The Internet of Everything is coming. The Internet is expanding into enterprise assets and consumer items such as cars and televisions. Very many electronics devices needs to be designed for this in mind. The Internet of Things (IoT) will evolve into the Web of Things, increasing the coordination between things in the real world and their counterparts on the Web. Gartner suggests that the “the smart machine era will be the most disruptive in the history of IT.” Intelligent systems and assistive devices will advance smart healthcare.
Software-defined anything (SDx) is coming more into use. It means that many proprietary systems are being replaced with commonly available standard computer hardware and software running in them.
PC market: ABANDON HOPE all ye who enter here. Vendor consolidation ‘inevitable’. Even Intel had to finally admit this that the Wintel grip which has served it and Microsoft so well over the past decades is waning, with Android and iOS coming to the fore through smartphones and tabs. The market conversion to tablets means that consumers and businesses are sweating existing PC assets longer. Tablets to Make Up Half of 2014 PC Market.
The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Electronics Kits article mentions that many older engineers first became interested in electronics through hobbies in their youth—assembling kits, participating in amateur radio, or engaging in other experiments. The 1970s and 1980s were great times for electronics hobbyists. But whenever it seems that there’s nothing left for the hobbyist, a new motif arises. The Raspberry Pi has become a best seller, as has a similar experimental board, the Arduino microcontroller. A great number of sensors, actuators, cameras, and the like have quickly become available for both. Innovative applications abound in such domains as home automation and robotics. So it seems that now there is much greater capacity for creativity in hobby electronics then there ever was.
E-Waste: Lack of Info Plagues Efforts to Reduce E-Waste article tells that creation of trade codes is necessary to track used electronics products according to a recent study concerning the waste from growing quantities of used electronics devices—including TVs, mobile phones and computers. High levels of electronic waste are being sent to Africa and Asia under false pretenses.” StEP estimates worldwide e-waste to increase by 33 percent from 50 million tons in 2012 to 65 million tons by 2017. China and the U.S. lead the world as top producers of e-waste. America produces about 65 pounds of e-waste per person every year. There will be aims to reduce the waste, for example project like standardizing mobile phone chargers and laptop power supplies.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Who wants a ROBO-BUTLER? Google and pals do – and they’ve just put $2m towards it
Upstart showered with Silicon Valley gold
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/10/google_gives_seed_funding_to_robotics_firm_savioke/
Google has placed a bet on a robotics company that is working to create “services” robots for use in hospitals, care homes or hotels.
Google’s investment comes in the wake of its recent purchase of eight different robotics companies. Its most notable recent robot upstart slurp was the team behind SCHAFT, which triumphed during the DARPA Robotics Challenge.
“We have decided that it is time for robots to become available widely in the service industry,” said Cousins.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Generic technology exhibitions loosing popularity
http://embeddedexperience.blogspot.fi/2014/04/generic-technology-exhibitions-loosing.html
In Sweden the same effect is clearly seen as in Germany, which I reported in my previous posting about Hannover messe.
Scandinavian Electronics Event is rather generic event in domain of electronics
it was disappointment, with very little relevant contacts and low number of visitor.
Meanwhile Scandinavian Electronics Event is struggling for it’s existence, Embedded Conference Scandinavia reported 50% gain in number of visitors last time.
Why does it goes like that? Quite obviously at the Internet era, trade fairs and exhibitions are not needed to get information about new product releases and what’s going on in general.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bend It, Charge It, Dunk It: Graphene, the Material of Tomorrow
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/bend-it-charge-it-dunk-it-graphene-the-material-of-tomorrow/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
Graphene is the strongest, thinnest material known to exist. A form of carbon, it can conduct electricity and heat better than anything else. And get ready for this: It is not only the hardest material in the world, but also one of the most pliable.
Only a single atom thick, it has been called the wonder material.
Graphene could change the electronics industry, ushering in flexible devices, supercharged quantum computers, electronic clothing and computers that can interface with the cells in your body.
But while researchers believe graphene will be used in next-generation gadgets, there are entire industries that build electronics using traditional silicon chips and transistors, and they could be slow to adopt graphene counterparts.
