Category: Electronics

Electronics articles

The Importance of EMI Shielding in Design

Designers play a crucial role in many of the products we use every day.  Not only have they dreamt up many of the life-changing technology we take for granted but they also work with engineers to improve the user experience of just about everything under the sun. However, today’s tech-heavy world means that designers need to be cognizant of engineering challenges – such as electromagnetic interference (EMI).  This can disrupt critical systems and functions of mobile devices, industrial equipment, cars, and even medical instruments.  With that in mind, here is an overview of the importance of EMI shielding in design.

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Have you used CAD-based data to run your manufacturing processes?

One of the decisive factors whether an Electronic Manufacturing Service (EMS) is accepted or not is the presence of Computer Aided Design data. But why? If you are involved in a modern manufacturing process you definitely need an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) since this is confidential information and also the core of your overall design. This is the reason why you should submit your OEM to your EMS partner before stepping into the next manufacturing stages. This is the first milestone of a series of modern and detailed manufacturing processes. Are you having trouble transforming from 2D images to 3D images? You need a really good quality CAD software for it. Every actual manufacturing process is a work of art presented by the designer and the deciding factor is whether any equipment used can enable it to happen. You really need the CAD software to make your products meet the…

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Tips to improve your electronic designs

Electronic designs cover a wide array of technical options. In this post, we will cover some of the basics that will help you improve your electronic designs and make sure that you complete it successfully. 1. Block diagram The first part of your design schematic is a block diagram. Block diagram should be an extract from the document showing the hardware design. This particular section is similar to outlining an essay. This is because it gives the design an overview of the architecture and the reader gets a reference. If you want your block diagram to look great, make sure that you include page numbers in the schematic sections. 2. Naming the nets This can be a time-consuming process, but if you want to state the purpose of every net, you need to name them. Apart from this, naming the nets will help you in debugging the program and allow…

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USB Boost Single Multi Power Kit assembly

multiple power supply module connected

One of my projects (AVR DDS 2.0) requires multiple power supply that could supply +12V, -12V, and 5V. Back then I have constructed simple transformer based power source with few linear voltage regulators. It works fine, but is powered from mains 220V which is not safest solution to squeeze in to box enclosure. Other option was using ATX PC power supply, but it is too big. Banggood have been offering pretty neat power supply kit which has voltage boost circuit which rises voltage level either from USB or from 5-24V jack. Power supply kit has most of voltages that you may need including + 12V, -12V, + 5V, -5V , and +3.3V. It is capable to output 300mA per channel. Total power is limited to 10W which is not bad and can provide short-term high current single output, but be sure to attach included heat sinks in order to protect…

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Electrical signal power and energy calculations by example

In electronics and signal processing you have to deal with electrical signals. In many cases you may need to calculate signal power and energy. –it is easy with DC In standard situation when DC power supply is applied to known resistor or other device like LED, motor you can calculate its power very easy by applying Ohms law: If we rung this device for time T then we can calculate total energy used: In some cases you may not know the resistance of your circuit. In this case you can measure the current flow. So your power formula can be transformed by using same Ohms law:

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Benefits of using multiturn potentiometers

Potentiometers are common electronics components that convert rotary or linear motion in to change of resistance. They can be found anywhere where some adjustments are needed, volume control and joysticks. You can dive in to long theory about potentiometers how they are made, what materials are used and what output characteristics they have regarding to rotation angle. As electronics hobbyist and probably pro you usually deal with two common types of potentiometers – basic pots with knobs and trim pots. First group of potentiometers are used where user has to access potentiometer when he needs to change one or another parameter like sound volume or screen brightness. They normally are bigger in size and can be mounted vertically or horizontally to board. Also they have a panel mount with nut. This type of potentiometers needs to be mechanically stronger and resistive material more durable due to frequent use.

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Building simple constant current power LED driver

Normally when we need to drive low power LEDs we don’t care much about power losses. What we do we add a current limiting resistor and that’s enough. For instance for 20mA LED we choose between 300Ω-1kΩ resistor when powering from 5V. But different situation is with power LEDs. The currents are much bigger here like 1A and more. Adding resistor to limit the current isn’t an option, because power losses become significant. Here you need a constant current driver to drive it safely without wasting energy. It happens that I have Cree XR-E Q5 XLAPM-7090 LED lying around. It requires 3.7V driving voltage and can take up to 1A current. There are several light intensities given at specific currents:

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