More than lighting: Rutronik shows innovative approaches with UV LEDs

For industry, medicine and public infrastructure: The use of UV LEDs offers new approaches in the fields of sterilization, deep cleaning of air and water, agriculture and industrial manufacturing. The ultraviolet A-rays are suitable for use in vertical farming, for example, while the extremely high-energy UVC rays are successfully used against harmful micro-bacteria and viruses.

Effective against multi-resistant pathogens

Bacteria, viruses, spores and germs absorb 265 – 280nm light emitted by UVC LEDs. As a result, their DNA/RNA bonds are broken so that reproduction is no longer possible. Especially when used against multi-resistant microorganisms, UVC LEDs are the optimal solution. This also applies to situations that require comprehensive surface or water disinfection – without the use of chemicals or thermal disinfection – as in drinking water treatment.

For better air and solid connections

A photo catalysis (= chemical reaction triggered by light), which is stimulated by UVA energy with 365~385nm, is used to decompose bacteria, viruses, harmful gases or odours, for example in air purification.

UV curing, quite well known by nail studios, is a process in which ultraviolet light initiates a photochemical reaction that produces a stable polymer network. It is mainly used when rapid curing is required, for example in printing processes, coating, decoration, stereo lithography or the assembly of components.

The well-known advantages of LED technologies such as long service life, consistent quality, no environmentally harmful heavy metals, low power consumption and voltage and RoHS conformity are of course also available for UV LEDs.

Support on the way to innovation 

„Rutronik has an extensive portfolio of well-known LED manufacturers. In order to select the optimum product for individual requirements, our highly qualified product managers are on hand – digitally and in persona“, explains Shirley Coblenzer, Senior Manager Product Marketing Opto. „In addition, interested parties can also request product samples in order to test the use of the UV LED at their leisure and in the planned environment“.

customers from the beginning of the design phase to the final implementation. For TDK, presenting the Gold Award is therefore a sign of appreciation of our partner Rutronik for our successful cooperation.“

The entire Rutronik portfolio of LED technologies is available at www.rutronik24.com.

Mouser Electronics Now Offering Full UWB (formerly Decawave) Portfolio from Qorvo

Mouser Electronics, Inc., an authorised global distributor of Qorvo products, is pleased to announce that Qorvo’s complete line of ultra-wideband (UWB) technology products — formerly Decawave — is now available to order on the Mouser website. Qorvo’s UWB product portfolio includes pioneering Impulse Radio UWB technology, which allows for centimetre accuracy distance/location measurement and secure low-power, low-latency data communication in automotive, mobile, industrial, and consumer Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Qorvo, a leading provider of innovative RF solutions that connect the world, recently acquired Decawave, a pioneer in UWB technology and provider of UWB solutions for mobile, automotive and IoT applications. Decawave UWB products have successfully been deployed in more than 40 verticals, ranging from industrial automation to logistics, hospitals, cars, home robots, connected home, and sports. Decawave joined Qorvo as the Ultra-Wideband Business Unit (UWBU) within Qorvo Mobile Products.

Qorvo’s line of UWB technology products, now available at Mouser, includes the DW1000 radio IC and two modules built around the DW1000 IC. The DW1000 UWB transceiver IC is the world’s first single-chip wireless transceiver based on UWB techniques. The IC enables engineers to develop cost-effective real-time locating system (RTLS) solutions with precise indoor and outdoor positioning to within 10 cm. Compliant to IEEE802.15.4-2011, the IC supports data transfer at rates up to 6.8 Mbps.

The DWM1000 module integrates the DW1000 IC, an antenna, and power management and clocking components to simplify design integration with a wide variety of microcontrollers. The module supports time-of-flight (ToF) and time-difference-of-arrival (TDoA) location schemes in RTLS and wireless networking applications such as agriculture, building control, factory automation, and healthcare.

Qorvo’s DWM1001 module combines the DW1000 IC, a Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832 system-on-chip (SoC), a 3-axis accelerometer, and integrated antennas to create a solution that minimises RF and hardware design requirements. For development, Mouser offers the DWM1001-DEV, which includes the DWM1001 module, battery connector and charging circuit, LEDs, buttons, Raspberry Pi-compatible connectivity, and USB connector. In addition, the board comes with J-Link OB adding debugging and Virtual COM Port capabilities.

For more information on Qorvo UWB technology products, visit https://eu.mouser.com/new/qorvo/qorvo-uwb-technology/.

