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Will RS485 Survive Wireless Communication Technology I am a huge fan of the Nokia 3310 that has recently made a comeback in the mobile phone industry. If you’ve never used one in your life then you’re missing out one of the most reliable and durable mobile phone in recent history. Unlike the early 2000’s, it’s not common to find mobile phones that can double as a nut-cracker and survive the worst of falls. The same form of robustness and reliability in the world of electrical design is RS485 Read Article

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 or 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 of Read Article

How to Setup and Interface with WS2812B LEDs 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

Meet the Baja Racing Team from New Jersey Institute of Technology

Meet the Baja Racing Team from New Jersey Institute of Technology Bob Burghart is a Sophomore who is studying Mechanical Engineering at NJIT, and is the leader of the sub-team responsible for electronics designs for their Baja racing car. In the car, there is a main dash system, a data acquisition board, a display board, and front and rear dongles that connect to 20 sensors. As a kid, Bob had the typical curious mind of a budding engineer--always enjoying taking things apart. By middle and high school he began Read Article

How to Design a 4-20mA Current Loop Receiver with Minimal Components

How to Design a 4-20mA Current Loop Receiver with Minimal Components I’ve always been a fan of Gordon Ramsay. He never fails to amaze me with his colorful cursing as raw scallops are continuously served by hapless Hell’s Kitchen contestants. But what really amused me was when he tried his hand at Asian cuisine. The tables were turned, and he learned the hard way that good Asian cuisine is a completely different beast than his usual beef wellingtons. Process Control: Where 4-20mA reign supreme. I had a similar Read Article

Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery vs Lithium Ion For Embedded Systems

Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery vs Lithium Ion For Embedded Systems Two of the most popular battery choices for embedded systems are lithium-ion batteries (Li-Ion) and lithium iron phosphate batteries (Li-phosphate or LiFePO 4). These two types of batteries have very different charging and discharging characteristics, although they have similar chemistry and use some of the same materials. In some systems, you could use either type of battery, but each has its advantages in different applications, which can Read Article

How Internet of Things Wireless Sensor Networks Can Benefit From Multi-Sensor Platforms

How Internet of Things Wireless Sensor Networks Can Benefit From Multi-Sensor Platforms Some people like dogs or cats, but my family has always been a cat family. We have one important rule to keep us from graduating from a “crazy” cat family. We are not allowed to have more cats than we have family members. Sometimes we don’t want limits, but we still have to have them to keep things from getting out of hand. The same principle applies to the Internet of Things (IoT). While I do think many IoT devices are a bit overboard, their Read Article

How to Design Micro SD Power Circuits Without Destabilizing the On-Board Voltage Supply

How to Design Stable Micro SD Card Power Circuits in PCB Layouts PCB designers often have the tough job of balancing perfection in design and keeping costs down. For PCB designs dealing with storage medias, like micro SD, neglecting simple terms like “hot insertion” or “inrush current” can result in a prototype that imperfect and costly. My philosophy is to keep my hardware designs simple. I am quick to discard any components that seem superficial in my design. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that Read Article

FIRST Robotics Competition Makes STEM Students into Superstars

FIRST Robotics Competition Makes STEM Students into Superstars Over 25 years ago, FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) founder and prolific inventor, Dean Kamen, envisioned a high school robotics competition that rivaled the energy and excitement of the Super Bowl. An event that would turn science students into superstars and infect them with an unshakeable passion for STEM activities and careers. Chris Jennings has an infectious enthusiasm for the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), as well as a rich history with Read Article

Hyperloop Shows How Crowdsourcing Integrates Community into PCB Design & Prototyping

Hyperloop Shows How Crowdsourcing Integrates Community into PCB Engineering Design & Prototyping Earlier this year, student design teams gathered to participate in Hyperloop’s largest design competition yet. Their goal? To create a prototype high-speed vehicle for next-generation transportation. Through this unique strategy, Hyperloop brings a compelling example of crowdsourcing at work. Crowdsourcing also stands to impact the PCB design space, providing new routes to project development and prototyping. Through combined efforts, cost Read Article

Three Dumb Internet of Things Devices Using Smart PCB Designs

Three Dumb Internet of Things Devices Using Smart PCB Designs Sometimes the fork is not in the road. With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), I’m afraid that Skynet is just on the horizon. Myriads of everyday items are being imbued with the gift of “intelligence.” The only comfort I have is that many IoT “smart” devices are so useless that there’s no way they could take over the world. There are three devices in particular that put Skynet class PCBs into items that should have stayed dumb. These Read Article

3 Electronic Devices Whose Concepts Preceded PCB Design Capabilities

3 Electronic Devices Whose Concepts Preceded PCB Design Capabilities 3 Electronic Devices that predicted the future a little too early. Old school gadget love. Read Article

How Innovative PCB Design Lets Internet of Things Devices Reduce Waste

How Innovative PCB Design Lets Internet of Things Devices Reduce Waste Innovative PCB design with proper component selection can help ensure your internet of things devices have less waste. Read Article

PCB Design Techniques to Help you Keep up with Increasing Complexity

PCB Design Basics to Help You Get Ahead PCB Design Basics in a Growing World Between the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable electronics, PCB design requirements are becoming more and more advanced. You need to keep your eye on the design techniques that can make PCBs smaller, faster, and more flexible in order to keep up with the times. In addition to keeping abreast of design trends, you will likely need training in how to implement the techniques they require. Do you Read Article

Which Altium PCB Design Software is Right For You?

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

Why You Need Integrated Circuit Simulation

Why You Need an Integrated Circuit Simulator Integrated Circuit Simulation: integrated circuit simulator, or simulating ICs? You aren’t a newbie anymore but here’s why we say keep the integrated circuit creator in your toolkit. As your career progresses, you become more confident. You’ll tend to collect circuits you know work well in different designs - power supplies, filters, oscillators, etc. Most of the time these reusable blocks will work great in any place you choose to use them, but Read Article

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