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ROMA Linux Laptop to Include Forthcoming Quad-core RISC-V Processor, Web3 Integration, NFT, and MetaMask Style Wallet

Posted on 18 July, 2022 by Emmanuel Odunlade

RISC-V International has given a tip into the release of what we can call the Industry’s first development laptop expected to feature the forthcoming quad-core RISC-V SoC for the fastest, most seamless RISC-V software development experience ever – the ROMA Linux laptop.

“The ROMA platform will benefit developers who want to test their software running natively on RISC-V. And it should be easy to transfer code developed on this platform to embedded systems,” said Mark Himelstein, Chief Technology Officer for RISC-V International. The laptop will also create a more integrated experience with future AR glasses and AI speakers operating entirely on RISC-V software. No doubt, the addition of the native RISC-V processor is a huge milestone in this project.

The Roma Linux laptop will also feature a Web3-friendly platform with NFT and integrated MetaMask-style wallet. Others include a quad core RISC-V CPU with free SoC and SoM upgrades, GPU for graphics and NPU for AI, Up to 16GB LPDDR4/DDR4X RAM, Up to 256GB eMMC flash, Arm SC300 security enclave processor, Keyboard, Display and Touchpad.

The highly integrated laptop is the result of the synergy between DeepComputing and Xcalibyte. The former focused on the engineering aspect while the latter took care of system tuning. Other companies contributing one way or the other in the development of the laptop are: PW for assembly, ECP for security, XC for crypto, Rexeen for voice, and LatticeX Foundation for PoS blockchain, and NFT.

“With built-in POS, NFT, and MetaMask-style wallet, ROMA is born for the Metaverse. It is a laptop for the future. We will spare no effort to provide the best RISC-V native development experience for developers,” said CEO of Xcalibyte and DeepComputing, Yuning Liang.

The duo already opened preorders for the hotly anticipated native RISC-V development laptop. We learned that the laptop will only come in limited quantity at launch, so it’s better to be amongst the fastest fingers to place an order if you are interested. If you are amongst the first 100 to preorder for it, you will be given a unique NFT as well as the option of engraving your name or company’s name on it. It is however important to note that preordering for this laptop goes beyond just filling out a form. You will be required to use either a company’s email address or one with your own domain name.

What’s more? The laptop will come with support for most variants of Linux OS alongside a MetaMask style wallet. Users can also get early access to the next-generation laptops and accessory upgrades for a great discount or for free.

The laptop is not only aimed at developers who want to build and test software on a native RISC-V computer; it is surely a good lead for future laptops and devices that can help the general public. The laptop is scheduled to start shipping towards the end of this year. Other useful details on the ROMA Linux laptop can also be found on RISC-V International which also gave support for its development.

Meet the First High-Resolution Module for 3D Depth Sensing and Vision Systems

Posted on 18 July, 202218 July, 2022 by Emmanuel Odunlade

Analog Devices has unveiled a robust high resolution, indirect Time-of-Flight (iToF) module for 3D depth sensing and vision systems — the first ever in the industry.

“Machine vision needs to make the leap to perceiving smaller, more subtle objects faster in industrial environments that often include harsh conditions and multiple stimuli,” said Tony Zarola, the company’s senior director for ToF. “The ADTF3175’s unmatched resolution and accuracy allows vision and sensing systems – including industrial robots – to take on more precision-oriented tasks by enabling them to better understand the space they’re operating in and ultimately improve productivity. Bringing this to market helps bridge a major gap and accelerates deployment of the next generation of automation solutions and critical logistics systems.”

The module is designed to help accelerate time to market with its scalable, fully engineered and calibrated depth system that can be integrated into 3D sensing and vision systems. This means that there would not be any need to design specialized optics or deal with challenges that come with electromechanical integration. The module can also do well in a range of environmental settings. It leverages Lumentum Operations’ VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) technology to enable sensing in a wide range of lighting conditions. It also comes pre-programmed with operating modes that cover both long and short ranges.

