A concept may be elegant and even possible to implement, but the actual benefits are dubious — especially with the stress it gives to users. You’re probably somewhat familiar with the idea of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) automobile energy transfer. It’s been a “hot” topic for the last few years, largely due to the increase in the […]
Bill Schweber Blogs
We have “supermodels” — so can we now have “superengineers?”
I recently came across a review of a four-part series that premiered on Apple TV+ in September entitled “The Super Models” (that space between “super” and “models” is not a typo, but the show’s clever title wordplay). The series focuses on four women who were supermodels several decades ago and still have considerable sway and […]
Tire pressure, slide rules, and the art of the estimate
Estimating is a good first step to ensure you are more likely to be roughly right than precisely wrong. I have recently become obsessed with (excuse me, I mean “concerned”) the pressure in my car tires. That’s partially due to my being aware of the negative effect of incorrect pressure on fuel efficiency, handling, and […]
Keeping a simple product simple
It’s a natural temptation to add more functionality to a design, but often, offering less is better. Most designers are familiar with the concept and reality of “feature creep” in new-product implementation. Whether spurred on by the engineering team itself (“Hey, we can add that, and it won’t cost anything”) or marketing (“Let’s add these […]
Are emojis and icons the new hieroglyphics?
The use of graphic symbols may be the trend and save space, but we need to acknowledge their potential downsides as well. I was surfing the web looking for some specialty tools and landed on a site that had many of the ones I needed. All was well until I started to go further on […]
Is it finally time for the “smart home” to become real — again?
Over the years, we’ve heard many times that smart homes and automation are now a reality; could it finally be true? I recently saw a story in The Wall Street Journal, “It’s Finally Time to Add Some Smart Tech to Your Dumb Home” making the case that smart lights, locks, and thermostats are ready for […]
How many electric motors are in a car?
The first gasoline cars had no electric motors; in contrast, today’s cars have tens of “invisible” motors having a range of power levels, sizes, and types. It’s not news that today’s cars, regardless of their motive power source, are packed with what is called “electronics.” Whether it’s for power trains, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), […]
Titan submersible reminds us you can’t ignore materials science
When doing engineering development at a keyboard, it’s easy to overlook the huge role that materials and material science play in electronics and their amazing components. We don’t know what caused the apparent implosion and subsequent loss of OceanGate’s Titan submersible, and we may never know the root causes. Various experts and pundits have chimed […]
Creating robust designs despite unavoidable imperfections
A good designer anticipates that circuit performance and components will be imperfect or drift and employs various tactics to avoid the consequences. When you spend a lot of time and energy designing, assessing, and debugging an analog signal chain from its sensor through front-end amplifiers and A/D converters, you have to face the reality that […]
Right-size, on-demand cardboard boxes: big benefits but low glamour
Sophisticated machines which create custom-sized corrugated cardboard boxes offer major advantages but receive little sustainability attention. There are many times when we are so caught up in the “that’s awesome” shimmer and shine associated with the latest technical product or gadget that we don’t see or appreciate the less visible and quieter developments that offer […]