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Intro to reed switches, magnets, magnetic fields

This brief introductory video on the DigiKey site offers tips for engineers designing with reed switches. Dr. Stephen Day, Ph.D. from Coto Technology gives a solid overview on reed switches -- complete with real-world application examples -- and a detailed explanation of how they react to magnetic fields.
View the video.

Bi-color LEDs to light up your designs

Created with engineers and OEMs in mind, SpectraBright Series SMD RGB and Bi-Color LEDs from Visual Communi-cations Company (VCC) deliver efficiency, design flexibility, and control for devices in a range of industries, including mil-aero, automated guided vehicles, EV charging stations, industrial, telecom, IoT/smart home, and medical. These 50,000-hr bi-color and RGB options save money and space on the HMI, communicating two or three operating modes in a single component.
Learn more.

All about slip rings: How they work and their uses

Rotary Systems has put together a really nice basic primer on slip rings -- electrical collectors that carry a current from a stationary wire into a rotating device. Common uses are for power, proximity switches, strain gauges, video, and Ethernet signal transmission. This introduction also covers how to specify, assembly types, and interface requirements. Rotary Systems also manufactures rotary unions for fluid applications.
Read the overview.

Seifert thermoelectric coolers from AutomationDirect

Automation-Direct has added new high-quality and efficient stainless steel Seifert 340 BTU/H thermoelectric coolers with 120-V and 230-V power options. Thermoelectric coolers from Seifert use the Peltier Effect to create a temperature difference between the internal and ambient heat sinks, making internal air cooler while dissipating heat into the external environment. Fans assist the convective heat transfer from the heat sinks, which are optimized for maximum flow.
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EMI shielding honeycomb air vent panel design

Learn from the engineering experts at Parker how honeycomb air vent panels are used to help cool electronics with airflow while maintaining electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. Topics include: design features, cell size and thickness, platings and coatings, and a stacked design called OMNI CELL construction. These vents can be incorporated into enclosures where EMI radiation and susceptibility is a concern or where heat dissipation is necessary. Lots of good info.
Read the Parker blog.

What is 3D-MID? Molded parts with integrated electronics from HARTING

3D-MID (three-dimensional mechatronic integrated devices) technology combines electronic and mechanical functionalities into a single, 3D component. It replaces the traditional printed circuit board and opens up many new opportunities. It takes injection-molded parts and uses laser-direct structuring to etch areas of conductor structures, which are filled with a copper plating process to create very precise electronic circuits. HARTING, the technology's developer, says it's "Like a PCB, but 3D." Tons of possibilities.
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Loss-free conversion of 3D/CAD data

CT CoreTech-nologie has further developed its state-of-the-art CAD converter 3D_Evolution and is now introducing native interfaces for reading Solidedge and writing Nx and Solidworks files. It supports a wide range of formats such as Catia, Nx, Creo, Solidworks, Solidedge, Inventor, Step, and Jt, facilitating smooth interoperability between different systems and collaboration for engineers and designers in development environments with different CAD systems.
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Top 5 reasons for solder joint failure

Solder joint reliability is often a pain point in the design of an electronic system. According to Tyler Ferris at ANSYS, a wide variety of factors affect joint reliability, and any one of them can drastically reduce joint lifetime. Properly identifying and mitigating potential causes during the design and manufacturing process can prevent costly and difficult-to-solve problems later in a product lifecycle.
Read this informative ANSYS blog.

Advanced overtemp detection for EV battery packs

Littelfuse has introduced TTape, a ground-breaking over-temperature detection platform designed to transform the management of Li-ion battery systems. TTape helps vehicle systems monitor and manage premature cell aging effectively while reducing the risks associated with thermal runaway incidents. This solution is ideally suited for a wide range of applications, including automotive EV/HEVs, commercial vehicles, and energy storage systems.
Learn more.

Benchtop ionizer for hands-free static elimination

EXAIR's Varistat Benchtop Ionizer is the latest solution for neutralizing static on charged surfaces in industrial settings. Using ionizing technology, the Varistat provides a hands-free solution that requires no compressed air. Easily mounted on benchtops or machines, it is manually adjustable and perfect for processes needing comprehensive coverage such as part assembly, web cleaning, printing, and more.
Learn more.

LED light bars from AutomationDirect

Automation-Direct adds CCEA TRACK-ALPHA-PRO series LED light bars to expand their offering of industrial LED fixtures. Their rugged industrial-grade anodized aluminum construction makes TRACKALPHA-PRO ideal for use with medium to large-size industrial machine tools and for use in wet environments. These 120 VAC-rated, high-power LED lights provide intense, uniform lighting, with up to a 4,600-lumen output (100 lumens per watt). They come with a standard bracket mount that allows for angle adjustments. Optional TACLIP mounts (sold separately) provide for extra sturdy, vibration-resistant installations.
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World's first metalens fisheye camera

2Pi Optics has begun commercial-ization of the first fisheye camera based on the company's proprietary metalens technology -- a breakthrough for electronics design engineers and product managers striving to miniaturize the tiny digital cameras used in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), AR/VR, UAVs, robotics, and other industrial applications. This camera can operate at different wavelengths -- from visible, to near IR, to longer IR -- and is claimed to "outperform conventional refractive, wide-FOV optics in all areas: size, weight, performance, and cost."
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Orbex offers two fiber optic rotary joint solutions

Orbex Group announces its 700 Series of fiber optic rotary joint (FORJ) assemblies, supporting either single or multi-mode operation ideal for high-speed digital transmission over long distances. Wavelengths available are 1,310 or 1,550 nm. Applications include marine cable reels, wind turbines, robotics, and high-def video transmission. Both options feature an outer diameter of 7 mm for installation in tight spaces. Construction includes a stainless steel housing.
Learn more.

