Author Archives: steve bush

99.3% efficiency from soft-switched 100kW electric vehicle traction inverter

Silicon Valley start-up Pre-Switch is claiming >99.3% efficiency at 100kHz and 100kW from its 200kW space vector modulated automotive traction inverter design, which uses 18x 35mΩ SiC mosfets in its three-phase bridge. The company’s topology, ‘called auxiliary resonant commutated pole’, is soft-switched to save switching losses, using a separate bank of relatively-small carefully-timed silicon IGBT series ...

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Piezo contact microphone picks up voice through bone

Vesper of Massachusetts is claiming high fidelity for a MEMs piezo microphone that picks up the vibration of the user’s voice through the skull. Inside is the mems, an amplifier and a power regulator. Called VA1200, the company describes it as “the world’s first analogue piezoelectric voice accelerometer. Unlike a traditional microphone, the VA1200 is ...

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5V data line protection for 0.37pF

Protecting USB and HDMI connections in commercial and automotive applications is the aim of Vishay’s VBUS05M2-HT5 bidirectional symmetrical (BiSy) two-line ESD protection diode. Supplied in a 1 x 1.1 x 0.45mm DFN1110-3A package with wettable flanks for automated optical inspection, it typically offers only 0.37pF of additional load (0.45pF maximum). “Due to its short leads and ...

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Touch controlled for mid-sized industrial displays

Data Modul is aiming at industrial displays from 12.1 to 23.8in with a projected capacitive (PCap) touch controller PCB built around Microchip’s TD series of touch controller chips. The mXT2952TD touch controller board is compatible with Data Module’s earlier mXT2952T2, but includes differential mutual sensing to increase signal-to-noise ratio. “Neither thick gloves up to 5mm nor ...

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Need an AEC-Q103 qualified MEMS microphone?

Infineon is claiming a first: AEC-Q103 qualification for a MEMS microphone. It is the IM67D130A, which operates over -40°C to +105°C and has an acoustic overload point (AOP) of 130dB SPL which “allows the microphone to capture distortion-free audio signals in loud environments. Because of that, it can be placed inside or outside of the vehicle”, ...

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Bat ear bio-mimicry locates sound source to half a degree

A single twanged rubber bat ear, backed by artificial intelligence, is enough to locate the direction from which a sound arrived to within half a degree, according to researchers at Virginia Tech. “I have long admired bats for their uncanny ability to navigate complex natural environments based on ultrasound and suspected that the unusual mobility ...

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32bit DAC for Hi-Fi

Rohm has announced a 32bit mono/stereo Hi-Fi DAC, claiming for it a typical signal to noise ratio of 130dB and -115dB THD+noise. Called BD34301EKV, it can accept PCIM inputs from 32 to 768kHz and DSD at 2.8, 5.6, 11.2 or 22.4MHz. FIR filters are provided for: PCIM sharp roll-off, PCIM slow roll-off and DSD. The two outputs ...

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Haptic touch display activated by LEDs

LEDs could be used to deform and vibrate a haptic touch display, according to researchers at Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). Proving the concept, the team made a 3 x 3 matrix with nine 10 x 10mm vibrating units (touchels perhaps?). Its mechanism involves a plastic bi-morph layer – the two-dimensional polymer equivalent of a ...

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Wireless-to-DALI Gateway specification from DALI Alliance

The DALI Alliance has specified wireless-to-DALI gateways to link existing DALI wired products with Bluetooth mesh or Zigbee wireless ecosystems. “Wireless to DALI gateways provide the flexibility to incorporate DALI luminaires and other DALI devices into the control network, so it becomes straightforward to add lighting capabilities alongside the other features of the wireless ecosystem,” ...

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Compact air quality particulate sensor detects PM10, PM2.5 and PM1

Panasonic is aiming at indoor air quality monitoring with a particulate matter sensor based on laser scattering. “SN-GCJA5 features an innovative optical sensor assembly to provide reliable operation over a long lifetime while accurately detecting particles as small as 0.3µm,” according to Farnell, which is stocking the sensor. It has an “optimised air pathway structure ...

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