Innovation is critical in today’s engineering world and it demands technical knowledge and the highest level of creativity. Seeing compact articles that solve design problems or display innovative ways to accomplish design tasks can help to fuel your electronics creativity.
You can find many very circuit ideas at ePanorama.net circuits page.
In addition to this links to interesting electronics design related articles worth to check out can be posted to the comments section.
1,841 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.electronicdesign.com/power-management/whitepaper/21253879/electronic-design-emi-and-surge-protection-in-the-iiot?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS221027047&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.electronicdesign.com/industrial-automation/article/21253803/electronic-design-piezo-harvesting-powers-underwater-camera-and-acoustic-backscatter-link?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS221027047&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.electronicdesign.com/power-management/article/21801833/what-is-the-piezoelectric-effect?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS221027049&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
Power-Conversion Solutions for a Sustainable Grid
April 18, 2023
Sponsored by Texas Instruments: Advances in power electronics coupled with semiconductor technology make it possible to meet topology considerations for power-stage design in solar inverters and energy-storage systems.
https://www.electronicdesign.com/tools/learning-resources/whitepaper/21263332/texas-instruments-powerconversion-solutions-for-a-sustainable-grid?pk=DesEssen-04242023&utm_source=EG+ED++Sponsor+Paid+Promos&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230418039&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_on_board
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.muzique.com/schem/filter.htm
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.electronicdesign.com/magazine/51508
Oscillations, Timing, and Synchronization
Challenging Resistors
Dealing with resistors is not just about choosing the proper number of ohms.
https://www.electronicdesign.com/magazine/51478
Tomi Engdahl says:
Passives & Parts
https://www.electronicdesign.com/magazine/51425
Tomi Engdahl says:
FET: The Friendly Efficient Transistor
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/fet-the-friendly-efficient-transistor/
If you ever work with a circuit that controls a decent amount of current, you will often encounter a FET – a Field-Effect Transistor. Whether you want to control a couple of powerful LEDs, switch a USB device on and off, or drive a motor, somewhere in the picture, there’s usually a FET doing the heavy lifting. You might not be familiar with how a FET works, how to use one and what are the caveats – let’s go through the basics.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/low-cost-rf-power-sensor-gets-all-the-details-right/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.eleccircuit.com/digital-volume-control-circuit-schematic/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.bookbenefits.com/2022/12/electronic-circuits-handbook-for-design.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/fet-fun-endeavors-together/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.electronicdesign.com/resources/ideas-for-design/video/21264383/analog-devices-dostals-design-limit-current-with-integrated-mosfet?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230427056&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
RapidCharge™ Controllers Prevent Fast Charger Hacking
https://www.renesas.com/eu/en/blogs/rapidcharge-controllers-prevent-fast-charger-hacking
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.rigolna.com/optimizing-signal-integrity-in-iot-designs–debug-and-analysis-considerations/?utm_source=ED&utm_medium=personif&utm_campaign=Signal
https://www.rigolna.com/emc-pre-compliance-testing-visualization-validation-and-debug/?utm_source=ED&utm_medium=personif&utm_campaign=EMC
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/b/analogwire/posts/addressing-the-growing-needs-of-fault-detection-in-high-power-systems?HQS=null-null-hv-hvisolation_analogwire-asset-ta-electronicdesign_psfi_isolation_l2-wwe_awr&DCM=yes&dclid=CMiHkbbH1v4CFca2mgodNUsIhQ
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Does EMI Affect Various Electronic Systems? (Part 2)
April 27, 2023
Part 2 addresses other electronic systems that feel the impact of EMI and how SSFM can help tackle the problem.
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/power/article/21264866/electronic-design-how-does-emi-affect-various-electronic-systems-part-2?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230419123&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
Power Electronics (Full Course)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A78yP8oApqk
By 2030, 80% of all electrical energy will be processed by power electronics. Professional advantages continue to grow for technical engineers who understand the fundamental principles and technical requirements of modern power conversion systems. This specialization covers design-oriented analysis, modeling and simulation techniques leading to practical engineering of high-performance power electronics systems.
