Let’s melt metals using the ZVS (Zero Voltage Switching) technique applied to a 1,000 W RLC resonant circuit. Have you ever wondered how intense the electromagnetic fields surrounding us can be? This is a relevant question, considering we are ...
Tracking down rodentia (or otherwise)-caused cable cuts, and differentiating them from normal open circuits, is critical. Evolving the circuit design for expanded functionality makes it even more valuable. It’s just part of the job. Every ...
In the first part ( Ref. 1 ) of this Design Idea, we saw how a cheap op-amp can give remarkably precise readings from an RTD. We also found that it was a false economy, owing to incurable thermal drift. This concluding part fixes that problem by ...
In the first part ( Reference 1 ) of this Design Idea (DI), we looked at simple ways of keeping critical components at a constant temperature using a linear approach. In this second part, we’ll investigate something PWM-based, which should be ...
If your favorite tool is a hammer, every problem will look like a nail. Abraham Maslow Given how often I tinker with the LM555 and LMC555 analog timers, Maslow might have written that famous aphorism specifically for me. And it. Well, here I go ...
DIY Laser Scanning Microscope made from a defective Blu-Ray Player. A Blu-ray player must be able to detect the microscopically tiny pits on DVDs in order to play back a film. Therefore, the question arises: Can a Blu-ray player also see other ...
In process industries, field contacts from pressure, temperature, flow switches, limit switches, push buttons, etc., are read by programmable logic controllers and/or distributed control systems (PLC/DCS) through digital input modules. They are ...
For decades, I’ve had a fascination with voltage-to-frequency converters and the 555 analog timer chip, and therefore a double obsession with VFCs based on the 555. In fact, my first Design Ideas (DI) submission (in 1974) was for a 555 VFC. ...
The ovens in this two-part Design Idea (DI) can’t even warm that leftover half-slice of pizza, let alone cook dinner, but they can keep critical components at a constant temperature. In the first part, we’ll look at a purely analog ...
The pages of Design Ideas (DIs) have recently been awash in a veritable cascade of designs for variable frequency oscillators with frequency ranges tunable over multiple decades: Self-oscillating sawtooth generator spans 5 decades of frequencies ( ...