Introduction In many applications, it is not possible to measure distance to the target by establishing a physical contact. Typical examples include measuring presence of objects on a conveyor belt in logistic centers, or ensuring safety distances ...
Applications for using a single pushbutton to advance a circuit to its next logical state are legion. Typically, there are just “on” and “off” states, but there can be more. The heart of the circuit is a toggle flip-flop ...
Voltage to current conversion circuits can take on several forms depending on the nature of the load connections. In those cases where the load is single ended, that is one end must be connected to ground, and where bipolar current flow is ...
The ever innovative and prolific Mr. Woodward has offered “PWM-programmed LM317 constant current source” [ 1 ], an intriguing programmable constant current source which elicited a lively conversation in its comments section. A Zen ...
Most operational amplifiers (op amps) have input and output electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection diodes, as shown in Figure 1. These diodes are designed for protection from ESD damage during device testing and product assembly. Figure 1. Op ...
In Part 1, we saw how to make an oscillator whose pitch, as opposed to frequency, can be made proportional to a control voltage. In this second part, we’ll look at some alternative ways of arranging things for other possible applications. To ...
Whether its buck, boost, or buck/boost, internal or external switch, milliamps or tens of amps, a literal cornucopia of programmable output switching regulator/converter chips are commercially available. While the required external Ls and Cs (of ...
This design idea is centered on the humble on/off/on toggle switch, which is great for selecting something/nothing/something else, but can be frustrating when three active options are needed. One possibility is to use the contacts to connect extra, ...
We often say that logic devices are the glue to every electronics design, but they are often the last parts that you might think about when choosing components for a system. There are certainly many tried-and-true standard logic devices to choose ...
In the first part of this DI ( Ref. 1 ), we saw how to gate an oscillator to generate well-behaved impulses. Now we find out how to extend that idea to producing well-behaved step functions, or nicely smoothed square waves. The ideal here is the ...