The new network LED Dimmer from Opto 22 uses pulse width modulation technology (PWM) to control brightness from 0-100 percent for 9-30 to control VDC constant voltage LED lighting assemblies such as lamps, bulbs, strips, ropes and bars. It can also be used for other resistive-type loads. (Source: Opto 22)
Cabe, Very surprising that serial communications wouldn't be a topic that everyone would be exposed to. But I guess it is simple enough that young engineers can get up-to-speed on their own if they need to
What works, works. From some current engineering students I know, serial is not a big focus at all. In fact, one of them had zero work with serial communication. Sad state of affairs indeed.
In a lot of vehicles today, the interior lights dim as you prepare to drive, or when leave the vehicle and close the door. I do wonder if LEDs have been able to do that up tp now. This technology would be important for those applications, I would think.
As you point out, Al, vehicle applications seem like a natural. I could see this being used in vehicle interiors. Do you happen to know if LED-based interior lights in vehicles use dimmers today?
Al, this is an interesting approach, and as you point out it is flexible and extensible. One thing it does bring to light (pun intended) is that controlling LEDs is much more complex than the systems they replace. On the other hand, with the electronics we have available now, it is not a problem to develop and integrate systems such as this.
A new battery design, which replaces lithium with abundant and low-cost elemental sulfur, is still in its nascent stages but shows real promise for giving batteries more energy potential.
PTC will offer a virtual desktop environment for its Creo product design applications, potentially freeing engineers to run them from remote desktops on a variety of operating systems and mobile devices.
The push to achieving more intelligent, integrated manufacturing is putting a strong focus on networking and connectivity as key enabling technologies.
Now that solar and wind harvesting technologies are a thriving market, researchers are seeking other environmentally related energy sources for which they can create harvesting devices.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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