To learn more about Qorvo, go to https://eu.mouser.com/manufacturer/qorvo/.

IDS extends Ensenso N 3D camera series

The Ensenso N-Series is a compact and robust 3D camera system designed specifically for 3D applications in robotics and automated series production. Thanks to IP65/67 protection, it is also well-suited for use in harsher environments. The camera family is now being expanded by the new N40 and N45 models. They feature a novel design both inside and outside. Lightweight and with rounded edges, they open up new application possibilities, for example in collaborative robotics.

The housing of the new Ensenso N40/N45 3D cameras is made of fibre-reinforced plastic – resulting in the lightest stereo vision cameras with Gigabit Ethernet in the IDS product range. When mounted on a robot arm, for example, this means less stress on the robot mechanics. The cameras also minimise the risk of injury thanks to their rounded edges. As a result, they also excel in collaborative use with human colleagues. Furthermore, the housing meets the requirements of protection class IP65/67 and is effectively protected against dirt, dust and water spray.

Electronics have also been revised for the new 3D cameras: The improved infrared projector enables higher light output and has an optimized heat management. This results, among other things, in better data quality or higher clock rates. The projector is optionally available with blue illumination in the visible range (465 nm) or with infrared illumination (850 nm).

The new models each include two monochrome CMOS sensors (global shutter, 1280 x 1024 pixels) and are equipped with screwable GPIO connectors for trigger and flash. Power-over-Ethernet allows data transfer and power supply to be realised even over long cable distances. The Ensenso selector on the IDS website helps customers to choose the right camera model.

A new stereo matching process, which is available as standard for all models when using the Ensenso SDK 3.0, also ensures particularly detailed point clouds. “PatchMatch” works extremely effectively with a large distance range at different object distances and without significant effects on the execution speed of the algorithm. This benefits, for example, applications in which large volumes are to be captured in the shortest possible time.

Further information: https://en.ids-imaging.com/ensenso-3d-camera-n-series.html

Non-flammable, efficient and fast-charging lithium-ion 18650 batteries in mass production Q1 2021

Nanotech Energy Inc. announced that beginning in the first quarter of 2021, the company will mass produce non-flammable, efficient, and fast-charging lithium-ion 18650 Batteries. These cell-type batteries are used in devices including, but not limited to, laptop computers, cordless power tools, safer electric vehicles, telecommunications, aerospace, and military applications. The Company has begun taking pre-orders.

Nanotech has perfected a high-performance graphene-powered battery that can withstand the volume changes of the battery electrodes during charge and discharge, greatly reducing the chances of an internal short circuit, which leads to a safe and more powerful battery. Furthermore, graphene batteries can reduce cost and weight with less robust safety housing and BMS systems.

Currently, most batteries that industries commonly use are produced with lithium-ion, which is universally recognized as a dangerous and hazardous material. In devices and products with built-in lithium batteries, such as cellular phones and laptops, pressure from parts surrounding the lithium batteries can cause damage to the wires around the batteries and lead to short circuiting. When lithium-ion batteries get shorted, the energy from the battery gets released suddenly, causing the temperature to rise hundreds of degrees within milliseconds – resulting in the battery catching fire. Similarly, there are thousands of lithium batteries that comprise the electric vehicle’s battery pack. If all of these batteries ignite at the same time – something that has happened – the explosion is massive.

For years the graphene industry has worked to improve the material produced so that it is optimal for most applications. Reports indicate that the properties of graphene are sensitive to the number of layers in the product, defects and contaminants. Considering structural features, the graphene family can be classified into three main categories: monolayer graphene, few to multi-layer graphene (2-10 layers) and graphite microplatelets (>10 layers). Although several graphene and graphene oxide products are currently available in the market, the majority of products are technically micro-platelets. With more than 90% of its content monolayers, Nanotech products are expected to open new markets for graphene.

Free Elektor Project: Inrush Current Limiter (Soft Starter) for AC and DC Loads

Inrush current/Switch-ON surge is the maximal instantaneous input current drawn by an electrical device when first turned on. Inrush current is much higher than the load’s steady-state current and that’s the source of many problems such as fuse blowing up, load failure, load’s lifetime reduction, sparks at the switch contacts … etc. The figure below shows the inrush current phenomenon captured on the Siglent SDS1104X-E oscilloscope. The long spike is clear. In this article, I tried to address this problem with an easy, however an effective solution. I have introduced two circuits for both AC and DC loads.

