LIDAR systems and ToF techniques are critical to providing self-driving cars with a detailed picture of the surrounding and is used in many research applications as well. Many of the major automobile vendors, along with well-known non-auto companies such as Google, are devoting major resources to developing autonomous vehicles (often called “self-driving cars”). These vehicles […]
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Voice ADC excels at far-field audio
Texas Instruments introduced a new audio analog-to-digital converter (ADC) capable of capturing clear audio up to four times farther away than competing devices. The TLV320ADC5140 is the industry’s smallest quad-channel audio ADC with this level of performance. The device is part of a new family of three TI Burr-Brown audio ADCs that enable low-distortion audio […]
Worst-case error analysis and calibration in temperature sensing systems using NTC and PTC thermistors
by Hadi Ebrahimi-Darkhaneh, Texas Instruments For applications that employ temperature monitoring systems, measurement accuracy is a prime concern. Temperature sensors are affected by a variety of factors, including environmental conditions, manufacturing process variations, poor assembly, and nonideal biasing components. External components connected to temperature sensors (such as the power supply, an analog-to-digital converter [ADC] and […]
Fluxgate compasses, Part 2 – Issues and enhancements
Part 1 of this FAQ examined the underlying context of fluxgate compasses and navigation, as well as the basic principles of the fluxgate design. This part looks at additional fluxgate-compass issues and advances in their implementation. The fluxgate compass is fairly simple in principle. However, as with all things related to magnetism in general and […]
Error analysis in temperature sensing with NTC and silicon-based PTC thermistors: Comparing the Ratiometric and Absolute methods
by Hadi Ebrahimi-Darkhaneh, Texas Instruments A thermistor is a resistive device specifically designed to vary resistance with thermal change, and therefore follows Ohm’s law. According to Ohm’s law, a current passing through a resistive component will produce a voltage drop across that component. This voltage is proportional to the magnitude of the component resistance and […]
Reusable solderless robotics kit allows students to build embedded systems
Texas Instruments introduced the newest addition to the TI Robotics System Learning Kit (TI-RSLK) family, the TI-RSLK MAX, a low-cost robotics kit and curriculum that is simple to build, code and test. Designed for the university classroom, the solderless assembly allows students to have their own fully functioning embedded system built in under 15 minutes. […]
Charging electric vehicles, Part 1: The numbers
It’s nice to envision that recharging an electric vehicle is as straightforward as filling up an internal combustion vehicle, but it’s not: there are multiple charging, power, and connector options as well as limitations. You’re driving your internal-combustion (IC) car, and the gauge indicates it’s time to get “gas” (of course, it’s actually gasoline). So […]
Tools for optimizing circuit bias
If a semiconductor or vacuum tube is to accurately reproduce or amplify signals on its input, it must have on its input a non-time-varying dc voltage, i.e. dc bias, the purpose of which is to keep the device in its linear operating range. Otherwise, the input signal to be reproduced may drive the device beyond […]
Barcodes and Scanners, Part 1: How they work
Barcodes: you can’t escape them, and all along the supply chain from raw source to end-user purchase, we can’t function without them. They are pre-printed on neatly everything we buy or use, they can be added later as stick-on labels, or they can be printed on demand as needed for custom projects. Barcodes are now […]
Filters, Part 2: SAW and BAW devices for RF
Part 1 of this FAQ looked at the basic available electronic filters – analog, switched capacitor, and digital – and briefly reviewed the attributes of each. As the frequencies to be filtered reach to 1 GHz and well beyond, while the selectively needed also became narrower, these filter approaches can no longer support many of […]
