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Hardware Assessment: LightCrafter Evaluation Kit for BeagleBoard Black from Texas Instruments

Hardware Assessment: LightCrafter Evaluation Kit for BeagleBoard Black from Texas Instruments

The Texas Instruments DLPDLCR2000EVM is a demonstration cape designed to plug into a BeagleBone Black (BBB) and provide instant-on projection capabilities using a digital micromirror device and a relatively high-power RGB LED.


Projects Jul 09, 2018 by Mark Hughes
New Library from Microchip Brings Touch and Gesture Functionalities to Familiar Microcontrollers

New Library from Microchip Brings Touch and Gesture Functionalities to Familiar Microcontrollers

Touch displays often require specialized touch controllers to drive displays, which can bump up the cost of final products. To mitigate cost increases, Microchip has just released a free touch library for use with most PIC, AVR, and SAM microcontrollers.


News May 31, 2018 by Robin Mitchell
Hardware Evaluation for the Cypress S6AE102A/S6AE103A Eval Kit for Energy Harvesting Applications

Hardware Evaluation for the Cypress S6AE102A/S6AE103A Eval Kit for Energy Harvesting Applications

In this article, we will assess and characterize the hardware of two power management IC development boards from Cypress Semiconductor, designed for energy-harvesting applications.


A New Generation of Long-Distance Laser-Ranging: A New Time-of-Flight Sensor from STMicroelectronics

A New Generation of Long-Distance Laser-Ranging: A New Time-of-Flight Sensor from STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics recently announced their new laser-ranging time-of-flight sensor with a range of up to 4 meters.


News Apr 20, 2018 by Nick Davis
Adjustable Step-Down DC/DC Constant-Current Control: An LED Controller from Diodes Incorporated

Adjustable Step-Down DC/DC Constant-Current Control: An LED Controller from Diodes Incorporated

Diodes Incorporated announced a new adjustable constant-current LED step-down (buck) DC/DC converter that accepts an input voltage ranging from 5V to 60V.


News Apr 11, 2018 by Nick Davis
Intel, Waymo Compare Vision Systems in Wake of Uber’s First Fatal Autonomous Car Crash

Intel, Waymo Compare Vision Systems in Wake of Uber’s First Fatal Autonomous Car Crash

In the wake of Uber's fatal autonomous car crash, companies such as Intel and Waymo are insisting that their autonomous vehicle systems could have prevented this tragedy. How are these big names doing autonomous driving differently?


News Apr 07, 2018 by Donald Krambeck
Comparing Optical Sensors: Understanding D-Star

Comparing Optical Sensors: Understanding D-Star

This technical brief discusses a parameter that conveys the sensitivity of an optical detector.


How to Build a Particulate Matter Detector for Air Quality Measurement

How to Build a Particulate Matter Detector for Air Quality Measurement

Use a Honeywell particle sensor to measure 2.5 µm PM and 10.0 µm PM concentrations in your environment.


A Simple Method of Driving Low-Current LED Strips: Current Regulators from Diodes Incorporated

A Simple Method of Driving Low-Current LED Strips: Current Regulators from Diodes Incorporated

Diodes Incorporated has released two new constant-current regulators for powering and dimming low-current LED strips.


News Mar 26, 2018 by Nick Davis
LED Dimming: A High-Power 40V Buck LED Driver with Two Dimming Methods from Diodes Incorporated

LED Dimming: A High-Power 40V Buck LED Driver with Two Dimming Methods from Diodes Incorporated

Diodes Incorporated has released a high-power 40 V LED controller that's capable of driving up to 3 amps of current.


News Mar 06, 2018 by Nick Davis
ams AS7221 Smart Lighting Engines | New Product Brief

ams AS7221 Smart Lighting Engines | New Product Brief

ams AS7221 Network-Enabled Smart Lighting Managers combine embedded sensing, sensor hub functionality, and autonomous management to enable smart lighting that adapts to its surrounding to meet the needs of users and maximize energy efficiency.


Need a Current Regulator? Use a Voltage Regulator!

Need a Current Regulator? Use a Voltage Regulator!

This article, part of AAC’s Analog Circuit Collection, shows you how linear voltage regulators can also be handy in constant-current applications.


Makeblock Neuron: A Study in Modular Design

Makeblock Neuron: A Study in Modular Design

The Makeblock Neuron is a collection of magnetically linked blocks that provides a reliable, easy to use experimentation platform for young inventors.


News Feb 11, 2018 by Mark Hughes
Conveniently Control Your Load Current with a Voltage-to-Current Converter

Conveniently Control Your Load Current with a Voltage-to-Current Converter

This article, part of AAC’s Analog Circuit Collection, presents a straightforward way to precisely control the current through an LED (or through a typical resistive load).


Georgia Tech Research Aims to Solve Organic Thin-Film Transistors’ Stability Problem

Georgia Tech Research Aims to Solve Organic Thin-Film Transistors’ Stability Problem

Georgia Tech's Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE) has made a large improvement of the operation and stability of organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs).


News Feb 05, 2018 by Donald Krambeck
STMicroelectronics L20G20IS Two-Axis MEMS Gyroscope | New Product Brief

STMicroelectronics L20G20IS Two-Axis MEMS Gyroscope | New Product Brief

STMicroelectronics L20G20IS is a compact two-axis MEMS gyroscope for use in optical image stabilization and similar applications.


Teardown Tuesday: Digital pH Meter

Teardown Tuesday: Digital pH Meter

In this teardown, we open up a battery-operated digital pH meter, from HealthyWiser.


News Jan 23, 2018 by Nick Davis
Infineon BCR430U Low Drop Voltage LED Driver IC | New Product Brief

Infineon BCR430U Low Drop Voltage LED Driver IC | New Product Brief

Infineon’s BCR430U Low Drop Voltage LED Driver IC efficiently controls up to 100 mA of LED current without using an external power transistor.


Adjustable Linear Constant-Current Control: An LED Controller from Diodes Incorporated

Adjustable Linear Constant-Current Control: An LED Controller from Diodes Incorporated

Diodes Incorporated announces two new adjustable constant-current LED controllers that accept input voltages ranging from 4.5V to 60V.


News Jan 22, 2018 by Nick Davis
Teardown Tuesday: Vehicle Code Reader and OBD-II Scanner

Teardown Tuesday: Vehicle Code Reader and OBD-II Scanner

In this teardown, we take apart Ancel's vehicle code reader and check engine light scan tool, the AD410, to see if we can find anything interesting.


News Jan 16, 2018 by Nick Davis