Features
Roundtable: Predictions for 2013
November 29, 2012 3:20 pm | Articles | 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.
Highly-integrated front end module intended for smart metering/smart energy and ISM band applications
November 26, 2012 11:40 am | Product Releases | CommentsRF Micro Devices announced the availability of the RFFM6903 front end module (FEM). RFMD's highly-integrated RFFM6903 FEM meets or exceeds the system requirements for AMI/AMR smart meter applications operating in the 868MHz–960MHz frequency band.
7 things I am thankful for...
November 20, 2012 3:21 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | 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 | Articles | 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
This watch could save your kid’s life
November 19, 2012 11:35 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | 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 | Articles | 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,
Greatest advertising technique of all time (Hint: Involves urinals)
November 15, 2012 4:18 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | 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.
Roundtable: What must designers of portable devices do to deal with power and performance demands?
November 12, 2012 11:57 am | Articles | CommentsExperts in the power industry weight in on the question: What must designers of portable devices do to keep pace with increased power and performance demands? In their responses the industry experts talk about the future of portable devices and the design changes necessary to power them.
ECN’s Veteran’s Day tribute: Remembering those who’ve served
November 9, 2012 2:50 pm | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Articles | CommentsOn the cusp of Veteran’s Day, I’m reminded that a disproportionate number of our friends and colleagues served in the military. And that makes me proud to work in this industry. ECN — and her parent company, Advantage Business Media — is no exception. You can’t swing a dead cat (or give a resounding Hoooah!) without hitting a veteran.
Do you have what it takes to be a Roundtable expert?
November 8, 2012 11:11 am | Articles | CommentsIn October, we asked you for your words of wisdom for a brand-new design engineer and boy, did you guys have advice in spades. The responses we received were so good in fact, we’ve decided to open up our December Roundtable to our faithful readers in hopes that you can offer more words of wisdom.
Do ultracapacitors make wind energy a sustainable option?
November 5, 2012 12:27 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsThe idea of using wind to create energy isn’t exactly new. The first examples can be traced back to 200 B.C. in Persia – a creation of Heron of Alexandria. That particular device simply harnessed the wind to power a machine, so a case could be made that the first real windmills were built a little bit later, in the 7th century in Sistan, modern day Iran.
PTS, Inc. to develop "Green Energy Park"
November 2, 2012 12:47 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsPts Inc. is pleased to announce signing Memorandum of Understanding with Green Renewable Technology, Inc. to be part of the effort to clean and protect the environment and produce low cost renewable energy. United Waste and GRT look to generate electricity through various clean technologies.
Why I don't trust cars that think for themselves
November 1, 2012 10:32 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsMost drivers wouldn't feel comfortable just handing over control of their vehicle to, well, their vehicle, but a new system from Nissan may do just that. The Autonomous Emergency Steering System, as the name suggests, will take over steering in emergency situations in which a crash could be avoided when you remove human error from the equation.
China set to okay nuke plants
October 24, 2012 12:09 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsChina has announced it is ready to approve new nuclear power plants as part of ambitious plans to reduce reliance on oil and coal, ending a moratorium imposed after Japan's Fukushima disaster. The government said Wednesday that it hopes to generate 30 percent of China's power...
Japan's large-scale PV power exhibition
October 22, 2012 7:53 pm | by SEMICON | News | CommentsPVJapan 2012, the leading photovoltaic exhibition in Japan, will take place on December 5-7. PVJapan is the best event for industry stakeholders to gain knowledge of Japan’s renewable energy industry, including solar energy. Leading-edge technologies will be exhibited on the show floor...
SEMICON Japan 2012: Focus on Next-Generation Technology Challenges — with Keynotes from Toshiba, Intel, Xilinx and TSMC
October 22, 2012 12:53 pm | by SEMI | News | CommentsSEMICON Japan 2012, one of the largest exhibitions in the world for semiconductor manufacturing and related processing technology, will take place at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on December 5-7. Today, SEMI announced an exceptional lineup of keynotes speakers
The best solution for dealing with space junk
October 19, 2012 2:26 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsThere is a lot of junk in space. There’s American junk, Russian junk, Chinese junk, and corporate junk. There are satellite pieces and discarded rocket parts and metal bits. Basically, all the junk is just floating around clonking into other junk and causing general mayhem when they get a bit too close to the stuff that’s not junk.
Could this "shocking" technology save 12 billion dollars a year?
October 19, 2012 9:20 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | News | CommentsOne of the biggest challenges in immobile patients is bedsores. Because patients usually end up laying in a bed or sitting in a wheelchair, a lot of pressure is exerted on the skin and tissue over bony areas of the body like the heel, ankle, hips, or buttocks. That unrelenting pressure can often result in bedsores, a difficult- to- treat condition.
How to Double the Power of Solar Panels
October 18, 2012 12:49 pm | by Massachusetts Institute of Technology | News | CommentsIn an attempt to further drop the cost of solar power, Bandgap Engineering, a startup in Woburn, Mass., is developing a nanowire-based solar cell that could eventually generate twice as much power as conventional solar cells...
Could NASA help paraplegics walk?
October 18, 2012 9:37 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsNASA has been known to make pretty large contributions to society. But they might have outdone themselves on this one. The agency is currently in the research and development phase for a powered armor suit that could one day allow paraplegics to walk. The suit, called X1, is a robotic exoskeleton designed to be worn over the body to assist in leg movements.
Making Sudoku puzzles less puzzling
October 12, 2012 10:38 am | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsResearchers feel that their analog algorithm of Sudoku puzzles can potentially be applied to a wide variety of problems in industry, computer science and computational biology. Toroczkai and Ercsey-Ravaz have proposed a universal analog algorithm which is completely deterministic, always arriving at the correct and quicker solution to a problem...
The 10-letter keyboard that will make your head hurt
October 11, 2012 4:50 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsThe ASETNIOP keyboard is one of those things that may be great for future generations but will have a tough time integrating itself into the current workforce. The keyboard works on the premise that the traditional setup for typing is structurally inefficient, and you really only need 10 buttons to type
Falling prices to dampen record PV inverter shipments
October 11, 2012 1:35 pm | News | CommentsFollowing a decline in the third quarter of 2012, global photovoltaic (PV) inverter shipments are forecast to reach a record of 8.6 gigawatts (GW), according to the latest report from IMS Research. An 18 percent year-on-year rise in global shipments will make the fourth quarter of 2012...
Researchers create ‘nanoflowers’ for energy storage, solar cells
October 11, 2012 12:05 pm | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsResearchers from North Carolina State University have created flower-like structures out of germanium sulfide, a semiconductor material that has extremely thin petals with an enormous surface area. The GeS flower holds promise for next-generation energy storage devices and solar cells...
What to look for in relays for space applications
October 11, 2012 9:34 am | by Karl Kitts, Engineering Director, High Performance Relays, TE Connectivity | Articles | CommentsWhen NASA’s Curiosity rover made a perfect landing in Gale Crater of Mars, it was 150 million miles from the nearest repairman. Every component has to operate reliably to support the vehicle’s expected operation life of 98 weeks—or one Martian year. Specifying a relay for space obviously involves finding a compact, lightweight device that meets electrical needs.
