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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."
Learn more.

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.
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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.

New on-chip electro-optic frequency comb could be used for many applications including optical telecommunication

A new integrated electro-optic frequency comb can be tuned using microwave signals, allowing the properties of the comb -- including the bandwidth, the spacing between the teeth, the height of lines, and which frequencies are on and off -- to be controlled independently. It could be used for many applications including optical telecommunication. [Image courtesy: Second Bay Studios/Harvard SEAS]

 

 

 

 

By Leah Burrows, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Lasers play a vital role in everything from modern communications and connectivity to bio-medicine and manufacturing. Many applications, however, require lasers that can emit multiple frequencies -- colors of light -- simultaneously, each precisely separated like the tooth on a comb.

Optical frequency combs are used for environmental monitoring to detect the presence of molecules, such as toxins; in astronomy for searching for exoplanets; in precision metrology and timing. However, they have remained bulky and expensive, which limited their applications. So, researchers have started to explore how to miniaturize these sources of light and integrate them onto a chip to address a wider range of applications, including telecommunications, microwave synthesis, and optical ranging. But so far, on-chip frequency combs have struggled with efficiency, stability, and controllability.

Now, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Stanford University have developed an integrated, on-chip frequency comb that is efficient, stable, and highly controllable with microwaves.

The research is published in Nature.

"In optical communications, if you want to send more information through a small, fiber optic cable, you need to have different colors of light that can be controlled independently," said Marko Loncar, the Tiantsai Lin Professor of Electrical Engineering at SEAS and one of the senior authors of the study. "That means you either need a hundred separate lasers or one frequency comb. We have developed a frequency comb that is an elegant, energy-efficient, and integrated way to solve this problem."

Loncar and his team developed the frequency comb using lithium niobite, a material well known for its electro-optic properties, meaning it can efficiently convert electronic signals into optical signals. Thanks to the strong electro-optical properties of lithium niobite, the team's frequency comb spans the entire telecommunications bandwidth and has dramatically improved tunability.

"Previous on-chip frequency combs gave us only one tuning knob," said co-first author Mian Zhang, now CEO of HyperLight and formerly a postdoctoral research fellow at SEAS. "It's a like a TV where the channel button and the volume button are the same. If you want to change the channel, you end up changing the volume too. Using the electro-optic effect of lithium niobate, we effectively separated these functionalities and now have independent control over them."

This was accomplished using microwave signals, allowing the properties of the comb -- including the bandwidth, the spacing between the teeth, the height of lines, and which frequencies are on and off -- to be tuned independently.

"Now, we can control the properties of the comb at will pretty simply with microwaves," said Loncar. "It's another important tool in the optical toolbox."

"These compact frequency combs are especially promising as light sources for optical communication in data centers," said Joseph Kahn, Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford and the other senior author of the study. "In a data center -- literally a warehouse-sized building containing thousands of computers -- optical links form a network interconnecting all the computers so they can work together on massive computing tasks. A frequency comb, by providing many different colors of light, can enable many computers to be interconnected and exchange massive amounts of data, satisfying the future needs of data centers and cloud computing.

The Harvard Office of Technology Development has protected the intellectual property relating to this project. The research was also supported by OTD's Physical Sciences & Engineering Accelerator, which provides translational funding for research projects that show potential for significant commercial impact.

Published March 2019

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