We recently obtained a clock that flew on a Soyuz space mission.1Â The clock, manufactured in 1984, contains over 100 integrated circuits on ten circuit boards. Why is the clock so complicated? In this blog post, I examine the clock’s circuitry and explain why so many chips were needed. The clock also provides a glimpse into […]
INSIDE THE DIGITAL CLOCK FROM A SOYUZ SPACECRAFT Read More »
In the modern world, we use batteries in almost every electronic gadget from your handheld mobile phone, digital thermometer, smartwatch to Electric Vehicles, aeroplanes, satellites, and even Robotic Rovers used on Mars whose battery lasted around 700 sols (Martian days). It is safe to say without the invention of these electrochemical storage devices a.k.a. Batteries, the
Simple Battery Level Indicator using Op-amp Read More »
It is necessary to understand basic I/O operations of PIC18F4550 before dealing with its complexities. This article presents a way to take simple output from a PIC microcontroller. This learning would also help in interfacing of external devices with the controller. Here the output from the microcontroller is taken on a set of LEDs which are made to blink in an
How to interface LEDs with PIC Microcontroller (PIC18F4550) Read More »
Automotive lighting as an important safety and popular design feature in vehicles has evolved rapidly in the past years. Now, Nichia Corporation and Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY) start a collaboration to add further momentum to this evolution. Together, they are developing a high-definition (HD) light engine with more than 16,000 micro-LEDs for front light applications. Unlike current
Maxim Integrated has developed an algorithm to accurately estimate the battery state of charge and safely handle most batteries. Designers of lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery-powered mobile devices such as wearables, electric bicycles, power tools and internet of things (IoT) products can improve the end-user experience by extending run-time and delivering accurate battery state-of-charge (SOC) data with
MAX1726X â MAXIM INTEGRATED FUEL-GAUGE IC FAMILY Read More »
What do you get when an Electrical Engineer builds a Skateboard from scratch for a 13 year old’s Christmas present? You get a skateboard with eight white LEDs (headlights), eight red LEDs (tailights) all controlled via PIC microntroller! And I might add, one very happy 13 year old, well as happy as a 13 year
Skateboard with PIC microcontroller and LEDs Read More »
Philips Lumileds a family of high flux density LEDs in wavelengths of 380-430nm. The Luxeon UV LEDs are designed for applications including ultraviolet curing, counterfeit detection, medical, industrial and specialty lighting. âThe UV LED market has been hampered by limited flux density and a lack of design flexibility,â said Kurosh Hashemi, Senior Product Line Manager at Philips Lumileds. âThe company addressed
Philips Lumileds offers high flux density UV LEDs Read More »
UK plant researchers are looking into LED lighting to grow plants with less energy. While outdoors in the summer there is no real need to provide plants with artificial lighting, it is increasingly used to extend the growing day and growing season inside greenhouses. It is not necessarily the efficacy of LEDs that is the
Glasshouse LEDs save greenhouse gasses Read More »
In this article, I would like to talk a little bit about LEDs, including why they will become the lighting source of choice, how to power them and also, how to protect them from the hazards they face within their respective implementations. These include high bay lighting, architectural lighting, outdoor street lighting and even 75W
Linear Tech on how to power LEDs and protect them Read More »
The Sistine Chapel is now lit by LEDs, spectrally matched to excite the pigments used by Michelangelo, Botticelli and other artists working 500 hundred years ago. Since the 1980s, the chapel has been lit from outside through its 12 windows by a mixture of 150W spotlights and 1kW halogen projectors â 66kW in total, according
LEDs light the Sistine Chapel Read More »