If that is the case, graphene might end up being used in other industries before it becomes part of electronics.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Optical Diode Reverses Time, Making Photo-Based IC Possible
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321884&
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have built what could become a critical component for microprocessor circuits that crunch data using light rather than electricity. The group developed a system of optical resonators that intensifies light traveling in one direction and weakens it to virtually nothing in the other — and shrank the whole thing down so it’s small enough to fit on a silicon chip.
The component does the same job that a simple diode would in an electrical system. It does so using a twisting concept of quantum mechanics that not only keeps light flowing in one direction and not the other, but appears to let more energy out of the device than went in.
Tomi Engdahl says:
China’s Quest for ‘MIPS in Wearable’
At stake is Ingenic’s survival and future of MIPS
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321860&
Let’s be blunt: Not many serious players in the electronics industry today are sanguine about the survival chances for MIPS processors in a global mobile market where, in the last decade — almost single-handedly — ARM has built its formidable ecosystem.
Against that backdrop, the industry can’t help but ooze with pessimism as it regards Ingenic Semiconductor, a Beijing supplier of its own MIPS-based mobile SoCs.
Armed with a homegrown MIPS CPU core, the Chinese fabless company, founded in 2005, flew under the radar until 2010, when it burst into the then-emerging tablet scene and went public in China. Despite initial success in e-books and tablets, Ingenic abandoned the tablet market in late 2012. Today, Ingenic is betting its life on the yet-to-be-defined smartwatch market.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mushrooms Recover Gold out of Mobile Scrap
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321899&
Gold, silver, copper, and many other valuable metals (including rare earth metals) are commonly used in the manufacture of consumer electronics, only to end up in huge piles of electronic waste.
The metals are used to get the signal from one chip to another (gold wirebonds, copper traces on printed circuits boards) or to improve contact reliability (gold or silver electro-deposition on connectors), or as minute traces in passive components, just to name a few applications.
unscrupulous “recyclers” would ship discarded electronic devices to third-world countries where very basic and hazardous metal recovery techniques would be used.
This often includes burning and smelting the metals from cables (creating toxic fumes including dioxins), or separating gold from burnt PCB ashes using toxic cyanide solutions that then contaminate nearby rivers.
Searching for non-toxic e-waste processing alternatives, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a biological filter made of mushroom mycelium mats that could recover as much as 80% of the gold in electronic scrap. The researchers are also looking at ways to extract copper from circuit board waste by floating the crushed and sieved material rather than through indiscriminate smelting.
“Because it is difficult to remove the components from the circuit boards, the first step in most recycling processes is to crush everything into particulates and that’s how we start, too,” explains Jarno Mäkinen, research scientist at VTT. “But then, using non-toxic water-based solutions, we have managed to engineer mycelium-based biomass that acts as a biosorbent specifically targeted at gold complexes.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mouser Electronics Audio Applications & Technologies
http://fi.mouser.com/applications/audio_applications/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Electronics design tools were sold last year for $ 6.9 billion, exactly five billion euros. The field of the new record is based on 16 consecutive quarters of growth.
President of the organization, Mentor Graphics President and CEO Wally Rhines, the sales increased last year in all product categories. More than 10 per cent growth was achieved in printed circuit boards and multi-chip modules in the category.
Source: Elektroniikkalehti
http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1202:suunnittelun-tyokalut-uuteen-ennatykseen&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
FPGA market is commonly known as the two large companies: Xilinx and Altera
Lattice Semiconductor searching for their own role in a completely different way: in small, low-cost, low-power chips that run the system for a circuit sidekick.
Lattice of the ECP5 circuits, for example, aims for small cell base stations, broadband access modems, industrial video and similar applications market. The production of volume, the company promises new chips are available in August.
Source: Elektroniikkalehti
http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1200:lattice-uskoo-pieneen-fpga-piiriin&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Micron stuffs Avago tech into STACKED SILICON BEAUTY
Uses SerDes in its 3D NAND stack
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/14/micron_says_go_go_avago/
Chip-making chappies Micron are going to use Avago SerDes technology for their Hybrid Memory Cube, indicating the firm’s on track with the 3D cube’s development.
