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Stealth Aircraft, Meet Quantum Radar

Stealth Aircraft, Meet Quantum Radar If you read Max Clivefield's recent article on quantum computing and quantum communication, then you've got a head start on most when it comes to understanding entanglement. These esoteric areas of technology are likely to become more common in the coming decades, and could revolutionize modern technology. I'm skeptical that we'll have desktop quantum computers or quantum cell phones, but these new technologies are worth developing as they have Read Article

25 micron trace and space in high density PCB design

High Density PCB Design Game Changer: 25 Micron Trace and Space ‌ Have you heard the latest development in PCB fabrication processes? High density PCB design follows the same trend seen in integrated circuits, where more functionality is packed into a smaller space. The smaller spacing in these boards makes precise manufacturing more difficult, which places important DFM rules on your high density PCB design. Now with the A-SAP™ process, you can place trace widths and spacing down to 1 mil, allowing tight Read Article

Embedded system security methods

Embedded System Security for Hardware Designers Today, I had the pleasure of an open discussion about hardware hacking with the security experts at VDA Labs in Grand Rapids, Michigan. James King, Ethical Hacker, and Josh Sharpe, Cybersecurity Consultant, walked me through what they look for when trying to compromise an embedded system. I thought I would see what hardware designers can do to slow them down and pass on that information to my fellow designers. VDA Labs helps companies determine Read Article

Circuit Board Design for In-Circuit Testing with Jack Olson

Circuit Board Design for In-Circuit Testers There are many types of circuit board tests available in electronics manufacturing today, each having unique goals and characteristics. This article presents guidelines at the design level (schematic and layout) to enable the use of in-circuit testing (ICT) fixtures to verify proper component assembly. These simple test fixtures allow your board to be tested as its assembled, which helps identify and remove failed boards from your production run Read Article

PCB Additive Manufacturing and supply chain volatility

PCB Additive Manufacturing: The Vaccine for Electronics Supply Shocks? At this time, at least a quarter of the world’s population is under quarantine, with workers unable to go to offices or factories, leading to fundamental disabling of the world economy. The electronics industry is suffering greatly as well, dealing with a supply shock from factories shutting down in Southeast Asia, to demand-side shocks from Western markets shutting down. Worst of all, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an enormous demand for Read Article

The Role Of ISU Petasys, A Multilayer Manufacturing Company in Realizing a Successful PCB Implementation

The Role Of ISU Petasys, A Multilayer Manufacturing Company in Realizing a Successful PCB Implementation John Stephens, Senior Vice President of Sales for ISU Petasys (pronounced “E-soo”), built his first circuit board in 1974. Like many others of us in the industry, he got a first-hand education in PCB design, and manufacturing and assembly by working in the aerospace industry. He explains, “I started in aerospace at Litton Guidance and Control Systems, where I worked in a process development lab that was basically a prototyping shop where we Read Article

LTE + GNSS Asset Tracker Part 2

LTE + GNSS Asset Tracker Part 2 This is Part Two of my LTE GNSS Asset Tracker project. In part one, I identified the right components for the project and captured the schematics. In this part, we are going to finish the project up with the PCB layout and routing. In the last article, I had stated my goal of making this board as small as possible with the intention of making a high density board, expecting I’d need 6 layers for the routing. However, a board’s total size is Read Article

GNSS + LTE Asset Tracker Project, Part 1

GNSS + LTE Asset Tracker Project, Part 1 In this week’s project, I’m building an LTE-based asset tracking system that could be used for a range of objectives, such theft prevention (and recovery), delivery or transit vehicle tracking, as well as predictive maintenance if data that is collected is paired with a suitable machine learning service. All of my previous projects have been two layer boards without any space constraints, but I miss building really compact high density circuit Read Article

