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Piezoelectric Accelerometers: IEPE Sensors vs. Charge Output Sensors

Learn about integrated electronics piezoelectrics (IEPE) sensors, powering them, and how they compare to charge output (non-IEPE) systems.

June 26, 2022 by Dr. Steve Arar

PCB Layout Challenges—Improve Your Switched-mode Power Supply Designs

Switched-mode power supplies (SMPS) appear simple to route on your PCB, but are they? This article identifies two noise sources and simple fixes to improve your EMC performance.

June 02, 2022 by Adrian Gibbons

Understanding the Amplifier Offset Voltage and Output Swing in Resistive Current Sensing

How does an amplifier's input offset voltage impact the accuracy of a current sense resistor's measurement? And how does amplifier output swing affect your shunt resistor value? Learn this and more in this technical article.

August 22, 2021 by Dr. Steve Arar

Learn How Integrated Solutions Can Increase the Accuracy of Resistive Current Sensing

In this article, we’ll discuss why a discrete implementation cannot provide a high accuracy in resistive current sensing.

August 15, 2021 by Dr. Steve Arar

Resistive Current Sensing: Low-Side vs. High-Side Sensing

What's the difference between high-side and low-side resistive current sensing? This article explains the basics, as well as when each is the more appropriate design choice.

August 01, 2021 by Dr. Steve Arar

Assessing the Effect of Load Capacitance on the Frequency of a Quartz Crystal

Learn how the load capacitance mismatch can “pull” the crystal to oscillate at a different frequency and how we can circumvent this problem.

June 16, 2021 by Dr. Steve Arar

All About Seeing Your Projects: Optical and Digital Magnification

Smaller electronics call for more powerful inspection equipment. If you're building a collection of at-home lab equipment, these visual tools may help you see where you're going on minuscule boards.

February 14, 2021 by Mark Hughes

How to Use Decoupling Capacitor Placement to Reduce Harmonic Distortion

Learn how to reduce second harmonic distortion by following some guidelines for placing decoupling capacitors in your PCB layout.

February 12, 2021 by Dr. Steve Arar

A Low-Cost Method of Powering a Microcontroller

This article proposes a simple microcontroller power-supply circuit that is worth considering when you’re developing a (very) cost-sensitive system.

October 30, 2020 by Robert Keim

LTspice Performance Analysis of a Precision Current Pump

In this article, we will use simulations to assess important aspects of the performance of an op-amp-based current source.

October 20, 2020 by Robert Keim

How to Design a Precision Current Pump with Op-Amps

This article discusses a voltage-controlled current-source circuit that requires only two op-amps and a handful of resistors.

October 16, 2020 by Robert Keim

Using a Supervisory Circuit to Turn a Conventional SRAM into Fast Non-Volatile Memory

How can you build a fast non-volatile memory from a conventional SRAM? It turns out, you only need a back-up battery and some control circuitry.

August 21, 2020 by Dr. Steve Arar

Simulating SiC MOSFET Thermal and Switching Behavior in LTspice

In this article, we’ll set up a basic SiC switching circuit and perform some transient simulations.

March 17, 2020 by Robert Keim

How to Boost the Output Current Drive Capability of an Op-Amp

In the first part of this series on composite amplifiers, we'll investigate one method of boosting an op-amp’s output current drive capability.

February 20, 2020 by Dr. Sergio Franco

How Is a Load Line Used in Circuit Design?

In this entry of our Frequent Engineering Questions (FEQ) series, learn the basics of how a load line can be used in designing circuits.

February 14, 2020 by Robert Keim

Predicting Battery Degradation with a Trinket M0 and Python Software Algorithms

Learn how to build a setup that will help you predict a battery's performance as it ages using a Trinket M0 and software algorithms.

December 09, 2019 by Aaron Hanson

What Is Brown Out Reset in Microcontrollers? How to Prevent False Power-Downs

Brown Out Reset is an important function to increase the reliability of a microcontroller after start-up. Normally used to solve problems with the power supply, this article shows how Brown Out Reset can prevent another problem.

October 09, 2019 by Stephen Colley

Why Raspberry Pi Isn’t a Good Choice for Commercial Products

RPi has done some amazing good in the world, especially for aspiring young engineers, but here's the breakdown on why it's probably not what you need for a professional project.

July 19, 2019 by Pallav Aggarwal

Low-Noise Voltage References: Understanding the Noise Performance of a Voltage Reference IC

Working with a low noise voltage reference? Learn more about noise specifications and relevant voltage reference ICs.

July 01, 2019 by Dr. Steve Arar

How to Troubleshoot a DC-DC Buck Converter

This article addresses troubleshooting a staple of electronic systems that don’t always work as planned: switch-mode, low-voltage, DC-DC, single-phase, non-isolated, basic buck converter circuits.

June 19, 2019 by George Biner