The Hybrid Memory Cube (HMC) has layers of memory cells stacked vertically, with conducting tunnels running between the individual layers called TSVs – “through silicon vias.”
A third generation draft spec has been released to HMC adopters
The company is looking at 3D NAND as a way of getting out of a NAND scaling trap.
Sub-16nm cell geometries will increasingly ramp up bit error rates and decrease endurance
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cortex™-M processors and CoreSight™ SoC Multi-core MCU Design
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/arm/cortex-m-processors-and-coresight-soc-multi-core-mcu-design/
Multi-core Designs are Coming To MCU
Some applications can benefit from multi-core designs
Tomi Engdahl says:
Electron Spin Could Yield PCs That Run Fast While Turned Off
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321902&
A team of Japanese researchers has proposed a model for the near future of computing based on identifying a 1 from a 0 according to the direction in which an electron spins, rather than where the chip had previously stashed an electrical charge.
Spintronics (a portmanteau word meaning “spin transport electronics”) is a promising non-volatile memory technology that stores 1s and 0s according to which direction a captive electron spins rather than the electrical charge it can deliver.
On April 10, 2014, Stanford University professor Stuart Parkin was awarded the million-Euro Millenium Technology Prize for research that led to his proposal of MRAM chips in 1995 and his 1988 development of the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) spin-valve read head that allowed a thousand-fold increase in the storage capacity of magnetic disk drives.
Several forms of non-volatile memory, including MRAM and spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random-access memory (STT-MRAM), have been on the market since 2000, primarily as a way to shorten long boot-up times for computers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TinySwitch-4
Energy-Efficient, Off-Line Switcher With Line-Compensated Overload Power
http://www.powerint.com/en/products/tinyswitch-family/tinyswitch-4?Adsource=Aden_EEW
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sensors & Actuators Market Forecast on 11% CAGR to 2018
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321931&
Acceleration, yaw, and magnetic sensors are forecast to reach record sales in 2014 after slumping in 2012 and 2013, according to market research firm IC Insights. Worldwide sales of sensors and actuators are forecast to grow 14% in 2014 to reach $9.9 billion, followed by a 16% increase in 2015 to $11.4 billion, IC Insights said. Between 2013 and 2018, the sensors/actuators market is projected to rise by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7% to reach $15.1 billion in 2018.
The stall between 2011 and 2013 was caused by inventory corrections in some cellphone segments, falling average selling prices (ASPs), and delays of purchases by cautious system makers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Designing an IoT Device: Tradeoffs Abound, Many Ugly
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321775&
“There’s no Internet-enabled device I’ve made that I would give to a non-geek friend,” said embedded software engineer Elecia White, speaking today at the Embedded Systems Conference at EE Live!
Don’t believe every marketing pitch about the IoT. And focus on working through the myriad device tradeoffs with the express purpose of creating happy customers.
Consumers need your product to work right out of the box, she said. “Users are most frustrated with the configuration step. If they turn it on and feel stupid right away, they are never going to get the opportunity to love your product, no matter how great it may be.”
The tradeoffs encountered in designing a product for the Internet of Things run the gamut from selecting a connection option to managing firmware updates. Unfortunately, there are few choices that don’t include at least one ugly tradeoff. To wit, White says she has never picked a communication protocol that didn’t at some point make her wish that she had picked something else.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Connectivity & Sensors: Smartphone Essentials
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1321925&
Today’s blog will discuss the accelerometers, e-compasses, and gyroscopes found in today’s smart devices. Since July 2012, Teardown.com has published 83 Deep Dive teardown analyse
Clearly, accelerometers and compasses have a quantitative edge over gyroscopes, but we are seeing more frequently the combination of accelerometer and gyroscope in one package.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel’s mobile chips make giant losses
Last year, the unit made more than 3.1 billion dollars in losses. Less than $ 1.4 billion of net sales.
Forward Concepts comments that the massive losses can be viewed in two ways. First of all, it can be a huge wasting of resources and focus on the wrong things.
More likely is the fact that Intel has just determined to see the mobile chips at any cost. The company believes that the road narrows to a PC processors all the time and end time.
