How Google Glass Technology Works and What Makes It Tick Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” If that’s the case then Google must employ a lot of witches and warlocks. They’ve been pushing the tech envelope for years and many of their ideas are now coming to fruition. Products like their self-driving cars are almost here, and I’m personally hopeful about a smart sensor platform that Google helped fund. By far the coolest take we’ve been Read Article

Google Glass Enterprise Edition Breaks Into Workplace Market Editorial credit: Peppinuzzo / Shutterstock.com 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 Read Article

How a Single Ground Connection Messed up 100 Units of Customized 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

The IoT is Developing New Technologies for Senior Citizens and Aging in Place My grandmother has lived down the street from my parents for the past 7 years. She moved down there after it became apparent she had Alzheimer’s disease and my parents realized she couldn’t live alone anymore. However, technology has allowed her to live a semi-independent life. My mother uses nanny cams to make sure my grandma is safe and happy and goes down to the house whenever grandma needs help. This arrangement has kept my grandmother out of Read Article

Wearable Technology in the Future Will Be Seamless and Convenient

Wearable Technology in the Future Will Be Seamless and Convenient When I was younger I was a bit of a nerd, and I guess I still am. The most visible sign of my nerdiness was my fashion sense or lack of it. Tall socks, cargo shorts, and a brown Pacman hoodie that I wore in every season, except summer, made up my daily wardrobe. I was simply more interested in gizmos and gadgets than I was in looking good. I’m still more interested in electronic devices than clothes, but the line between the two is beginning to Read Article

Badgerloop’s Run for Hyperloop Glory Captures the Attention of Elon Musk

Badgerloop’s Run for Hyperloop Glory Captures the Attention of Elon Musk Team Badgerloop at the June Pod II Reveal In 2013, Elon Musk introduced the concept of a Hyperloop transit system in a white paper. He proposed a completely open source approach to its development and invited universities to participate in a pod competition. SpaceX funded the construction of a near-mile subscale version of a vacuum tube in which to trial pods for the competition. For the first competition, only 3 pods would earn an opportunity to Read Article

IoT Storage Technologies: Ultra Low Power CBRAM Do you remember using those old floppy disks back in the day? I remember my computer had two floppy disk drives. You’d put the disk with your program in one and a disk for the data in the other. Eventually, the incredible invention that is the hard drive came about and storage space exploded. Our memory capacity is still increasing, but now size is becoming less of a factor. When it comes to the Internet of Things (IoT) energy usage is the next Read Article