Free Elektor Project: Inrush Current Limiter (Soft Starter) for AC and DC Loads – [Link]

Hailo-8 Powered M.2 Accelerator Cards Claim to Beat The Competition

Hailo has introduced a new line of M.2 and mini-PCIe cards for Linux systems. These new modules are equipped with up to 26-TOPS Hailo-8 NPUs. These Neural processing unit (NPU) are a specially designed chip that implements all the necessary control and arithmetic logic necessary to execute machine learning algorithms, typically by operating on predictive models such as artificial neural networks (ANNs) or random forests (RFs). According to Hailo, the new M.2 M-key is a 2242 form-factor accelerator which is powered by Halio-8, for the first time in a mini-PCIe format. They claim it to be the world’s highest-performing AI M.2 module, winning by a large margin against Google Coral M.2 or AAEON AI Core cards.

The Hailo-8 M.2 AI Acceleration Module implements PCIe Gen3 x4. On the other hand, the mini-PCIe accelerator will offer the same NPU, but with PCIe Gen3 x1. The acceleration cards can run on any Linux-based system adding support for Windows in the near future. Hailo claims its 17 x 17mm Hailo-8 chip greatly outperforms Google’s Edge TPU and Intel’s Movidius Myriad X on a TOPS per watt basis. The new Hailo-8 can run better and faster AI semantic segmentation and object detection applications.

Benchmarks released by Hailo

Potential applications for these modules can be found in a smart city, self-driving car, home, and industrial security. Especially in those where multiple cameras and sensors are needed to be processed and analyzed on the go. The company has published some benchmarks to show its Hailo-8 M.2 module achieving 26 times higher frames per second AI performance than Myriad-X and 13 times higher than Edge TPU.

Hailo-8 M.2 AI Accelerator Card
Hailo-8 M.2 AI Accelerator Card

The new Hailo-8 uses a proprietary novel structure-driven dataflow architecture that achieves low-power memory access by implementing a distributed memory fabric combined with purpose-made pipeline elements. According to Hailo the data flow-oriented interconnect can adapt according to the structure of the neural network that enables high resource utilization.

More details about the Hailo-8 M.2 card can be found on the product page, as well as the announcement mentioning the upcoming mini PCIe card.

The new E variants of Intel Tiger Lake lineup and Adlink cExpress-TL

Intel has launched three embedded 11th gen, 10nm SuperFin fabricated Tiger Lake ULP3 “E” processors, keeping in mind the growing need for embedded applications. These new processors join with the earlier released nine Tiger Lake U-series ULP3 and lower-power Y-series ULP4 chips. Taking benefit from these new chips Adlink has now released a COM Express Compact Type 6 module which is called the cExpress-TL. It supports all three of the new “E” models plus a fourth, yet to be announced Celeron 6305E.

Adlink cExpress-TL

The Tiger Lake ULP3 lineup consists of at least seven new processors. These cover the latest three “E” Core models along with the unannounced Celeron 6305E, also there are three more rugged embedded variants with “RE” suffixes. The “E” stands to its end to indicate the “extended purchase availability” and a slightly lower base and Turbo frequencies than the similarly named ULP3 siblings without the “E” prefix. By lowering the base and turbo frequencies, they ensure a wider operating range of about 0 to 100ºC for the new Core i7-1185G7E.

Summary for the new four 11th Gen Tiger Lake ULP3 “E” series processors :

  • Core i7-1185G7E: quad-core with 1.2GHz (12W), 1.8GHz (15W), 2.8GHz (28W) and 4.4GHz Turbo; 96EU Iris Xe Graphics
  • Core i5-1145G7E: quad-core with 1.1GHz (12W), 1.5GHz (15W), 2.6GHz (28W) and 4.1GHz Turbo; 80EU Iris Xe
  • Core i3-1115G4E: dual-core with 1.7GHz (12W), 2.2GHz (15W), 3.0GHz (28W) and 3.9GHz Turbo; 48EU Iris Xe
  • Celeron 6305E: dual-core – other specs TBA

Intel also lists three other industrial “GRE” series processors, the Core i7-1185GRE, i5-1145GRE, and i3-1115GRE. These processors have the same specs and embedded features as their similarly named “E” counterparts. The sole features that take them apart from the “E” processors are that they add Intel Time Coordinated Computing (Intel TCC) and Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) networking features.

More information can be found about these new chips at their listing page and about the cExpress-TL at their product page.