Source: Elektroniikkalehti
http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1216:intelin-mobiilipiirit-tekevat-jattitappioita&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
PCB design software company Zuken believes that high-speed connections are now universal, almost every part of the design. Therefore, the implementation of the printed circuit board must be made as simple as possible.
CADSTAR preditor now supports the impedance-balanced routing. It allows designers to easily add JEDEC stndardoituja pathways into the planning. For example, DDR3-configuration is achieved automatically, and districts need to plan several times the highest clock speed in pursuit.
Source: Elektroniikkalehti
http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1214:piirikorttien-reititys-nopeutuu&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
LED lighting market continues to grow ferocious. It will be the tens of billions of euros of business.
Strategies Unlimited, the LED lights according to a recent estimate of the world market is growing at 26 billion dollars, or nearly 19 billion by 2018. Trend of the Force, in turn, believes that ledilamppja mydään this year, more than 1.3 billion. In monetary terms this means $ 17.8 billion, or about 13 billion euros.
LEDs growth is still several years have shown some big obstacles. The global lighting market is expected to grow by about 70 to 80 billion in 2016. LEDs share of this market is – depending on the evaluators – up to 45-50 per cent.
Source: Elektroniikkalehti
http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1215:ledivalaistuksen-kasvu-jatkuu&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Highly Integrated Single-Phase Metering SoC
http://www.eeweb.com/company-news/maxim/highly-integrated-single-phase-metering-soc/
Using the ZON™ M3 (MAX71315) single-phase electricity meter SoC from Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: MXIM), engineers now have a highly accurate, low-cost design system for e-meters and solid-state meters.
The ZON M3 energy-meter solution integrates four 24-bit ADCs for 4-channel data collection and ±0.1% measurement accuracy over 5000:1 dynamic range.
Tomi Engdahl says:
PC sales plummeted made Intel to invest in a tablet chips
Chip giant Intel sold in the first quarter of the year five million processors to tablet computers.
The company’s interim results, however, fell due to a weak PC sales. IDC data show that worldwide PC sales fell by 4.4 per cent in the beginning of the year.
Mobile smartphone and tablet chip sales plunged 61 percent from the year before. The mobile business profits ate the battle for market share of ARM’s with. Intel has paid for equipment manufacturers use their chips.
This year the company plans to increase its market share in tablet chips to 15-20 per cent. During the year, according to the plan would be sent to the sale of 40 million Intel’s chip-functioning tablet PCs.
Source: Tietoviikko
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/pcmyynnin+sukeltaessa+intel+panostaa+tablettisiruihin/a982190
Tomi Engdahl says:
Preventing Heat From Going to Waste
http://news.sciencemag.org/chemistry/2014/04/preventing-heat-going-waste
Fossil fuels power modern society by generating heat, but much of that heat is wasted. Researchers have tried to reclaim some of it with semiconductor devices called thermoelectrics, which convert the heat into power. But they remain too inefficient and expensive to be useful beyond a handful of niche applications.
Now, scientists in Illinois report that they have used a cheap, well-known material to create the most heat-hungry thermoelectric so far.
Several years ago, researchers led by Mercouri Kanatzidis, a chemist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, discovered an impressive new thermoelectric material called lead telluride (PbTe), which had a ZT value of 2.2. That was reasonably close to the ZT of 3 that most researchers consider the minimum for widespread applications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The robots of the future won’t look anything like the Terminator
Robots still aren’t ready to work beside humans, but perhaps a soft touch is the answer
http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/16/5617290/soft-robotics-is-booming
Roboticists are prejudiced toward rigid structures, for which algorithms can be inherited from the well-established factory robot industry. Soft robots solve two huge problems with current robots, however. They don’t have to calculate their movements as precisely as hard robots, which rely on springs and joints, making them better for navigating uncontrolled environments like a house, disaster area, or hospital room. They’re naturally “cage free,” meaning they can work shoulder-to-shoulder with humans. If a soft robot tips over or malfunctions, the danger is on par with being attacked by a pillow. The robot is also less prone to hurt itself.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Big names lose in tablets
More and more people around the world have purchased the tablet computer from a small, unknown brand manufacturer. Apple, Samsung and other big brands gradually lose their positions.