Key Features and Specifications Include:

1024 × 1024 ToF imager with 3.5 μm × 3.5 μm pixels
75 × 75 degrees FOV
Imager lens subassembly with 940nm optical band-pass filter
Illumination subassembly with eye safety support
4-lane MIPI CSI-2 Tx interface (1.5 Gbps per lane)
4-wire SPI and 2-wire I2C serial interfaces for programming and operation control
NVM (Flash) for module boot-up sequence
Power regulators for local imager and illumination rails
Calibrated modes at 1024 × 1024 and 512 × 512 resolutions
0.4m to 4m depth range
± 3 mm depth accuracy
Dimensions: 42mm x 31mm x 15.1mm

The high-resolution module is suitable for machine learning applications ranging from industrial automation to logistics, healthcare and augmented reality. It offers a highly accurate +/-3mm iToF technology, enabling cameras and sensors to perceive 3D space in one megapixel resolution. Markets and Technology where it can be used include:

Design of industrial robots
Home theatre and gaming
Building safety and security solutions
Electronic test and measurement
Precision measurements
Disease management and wellness
Life science and medical instrumentation
Activity tracking and fall detection, etc.

The ADTF3175 module will be sold at $197 for 1000 units. Coming along with it is an open-source reference design for implementing the full system as well as access to the company’s sophisticated depth processing capabilities. Other useful details on the module can be found on the company’s website.

Innoscience : We’ve Got GaN

Posted on 18 July, 2022 by mixos

GaN power switching technology has been around for many years. By now, many design engineers are familiar with the technology and have redesigned their products to take advantage of GaN power devices’ key features such as fast switching, zero reverse recovery current, etc… By using GaN power devices engineers can create products that are much more efficient and smaller than what is possible with traditional Silicon technology.

With increased market demand, there is a need to provide high-volume GaN manufacturing to lower the price of GaN devices and provide security of supply. Innoscience has been addressing these matters from Day 1, and the company is stimulating GaN adoption by offering GaN in mass production at a competitive price. This means anyone can now benefit from GaN technology without paying a significant premium.

Innoscience is leading the way for GaN technology. We are the world’s largest Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM) entirely focused on GaN technology, with 1400 engineers (300 dedicated to R&D) who are entirely committed to manufacturing the best and most reliable GaN technology, using our own fabs that are fully dedicated to the production of 8-inch GaN-on-Si power devices.

We already provide 10,000 wafers per month. This will ramp up to 14,000 8-inch wafers per month later this year, and 70,000 wafers per month by 2025.

In short: we’ve got GaN devices from 30V to 150V and up to 650V, and we’ve got lots of them.

Innoscience delivers high-performance and high-reliability GaN power devices that can be used in the most diverse applications. These include cloud computing, electric vehicles (EV) and automotive, portable devices, mobile phones, chargers and adapters.

New Ultrasonic Transceivers Feature IP Ratings and Higher Frequencies

Posted on 13 July, 2022 by mixos

CUI Devices’ Sensors Group today announced the expansion of its ultrasonic sensors product line with a range of new ultrasonic transceiver models. Featuring ingress protection ratings of IP67 or IP68 and high frequency ratings up to 400 kHz, these ultrasonic transceivers boast industry-best lead times and are ideal for applications subject to moisture and environmental contaminants.

Summary

Product name: CUSA-TR Series
Availability: Stock to 6 weeks
Possible users: Ultrasonic sensor applications subject to moisture and contaminants
Primary features: IP67 or IP68 ratings, frequencies up to 400 kHz
Cost: $3.49 per unit at 100 pieces through distribution

The ultrasonic transceiver models carry expanded beam angles from 7 up to 80 degrees, distance ratings from 0.03 up to 15 meters, and operating temperature ranges from -40 up to 85°C. Housed in compact, aluminum cases, these ultrasonic transceivers also offer through hole, wire leads, and wire leads with connector mounting styles. With combined transmit and receive functions in a single package, engineers can benefit from a simplified ultrasonic sensor solution for distance measurement, object detection, and proximity sensing.

CUI Devices’ ultrasonic transceivers are available immediately with prices starting at $3.49 per unit at 100 pieces through distribution. Please contact CUI Devices for OEM pricing.

For helpful resources and tools on ultrasonic sensors, check out our Resource Library which houses a range of blog posts, videos, and more.

Canonical’s Ubuntu Core 22 for IoT Devices Is Now Available for Download

Posted on 12 July, 202212 July, 2022 by Emmanuel Odunlade

Canonical, a privately held company and partner with leading silicon and hardware companies like Advantech and Lenovo, has announced a new version of an operating system for nearly all public cloud workloads and emerging categories of smart gateways, self-driving cars, and advanced robots.

The robust and fully containerized Ubuntu Core 22 from Canonical, optimized for IoT and embedded devices, is now available for download.