Introduction to Power Electronics
INTRODUCTION
0:00:00 Applications and Examples of Power Electronics
0:01:55 Preliminaries and Grading
0:12:59 What will be covered
0:20:19 Technical introduction
0:36:24 Simulation of a buck converter using Itspice
STEADY-STATE CONVERTER ANALYSIS
0:52:42 Introduction
1:01:47 Volt sec balance and the small ripple approximation
1:31:56 Boost converter example
1:54:40 and additional topics
STEADY-STATE EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT MODELING, LOSSES, AND EFFICIENCY
2:06:17 The DC transformer model
2:23:14 Supplement review of circuits with ideal transformers
2:34:05 Inductor copper loss
2:46:38 Constrution of equivalent circuits model
3:06:02 How to obtain the input port of the model
3:16:34 Example semiconductor conduction losses in boost converter
———————–
SWITCH REALIZATION
3:39:38 Single Quadrant switches
4:01:32 Current bidirectional switches
4:14:44 Two and four quadrant switches synchronous rectifiers
POWER SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCHES
4:30:50 Introduction to power semiconductors
4:58:23 Diode Rectifiers
5:18:39 Equivalent circuit modeling of switching loss
5:34:57 Boost converter example
5:46:47 More about rectifiers
6:07:23 Power Mosfets
6:25:44 MOsFET gate drivers
6:52:55 BJTS and IGBTS
7:18:31 More about switching loss
7:25:01 Wide bandgap power semiconductors
7:39:26 Simulation of a synchronous boost converter
DISCONTINUOUS CONDUCTIONS MODE
7:52:56 Origin of DCM and Mode Boundary
8:07:01 Analysis of the conversion ratio M D K
8:23:12 Boost converter Example
✨CONVERTER CIRCUITS
8:42:57 DC – DC Converter topologies
8:57:51 How to synthesize an inverter
9:08:11 a Short list of nonisolated converters
9:16:15 Transformers
9:29:21 The Forward Converter
9:59:11 The flyback converter
Tomi Engdahl says:
EEVblog #908 – Zener Diodes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0ifJ4oVdG4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Low-Frequency DC Block Lets You Measure Ripple Better
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/10/low-frequency-dc-block-lets-you-measure-ripple-better/
We all know how to block the DC offset of an AC signal — that just requires putting a capacitor in series, right? But what if the AC signal doesn’t alternate very often? In that case, things get a little more complicated.
Or at least that’s what [Limpkin] discovered, which led him to design this low-frequency DC block. Having found that commercially available DC blocks typically have a cutoff frequency of 100 kHz, which is far too high to measure power rail ripple in his low-noise amplifier, he hit the books in search of an appropriate design. What he came up with is a non-polarized capacitor in series followed by a pair of PIN diodes shunted to ground. The diodes are in opposite polarities and serve to limit how much voltage passes out of the filter. The filter was designed for a cutoff frequency of 6.37 Hz, and [Limpkin]’s testing showed a 3-dB cutoff of 6.31 Hz — not bad. After some torture testing to make sure it wouldn’t blow up, he used it to measure the ripple on a bench power supply.
A DC Block to Measure Low Frequencies
https://www.limpkin.fr/index.php?post/2023/03/28/The-DC-Block-For-Low-Frequencies
Skeptical that a DC-block only was a capacitor, I searched online and found this page from Rohde & Schwarz with the above schematics in it.
Looking at the above picture we can see:
- 1 non polarized series capacitor
- 2 PIN diodes at the output
These 2 diodes effectively limit the maximum voltage that can be output by the filter, as when applying a high voltage at the filter input the very same voltage would be seen at the filter output (due to the high capacitor value)… which your measurement instrument might not particularly appreciate.