Last year, the major tablet manufacturers were delivered 168.5 million display panel. It was 54 per cent of the market. Small, usually Asians, especially Chinese manufacturers trip 145,700,000 evidence.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1225:suuret-nimet-menettavat-tableteissa&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Portable robot prints documents by driving over paper
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-04/14/robot-printer
Israeli startup Zuta Labs has developed a little printing robot that connects with your mobile and then moves around a piece of paper to draw the desired picture or text.
The first version prints in greyscale and is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter
It tracks its location on the paper using a gaming grade mouse sensor
Tomi Engdahl says:
Micro-Robots Are Scary Awesome
http://hackaday.com/2014/04/23/micro-robots-are-scary-awesome/
A team of scientists at SRI international are creating real-life replicators from Star Gate SG1 — micro-robots capable of smart (and scary!) manufacturing. Thousands working in parallel will be able to achieve tasks previously unheard of, in a completely compact and integrated system.
These tiny ant-like robot systems are magnetically controlled
Potential applications for these tiny swarm-bots include precise pick & place manufacturing, micro bio-technology, electronics manufacturing, and even rapid prototyping of high quality parts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Micro-Factories for Smart Manufacturing
http://www.sri.com/work/projects/microfactories-for-smart-manufacturing
SRI is developing new technology to reliably control thousands of micro-robots for smart manufacturing of macro-scale products in compact, integrated systems.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In India, a Toxic Harvest of Recycled Electronics
By Sean Gallagher – Apr 16, 2014 5:48 PM GMT+0300
http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2014-04-16/toxic-business-india-s-informal-e-waste-recyclers-at-risk.html#slide1
In the Indian village of Sangrampur, located 30 miles south of Kolkata, the sound of frogs croaking in a nearby pond clash with the noises of hammering and plastics cracking.
As developed countries dump their e-waste in India, an informal industry of recyclers has emerged. In places such as Sangrampur, it’s common to find women, young men and children picking away at piles of electronics, breaking them down into increasingly smaller pieces that are then separated and collected.
But as the villagers spend their days dismantling by hand devices that contain toxic materials, there’s a growing concern about the long-term health effects on the workers.
Globally, an estimated 50 million tons of e-waste are produced annually, with residents of the U.S. and the U.K. generating some of the highest rates worldwide.
India generates almost 2.7 million tons of electronic waste each year
Electronic recycling centers can be found close to people’s homes.
A hammer or chisel is often the tool of choice by recyclers.
As electronic waste is broken down, harmful elements such as mercury, lead and arsenic leach into the soil and water resulting in the long-term poisoning of local resources.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Shocking new low for SanDisk – 15nm flash chips rolling out its fabs
Shrinking NAND storage for SD cards, PCIe monsters and enterprise drives
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/24/sandisk_shrinks_flash_smaller_than_ever/
SanDisk has powered up the smallest NAND process in the industry, 15nm, meaning it should be able to get more working flash chips from each silicon wafer – and thus lower its costs.
It’s calling this technology “1Z”, as 1X is below 20nm, and 1Y is between that and 15nm. These alphabetic suffix boundaries are not standard, and Micron’s idea of 1Y and 1Z could well be different from SanDisk and its partner Toshiba.
Tosh and SanDisk have been producing 19nm flash (1X) chips, an advance on the previous 24nm generation.
Intel and Micron have been producing 20nm devices.
Micron has a 16nm process under development and sampling started last year.
Samsung has, we think, a 19nm process in production
SanDisk says it will ramp up production of both 2-bits-per cell (MLC) and 3-bits-per-cell (TLC) flash silicon in the second half of this year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Future of Embedded Systems
by Wind River Systems
http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/webinars/4429820/The-Future-of-Embedded-Systems?elq=c945e0ac761a4072a1879afc3dd6f359&elqCampaignId=16627
The world is changing fast. The pace of technological advancement increases every year, and the interconnected nature of today’s products—part of the Internet of Things—has introduced greater complexities, inherent security vulnerabilities, and ever-increasing risk to successful project development and deployment. Further complicating projects are cost and time pressures as companies working with reduced budgets seek to minimize development costs and compress time-to-market schedules.
