Moderated by Jeff Shepard EE World has organized this “virtual roundtable” bringing together experts in Formula E racing technology to share with you their experience and insights into batteries, software, and potential technology crossovers between Formula E and conventional electric vehicles. Joining us for this virtual roundtable are: Masayasu Yoshida (MY), Vice President, Automotive Systems […]
FAQ
Coming: New safety ratings for power adapters
Prepare yourself for the updated standards about to take hold in power equipment that includes external adapters. Ron Stull • CUI Inc. A power adapter is a barrier between lethal ac mains voltage and the dc power line for end equipment. Different environments, however, demand different adapter construction to meet safety levels. For example, domestic, […]
Why electrolytic capacitors blow up
Electrolytic capacitors have a reputation for failing spectacularly when mistreated. Leland Teschler • Executive Editor Pop open a common LED bulb and you’ll often find an electrolytic capacitor occupying a place in the input from the ac line. Though illumination-grade LEDs generally have lifetimes exceeding 10,000 hours, the electrolytic caps in their base may not […]
Why your local landfill won’t contain lithium batteries
Leland Teschler • Executive editor Consumers with an inclination toward sustainability have been bummed out over recent revelations that most of the plastics they have carefully separated, washed, and placed in recycling bins typically end up in the local dump. So it may come as good news that dead lithium batteries are increasingly likely to […]
Capacitors for power converter output filtering
Capacitors are found throughout switch mode power converters. The first FAQ in this series of three articles looked at the X and Y safety capacitors used in the input filtering section. The second article looked inside the power converter and considered dc link capacitors as well as energy storage and pulse power capacitors. This final […]
DC link, energy storage, and pulse power capacitors
The first article in this three-part FAQ series reviewed safety capacitors (sometimes called high-frequency bypass capacitors), primarily for filtering electromagnetic interference (EMI) on the input of mains-connected power converters such as power supplies, battery chargers, and motor drives. This FAQ moves deeper inside the various types of power converters and will consider DC link capacitors, […]
Safety capacitors for EMI filtering and voltage isolation
This is the first article in a three-part FAQ series on capacitors used in power-handling applications. This article will consider safety capacitors for filtering electromagnetic interference (EMI, also called radio frequency interference, RFI) on ac power lines, for antenna coupling, and for providing voltage isolation in DC/DC converters. Part two will look into “DC link, […]
Up close and personal with magnetrons
Today most people’s experience with a magnetron is as a source of microwaves in residential microwave ovens. The microwave radiation is conveyed to the oven section via a waveguide. Microwave ovens are also a favorite target of scavengers and experimenters who like to take things apart. The magnetron is one frequently scavenged component. You can […]
How do you track an elephant?
Very carefully might be your first response but there is a technical answer as well. The technical answer involves a design challenge called ElephantEdge to create the world’s most advanced tracker to protect elephants in their natural habitats from poachers, trophy hunters and habitat destruction. Supported by Hackster.io, an Avnet community, and Smart Parks, a […]
LVDT electronics, Part 2: Interface circuitry
The interface electronics for the LVDT must excite the primary-side winding with a sine wave and then demodulate the two resultant secondary-side waveforms; modern ICs make this analog-signal process fairly straightforward. Part 1 of this FAQ looked at the basics of LVDT excitation, demodulation, and waveforms. This part looks at two standard ICs which implement […]