But why PIN diodes, and what are they?
To make it simple, PIN diodes essentially are resistors whose value decrease with the current going through them
This characteristic is particularly appreciated to reduce distortion added to your signal, as you may remember that standard diodes have a very different V/I curve.
n the end, my DC-block schematics are relatively similar to the ones from R&S:
- 1x bi-polar 50V 470uF electrolytic capacitor (yes, that’s a thing!)
- 2x 13 Watts (!) RF PIN diodes
- 1x 10k input bleed resistor
I initially went for different PIN diodes…. but they exploded when I first applied 50V at the DC-block input! Thinking about it, 470uF at 50V is around 0.5 Joules so that energy needed to be dissipated somewhere.
And as you will see later, lots of testing was then performed to make sure the final diodes were up to the task.
I was once again lucky enough to get access to a Bode 100 to measure my DC-block transfer function.
Keeping in mind this filter is meant to be used in 50R systems, you can see above that the 6.31Hz 3dB corner frequency ended up being very close to the expected 6.37Hz (470uF with 50R).
And even though it doesn’t make a lot of sense using that DC-block for very high frequencies, I used a SA44B + TG44 combo to measure the transfer function at high frequencies:
1GHz -3dB corner… not too bad for such a big capacitor!
Maximum Transient Test – Pulse
Any explosion if I directly feed 50V to that DC-block?
Setup: capacitor discharged, we suddenly feed 50V through a 50R resistor to the input for a short duration.
Result: the output voltage is truncated to 1.34V
That DC-block ended up being a little more complex than I thought, but it was quite the interesting learning experience!
As usual you can find the source files here and may buy it on my tindie store if you need one right away.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Low-Noise Amplifier To Quantify Resistor Noise
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/16/a-low-noise-amplifier-to-quantify-resistor-noise/
Noise is all around us, and while acoustic noise is easy to spot using our ears, electronic noise is far harder to quantify even with the right instruments. A spectrum analyzer is the most convenient tool for noise measurements, but also adds noise of its own to whatever signal you’re looking at. [Limpkin] has been working on measuring very small noise signals using a spectrum analyzer, and shared his results in a comprehensive blog post.
The target he set himself was to measure the noise produced by a 50 Ohm resistor, which is the impedance most commonly seen on the inputs and outputs of RF systems.
The Low Frequency, Low Noise Amplifier Board
https://www.limpkin.fr/index.php?post/2022/09/20/The-Low-Noise-Amplifier-Board
How tiny you may ask!
Well, my arbitrary goal for this project was to clearly measure the thermal noise of a 50 ohms resistor (around 0.9nV RMS for a 1Hz measurement bandwidth at room temperature) to be sure to be able to measure any device output I may encounter in the future (maybe audio amplifiers?).
You may not know this, but using a spectrum analyzer to directly measure that 50 ohms thermal noise isn’t really doable as even top of the line Rohde & Schwarz FSWs state a Displayed Averaged Noise Level (in short, an instrument’s noise floor) between 71nV and 224nV RMS (-130dBm & -120dBm) at a 1Hz resolution bandwidth around kHz frequencies.
Moreoever, every spectrum analyzer out there that is rated from a few Hz up also comes with a no DC input requirement! While the easiest solution to get around this issue usually is to use inline DC-blocking pass-through adapters, they however typically come with a low-pass filter corner frequency of a few hundred Hz… so what’s the solution?
My take on it: a simple amplification circuit based on a low-input noise operational amplifier, with a clipper circuit at its output.
One may argue that a clipper circuit doesn’t remove the DC component of an amplifier’s output.
While this obviously true, a quick email exchange with the engineers who designed the Signal Hound SA44B spectrum analyzer (that I’m using) let me know that a DC component of up to 200mV is actually alright.