“Our goal at Canonical is to provide secure, reliable open-source everywhere – from the development environment to the cloud, down to the edge and to devices,” said Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical. “With this release, and Ubuntu’s real-time kernel, we are ready to expand the benefits of Ubuntu Core across the entire embedded world,” Mark added

The Ubuntu Core 22 introduces support for real-time computing in robotics and industrial applications. It is aimed at helping manufacturers deal with the challenges of deploying devices on time and within budget.

The company also provides enterprise security support and services to commercial users of the operating system. Customers benefiting from their 10 years of experience with security maintenance of kernel, OS, and application-level code are already feeling satisfied with it. Brad Kehler, COO at KMC Controls had this to say. “KMC Controls‘ range of IoT devices are purpose-built for mission-critical industrial environments. Security is paramount for our customers. We chose Ubuntu Core for its built-in advanced security features and robust over-the-air update framework. Ubuntu Core comes with 10 years of security update commitment which allows us to keep devices secure in the field for their long life. With a proven application enablement framework, our development teams can focus on creating applications that solve business problems.”

The Core 22 can be best described as one that is extremely secure, resilient, and low-touch. Advanced security features include secure boot, full disk encryption, secure recovery, and strict confinement of the OS.

The Ubuntu Core 22 also has:

Validation sets to permit a set of snap revisions to be installed and updated together
Ability to migrate devices from Ubuntu Core 20 to Ubuntu Core 22
Quota groups to set CPU and memory resource limits per grouped snap services
MicroK8s support for an easily deployed, streamlined, embedded Kubernetes experience
Initial MAAS & cloud-init support
Factory reset option to autonomously restore a device to its initial state

Additional information on the Ubuntu Core 22 can be found on the company’s website. Hopefully, we will start seeing a series of blog posts that drives deep into the features of the OS.

Bluetooth LE CC2340 Featuring Best-in-class Standby Current and Radio-Frequency Performance Enables High-quality Bluetooth LE at an Affordable Price

Posted on 12 July, 2022 by Emmanuel Odunlade

Dallas Texas Instruments (TI) has announced a new family of wireless microcontrollers that allows you to quickly and easily add Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) to almost any application. The new SimpleLink CC2340 wireless MCUs offer high-quality RF and power performance backed by expert technical support. With a wide operating temperature range of -40ºC to 125ºC, an increased memory, longer battery life, and a lesser standby current, the MCUs enable broader adoption of BLE technology across many everyday applications such as industrial sensors, medical laboratory devices, and outdoor environments such as EV charges or smart meters.

“I am grateful for the contributions of our membership in delivering innovative solutions that benefit the Bluetooth ecosystem and help broaden the adoption of Bluetooth technology,” says Mark Powell, CEO of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). “Industrywide, 5 billion Bluetooth® enabled devices are forecast to ship in 2022. The commitment and involvement of Bluetooth SIG members like Texas Instruments allow Bluetooth technology to meet the growing demands for enhanced wireless connectivity in a wider range of applications.”

The latest addition to the SimpleLink portfolio which provides innovative connectivity solutions to the industrial, automotive and electronics markets, offers connectivity solutions to your design needs.

“The new MCUs will provide high-quality RF and power performance at an affordable price,”

said Marian Kost, TI’s Vice President and General Manager of Connectivity.

Specifications Include:

Flash memory of 256KB for CC2340R2 and 512KB for CC2340R5 (gives exceptional flexibility for engineers and ample space for application code)
36KB of RAM
Standby Current of less than 830 nA (about 40% lower than competing devices; helps extend battery life for up to 10 years on a coin cell battery in wireless applications)
Shelf life of 18 to 24 months
2 weeks of active Bluetooth LE operation on a coin cell battery
Output power range of up to +8 dBm (this is about the highest among competing Bluetooth LE wireless MCUs; allows for expansion of RF performance and connection range)
Has a low power consumption in sleep mode
Has wireless protocol support
Integrated RF balun (allows for a simpler design with fewer external components).

The MCUs are expected to be in volume production in the first half of next year. Pricing for the CC2340 family is said to start at $0.79 which is a relatively low price compared to competing devices. This will make it affordable for engineers and developers to add Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity to more products easily. Other useful details on the Bluetooth LE CC2340 can be found on the product page or the company’s website.

SIM-V is a High-Performance RISC-V Simulator

Posted on 12 July, 2022 by Saumitra Jagdale

RISC-V, an open-source instruction-set architecture based on RISC instructions is projected to be the architecture of the future. As RISC-V architecture evolves, there is a need for a high-performance RISC-V simulator. MachineWare, a Germany-based startup known for its high-speed instruction set simulators, has unveiled SIM-V, a RISC-V simulator. This simulator allows developers to interactively debug even the most complex designs without requiring actual hardware.