PCB assembly (PCBA) and supply chain management

Take the Risk Out of Prototype PCB Assembly (PCBA) There is a special feeling one gets when polishing off a Rev A design and ordering the first set of PCBs from a board house. While designers everywhere would likely not trade that feeling for anything, taking some of the uneasiness off the table would probably be a welcome change. Here are review steps that should prove more effective at settling nerves than an after-work visit to the bar—and infinitely more effective at preventing errors! There Read Article

Figure of Merit: A Way to Score Your Opinions

Figure of Merit Formula: A Way to Score Your Opinions Metrics are data, and statistically backed measures. It is always expedient to base decisions on data and metrics. But what if a metric doesn’t exist? Then you can create the next best measure: the Figure of Merit. The problem with opinions is that they are difficult to defend, and when used in conjunction with producibility, they often they vary from person to person. That is why the Figure of Merit process is so popular. For a small amount of Read Article

Hardward-in-the-Loop Testing: An Introduction

Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing: An Introduction If you do a search for “Hardware-in-the-Loop” testing, you will frequently find examples of complex, real-time systems. This article from National Instruments, for example, gives a nice explanation and background on what hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) is, and provides an example of testing electronic control units within an automobile. In this article, we will be focusing on a smaller, more bite-sized version of HIL testing concepts. What is Hardware Read Article

COVID-19 Challenge

COVID-19 Challenge My name is Piotr Lazarek. I’m a 19 year old engineer studying at Dulwich College in London. Because of the pandemic, I was forced to fly back to Poland for quarantine. To be frank, it wasn’t an easy time for me—after a week, I was practically dying of boredom. Thankfully, around that time, I received an invitation for a project called “COVID-19 Challenge”. The project was aimed at sixth form and university students who were passionate about Read Article

Linux PCB Design Software that is Ready for You to Use

Altium's Upverter for Linux: PCB Design Software that is Ready for You to Use Cloud-based Altium Designer for Linux or Mac OS X PCB design software to give you the design tools that you need. You need to create a design for a printed circuit board, but you are having difficulty in finding schematic capture and PCB layout software that will give you the results you need on your Linux system. There’s great news for you though, here at Altium we’ve got what you need. It’s a cloud-based free Linux PCB design software called Read Article

Utilize BOM Management to Keep your PCB Design Right

Utilize BOM Management Software to Keep your PCB Design Right With Active BOM you can eliminate any guesswork out of your component browser and help you to start your PCB design right. ALTIUM DESIGNER A PCB design tool to keep your PCB moving forward through all stages of production. Are you tired of waiting for other people to give you feedback on your components before you can start your work? Are you tired of budget-busting eleventh hour changes on your design due to incorrect or out-of-date component Read Article

ASME Standards for PCB Design and Manufacturing

ASME Standards for PCB Design and Manufacturing So what does the ASME have to say about PCB design and deployment? As it turns out, there are many important points from the ASME to consider during design for manufacturing. Some important IPC standards for ensuring reliability are derived from ASME standards, while other documentation and drawing standards are specified explicitly in the ASME standards. Whether you work with electromechanical systems, the auto industry, or in aerospace, the Read Article

Planning Your Multilayer PCB Stackup in Altium Designer

Altium Designer: Your Multilayer PCB Stackup Planner Newer PCBs are rarely designed on one or two layer boards. With the high density of connections and the number of components that are used in modern PCBs, your next design will probably be a multilayer PCB. If your next device has an odd form factor, then you will probably be using a rigid-flex PCB. Both of these types of PCBs require the right stackup procedure. This means you need PCB design software with an intuitive stackup manager. When you Read Article

The Best PCB Router Software for Your Complex Designs

The Best PCB Router Software for Your Complex Designs Don’t let antiquated Printed Circuit Board routing tools slow down or even derail your design, use the best PCB router software to get the job done correctly and on time. ALTIUM DESIGNER^® A unified PCB routing software and design package that integrates the best tools, automated documentation, and production planning features. The ASME is one organization that specifies design requirements on all types of mechanical products. Issues like safety Read Article