Electronics Design

Self-healing electronics

One tiny fault inside battery or IC usually makes an entire electronics device is unusable. Scientists from University of Illinois have come up with an interesting solution to this. They have developed a technology to repair broken conductors instantly and automatically, without the people even notice the problem. Self-healing electronics could work longer and reduce →

Many great people died in 2011

At year 2011 we saw the passing of many of the electronics and computer industry’s greatest engineers and inventors. Jim Williams, who was considered one of the best analog circuit designers in the world, suffered a stroke and passed away on June 12, 2011. An Analog Life: Remembering Jim Williams article gives you information who →

Resistors

The resistor is the most common and well-known of the passive electrical components. There are many uses for resistors: they are used to drop voltage, limit current, attenuate signals, act as heaters, act as fuses, furnish electrical loads, and divide voltages. Resistor 101 tutorial provides an in-depth guide to the types of fixed resistors, their →

Open Hardware Journal

I just saw Slashdot posting mentioning Open Hardware Journal. Open Hardware Journal is a new open technical journal on designs for physical or electronic objects that are shared as if they were Open Source software. It’s an open journal under a Creative Commons license. You can download the magazine in pdf file format and redistribute →

Bitbang Ethernet

Implementation UDP into microcontroller Igor Atmel-UDP device: UDP/IP infrared remote control web page shows implementation UDP/IP on firmware level (similar as emulation of RS232 interface or USB interface). What makes it really cool is that the ethernet is bitbanged using nothing but the bare pins of an ATMEGA168. The downside is that this Ethernet implementation →

Agile hardware development?

Software developers have largely accepted the merits of agile development and commonly debate the value of one agile practice against another. Agile software development is a creative process that does not need all details to be defines in advance. Agile software development is a group of software development methodologies based on iterative and incremental development, →

AC current levels

AC current levels 0.25mA  Maximum Leakage Current for Class II equipment in IEC 950 (Information Technology Equipment, I.T.E.) (no protective earth ground in the equipment, double insulation or reinforced insulation) 0.5mA Earth Leakage Current limit in IEC 601-1 (Medical Equipment) (this is general value, here are also other leakage current requirements in IEC 601-1) 0.5mA →

Measure with soundcard

Unless you add a measurement instrument to your computer, you have only the sound card as an analog I/O port. You can use the sound card to digitize ac analog voltages but only within a limited range. You can, however, add some signal processing and measure a wider variety of signals, even those that produce →