Mini tunnel magneto-resistance effect sensors

Littelfuse has released its highly anticipated 54100 and 54140 mini Tunnel Magneto-Resistance (TMR) effect sensors, offering unmatched sensitivity and power efficiency. The key differentiator is their remarkable sensitivity and 100x improvement in power efficiency compared to Hall Effect sensors. They are well suited for applications in position and limit sensing, RPM measurement, brushless DC motor commutation, and more in various markets including appliances, home and building automation, and the industrial sectors.
Learn more.

Panasonic solar and EV components available from Newark

Newark has added Panasonic Industry's solar inverters and EV charging system components to their power portfolio. These best-in-class products help designers meet the growing global demand for sustainable and renewable energy mobility systems. Offerings include film capacitors, power inductors, anti-surge thick film chip resistors, graphite thermal interface materials, power relays, capacitors, and wireless modules.
Learn more.

Researchers create precision optical components with inkjet printing

The researchers used an inkjet printing method to create the waveguide shown here. Sending laser light through the waveguide (red) allowed them to measure the waveguide's optical properties. (Credit: Fabian Lütolf, CSEM)

 

 

 

 

Researchers have developed an inkjet printing technique that can be used to print optical components such as waveguides. Because the printing approach can also fabricate electronics and microfluidics, it could advance a variety of devices such as optical sensors used for health monitoring and lab-on-a-chip devices that integrate and automate multiple laboratory functions onto a small circuit, or chip.

"Inkjet printing is a very attractive method for fabricating optical components because the positions and sizes of features can easily be modified and there is virtually no material waste," says Fabian Lütolf, a member of the research team led by Rolando Ferrini at CSEM in Switzerland (CSEM is the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology). "However, the surface tension of the inks makes it difficult to print lines with a specific height, which is necessary to create a waveguide."

Inkjet printing is an additive manufacturing technique that uses tiny nozzles like the ones found in desktop inkjet printers to deposit a computer-generated pattern of drops (the "ink") onto a substrate to build a structure. The researchers discovered that depositing the ink in two steps, rather than the traditional single step, enabled printing of lines with a specific height and with much smoother features than would otherwise be possible. The printed structures are considered to have 2.5 dimensions, because although they are not flat, their complexity is limited compared to structures created with traditional 3D printing.

In The Optical Society (OSA) journal Optics Express, the researchers show that their technique can be used to print 2.5D optical waveguides and tapers made of acrylic polymer. The printing concept can also be used with other materials such as metallic inks to make electronics or sucrose mixtures for biodegradable applications.

Lütolf points out that although printing of electronics is already used commercially, printing microfluidics is more challenging and prone to the same problems as waveguides. "The fact that our approach could allow components with multiple functionalities to be fabricated with a single printer paves the way toward additive manufacturing of entire integrated circuits on chips," he says. "This means that optical components could be added to flexible hybrid electronics and that optoelectronic components such as light sources or detectors could be integrated into printed optical circuits."

Turning a problem into a solution
Because of surface tension, inks deposited on a substrate tend to bulge or split. Depositing the ink in two steps allowed the researchers to turn the surface tension of the liquid into an advantage. After depositing a series of droplets, the ink printed in the second step seeks to minimize its surface energy by self-aligning between the droplets from the first print. Unlike previous inkjet printing approaches, the researchers did not have to pre-pattern the substrate, which increases the available design space and simplifies fabrication.

To carry out the new technique, a series of droplets called pinning caps are first printed. These spherical caps pin down liquid bridges formed by the ink from the second print, forming a configuration that immobilizes the ink and prevents the formation of bulges in the printed line. In addition to making straight lines between two dots, the technique can be used to connect three or more junctions to make corners or sharp edges.

The new technique offers several advantages over classical photolithography, which is typically used to make tiny components on chips. "Inkjet printing doesn't require a physical mask like photolithography, and it is easier to connect components," says Lütolf. "Also, if you just want to quickly test an idea or vary a parameter, additive manufacturing methods such as inkjet printing only require adaption of the digital design."

To evaluate the new printing method, the researchers created a polymer waveguide that was 120 microns wide and 31 microns tall with a taper that allowed light from an external laser source to enter the waveguide. They measured the optical loss within the waveguide to be 0.19 dB/cm, only an order of magnitude higher than state-of-the-art waveguides created using photolithography.

"In the paper, we report the first inkjet-printed waveguides with loss characterization," says Lütolf. "For the applications we envision, the waveguides would carry light for short distances, and not across entire networks. The current level of losses can be tolerated for such applications."

According to the researchers, the smallest possible waveguide consists of a single droplet of ink, the size of which is limited by the nozzle of the inkjet printer. For the printer used in the study, the narrowest waveguides would be in the 40-micron range with a height of around 10 micrometers. Typical industrial inkjet printers also have similar limits.

"With our current combination of materials and hardware, it's not possible to make waveguides below 10 micrometers, as typically required for single-mode operation. But we are close," says Lütolf. "There is, however, no fundamental physical limit that would prevent us from printing single-mode waveguides."

He adds that several groups have demonstrated printing capabilities in the submicron range with techniques such as electrohydrodynamic printing (E-jet). It should be possible to combine such instruments with the new inkjet printing technique to create single mode waveguides.

The researchers are now working to optimize the printing method and the ink to further lower the amount of light lost by the waveguide. They are also working to make the inkjet process more applicable for large-scale fabrication and, eventually, commercial implementation.

Paper: P. M. Theiler, F. Lütolf, R. Ferrini, "Non-contact printing of optical waveguides using capillary bridges," Opt. Express, Volume 26, Issue 10, A520-A540 (2018). DOI: 10.1364/OE.26.00A520.

Source: Optics Express

Published May 2018

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