DC/DC converters are devices that convert a DC source from one voltage level to another. They’re a common element of everything from satellites, hybrid energy systems, portable electronic devices, and many more applications because they provide stable operation, high efficiency, greater reliability and also, different voltage and current levels for the same PCB design. There are many…

Background: I had the pleasure of working with Yi Yao in the Multisim R&D team at National Instruments. Yi was always the go-to person in the office for complex PCB design questions. After that, he went on to co-found a Y Combinator startup called Per Vices, focused on software-defined radio. Currently, Yi is at Synaptive Medical, a…

Name: Nazmus Sahadat Company: Georgia Institute of Technology Role: Graduate Research Assistant Location: Atlanta, GA Hi Nazmus. Which tools do you use for circuit board design? Why? Nazmus: I use Allegro for work, and KiCAD for my fun projects. Allegro is a much better tool with lots of optimization options. They have almost everything I need, but it is expensive for an…

Sensing and controlling the intensity of heat present in a substance or object is a fundamental function of nearly every electronic application. A temperature sensor is a device used to measure the amount of heat energy generated by an object or system. These devices are usually implemented as RTDs (resistance temperature detectors), thermocouples or thermistors. When selecting a…

We’ve added new dates for our free webinar series – July 6th and July 20th. In these free webinars, our product manager Mike Tang will show how you can save hours on PCB design with SnapEDA. You’ll learn: How to download symbols & footprints How to create a private bill of materials (BOM) and batch…

Whether you’re building a wearable device, or an industrial system, chances are you’ll be integrating an accelerometer. Accelerometers are electromechanical devices that measure acceleration across one, or multiple, axes. Some common uses are to detect position, velocity, vibration, and to determine orientation (for example, to orient the display in your smartphone or tablet).  The most important factors to consider when…

Name Suresh Joshi Company Vicara Solutions Inc Role Principal Consultant Location Toronto, Canada   Hi Suresh. Which tools do you use for circuit board design? Why? Suresh: At my first start-up, we began by using Eagle Lite and KiCAD, because well…let’s be honest, they were free and we had no money. That doesn’t imply that they…

When selecting a Bluetooth solution for your designs, you might compare a processor and a module and think “well the Bluetooth processor is cheaper, so let’s go with that.” But the decision isn’t always so clear cut. We had the opportunity to interview Sam De Marco, a sales engineer at Laird Technologies, to get his opinion on the…