If you’ve had hassles trying to get component samples for a project, you can thank the efforts of a few enterprising students for making your life more complicated. Here’s a microcosm of what has happened with sample parts: The folks at Texas Instruments once had a liberal policy about giving out free samples of the […]
Editor's Blog
Gallery: Technical highlights of the Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo
Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo & Conference kicked off this week in Novi, Mich. near Detroit. Billed as a forum for electric, hybrid and plugin hybrid vehicle technology, it showcased technological developments along the supply chain including electrical powertrains and components, battery management systems, materials and equipment. Here are a few of the more […]
Cheapest source of power? NREL says it might be solar
The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for some kinds of solar and wind power can be cheaper than that for conventional gas-fired power plants. That is one conclusion to be had from the 2017 edition of the National Renewable Energy Lab’s Annual Technology Baseline (ATB) which summarizes the current and projected technology cost and performance […]
The next EV to drool over: An 1,800-hp hybrid will hit 150 mph in under eight seconds
The Tesla Roadster covers the quarter-mile in 12.757 seconds while hitting 104.74 mph. Big deal. There’s a hybrid in the works at Ariel Motor Co. in the UK that will leave a Tesla eating its dust, even with the Tesla running in “ludicrous” mode. The range extended, electric sports car project is called the Hipercar […]
Gallery: Connected car electronics on display at NXP FTF Connects in Detroit
Chip supplier NXP recently put on its two-day FTF Connects event in the Motor City. Focusing on connected vehicle and autonomous technology, featured several interesting demos and a ride in cars outfitted in V2V and V2I technology. Here are a few of the more interesting sites we found in the exhibit area and the technical […]
The tough problems in power design
Leland Teschler, Executive Editor lteschler@wtwhmedia.com On Twitter @DW_LeeTeschler An annual ritual takes place in the upper echelons of the power electronics world. At the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC), considered a premier forum for applied power electronics, researchers present new ideas for power converters. Typically, these ideas are neither straightforward nor easy to understand. And […]
Motor drivers make possible 637 msec. Rubik’s Cube record
Talk about booth bait at a trade show: At the German “electronica” trade fair, a machine called Sub1 Reloaded solved a Rubik’s Cube in a mere 637 msec. with the help of microchips from Infineon. An Aurix microcontroller — also found in autonomous driving systems — handled the computational chores. The best time recorded for […]
Photo gallery: Cool tech at the 2016
Battery/ EV-Hybrid Vehicle Show
Billed as the premier showcase of the latest advanced battery and electric vehicle technology, the Battery Show and colocated EV/Hybrid Vehicle show recently wrapped up in Novi, Mich. We toured the aisles and found several examples of interesting technology. In the following pages you’ll see a few of the more photogenic tech displays. NEXT PAGE: […]
Ultrasonic vibrations could bring
energy efficient clothes drying
Homes owners who have grappled with the nuisance of vibrating clothes washers and dryers may be surprised to learn that coming generations of appliances could use vibrations as a way to boost energy efficiency. So say researchers at the at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. They have come up with a way to […]
Review: Control Circuits in Power Electronics, practical issues in design and implementation
When it comes to the design of switching power supplies, there are a handful of basic topologies that engineers learn in their initial coursework. The difficulty comes in figuring out which topology to apply in specific situations and how to control outputs in a way that realizes what the application needs. That’s the value of […]
