News & Updates

supercap power energy Lab test setup

Using a supercapacitor for power management and energy storage with a small solar cell, Part 2

In Part 1 of this series, we have reviewed solar cell performance, how to select and size the supercapacitor, requirements of supercapacitor charging circuits and charging IC characteristics. We will now use two case studies to illustrate these properties in detail. Case Study 1: Using a small solar cell indoors at low light, 100 lux, to power a

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170418eedn omron seismic sensor

Smallest seismic sensor uses vibration spectral analysis

Omron Electronic Components believes it has the world’s smallest class size seismic sensor, specifically designed to trigger the shutdown of potentially hazardous or easily damaged systems in the event of an earthquake. Specifically designed for the growing number of autonomous IoT systems, the Omron D7S provides high precision measurement of spectral intensity, allowing it to

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2017 05 21T16 02 33.102Z BQ25504.prod .top

BQ25504 Solar Cell LiPo Charger

Ultra-Low Power LiPo Charger via Energy Harvesting from a Solar Cell What is it? This is a small (0.5 x 0.5 inch) breakout board for Texas Instrument’s BQ25504Ultra Low Power Boost Converter with Battery Management for Energy Harvesting Applications. From the datasheet: “The bq25504 device is the first of a new family of intelligent integrated energy

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sensirion environmental sensing infographic 88b21

Environmental Sensors

                Environmental conditions have a major impact on our well-being, comfort, and productivity. Sensirion’s sensor solutions provide detailed and reliable data on key environmental parameters such as humidity, temperature, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM2.5), and CO2. Environmental Sensing opens up new possibilities to create smarter devices

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170330eede maxim17055

Lowest-IQ ‘fuel gauge’ monitors batteries in wearable & portables

Maxim Integrated has posted details of a battery charge monitor IC for which it claims the lowest quiescent current available, at 7µA. The 1-cell Fuel Gauge with Maxim’s ModelGauge m5 EZ algorithm can eliminate battery characterization issues. MAX17055 is a 7μA operating current fuel gauge; the ModelGauge m5 EZ algorithm makes fuel gauge implementation easy

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die stack block diagram

Analyzing the vintage 8008 processor from die photos: its unusual counters

The revolutionary Intel 8008 microprocessor is 45 years old today (March 13, 2017), so I figured it’s time for a blog post on reverse-engineering its internal circuits. One of the interesting things about old computers is how they implemented things in unexpected ways, and the 8008 is no exception. Compared to modern architectures, one unusual

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