Being MachinWare’s flagship product, SIM-V blends an immensely strong simulation experience with great customizability for every application varying from tiny embedded devices to large supercomputers. This simulator enables developers to test software stacks in real-time including Kernel OS, Java virtual machines or rich graphical environments, and other complex user-space applications. It offers less execution time, saves compute resources, and fosters developers to work fast.

SIM-V Variants

In order to perfectly match the user’s requirements, MachineWare offers two specialized SIM-V variants. The two variants are SIM-V Compute and SIM-V Edge.

SIM-V Compute

SIM-V Compute aims for designing and developing 64bit RISC-V systems. These systems are mainly focused to execute complex software stacks with a rich OS and powerful APIs. This simulator makes it simple to detect hard-to-find bugs and other software issues.

Features of SIM-V Compute:

SIM-V Compute interacts with developer-friendly industry-standard debugging tools in addition to its extensive introspection and debugging capabilities. As a result, a user may readily identify bugs and other security glitches inside the software stack.
It provides smooth operation and an interactive user experience while simulating complex software stacks.
Due to its configurable architecture, a developer may combine different processor designs to develop a multi-core system without degrading the performance.
Integration of SIM-V has become easy with the support of the SystemC TLM-2.0 standard (IEEE 1666-2011).

SIM-V Edge

Small, embedded devices living at the cloud’s edge characterize the modern world. These devices rely on interconnectivity to function effectively but also they are more likely to face security issues. It makes designing and developing a secure 32-bit RISC-V edge computing device convenient.

Features of SIM-V Edge:

With this variant, a developer may quickly interface a wide range of virtual and physical hardware.
A developer can discreetly monitor and track the hardware condition during the operation.
It includes a fault injection mechanism for locating major software defects and security glitches.
The support of SystemC TLM-2.0 standard (IEEE 1666-2011) allows easy integration of SIM-V Edge.

Technologies Powering the High-Performance SIM-V

Using MachineWare’s innovative core technology, SIM-V provides maximum performance and seamless model integration. This powerful RISC-V simulator is based on MachineWare’s open-source SystemC modelling library VCML and also the fast and flexible instruction set simulation framework FTL.

VCML (Virtual Components Modeling Library)

VCML is MachineWare’s free and open-source (Apache 2.0) SystemC TLM-2.0 modeling library. It comprises a set of off-the-shelf models for frequently utilized components like buses, memory, timers, and I/O controllers such as Ethernet, PCI/e, and VIRTIO. VCML enables simple integration into current setups and SystemC platform models, with tracing, analysis, and scripting tools.

FTL (Fast Translator Library)

FTL is MachineWare’s approach for delivering high-performance, retargetable, and functional Instruction Set Simulators (ISSs). This enables easy customization of the simulator to incorporate custom-tailored RISC-V instruction set extensions or even construct entirely unique instruction set simulators for any microprocessor architecture.

The managing director and co-founder of MachineWare, Lukas Jünger commented on the aim of the robust simulator in a press release

“Our objective is to provide RISC-V software developers with the tools they require to produce safe and secure software stacks on time and without glitches.”

The technologies powering SIM-V makes it one of the high-performance simulator. Coming with a best-in-class high simulation engine along with a rugged architecture, it allows a developer to perform smooth operations. For more information on the library or the SIM-V variants visit the official webpage.

Espressif ESP32-S3 BOX AI voice development kit for smart IoT devices

Posted on 12 July, 2022 by Abhishek Jadhav

Espressif Systems recently introduced an AI voice development kit built around the ESP32-S3 system-on-chip for monitoring smart IoT devices– ESP32-S3-BOX. The hardware platform has a touch screen controller to provide human-computer interaction that can control various sensors and smart devices. With the increasing adoption of voice assistant-based smart devices to control the surrounding environment, Alexa and Google Home have seen widespread community support. However, the Espressif ESP32-S3-BOX is different from the cloud-native voice services, as the hardware platform has several onboard modules and a rich set of peripherals as well for easy interaction with these smart IoT devices.

