A book that covers Heathkit test equipment? Yes, please

Recently, I’ve written several articles about the Heath Company and its legendary Heathkits. I based these articles on discussions with and materials from Chas Gilmore, who joined Heath in 1966, worked there on and off for more than two decades, and eventually became its VP of product development, marketing, and sales. The articles were also based on discussions with, and a book by Chuck Penson titled “Heathkit: … Read More → "A book that covers Heathkit test equipment? Yes, please"

How MathWorks is Solving the Challenges of Battery Management System Development with Modeling and Simulation

Battery management takes center stage in this week’s Fish Fry podcast! My guest is Danielle Chu from MathWorks. Danielle and I explore the primary functions of battery management systems and the common challenges faced by engineers when designing electric vehicle battery management systems. We also investigate the role that modeling and simulation play in battery management design, the importance of cell characterization for battery modeling and how MathWorks … Read More → "How MathWorks is Solving the Challenges of Battery Management System Development with Modeling and Simulation"

Event-based image sensor cuts processing power requirements by one or two orders of magnitude

I last wrote about Prophesee’s event-based vision sensor at the end of 2023. (See “Prophesee’s 5th Generation Sensors Detect Motion Instead of Images for Industrial, Robotic, and Consumer Applications.”) Back then, I wrote about the company’s fifth generation 320×320-pixel GenX320 sensor, which captures changes in light on a per-pixel basis rather … Read More → "Event-based image sensor cuts processing power requirements by one or two orders of magnitude"

Wow! AI-Powered “Sketch-on-Napkin” to Embedded Design

I was just thinking about the 1871 book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, writer, and photographer, the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll).

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass continue to influence us today, not just as beloved children’s stories … Read More → "Wow! AI-Powered “Sketch-on-Napkin” to Embedded Design"

Efinix co-packages FPGA with SDRAM to shrink board-level real estate footprint

Efinix has just done designers a solid. The company’s new Ti180J484D1 FPGA incorporates a 2Gbit LPDDR4X SDRAM die co-packaged with the FPGA die, which creates a System in Package (SiP) device that results in a smaller footprint on your circuit board. In addition, you won’t need to worry about the precise pcb trace-length matching that’s required to properly connect the DDR … Read More → "Efinix co-packages FPGA with SDRAM to shrink board-level real estate footprint"

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featured chalk talk

Driving Next-Gen Efficiency and Productivity to the Battery Lifecycle
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Vicor
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and David Krakauer from Vicor explore the evolution of battery technology and the specific benefits that power modules bring to battery cell formation, battery testing and battery recycling. They investigate what sets Vicor power modules apart from other solutions on the market today and how you take advantage of Vicor power modules in your next design.
May 24, 2024
36,451 views

featured paper

How Google and Intel use Calibre DesignEnhancer to reduce IR drop and improve reliability

Sponsored by Siemens Digital Industries Software

Through real-world examples from Intel and Google, we highlight how Calibre’s DesignEnhancer maximizes layout modifications while ensuring DRC compliance.

