One clearly gets a sense, from all the stories recently on batteries, that portable power sources have become a gating factor for many of the things we'd otherwise be able to do easily. I'm not just talking about electric vehicles, where batteries are clearly THE gating factor. This applies to all manner of miniaturized electronics, as well as systems situated in hard to get at places (where it's difficult to recharge). Rising alongside all the work on batteries, we're seeing a ramp in energy capture technologies. I guess it's all part of the alternative energy arena. Hey, can I call it alt.eng?
Batteries are definitely the talk of the town given people's love affair with all-things electronics. Put this one in the out-there bucket: I just read about a Stanford University research team which invented a totally transparent lithium-ion battery because they want Apple to invent a see-through iPhone. Who knew?
As an electrical engineer (retired) and a casual flier of electric model airplanes, I have closely watched the development of Lithium Ion battery sources for models over the last 10 to 15 years. Lithium Ion batteries have finally made the dream of electric powered model airplane flight possible and, today, many of those in the hobby have switched over totally (I know that I have - no more glow fuel for me!).
Of course, there were some problems and the fire issue was (and still is) a very serious concern. The risk has been mitigated to some extent with better chargers, improved battery construction, smarter control devices between the battery and the motor(s), the use of different battery materials and a strong education campaign by the model industry.
There is still a ways to go and providing 'smart' batteries with more integrated control and safety circuits might be the way to proceed for the model industry. The downside is, of course, the cost increase for the battery pack and a question of standarization.
Overall an interesting marketing and engineering problem in a rapidly evolving field.
Yes, long overdue - Power management for Lithium Ion batteries, that is. My laptops, some brand new, in 'Stand-By' mode sometimes get so hot I can barely touch the back of the unit.
So the laptop is apparently converting stored energy from the battery into Heat!
I have to wonder, what the heck is this computer doing or attempting to do, that is so important, to generate all this heat, when I just told it to go into Standby...
So yes, these new chips and these new designs are welcome improvements...
Andrew Morris designed a circuit that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed.
New disc magnet motors fit into the design trend of stepping up to closed loop performance while maintaining the cost advantage of stepper motor technology.
At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
On April 21, NASA launched a novel project, putting into orbit three satellites that employ an off-the-shelf commercial smartphone as the control system.
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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