As the name suggests, ESP32-S3-BOX is built around Espressif’s in-house ESP32-S3 system-on-chip featuring XTensa LX7 microcontroller clocked with a frequency of 240MHz. The ESP32-S3 SoC comes with integrated 2.4GHz IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 (Low Energy) wireless connectivity. The ESP32-S3 system-on-chip also supports high-speed octal SPI flash storage and PSRAM with configurable data and instruction cache. One of the key highlights of ESP32-S3 is that it has support for vector instruction to provide acceleration for neural network computing and signal processing workloads.

Espressif System ESP32-S3-BOX is capable of running its in-house audio front-end algorithm and ESP-Skainet, an offline voice-assistant SDK, along with the Alexa-for-IoT SDK to provide enhanced offline and online voice functionalities. Espressif audio front-end algorithm is a high-performance audio algorithm to enable voice user interface and provide the flexibility to build low-cost voice-assisted applications. The software algorithm is recognized by Amazon as a “Software Audio Front-End” solution for Alexa built-in devices. The voice-optimized solution can comfortably operate with ESP32-S3.

Three key features delivered by the Espressif audio front-end algorithms are acoustic echo cancellation, blind source separation, and noise suppression. The acoustic echo cancellation is designed to remove echoes from the audio input through a microphone. The blind source separation algorithm uses multiple microphones to detect the direction of the coming audio which helps in improving the quality of desired audio source in a noisy environment. The noise suppression algorithm works on a single-channel audio signal to eliminate unwanted non-human noise to improve the audio signal that needs to be processed.

Another key software functionality that ESP32-S3-BOX is designed with is the ESP-Skainet, an intelligent voice assistant that supports the Wake Word Engine and Speech Commands Recognition. Espressif wakes word engine, WakeNet is designed to provide high performance and a low memory footprint wake word detection algorithm for users. This will give IoT devices the ability to always wait for wake words. On the other hand, Espressif’s speech command recognition model, MultiNet, is designed to provide flexible offline speech commands to smart IoT devices. The model allows the user to easily add custom speech commands to eliminate the need to train the model again.

ESP RainMaker, a complete system to build AIoT products with minimum coding, is also available on the ESP32-S3-BOX and can be used to configure GPIOs and offline commands to provide control via phone applications or voice assistants. Apart from the flagship ESP32-S3-BOX, the manufacturers have also launched another simplified version of the AI voice development kit, ESP32-S3-BOX-Lite. The hardware platform is very similar but without the capacitive touch panel and mute buttons. In addition, the ESP32-S3-BOX-Lite comes with three function buttons that can be customized by the user.

The manufacturer has provided all technical resources, including hardware reference design and user guides for public availability. The hardware platform can also be purchased on Amazon for US-based customers, and AliExpress and Adafruit for the rest of the world.

Actinius Icarus is a cellular IoT board with Nordic Semi nRF9160 SiP

Posted on 12 July, 202212 July, 2022 by Abhishek Jadhav

Amsterdam-based embedded device manufacturer Actinius has launched a cost-effective cellular IoT board in a feather wing form factor, Icarus, built around the Nordic Semi nRF9160 modem and combines LTE-M and NB-IoT connectivity. Adafruit Feather boards have been very popular due to their small form factor and community support. There have been several other manufacturers other than Adafruit who decided to develop their custom development boards in the same form factor. Actinius Icarus comes with eSIM options for internet data right out of the box and a nano-SIM connector, which is very rare in the developing IoT ecosystem.

Actinius Icarus, as mentioned earlier, is based on the Nordic Semi nRF9160 modem, which is a low-power system-in-package that comes with wide-range connectivity. The Nordic Semi nRF9160 SiP features an Arm Cortex-M33 application processor, which is responsible for running different workloads. Full-modem SiP is an energy-efficient solution for cellular IoT applications supporting both LTE-M and NB-IoT. The application processor is equipped with 1MB of flash storage and 256kB of memory, making the application development seamless on a single device. The incorporated Arm CryptoCell security features offer cryptographic and security resources to protect the IoT application from various attack threats.

There also comes a low-power 3-axis accelerometer, general-purpose button, RBG LED, battery charging and measurement. The board supports various serial communication protocols, including I2C, UART, SPI, and I2C with EasyDMA. There are 18 GPIOs and up to 6x 12-bit ADC and up to 4x PWM units. The Actinius Icarus can be powered using multiple power sources, including LiPo charging with MPPT, and power headers. Importantly, the hardware platform does not come with an antenna and a uFL LTE antenna which is required to connect to a cellular network.

