Digi-Key Electronics, a global electronic components distributor, announced that it has expanded its product portfolio by signing a U.S. distribution partnership with ICP DAS USA, providing Digi-Key customers with some of the widest selection of communication converters of any offering, including the conversion of CAN bus, BACnet, DeviceNet, EtherCAT and many other common protocols. This…
Hacking the crisis: Researchers invent a safer way of sharing ventilators
A potential shortage of respiratory ventilators gave birth to the idea of letting two or more patients share one ventilators. This involves splitting air tubes into multiple branches so two or more patients can be connected to the same machine. You can even find a YouTube video describing this practice. In late March, at least…
Hirokuni Hibi named president of NKK Switches of America
NKK Switches, a global designer, manufacturer and switch solution provider of innovative electromechanical switches, introduced Hirokuni (Hiro) Hibi as president of its North American operations. The appointment signifies the company’s commitment to providing enhanced engineered switch solutions and maintaining quality standards in the Americas. An experienced executive, Hibi spent 18 years in the Americas and…
Sager Electronics enhances thermal offering with addition of advanced thermal solutions
Sager Electronics, a leading North American distributor of Interconnect, Power and Electromechanical components and provider of value-add solutions, today announced the addition of Advanced Thermal Solutions (ATS) to its line card. ATS is a complete thermal solutions provider, offering a robust portfolio of thermal products and solutions. “We’re excited to partner with Sager Electronics and…
Hack the crisis: Open-source site helps engineers get organized to fight COVID-19
“While there are many initiatives around the globe to encourage scientific collaboration, there is unfortunately little coordination among these teams.” So says Frédéric Vacher, Head of Innovation for the 3DExperience Lab at Dassault Systèmes. Dassault created an online Open COVID-19 Community which is designed to be a place where engineers, designers and manufacturers worldwide can…
What the future holds or switching power supply technology
Though advances will continue, you probably won’t see the same degree of efficiency improvements that characterized the previous two decades. Prof. Dr. Werner Wöfle, Traco Power Solutions Over the past 40 years, the switching power supply has evolved from a 60-Hz transformer to a sophisticated high-frequency device. The evolution was primarily driven by the development…
What 9/11 truthers do during a pandemic
Teschler on Topic Leland Teschler • Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler Looking for something to do while sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic? Try dissecting the latest results from an outfit called Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth which looks at the collapse of WTC building 7 on 9-11-01. AE911Truth promotes the…
Surface-mount fuse clips come with Kapton tape
Keystone is now offering surface-mount fuse clips with Kapton tape as an option for their comprehensive line of on tape and reel packaging. The addition of the Kapton tape across the top surface of the SMT fuse clips allows for a more secure part picked-up by vacuum pick-and-place assembly systems. Kapton tape is currently being…
Are non-STEM courses the secret to good engineering?
Leland Teschler, Executive Editor Teschler on Topic [email protected] ON Twitter, @DW-LeeTeschler Most engineers who have cable are probably familiar with the original Mythbusters show which ran for 14 seasons on the Discovery Channel. It made celebrities out of the cohosts, Jamie Hyneman and Adan Savage, who used elements of the scientific method to test the…
Hack the crisis: That was fast! FDA begins approving modified bag resuscitators for use as ventilators
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun approving for use during the COVID-19 pandemic bag resuscitators that have been converted to respiratory ventilators. Late in March, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) that cleared the way for such modifications by eliminating a mandate that manufacturing facilities follow current good manufacturing practices (CGMP),…
NewAge Industries invests in new plastic hose manufacturing equipment
When NewAge Industries was founded in 1954, it didn’t make anything. The company was a distributor that purchased and resold plastic tubing, reinforced hose, fittings and clamps. It wasn’t until the early 1990’s that NewAge began manufacturing products. Extrusion – a method of forcing material through a die to make a certain shape – is…
Wall-mount enclosures for control units and network nodes
OKW has created a new version of its NET-BOX wall mount enclosures for control units and network nodes. The mounting points on the rear section of the enclosure are now pre-drilled ready for the wall mounting screws — making it quicker and easier to install the electronics device in situ. NET-BOX is a slim, elegant…
Hack the Crisis: Low-cost ventilator initiative will address COVID-19 issues
VentLife, a non-profit under the umbrella group the Giving Back Fund, has developed a novel mechanical ventilator specifically targeted to meet the needs of COVID-19 patients. Based on first principles, with input from over a dozen medical doctors, engineers, and entrepreneurs, the device has been designed to work effectively at a low cost. The VentLife…
Better way to field ventilators fast: Refurbish old machines
A shortage of respiratory ventilators in the COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to numerous well-meaning ventures that include assembly lines converted from autos to ventilators and a DIY ventilator open-source home-project craze. But neither of these approaches are likely to do much for getting ventilators fielded fast enough to help with flu patients. GM and…
Hack the Crisis: Open-source ventilator to battle COVID-19
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. says it has assembled an emergency ventilator inspired by the open-source MIT design to aid in the fight against COVID-19. MPS is applying its expertise in power management and motor controls toward a solution that can safely and easily automate a manual resuscitator when a full ICU ventilator may not be…
Newest shortage: Respiratory ventilator repair manuals?