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discussion
Posted on May 19 at 11:22am by SmithChart
I love Heathkits. My Grandpa (born 1901), loved building them and taught me that even normal humans could be good at electronics. BTW, he spent WW II wiring up Lancaster bombers in Downsview, Ontario -- not far from where Tranter's Heathkit experience in Mississauga. These early lessons and attainments by Grandpa ...
Posted on May 16 at 5:34am by Steven Leibson
You'd need a second camera if you wanted a normal video frame. The IDS camera's sensors only sense and trigger on changes in light intensity.
Posted on May 15 at 10:47pm by John
So, having detected an event, can this thing send you a complete frame of pixels (a snapshot of what's being viewed) or works you need a second, ordinary, camera for that?
Posted on May 14 at 9:33am by Max Maxfield
"It must be that simplicity scares people so they opt for the complex so they can hide behind the complexity." Can you see me now?
Posted on May 14 at 9:32am by Max Maxfield
Hi Steve -- the folks at Prophesee are doing some very interesting stuff on the sensor front; for example, see my column "Look At Something, Ask a Question, Hear an Answer: Welcome to the Future": https://www.eejournal.com/article/look-at-something-ask-a-question-hear-an-answer-welcome-to-the-future/
Posted on May 13 at 12:56pm by Karl Stevens
1) Basically cache fetches the block of memory containing the data and hopes there will be more requests to that block. Usually a 95% hit ratio is assumed, not verified. Then DDR is used to reduce the time to transfer the line/block. Then cache coherency is a required if other accesses ...
Posted on May 12 at 6:15pm by Steven Leibson
Max, chips always taste better with salsa and sour cream.
Posted on May 12 at 8:02am by Max Maxfield
Ah -- so it didn't solve the problem from first principles -- so we still have hope that there are some things we can do better than AI...
Posted on May 12 at 7:59am by Max Maxfield
Oooh! Tasty!
Posted on May 10 at 1:49am by Hakkı Göçeoğlu
In fact this paper has the direct answer. Akers, S. B. (1968). "On Maximum Inversion with Minimum Inverters". IEEE Transactions on Computers, EC-17(2), 134-135. Hakki
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featured blogs
May 16, 2025
Whatever the age into which you were born, if you were a kid enjoying something, the odds were that it was corrupting your soul....
Accelerate Edge Deployment with Advantech’s Industrial Preconfigured Products
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Advantech
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Joseph Yang from Advantech and Amelia Dalton examine the benefits of Advantech’s preconfigured edge solutions. They also investigate the key features of Advantech’s EI-53 Compact Edge System, ARK-1125 palm-sized intelligent edge computer and UNO 2271G V2 pocket-size industrial computing edge solution.
May 20, 2025
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Introducing the 2EP1xxR Full-Bridge Transformer Driver
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Infineon
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Ritesh Ritesh from Infineon and Amelia Dalton explore the what, where and how of Infineon’s 2EP1xxR EiceDRIVER™ Power family. They investigate the working principles of these drivers, the topologies supported by these solutions and how these drivers can enable simple, space efficient, and highly configurable isolated gate driver supply for a variety of switches.
May 16, 2025
3,179 views
Power Inductor Considerations for AI Computing and High-Powered Processors
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Vishay
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Mariyah Sachak from Vishay and Amelia Dalton explore how various inductor solutions can supply near-instant power to demanding loads at low, core-level voltages for high power computing applications. They also investigate the benefits of Trans-Inductor voltage regulators and what you will need to consider when choosing the right inductor solution for your next design.
May 5, 2025
17,172 views
Intelligent Factory Automation Power Solutions
Energy efficiency will be a critical concern for Industry 5.0. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Alessandro Maggioni from onsemi, Simon Reuning from the YAGEO Group and Amelia Dalton explore the implementation of the various stages of power conversion, the steps we can take to make power factor correction more effective, and how you can take advantage of onsemi and YAGEO group solutions for your next industrial design.
May 2, 2025
22,561 views
Motor Control Innovation with PSOC™ Control C3
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Infineon
PSOC™ Control is Infineon’s newest family of MCUs developed for motor control applications. This family of high-performance Arm® Cortex®- M33 MCUs enables designers to innovate and solve complex design problems for applications like HVAC, home appliances, robotics, telecom and server power supplies, light electric vehicle chargers, solar inverters, and industrial drives. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Perfecto Martinez from Infineon and Amelia Dalton explore how Infineon’s PSOC™ Control C3 is ??enabling developers to create highly efficient and secured motor control and power systems.
May 2, 2025
23,309 views
Speakers in Audio Design
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Same Sky
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Nick Grillone from Same Sky and Amelia Dalton explore the characteristics of speakers in audio design and the parameters you should consider when choosing a speaker. They also investigate the roles that sound pressure levels and frequency response play in the selection of a speaker and how Same Sky can help you find the best speaker for your next design.
Apr 30, 2025
24,493 views