Features of Actinius Icarus IoT Board:

Cellular connectivity: As a cellular IoT board, the Actinius Icarus needs to support various connectivity options, and the hardware platform does not fail to do so. Actinius Icarus supports NB-IoT and LTE Cat-M1 global coverage.
Multiple power sources: There are multiple power sources the board supports. The LiPo battery gives the flexibility to be deployed in critical remote IoT applications.
Free LTE-M and NB-IoT data: The board includes an eSIM with 10MB of free data for three months for the developer to get started with the board. After the trial period, the developer can choose to get a subscription on Actinius.io or get a nano-SIM.
Software capabilities: Icarus IoT board will be packaged with the pre-programmed latest modem firmware from Nordic. MCUboot, a secure bootloader for 32-bit microcontrollers, provides options for uploading the firmware to the board using a USB port and Actinius programmer application. The MCUBoot can also be used in combination with Zephyr RTOS on the nRF9160 SiP. Another software support that comes along with the cellular IoT board is the Actinius Asset Tracker Application Firmware, which can transmit data such as accelerometer, battery, and GPS data.

If you are interested in more information, consider visiting the official product page where you can purchase the hardware for €112,95 excluding VAT. The manufacturer has also provided detailed documentation to get started with Actinius Icarus IoT board.

Giveaway of 3 x Electrical Engineer Cheatkards – CANCELED

Posted on 12 July, 202224 September, 2022 by Emmanuel Odunlade

I’m definitely not the only one that thinks PCB rulers are awesome. I grab one every chance I get, events, gift bags, etc., and I may have too many of them right now, but don’t blame me, they carry those minute but important information and drastically reduce the time you spend “Googling” or flipping the pages of that EE text. So you will probably understand my skepticism, mixed with curiosity when I came across the CheatKard by Nerdonic, and the claims of it being better than the ruler, and boy was I surprised. It has quickly become a tool I think everyone should have and we will be giving away 3 units, yup, for free. More details at the end of the article.

Launched via a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter last year, The CheatKard is arguably the most concise electrical electronics engineering quick reference tool out there. It features Measurement references, Schematic Symbols, SMD Footprints, Laws & Theory, PCB design reference helps, and a Component value calculator, amongst others, all packed on gold plated cards no bigger than a credit card and bonded together by a key ring.

Measurement references

For measurements, the CheatKard has 16+ measurement references that help you quickly check and determine things like AWG wire gauge/diameter/electrical resistance, Font sizes, Surface mount (SMD) pin pitch gauge, Through-hole (THT) pin pitch gauge, 1mm/1cm square, trace width/amp gauge, PCB copper thickness Electrical/Number/Units conversion, and perform regular measurements (CM & INCH), among others.

100+ Schematics symbols

The same wide range of cheats and quick lookups exists for different aspects of electronics design, with diverse component symbols, their PCB footprints, and diverse other information that come in handy during board design. CheatKard has 100+ Schematics symbols for diverse types of Power Sources, Ground, Diodes, Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors, Optoelectronics Components, Transistors, Transformers, Logic Gates, Relays, Opamps, Motors, Crystal Oscillators, etc., and lookup cheats to quickly and easily determine their values/ratings, especially for components like resistors and capacitors.

PCB Footprints

If you, like me, sometimes forget what physical size the SMD component size description numbers actually translate to (especially the old, rarely used ones) when designing PCBs, then you are in luck, as the Footprint card on CheatKard comes with an exhaustive list (132+) and physical representation of different types of footprints, from BGA to SOT23, SOIC to MicroMELF, TSOP and various variations amongst others.

Laws and Theory

The feeling I get with the CheatKard is a tool that is useful for everyone (the professionals, the Nerds, and Tech heads, as well as the hobbyists and DIYers) at every stage of electronics design/engineering, you have dimensions you have schematics symbols, you have footprints, PCB design references, and last but not the least, Laws and theory. Yeah, I know you may never forget ohms or Kirchoff’s (or Coulombs. Lenz’s, Faraday’s, and others covered by CheatKard) laws, but you got to agree that sometimes there is a skip, and it is nice to get to them without having to whip out your phone to Google or start flipping the pages of that giant EE reference book.

To learn more about the Cheatkard, you can check out the crowdfunding released on Kickstarter.

more information: https://nerdonic.com

Giveaway to Electronics-Lab.com visitors

Now to the giveaway. As mentioned earlier, we will be giving away 3 x Cheatkards to three lucky users, well just because they are awesome and so are we, and all you need to do to participate and win is to drop a comment stating what tiny electronics design reference you always struggle to remember. Let’s see how many people are in the same shoes as you!

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