Recent research from UBM has shown that 55% of new designs are behind schedule by an average of 5 months. There’s widespread pent-up demand for better solutions, more training, and updated methods to shorten embedded development schedules. In fact, by a large majority, developers agree that further investment in commercial tools, operating systems, services and support will increase development efficiency significantly.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Surface Preparation For Rubbers
http://www.masterbond.com/resources/surface-preparation-for-rubbers?utm_source=rubbersurfaceprep&utm_medium=email&utm_content=lp-rubbersurfaceprep&utm_campaign=csm
Degreasing
Degreasing is carried out in order to remove any loosely held dirt or other contaminants from the surface. Surfaces can be degreased using volatile solvents such as toluene, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol and trichloroethylene.
Abrasion
The surfaces need to be degreased and cleaned before as well as after abrasion to remove any pre-existing contaminants on the surface. Once the surfaces have been abraded, they need to be degreased to remove the debris from abrasion.
Chemical Treatment
Specific chemical techniques have been developed for treating different substrates. These treatments change the physical as well as the chemical properties of the surface in order to improve the adhesion.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Polymer droplets turn smartmobes into microscopes
Boffin nearly threw away first lens before realising it could end the daily grind
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/28/polymer_droplets_create_iphone_microscope_lenses/
An accidental discovery at the Australian National University (ANU) has created a way to deposit-print small, high-quality optical lenses, in something that’s been hailed as “turn a smartphone into an optical microscope”.
Not only that, but they use a material already well-known in optics: polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which is used to make contact lenses.
Instead of the tedious business of lens-grinding to create high-magnification optics, the researchers have developed a deposition process in which a droplet is allowed to flow over a surface and solidify into the lens
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM’s 3D Printer to Revolutionize Chip Prototyping
Translates brightness to force at third of cost
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322091&
IBM Research in Zurich today unveiled a microscopic 3D printer capable of writing nanometer resolution patterns into a soft polymer, which can subsequently be transferred to silicon, III-V (gallium arsenide — GaAs), or graphene substrates. Unlike electron-beam (e-beam) lithography, the patterns can be both written and read for verification in real-time while the engineer watches under a microscope.
“The big difference when compared to e-beam is that you can easily write 3D patterns, which is extremely challenging for e-beams,”
The microscopic 3D printer is being licensed to Zurich startup SwissLitho AG, which calls it the NanoFrazor
“The NanoFrazor is great for rapid prototyping of all sorts of applications,” Rawlings told EE Times. “It runs open loop in order to achieve scan speeds of millimeters per second and uses a specialized heated tip, mounted on a bendable cantilever, that is 700 nanometers long, but just 10 nanometers in radius at its tip.”
Line width accuracy is 10 nm, but 3D depth accuracy is one nm, while reading back the measured depth of patterns has sub-nanometer accuracy.
“We deposit a polymer layer then a silicon or III-V layer then another polymer layer that we write into,”
IBM is also experimenting with using its 3D printing techniques in quantum computing applications
SwissLitho also has interest from photonics companies to make microscopic lenses and waveguides and from bioscience users
Tomi Engdahl says:
Machine safety standard merger: One global machine safety standard
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/machine-safety-standard-merger-one-global-machine-safety-standard/5637ebf8f9831eb988745cc2692c1f20.html
In a few years, could we just have one functional safety standard? The world has two predominantly accepted functional safety standards for machinery: IEC 62061, Safety of machinery: Functional safety of electrical, electronic and programmable electronic control systems, and ISO 13849-1, Safety of machinery – Safety-related parts of control systems – Part 1: General principles for design.
A joint working group is looking at global functional safety standard unification. At present, there are two predominantly accepted functional safety standards for machinery in the world:
IEC 62061, Safety of machinery: Functional safety of electrical, electronic and programmable electronic control systems, and
ISO 13849-1, Safety of machinery – Safety-related parts of control systems – Part 1: General principles for design
Tomi Engdahl says:
As manufacturing changes, it’s time to take some risks
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/as-manufacturing-changes-it-s-time-to-take-some-risks/dceacb982a944aa262ab4701283dfb90.html
Futurist Jack Uldrich sees what’s coming next, and encourages manufacturers to jump on the trends while presenting at the MFG Meeting in Phoenix.
