Articles - 5

A solar-powered lead-acid battery charger can ensure that the battery remains fully charged over a wide temperature range. The ideal charging circuit compensates for temperature and sunlight variations, including recovery from shading. Solar or ...

A bi-directional current source for a grounded load will always have some complication in its construction. The improved Howland Current Pump as shown in Figure 1 is the most frequent choice for this function. The Howland requires carefully matched ...

The analog priority amplifier shown in Figure 1 was originally conceived as part of a multiple output power supply where the voltage regulation was based on the level of the highest channel. Another application was an engine control system with an ...

Many engineers and designers are unaware of the advantages of using brushed DC motors as generators. Design engineers know that both brush DC and brushless DC (BLDC) motors can operate as generators, but many tend to avoid running brushed DC motors ...

Several years ago I wrote an article in Design Ideas called “Double µC’s PWM frequency resolution” ( Reference 1 ) where I mentioned how one can decrease the output ripple of a PWM-based DAC using two PWM signals having ...

Despite the increasing availability and declining cost of on-chip analog peripherals, the humble PWM DAC retains its appeal as a “free” DAC [ 1 ] that can repurpose an uncommitted DIO pin and counter/timer module, add a simple low pass ...

Most designers consider slowness in diodes to be an imperfection or a limitation. Why not take a more positive view of the situation? After all, a zener or an avalanche diode is no more than a diode with a limited breakdown voltage, and you can ...

The editors of EDN will tell you that the Design Ideas section is the most popular section of the website, this goes back to the print editions, where that was the first section that most if not all readers turned to first upon getting a new issue. ...

When someone notices that two 8-bit DACs can be bought for less than one 16-bit DAC, a classic question is often asked: Why can’t you simply take two 8-bit DACs, assign one to the MSByte, the other to the LSByte, sum their outputs in a 28:1 ...

The circuit in this Design Idea was originally designed to detect damaged conveyor belts in the mining industry. Thin coils are embedded in the conveyor belt. If the belt suffers damage, it stretches at the affected location, causing one or more ...