Articles
Thinking inside the box: Getting heat out of sealed enclosures
December 3, 2012 11:59 am | by XP Power | CommentsIn harsh environments where a sealed enclosure is necessary, baseplate cooling is a simple and inexpensive solution to thermal management of power supplies, says Peter Blyth, XP Power. A new approach using discrete components can make baseplate cooled power supplies smaller, more efficient and more flexible.
Tomorrow’s LCDs: Porsche performance, Vespa mileage
November 30, 2012 5:24 pm | by Dave Lamb, PHD, and Shannon Siefken, 3M | 3M Electronics Solutions Division | CommentsModern LCDs are like imported sports cars. They are sleek. Radiant.Richly colorful. And they aren’t just pleasing to the eye: they’re also fast and responsive. Powerful.They ruin you for older, lesser models. Given that superb performance, does it seem a little defensive to add that your monitor or television also gets good mileage? Shouldn’t we just shut up and enjoy the ride?
Why Android is beating Apple
November 29, 2012 3:26 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | CommentsIt wasn’t so long ago the Apple was the phone to have. Yes, there were the holdouts who took a dislike to the brand’s smartphone monopoly, but for the most part, if you wanted a phone that worked, you took a trip to Steve Jobs land. It seems, however, that the tide is now changing....
Roundtable: Predictions for 2013
November 29, 2012 3:20 pm | CommentsExperts in the industry weight in on the question: What trends and technologies have impacted the industry in 2012 and what does that mean for 2013? In their responses the industry experts talk about LEDs, chips and what will be coming up in the next year.
The cause of engineering project delays – multitasking
November 29, 2012 12:21 pm | by Sanjeev Gupta, CEO of Realization | CommentsEngineers have come to expect that most projects will be delivered late, out of scope and over budget even though to all appearances everyone is working long hours and putting their noses to the grindstone. It’s just become an accepted fact of the industry, and it’s a shame, because it doesn’t have to be that way.
Brainstorm: Holiday wish lists
November 28, 2012 3:56 pm | CommentsLike many engineers, all of my best ideas happen in the shower ... along with bad singing. So, for my Christmas this year, I’m hoping for a waterproof, wireless headset. There appear to be one or two on the market, but I need one coupled with an app that can cancel out background noise (say from a shower head)....
7 things I am thankful for...
November 20, 2012 3:21 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | CommentsWhen I was little, at some point during the Thanksgiving season we would write down things we were thankful for. It was usually at school, written on a turkey that I’d made by outlining my hand, and it was usually things like candy, puppies, family, food, and probably whatever else was in my direct line of sight while I was writing.
Top 5 free apps for the holiday season
November 20, 2012 9:22 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | CommentsBack in the dog days of summer, we offered up a list of the 6 must-have apps for a stress-free summer. It was all about keeping kids distracted, watching your spending, and utilizing apps that got you to the relaxation phase faster.Now we’ve entered a season that can feel entirely the opposite of relaxing: holiday season
Protecting cables from oil damage
November 19, 2012 4:35 pm | by LAPP | CommentsOf all the chemical exposures that can affect the life and performance of electrical cables, oil is one of the most damaging. Used as a coolant and lubricant in many industrial and infrastructure settings, oil can inflict molecular damage on the polymers used for cable insulation and jacketing.
This watch could save your kid’s life
November 19, 2012 11:35 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | CommentsIf you’ve ever felt that heart-in-throat, hyperventilating, out-of-body feeling of not being able to find your kid in a park or after school, only to have her reappear after a few seconds of mind-numbing panic, you can understand why someone would want to invent a Lojack for children.
In defense of the Tesla Model S
November 19, 2012 9:10 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | CommentsWhen Motor Trend announced an electric car was their pick for Car of the Year, something tells me you could have heard a pin drop in the car world. An electric car? They must have rigged the vote.Well, my friends, I hate to break it to you, but Consumer Reports just agreed with Motor Trend,
Fundamentals of battery fuel-gauging
November 16, 2012 10:49 am | by Karthik Kadirvel, Texas Instruments, www.ti.com | CommentsThe battery fuel gauging system is the component responsible for determining the energy remaining in the battery. In this article, a battery fuel gauging system used in single-cell applications is described. This is followed by a discussion of the various algorithms used by the fuel-gauging system to determine battery capacity along with the pros and cons of the algorithms.
Chemistry, application requirements help determine long-life battery selection
November 16, 2012 10:20 am | by Sol Jacobs, Tadiran Batteries, www.tadiranbat.com | CommentsLithium chemistry is preferred for long-life applications because its intrinsic negative potential exceeds that of all other metals. Lithium is the lightest non-gaseous metal, offering the highest specific energy (energy per unit weight) and energy density (energy per unit volume) of all available battery chemistries.
How to improve the battery fuel gauge
November 16, 2012 10:04 am | by Isidor Buchmann, CEO & founder of Cadex Electronics, www.BatteryUniversity.com | CommentsMost cottages in the countryside are heated by burning wood in a simple stone hearth. The desired heat is controlled by the feeding of wood. Today computers manage heating systems in large buildings and the boiler has become almost secondary. A similar trend is evolving with batteries.
Greatest advertising technique of all time (Hint: Involves urinals)
November 15, 2012 4:18 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | CommentsHere at ECN, we often talk about alternative energy options. Sometimes it’s solar power, other times wind power, and occasionally we dabble in the world of electric cars. But there is one energy option we’ve been sorely remiss in covering: pee-power.