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group says that many manufacturers or respiratory ventilators do not provide access to repair documentation, limiting who can repair the equipment. The advocacy group claims this practice discourages third-party medical repair companies or in-house medical engineers from trying to fix things. In that regard, USPIRG, which also sponsors a Right to Repair…
So you really want to manufacture ventilators. Here’s what you’ll have to do.
The shortage of respiratory ventilators has gotten a lot of engineers interested in how to make medical devices. Though requirements have been relaxed during the pandemic, there are still numerous hoops to jump through. On March 24, the Food and Drug Administration dropped some of the provisions to be met before firms can begin making…
CDC weighs DIY facemasks for the general public. Here’s the science behind mask materials.
It looks as though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may end up strongly suggesting that Americans cover their faces in public until the coronavirus pandemic plays out. The Washington Post reports the recommendations now being floated would call for the use of cloth coverings instead of hard-to-find surgical and N95 masks.…
Engineering/manufacturing capabilities help make a novel mechanical ventilator
When the Minneapolis StarTribune published an article (Macgyver Ventilator) informing the community of a local effort at the University of Minnesota to solve the urgent need for ventilators, design engineer Chad Sandell and CEO David Struyk agreed that Ironwood should offer to help. Less than 24 hours after sending their offer, the Coventor team responded…
DIY ventilators? Not unless there’s a zombie apocalypse.
Leland Teschler, Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @DW_LeeTeschler Teschler on Topic News reports of the Covid-19 virus have given a lot of space to the shortage of respiratory ventilators. The Society of Critical Care Medicine claims at least 950,000 U.S. patients could need ventilators but hospitals only have 160,000. One response to statistics like these…
Basics of deciphering electromagnetic interference
It pays to know how RF can potentially garble the reception of signals such as those for WiFi, Bluetooth, and radar sensors. We live in a world with an increasingly crowded radio frequency spectrum that is only likely to become more stuffed with RF signals. This is particularly true for the frequencies within the ISM…
Will Silicon Valley go the way of Cleveland?
Teschler on Topic Leland Teschler • Executive Editor [email protected] Students of economics will probably recall hearing in class that free trade lets countries specialize in what they do best, boosting income everywhere and creating gains for winners that exceed losses for losers. Fundamental to the free-trade theory is that workers who lose a job because…
How to torment your colleagues with statistics
Teschler on Topic Leland Teschler • Executive Editor [email protected] Here’s a quick way to make yourself unpopular and bruise egos among researchers in your field: Check the statistics in their research findings for errors. It turns out that researchers in many fields aren’t particularly good statisticians. So when they apply statistical tools to data they’ve…
Small plastic enclosures feature flat top for switches, push buttons, touch displays
OKW’s EVOTEC designer table-top electronic enclosures are now available in a new smaller 80 size – increasing the range to five plan sizes. Soft-contoured EVOTEC is elegant and ergonomic but tough enough for challenging working environments. Applications include measurement and control, IT, IoT/IIoT, gateways, medical, laboratory and environmental technology. At 3.149×1.968-in., new EVOTEC 80 is…
Simpler debugging for Automotive Ethernet systems
New techniques let engineers examine high-speed data traffic without garbling signals. Darshan Mehta, Tektronix Inc. The only way advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), smart safety systems, and autonomous vehicle functions can be practical is through use of reliable in-vehicle networking and high-bandwidth connections. Cars can now contain as many as 100 electronic control modules (ECUs) monitoring…