The amplifier requirements therefore became:
- DC to <1MHz bandwidth
- (adjustable) output clipping
- as low as possible input noise
- enough gain so that the output spectrum noise level is above the SA44B DANL
To my biggest surprise my SA44B calibration certificate mentioned a -139.3dBm/Hz DANL level at 60Hz!
The designed circuit is fairly straight-forward:
- an op-amp based circuit with a voltage gain of 101
- a high-fidelity, low-noise audio operational amplifier used as a voltage buffer
- two open-drain output comparators comparing the amplified voltage to a set threshold
- … to then control the enable input of a SPST switch
To keep the generated noise to a minimum, the above circuit is powered by two 9V batteries and a DPDT switch takes care of enabling/disabling the board power supply.
It’s important to note that as we’re designing for 50R systems, the x101 voltage gain actually means a x50.5 gain (34dB) as the final output buffer has an equivalent 50R resistor at its output.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CMOS Homemade Operational Amplifier
https://hackaday.io/project/191138-cmos-homemade-operational-amplifier
CMOS Homemade Operational Amplifier module and a photo detector using it.
Operational amplifiers using the CMOS process are now widely used because of their low power consumption. Since the insulated gate of MOSFETs in the CMOS op-amps serves as the signal input, their input resistance is extremely large compared to operational amplifiers using bipolar transistors, and their bias current is extremely low. This time, I will explain how I boldly simplified its internal structure and built my own CMOS op-amp module using discrete MOSFETs to deepen my own understanding of its internal operating behavior and applications. I will also present an example of a self-made evaluation unit that allows experimentation with a non-inverting amplifier circuit, and a photo-detector circuit using a transimpedance amplifier.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Current Sensing: Past, Present, and Future
Aug. 17, 2022
While measuring voltage is often a simple task, measuring current is usually not so straightforward. This article demonstrates a new, highly integrated, “lossless,” and localized approach to current sensing that deals with many of the challenges.
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/power/whitepaper/21248905/navitas-semiconductor-current-sensing-past-present-and-future?utm_source=EG+ED++3rd+Party&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230510052&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Sensing the world more accurately
Advanced sensing technologies for accurate and reliable monitoring, protection and control
https://www.ti.com/technologies/sensing.html?HQS=null-null-sensbr-sense_gen_sensetech-exexnl-pp-electronicdesign_0517-wwe_awr&DCM=yes&dclid=CMLXj6T4gP8CFYdGkQUdJLUC6w
Current-sensing solutions
Achieve accurate and fast current sensing in every system
https://www.ti.com/technologies/current-sensing-solutions.html?HQS=null-null-sensbr-curvol_gen_curtech-exexnl-pp-electronicdesign_0517-wwe_awr&DCM=yes&dclid=COiim6b4gP8CFerJOwIdtRADlw
How Accurate Sensing Enables
Better System Performance and
Increased Efficiency
https://www.ti.com/lit/wp/slyy220b/slyy220b.pdf?ts=1684448007280
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/components/article/21264101/qtech-corp-mems-vs-crystal-oscillators-its-all-in-the-application
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.mwrf.com/markets/iot/video/21257337/electronic-design-the-importance-of-timing-in-iot-communications
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/embedded/video/21266415/electronic-design-addressing-decarbonization-and-digitalization-in-electronics?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230525023&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Power and energy efficiency are key enablers in the transition to renewable energy and the electrification of more applications. Infineon’s semiconductor solutions for the IoT contribute to digitalization and decarbonization by enabling smart energy management from power generation through transmission and storage to consumption.
Space-Saving Active EMI Filters Mitigate Common-Mode Emissions
May 22, 2023
Sponsored by Texas Instruments: A unique electromagnetic-interference reduction feature facilitates high-power-density designs while shrinking their footprint and cost.
