There is currently a lot of discussion surrounding energy efficiency in modern production plants and manufacturers of systems solutions are continually unveiling new concepts to address the issue. One such concept involves introducing a greater degree of automation, which is somewhat surprising but it takes into consideration the demand for energy efficiency and improves it by providing a stronger, interconnected ...
Microchip has announced the third generation of its dsPIC33EP ‘GS’ range, which are DSP-enabled microcontrollers. GS denoted devices specifically intended for fast digital power supplies, which need faster peripherals than, say, motor control microprocessors. Compared with generation two, they have a faster processor, faster contexts switching, faster higher resolution ADCs, higher resolution PWMs, programmable gain amplifiers, live flash update, and ...
Tesla Motors, famed for its electric sportscars, has announced load-levelling battery for solar homes. Called Powerwall and based around its Li-ion battery technology, there are two versions: 7kWh ‘daily cycle’ to match daytime solar input to evening electricity use, and 10kWh ‘weekly cycle’ for power back-up. “Current generation home batteries are bulky, expensive to install and expensive to maintain. Powerwall ...
French firm Ez-Wheel has managed to pack an entire electric vehicle system into a wheel – battery, charger, converter and motor included. Nothing electrical need be fitted to the vehicle chassis. Intended to add powered traction to industrial trolleys, application are also proposed moving patients in hospitals and shifting food. “Ez-Wheel products are ready to operate in outdoor or indoor ...
IDT has been allowed to reveal it is providing silicon for Ikea’s forthcoming range of wireless charging furniture. The firm’s P9030 magnetic induction transmitters are embedded in products including side tables and lamps. The transmitter complies with the Wireless Power Consortium’s Qi standard, delivering 5W. IDT also does chips for competing systems from Power Matters Alliance and Alliance for Wireless ...
Siemens has developed a 50kg electric motor that can produce 260kW at 2,500rpm – slow enough to drive a propeller without a gear box. Weight saving has come from several directions. For example, the stator is of cobalt-iron alloy for high magnetisability, and the permanent magnets of the rotor are in a Halbach array – a way of stacking magnets ...
Texas Instruments aims to get GaN into the engineering community so designers can evaluate its super-fast switching capabilities in power stages, without getting bogged down in the subtleties of GaN driving: parasitic inductance in the gate loop, for example. According to the firm: “TI is enabling the ecosystem, magnetics for example, to develop by putting GaN in the customers hands.” ...
Cissoid has brought out its second generation of Hades isolated gate drivers. Hades is aimed at high density power converters, motor drives and actuators based on SiC transistors, traditional power mosfets and IGBTs.
Plextek RFI has developed a 4-Channel 28GHz power amplifier with 4-Bit digital phase control for 5G RF front ends.
The System Management Interface Forum (SMIF) has launched another revision to its PMBus standard, taking it to revision 1.3.1 – superseding r1.3, released early last year. It includes clarifications to streamline and speed implementation, primarily centred on the ZONE and the Manufacturer Specific commands. “The ZONE command structure is updated to allow definition of an ‘ALL ZONE’ and a ‘NO ...
Electronics Weekly
