High Precision Heat/Flow Meter

Maintaining the equipment at its top condition is one way to minimize cost of replacement and downtime during operation. Industrial motors are vital equipment in industrial plant that runs everyday and maintaining its condition using manual checking takes time and effort. The reference design being shown is a wireless motor monitor that remotely monitors the condition of motors. The main component MSP430FR5969 ultralow-power MCU is a mixed signal master controller that offers leading low power consumption, analog and digital integration, and easy to use interface that makes it suitable for wireless monitoring system. The MSP430FR5969 has the integration of Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FRAM) that enables it to combine fast read and write access of DRAM with lower power consumption. The reference design also has the CC2650 SimpleLink Multistandard Wireless MCU, which is a cost-effective 2.4Ghz RF device that is ideal for interfacing sensors, and collecting data autonomously while the system is in sleep mode. The TPL5100 nano-power timer is the external timer that wakes up the main component every 16 seconds. The TPL5100 can trigger wakeups at longer sleeps interval and has the maximum wakeup time of 18 minutes. The reference design also has the BQ25570 Ultralow-Power Harvester and Battery PMIC, which harvests energy from any source 100mV and powered by a lithium-ion cell battery. Read more

Simple Switcher Power Module

The power modules are widely found in devices today, these are used in conversion of energy. The LMZ36002 is a synchronous buck power module that has a 2A DC-DC converter. It is capable of having a small footprint and a low profile design, while still able to adjust the key parameters to meet the required design. The designed circuit is an evaluation module for the LMZ36002, so it would have an easy to use platform in showing the correct usage and the performance of the device. It has a wide output voltage that can be adjusted from 2.5V to 7.5V. The switching frequency also can be adjusted from 200kHz to 1MHz. Read more

IO-Link Device Transceiver

The IO-Link is a compliant of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC 61131-9) standard. It is the standard for single-drop digital communication interface for small sensors and actuators. Furthermore, IO-link is a 24-V communications interface that allows smart sensors and actuators to exchange advanced configuration, status and diagnostics information using a powerful, yet simple protocol. It specifies point-to-point communication over a maximum distance of 20m using standard M5/M8/M12 connectors and 3/4/5 wire cables. The IO-Link masters provide communication over standard fieldbuses, such as Ethernet, RS485, etc., with any IO-Link device (smart sensor or actuator). Each master port provides both power and data over a single cable to each device. Read more

Battery Fuel Gauge

This reference design is a typical application for the bq28z610 Battery Fuel Gauge device. It is a 1 to 2 series Li-Ion/Li Polymer battery pack and protection solution, enabling independent charger control and cell balancing. The device provides a fully integrated pack-based solution with a flash programmable custom Reduced Instruction-Set CPU (RISC), safety protection, and authentication for 1- to 2-series cell Li-Ion and Li-Polymer battery packs. It also measures cell voltage and current simultaneously, and also measures temperature to calculate the information related to remaining capacity, full charge capacity, state-of-health, and other gauging parameters. Read more

Heat-Shrink Fabric for Industrial Wires

The manufacturing industries are used to have different types of motor in the operation. The motor plays an important role in the process because it provides convenience to operators. Majority of these motors used in the process are electrically powered, which some of these requires 3-phase supply or 2 single phase supply. These motor supplies are used to be in a control box that handle centralised splicings and connection of the electric motors. The connections of these motors are prone to mechanical strain due to the environmental condition inside the industry. This design features shrinkable fabric for wire protection. Read more

30W Stereo Audio Amplifier with Clipping Protection

This reference design features a 30W stereo audio amplifier that employs a motorized slide potentiometer to provide clipping protection. The PSM60-081A-103B2 is a half-watt, 10kΩ, 60mm, motorized slide potentiometer. It provides two built-in 10kΩ variable resistors labeled as line track and servo track. The line track variable resistor can be used for other purpose, while the servo track variable resistor can be used for tracking the position of the potentiometer lever. The built-in DC motor controls or adjusts the position of the potentiometer lever as well as the resistance of the line track and the servo track variable resistors. Read more

Dual Mode Battery Charger Circuit Using Adjustable Positive-Voltage Regulator

This dual mode battery charger is a simple electronic device that features the two essential modes of a battery charger. It has both the constant voltage and constant current characteristics which both prevents overcharging in batteries. The device specifically uses the Texas Instruments’ LM317L, an adjustable, 3 terminal, positive voltage regulator capable of supplying 100mA over an output voltage range of 1.25V to 32V. It is easy to use and requires only two external resistors to set the output voltage. Read more

FLORA as Wearable Pedometer

One of the devices used to monitor the progress of an exercise is the pedometer. This device is used to measure steps taken by an individual and determine the speed, distance and even calories burned to motivate them in getting fit. Present designs available in the market today uses accelerometer compared to the mechanical devices used in the early designs. This design uses the Flora v2 platform from Adafruit as the host controller for the system. It is built around the Atmega32u4 chip, which has built-in USB support. Read more