Murray Slovick
https://www.electronicdesign.com/tools/learning-resources/whitepaper/21265625/texas-instruments-spacesaving-active-emi-filters-mitigate-commonmode-emissions?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230525023&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
Addressing the growing needs of fault detection in high-power systems
https://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/b/analogwire/posts/addressing-the-growing-needs-of-fault-detection-in-high-power-systems?HQS=null-null-hv-hvisolation_analogwire-asset-ta-electronicdesign_psfi_isolation_l2-wwe_awr&DCM=yes&dclid=CMTsnqS-nP8CFf7NOwIdAK8J1Q
Fault-detection mechanisms are a necessity in high-power industrial systems such as motor drives and solar inverters, as well as automotive systems including electric vehicle (EV) chargers, traction inverters, onboard chargers and DC/DC converters.
Fault detection involves current, voltage and temperature measurements to diagnose any AC power-line fluctuations, mechanical or electrical overloads within the system. Upon the detection of a fault event, the host microcontroller (MCU) performs protective actions such as turning off or modifying the switching characteristics of power transistors or tripping the circuit breakers.
In order to increase efficiency and reduce system size, designers are moving away from insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) to wide-bandgap silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) switching transistors, which enable faster switching speeds (>100 kHz) with even shorter withstand times (<5 µs).
Protecting power switching transistors from fault conditions begins by detecting overcurrent conditions, using either shunt- or Hall-based solutions. While Hall-based solutions enable a single-module approach, they suffer from poor measurement accuracy, especially over temperature. Other considerations for selecting between shunt- or Hall-based solutions include the isolation specifications and the primary conductor resistance. The primary conductor resistance in a Hall-based solution could lead to the same amount of thermal dissipation as in a shunt-based solution, however, with improvements in shunt technology, shunts now come with much smaller resistances to minimize thermal dissipation, and offer very high accuracy over temperature and lifetime.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.digikey.fi/en/articles/thermally-aware-high-power-inverter-board-for-battery-powered-applications?dclid=CN7Az_qDpP8CFUEFewodGBsFDA
Tomi Engdahl says:
Taking on Decarbonization and Digitalization in Electronics
May 25, 2023
Infineon’s software, XHP2 package, and chip-embedding functionality lends itself to the latest electronic design trends.
https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/components/semiconductors/video/21266671/electronic-design-taking-on-decarbonization-and-digitalization-in-electronics?utm_source=RF+MWRF+Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230526058&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
TPSI2140-Q1
Automotive 1200-V, 50-mA, isolated switch with 2-mA avalanche rating
https://www.ti.com/product/TPSI2140-Q1?HQS=null-null-ve-autobrand_ve22_tpsi2140q1-asset-pf-ElectronicDesign_psfi_bms_l3-wwe_int&DCM=yes&dclid=CMuh0aL5o_8CFUdIHgIdracHNA
2-mA avalanche current, Capacitive isolation
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/power/article/21266476/electronic-design-softswitching-helps-ev-inverters-run-farther-faster-and-cooler?utm_source=EG+ED+Auto+Electronics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230525029&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
Space-Saving Active EMI Filters Mitigate Common-Mode Emissions
May 22, 2023
Sponsored by Texas Instruments: A unique electromagnetic-interference reduction feature facilitates high-power-density designs while shrinking their footprint and cost.