Enabling 4K Ultra HD Capabilities Through iWave’s Zynq Ultrascale+ MPSoC Platform

The emergence of HDMI 2.0 and the widespread acceptance of this technology is making a deep impact on the multimedia and entertainment industry in our emerging economy. And the urge to support high-speed data transmission and ongoing advancements has made industries to focus on providing a diverse category of products that can support all necessary logic to deliver HDMI functionality.

The iWave’s Zynq® Ultrascale+™ MPSoC Platform supports HDMI 2.0 specifications such as bandwidth up to 18 Gbps, resolutions up to 4K @ 60 Hz, and various other key enhancements. Since it is backward compatible with the earlier version the user can integrate into existing systems with ease.

iWave’s ZU19/ZU17/ZU11 Zynq® Ultrascale+™ MPSoC development platform supports a wide range of interfaces from high speed to low speed that covers various multimedia interfaces, network interfaces, and storage devices. The combination of ARM® + Xilinx FPGA architecture presents a highly adaptive platform with high performance for multimedia applications. The System On Module(SOM) is equipped with Quad-core ARM Cortex A53 with CPU running at 1.5GHz, Dual Cortex R5 Real-Time processor running at 600MHz, ARM Mali 400MP2 Graphical Processing Unit, and up to 1143K logic elements. It has onboard 4GB DDR4 RAM with Error-correcting code for the Processing System(PS), dual 4GB DDR4 RAM for Programmable logic(PL), 8GB eMMC flash(expandable up to 128GB) for storing 4K UHD videos, and supports 12G SDI In/Out & HDMI 2.0 In/Out interfaces making it ideal for any 4K image, video or signal processing applications. Along with these it also offers SATA for extended storage via the M.2 expansion slot.

This module delivers an extensive set of peripherals such as 10G Ethernet, QSFP, FMC & FMC+ via IBERT design transceiver loopback, PMOD I/O’s, SFP+ via IBERT design from PL end and 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet support via GEM0 & GEM3, standard SD connector via SD1, USB2.0, CAN0, I2C0, UART0 as debug, USB3.0 via PS GTR, UART, UART1, PS JTAG, PCIe as the root port, presenting diverse options to the end-user towards various used cases.

Fig 1.0: ZU19/ZU17/ZU11 Zynq® Ultrascale+™ MPSoC development kit

To help users to create video solutions with HDMI interfaces, the platform is incorporated with pre-packaged subsystems for HDMI transmission and reception. The HDMI 2.0 TX subsystem is hierarchically packed for easy configuration in Vivado Integrated Design Environment(IDE) interface to create required hardware accordingly. With integrated modules such as Video Timing Controller & AXI4-Stream to video out bridge, allows the HDMI 2.0 TX subsystem to support AXI4 Stream-based video input for seamless performance with other Xilinx video processing IP cores. According to casino utan spelpaus experts, the AXI4-Stream video interface supports dual-pixel per clock with 8 bits, 10 bits, 12bits, and 16 bits per component for RGB, YUV color spaces. The subsystem allows the end-user to build an HDMI source device that negotiates with the targeted HDMI sink device for supported features and capabilities. Communication between the source device(s) and the sink device is implemented through the Display Data Channel(DDC) lines, which is an I2C bus included on the HDMI cable. The Separate PHY and Control layer provides the user flexibility to share GTs between Receive and Transmit. And the extended display identification data(EDID) allows an engineer to easily verify the flexibility of the sink.

For quick prototyping and time to market, iWave provides design engineering and manufacturing services around the Zynq® Ultrascale+™ MPSoC platform to help customers to reduce design cycles and accelerate innovations. The Board Suppor Package for HDMI Input & HDMI Output that includes FPGA design and up-to-date software packages providing immense flexibility to the customer to validate the design for any multimedia applications. iWave also offers a comprehensive ecosystem around Zynq Ultrascale+ MPSoC platform with good technical support for hardware, software, and FPGA for the customer to quickly get started with the development of their product and solution.

More information on the Zynq® Ultrascale+™ MPSoC development platform can be found here.

iWave Systems is a well-established product engineering company that designs and manufactures high-performance FPGA modules based on the Zynq & Zynq MPSoC SoC series offering an extensive portfolio of FPGA System On Modules, Single-board computers, and FPGA IP cores. With 20+ years of diverse experience in the FPGA domain, iWave strives to transform your ideas into reality with a balance in performance, cost, and reliability.