1. Wearable Technology
2. 3D manufacturing
3. Nanotechnology
4. Robotics
5. Sensors
6. Computers
7. Big Data
8. Collaborative consumption
Tomi Engdahl says:
System integration is a critical element in project design
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/system-integration-is-a-critical-element-in-project-design/9de7e150569179e1ce1e4467280360ec.html
Involve a system integrator early in project design to help ensure high-quality projects that satisfy project requirements. See project cost influence graphic.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft forms ‘Special Projects’ black ops group
‘Disruptive technologies’ tentacle to battle Google X?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/29/special_projects_group/
Microsoft has secretly formed a “Special Projects” sub-tentacle of its Microsoft Research limb in an apparent attempt to out-black-ops Google X.
This sinister group is “tasked with working on disruptive technologies that could benefit the company and society”. Although MS is remaining tight-lipped on when it was formed and who will be seated in the black leather swivel chair
MS is keen to keep things under wraps. This is in contrast with the flamboyant Google X, which is happy to let the world know it’s working on self-driving robocars, internet-disseminating balloons and other astounding technologies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Top mobe panel maker Japan Display slashes profit forecast
LTPS big daddy ‘fesses to “difficult price negotiations’
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/29/japan_display_under_pressure_cuts_profit/
The world’s biggest smartphone-and-tablet screen-maker Japan Display has seen its share price tumble to record lows after it was forced to cut profit estimates for the year by nearly 11 per cent.
The LCD joint venture – which comprises the display units from Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba – said in a note on Monday that it was revising down its profit forecast for FY 2013 from ¥30.4bn (£180m) to ¥27.2bn (£160m), a decrease of 10.5 per cent.
JDI experienced reduced purchases at customer request as well as reduced purchases of certain products due to difficult price negotiations in light of a decline in market prices for displays for medium price-range smartphones.
Japan Display also faces unsettling competition from Asian rivals in the LTPS space, especially in China, which are increasingly undercutting on price
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stanford Bioengineers Develop ‘Neurocore’ Chips 9,000 Times Faster Than a PC
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/04/29/2158222/stanford-bioengineers-develop-neurocore-chips-9000-times-faster-than-a-pc
“Stanford bioengineers have developed faster, more energy-efficient microchips based on the human brain – 9,000 times faster and using significantly less power than a typical PC”
Stanford bioengineers create circuit board modeled on the human brain
http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2014/pr-neurogrid-boahen-engineering-042814.html
Stanford bioengineers have developed faster, more energy-efficient microchips based on the human brain – 9,000 times faster and using significantly less power than a typical PC. This offers greater possibilities for advances in robotics and a new way of understanding the brain. For instance, a chip as fast and efficient as the human brain could drive prosthetic limbs with the speed and complexity of our own actions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ST Trims Losses in Q1
Sets focus on embedded processing
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322156&
STMicroelectronics NV narrowed its losses in its first quarter, as Europe’s largest chipmaker drastically cut costs by reducing research-and-development expenses and posting significantly lower impairment and restructuring charges.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NXP Beats 1Q Estimates
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322158&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Slideshow: Chatty Medical Devices & Apps
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322152&
Sometimes the best way to tell people how to do something is to talk them through it.
That’s the idea behind some of the talking medical devices on the market that provide people with instructions for how to use them, such as a portable defibrillator from Philips.
But instructions aren’t the only things medical devices and mobile apps are saying to people these days. Through the use of voice technology, users can get a range of spoken information, advice, and even reminders from devices and applications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Low-Power, Low-Cost (LPLC) Microchip PIC18-Based Dev Board
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=216&doc_id=1322153&
Kickstarter campaign for a low-power, low-cost (LPLC) PIC18 development board.