https://www.electronicdesign.com/tools/learning-resources/whitepaper/21265625/texas-instruments-spacesaving-active-emi-filters-mitigate-commonmode-emissions?utm_source=EG+ED+Auto+Electronics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230525028&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
Product Overview
Introduction to Current Sense Amplifiers
https://www.ti.com/lit/an/sboa534/sboa534.pdf?HQS=asc-lamps-catan-anahub_sboa534-agg-mc-electronicdesign_ana-wwe_int&DCM=yes&dclid=CLKZm6COn_8CFQNLkQUdE3MIBw
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/power/power-supply/video/21265533/analog-devices-how-to-easily-design-power-supplies
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/power/article/21266550/electronic-design-optimizing-reset-quiescent-current-in-charge-sensitive-amplifiers?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230518078&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.edn.com/optimizing-a-simple-analog-filter-for-any-pwm/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This java applet is an electronic circuit simulator that displays the frequency response of circuits. When it starts up, it displays a simple high-pass filter. You can adjust the cutoff frequency using the slider on the right. The “Circuits” menu contains a lot of other sample circuits for you to try
https://www.falstad.com/afilter/
Tomi Engdahl says:
IEC 62368-1
An Introduction to the New Safety Standard for ICT and AV Equipment
https://www.cui.com/catalog/resource/iec-62368-1-an-introduction-to-the-new-safety-standard-for-ict-and-av-equipment
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://bigclive.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Reduce Common Mode Noise in Audio Applications
An isolated DC-DC converter can be an effective solution for eliminating unwanted noise in audio applications.
https://community.element14.com/learn/learning-center/the-tech-connection/w/documents/28100/how-to-reduce-common-mode-noise-in-audio-applications
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.xul.it/blog/index.php/2020/08/15/the-ultimate-continuity-tester/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/how-an-optocoupler-works/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/blogs/news/15851740-how-to-build-a-diy-passive-summing-box
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.instructables.com/Passive-Audio-Mixer-w-Channel-Volume-Control/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linear Power Supply’s Current Limiter Is A Lesson In Simplicity
https://hackaday.com/2023/06/05/linear-power-supplys-current-limiter-is-a-lesson-in-simplicity/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Electronic Fuse Uses SiC MOSFETs to Prevent High Currents
June 12, 2023
The new e-fuse from Microchip Technology suits virtually any high-voltage power-distribution system.
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/power/video/21262165/microchip-technology-electronic-fuse-uses-sic-mosfets-to-prevent-high-currents?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230608117&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
As electric vehicles are equipped with 400- to 800-V battery packs, the power systems under the hood require a way to protect the high-voltage distribution and loads from hazards.
Microchip is offering a faster form of circuit protection with a series of SiC-based high-voltage electronic fuses targeted at EVs that feature a continuous current rating of up to 30 A.
I had the opportunity to check out one of the reference designs, which I walk through in the video above. The model I reviewed integrates all of the building blocks of a high-voltage e-fuse, including automotive-grade, 1,200-V silicon-carbide (SiC) MOSFETs at the heart of the unit.
A PIC microcontroller (MCU) controls the device and connects to the 1.5-A gate driver that turns the FETs on and off. Voltage, temperature, and current sensing are also part of the package.
The device exhibits the advantages of SiC, including its high-frequency switching properties, which gives it the ability to detect and interrupt overcurrent faults faster. The rapid response times reduce peak short-circuit currents from tens of thousands to hundreds of amps, preventing a fault from causing a hard failure. It can tolerate short-circuits for up to 10 µs.
The overcurrent protection capabilities of the high-voltage electronic fuse is represented by its time-current characteristic (TCC) curve, which plots the response time as a function of current.
The electronic fuse, now shipping in sample quantities, features a LIN communication interface that enables easy configuration of the overcurrent trip characteristics, said Microchip.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Use High-Current IGBT Drivers with Built-In Protection for Reliable Industrial Motor Control
https://www.digikey.fi/en/articles/use-high-current-igbt-drivers-with-built-in-protection?dclid=CJ_v8c6j0f8CFTYNogMdLJIEvA
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Achieve Fast, Precise, and Low Power Position Sensing for Real-Time Control
https://www.digikey.fi/en/articles/how-to-achieve-fast-precise-low-power-position-sensing?dclid=CIvdj82j0f8CFQlTGAodNacCiQ
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Fundamentals of Proximity Sensors: Their Selection and Use in Industrial Automation
https://www.digikey.fi/en/articles/the-fundamentals-of-proximity-sensors-selection-and-use-industrial-automation?dclid=CI3Ursuj0f8CFbAKogMdJ0kCTQ