For more information or inquiries, please write to mktg@iwavesystems.com or contact our Regional Partners.

New Arduino-Compatible HD Gaming Development Platform Leverages Bridgetek Graphic Controller Technology

Following the success of the original Gameduino, Excamera Labs now announces its successor – the Gameduino 3X Dazzler. This compact (83mm x 53mm x 20mm) Arduino-compatible shield features a Bridgetek BT815 embedded video engine (EVE) graphics controller with 32-bit internal color precision. Running at speeds reaching 1.1Gps, this takes care of all the graphics processing activities and can support up to 2000 sprites.

Alongside the EVE IC is a Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA (with 8MBytes of embedded flash), a 24-bit HDMI video interface, plus JTAG, SPI and UART I/Os. There is accommodation for a microSD memory card (with a 16GByte card supplied on certain package options) and a pair Wii Classic controller ports (again with the controllers being provided for some packages).

Thanks to the BT815, the new Gameduino can deliver 1280 x 720 pixel high-definition graphical content, as well as 48KHz stereo audio, to a large format display or TV screen. This translates into a much more immersive and enjoyable gaming experience. It also enables high-definition video playback at 30fps frame rates.

Gameduino is suitable for the development of compelling games, and various other multimedia projects, via C+. Alternatively, the CircuitPython open source programming language can be used. It has the capacity to deal with both 2D gaming projects and sophisticated 3D renderings. An array of project examples and helpful demos are available online to get aspiring game developers started. In addition to the Arduino-compatible shield, the new Gameduino can be offered as a streamlined core module too. This still has the graphic controller, programmable logic and HDMI capabilities, but allows easy integration into existing hardware.

The Gameduino 3X Dazzler crowdfunding campaign is already close to reaching its target. To get involved go to: https://www.crowdsupply.com/excamera/gameduino-3x-dazzler

TE Connectivity’s HTU31 High-Accuracy Humidity & Temperature Sensors for Harsh Environments

Nowadays, the requirements for industries such as medical, consumer electronics, industrial, and appliances force the manufacturers to come out with more efficient sensors, that also need to take into account environmental conditions and user expectations. The HTU31, by TE Connectivity, is an interesting, highly accurate digital sensor for relative humidity and temperature, ready to be deployed in harsh environmental conditions.

The HTU31, as described by TE Connectivity, “is one of the smallest and most accurate humidity sensors on the market”. With 20+ years of experience, they promise with this sensor fast response time, low hysteresis, high precision measurements and reliable performance even when the environmental conditions go to an extreme, regarding both temperature (-40 ºC to 125 ºC) and humidity (0% to 100% RH).

But what exactly are we looking at, when it comes to characteristics?

  • Typical accuracy ±2% RH and ±0.2 °C
  • Active current consumption of 450 µA, with sleep modes down to 0.05 µA
  • Application-friendly voltage range, from 3 V to 5.5 V (6 V peak)
  • Power dissipation as low as 3.78 µW (digital version) or 15 µW (analog version)
  • Fast response time
  • Compact 6-Pin DFN package (reflow solderable, compatible with automatic assembly procedures), measuring only 2.5mm x 2.5mm x 0.9mm. Lead free
  • Both digital (fast I2C interface with 2 configurable addresses) and analog interface versions
  • Quick recovery after long periods in the saturation phase
  • Full interchangeability with no calibration required in standard conditions
  • Fully calibrated, temperature compensated measurements
  • Qualified according to AEC Q100 Grade 1 standards

From what we have talked about, you may be wondering: quality does not come cheap! Well, you will rethink that, as both versions of the sensor come at a small price, as the digital (HTU31D) comes as low as $2.76 and the analog (HTU31V) is priced at $1.60. I would say it is a really good price point, for the value you are getting!

Regarding the applications, relative humidity and temperature sensors are some of the most popular and most used out there, either on your maker projects (of course, this package would require a PCB, which will take you longer, and not everyone has access to reflow ovens or hot air guns) or on professional products. Whether it is home appliances, medical, printing hardware, humidifiers, automotive, meteorology or environmental monitoring, this one has got you covered! And the flexibility of being able to choose between the analog or the digital version does come in handy.

What do you think? Is this something worth picking up, or do you still prefer another one from the wide range that exists out there? From what we have seen, we think this one is worth at least a try.

HTU31 mouser link: https://eu.mouser.com/Search/Refine?Ntk=P_MarCom&Ntt=133335575

TOP PCB Companies