Mike wants to build circuits that run off a couple of coin cells for months or AA batteries for years. In the case of cost, he wants something affordable enough that he can deploy a new board in each project
This little beauty is based on a Microchip PIC18F27J13 processor, which is small yet powerful. The PIC18F is quite a powerful processor for its size and cost; it runs at 48 MHz, can process 12 million instructions per second, and provides 128KB of Flash program storage. Its architecture is designed to facilitate being programmed in C.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Boffins build billion-synapse, three-watt ‘brain’
Neural simulation might just be the future of fast, green computing
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/30/neural_simulation_the_future_of_fast_green_computing/
A top-notch supercomputer can beat humans at many things, but they’re also energy hogs – which is one reason so much work goes into neural simulation as the basis for computers. Now, Stanford scientists have demonstrated a neural simulation which they say has a million neurons, multi-billion synapse connections – and runs on just three watts.
The not-for-the-cheapskate $US40,000 prototype Neurogrid board created by a group led by bioengineering professor Kwabena Boahen isn’t yet ready to take on IBM’s Watson over a chess-board. For starters, he says, “you have to know how the brain works to program one of these”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TI’s New Code Composer IDE Simplifies Everything
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322148&
Texas Instruments (TI) has just announced version 6 of its Code Composer Studio IDE. In addition to offering users an intelligent apps center, advanced integration, and enhanced learning tools, this new version of the IDE also makes things simple and easy to learn for new users.
One way to think about Code Composer Studio’s app center is as an “iTunes for microcontrollers.” Based on the microcontroller platform you’ve selected, the app center allows you to locate and download additional resources quickly, including libraries, examples, SDKs, real-time operating systems (RTOSs), etc.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Laser deflector shields possible with today’s tech – but there’s one small problem
You’ll need to use the Force when shields are up
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/03/laser_deflector_shields_are_possible_with_todays_tech_but_with_a_small_problem/
A new paper from the University of Leicester claims that it’s technically possible to build shields around a spacecraft to protect it from laser fire using available technology
The research, published [PDF] in the peer-reviewed Journal of Special Physics Topics, posits that an effective shield could be built using a ball of super-hot plasma that would surround the spacecraft to protect it from laser fire.
they would also not allow light to reach the pilot
the shield would need a massive magnetic array to contain the plasma bubble
Tomi Engdahl says:
Multicore Processors Open Our Embedded World
http://rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/103558
Migrating legacy code onto new multicore processors is not to be taken lightly. But with a new range of SMP RTOS and Virtualization solutions now available, there are options to both make the task easier, and at the same time increase the functionality and connectivity of the embedded system.
Tomi Engdahl says:
High Performance Embedded Computing: A Technical—and Mental—Breakthrough
http://rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/103586
It may come as a surprise to no one that there seems to be something in the human mentality that resists change. I only say that because we swim daily in an industry that is forever touting innovation. This is in marked contrast to most of the rest of the world, where selling new ideas and perspectives is a constant struggle. So when I notice such apparent resistance in this industry, it tends to stand out as unusual. There seems to be, at least in a few quarters, a disinclination to embrace the idea of high-performance embedded computing. That is not to say there are not advocates and promoters, but I am still struck by the occasional resistance.
Nobody has the slightest doubts about “high-performance computing.” It’s when you add the word “embedded” to the phrase that some eyebrows raise.
Tomi Engdahl says:
See-through OLED display goes eye-interactive
http://www.ledlighting-eetimes.com/en/see-through-oled-display-goes-eye-interactive.html?cmp_id=71&news_id=222909211
Dr. Uwe Vogel of the Center for Organic Materials & Electronic Devices Dresden (COMEDD) outlines how a see-through OLED display is going eye-interactive.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Substrate developments drive up LED front-end industry expansion
http://www.ledlighting-eetimes.com/en/substrate-developments-drive-up-led-front-end-industry-expansion.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222909236
The LED front-end manufacturing sector is facing a triple assault that will shape the way the market performs in the future forecasts market intelligence analyst Yole Développement in a new report.
Increased demand for larger size sapphire wafers with big players, such as LG, Sharp or Osram moving to 6 inch wafers and Taiwanese players moving to 4 inch wafers.
Increased demand for PSS that has now become mainstream in the industry (87% share as of Q1-2014), even if some questions remain concerning key patent holders’ strategies. Development of GaN-on-Si and GaN-on-GaN LEDs with both technologies having begun mass production in some companies (such as Soraa for GaN, or Toshiba for
Si).
“New LED substrate is one of the key topics impacting the LED front-end industry”,