Relays have been used as switches since before the transistor was invented. The ability to safely control high-voltage systems from lower-voltage signals, as is the case in isolation resistance monitoring, is necessary for the development of many automotive systems. While the technology of electromechanical relays and contactors has improved over the years, it is…
You’ve probably heard that it’s possible to shatter glass by screaming at a high-pitched tone, but have you heard of cleaning glass by screaming? With precisely controlled, high-frequency vibrations, ultrasonic cleaning technology can clean glass surfaces. On a rainy day this technology could automatically detect and clear raindrops from a car’s rear camera lens without requiring action from the driver…
Semiconductor packaging techniques have evolved in order to adapt to the smaller chip sizes made possible by technological advances, as well as increased power dissipation and growing demands for power density. Flip chip on leadframe (FCOL) packaging technologies have become increasingly popular given their technical benefits and efficient use of printed circuit board (PCB) area. In this article, I’ll give a short overview…
Previously published on Electronic Design
Hall-effect sensors are commonly used in automotive and industrial systems for applications including proximity detection, linear displacement measurement and rotary encoding. Currently, the high system performance requirements of modern applications have led to IC manufacturers increasing sensitivity accuracy, integrating…
The adoption of gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistor (FET) is rapidly increasing, given its ability to improve efficiency and shrink the size of power supplies. But before investing in the technology, you may still be asking yourself whether GaN is reliable. It strikes me that no one asks whether silicon is reliable. After all, there are still new silicon products coming out all the time, and power-supply designers…
A brushed DC motor’s simplicity of control, low cost and wide range of capability makes it a good fit for automotive loads that need integrated, high-powered and reliable motor drivers such as window lifts, sunroof controls, locks, latches and engine valves.
If you’re designing an automotive system, you’ll likely encounter both device- and system-level…
As electric vehicles (EVs) become more popular, the challenge for car manufacturers is to remove drivers’ “range anxiety” while making the car more affordable. This translates into making the battery packs lower cost with higher energy densities. Every single watt-hour stored and retrieved from the cells is critical to extend the driving range.
Having accurate measurements of voltage, temperature and…
Co-authored by Matthias Thoma
Every day, consumers interact with systems that assess their surroundings and act accordingly. In a vehicle, when pressing the accelerator, the vehicle speeds up almost instantaneously – there is no noticeable delay between pressing the pedal to acceleration.
To apply this example to the topic of this article, if the vehicle were a system, the surroundings pressing the accelerator and…
A typical factory automation environment has multiple levels of operator and field control to establish device-to-device communication. As smart factories become more prevalent, it’s a challenge to design systems that not only address the complex computational needs of larger data sets throughout the factory, but to do so in a way that addresses multiprotocol real-time communication…
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…
Unless you ride in a spacecraft, automotive power seats are probably the most complex chair in which you will ever sit. More adjustable than airplane seats – and much more comfortable than a dentist’s chair – automotive power seats provide a luxurious level of comfort, convenience and safety.
Whether you are moving the seat up and down, forward or…
Co-authored with Jitin George.
Originally published in Electronic Products.
Autonomous robots are intelligent machines that can understand and navigate through its environment without human control or intervention. Although this technology is relatively young, there are many different use cases of autonomous robots in factories, warehouses, cities, and homes. For example, robots can be used to transport goods around warehouses…
Technology companies are looking to expand into more intelligent and advanced sensing in vehicle interiors. Consumers want to see applications such as child presence detection, occupant detection, vital-sign monitoring and gesture recognition. The in-cabin space currently has various camera-based and time-of-flight solutions; however, most of these are limited to only one application…
Not too long ago, widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) was nothing but science fiction. Once thought too expensive or impractical, we are now in the midst of an EV revolution driven by OEMs’ desire to achieve zero emissions and explore alternative energy sources. Many car manufacturers have gone all-in by pledging all-EV lineups in the next 10 to 15 years.
Despite this momentum, we stand at an inflection…
It’s a challenge to create highly efficient and compact designs while also adhering to strict electromagnetic interference (EMI) requirements imposed by groups such as Comité International Spécial des Perturbations Radioélectriques (CISPR). Therefore, component selection becomes a critical part of the design process. As with most design decisions, choosing between…
Gallium nitride (GaN) is a popular topic in the power electronics industry, as it enables designs such as 80 Plus titanium power supplies, 3.8-kW/L electric vehicle (EV) onboard chargers and EV charging stations. In many applications, GaN replaces traditional silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) given its…
The first three installments of this technical article series focused on the benefits of designing with low-power amplifiers and how to maximize their efficiency. Unfortunately, low-power amplifiers also come with their share of trade-offs. In this fourth installment, I will consider one of the most common challenges with low-power amplifier designs – instability…
Whether it excites or bores you, continued learning is a necessary part of life. Semiconductors and electronics invite constant learning; I personally enjoy exposure to new material and ideas. The field of electronics contains an abundance of textbooks, research and experiences, and choosing among them can be difficult and time-consuming. My TI journey began with a resource created to guide this learning process: TI Precision…
From smartphones to cars, consumers are demanding more features packed into increasingly smaller products. To help with this trend, TI has optimized its packaging technology for our semiconductor devices, including the load switches used for subsystem control and power sequencing. Packaging innovation enables greater power density, making it possible…
This post was co-authored by Joe Folkens
Sensing offers an opportunity for companies to increase functionality in existing products. In the Internet of Things space, for example, Omdia predicts that sensor shipments will increase by almost 20 billion units from 2020 to 2024, with radar sensing growing at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 30%…
As automobile gas mileage standards continue to increase (according to the Environmental Protection Agency, up to 40 miles per gallon by 2026), the challenge for automotive audio designers is how to provide an immersive audio experience while simultaneously reducing vehicle weight and improving overall efficiency.
If you design automotive external amplifiers, you can refresh your…
Designing a power-efficient edge artificial intelligence (AI) system while achieving a faster time to market can become tedious in the absence of the right tools and software from an embedded processor vendor. Challenges include selecting the right deep learning model, training and optimizing the model for performance and accuracy goals, and learning proprietary tools for model deployment…
If your first car was anything like mine, it probably lacked sensor modules such as cameras, radar and lidar, which make the safety features of modern advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) like blind-spot detection, park assistance and collision avoidance possible. Because the data collected by these sensor modules directly correlates with passenger safety, it’s important that they work properly over time. Unfortunately…
Everyone agrees that seeing clearly on the road is essential while driving a car. This truth becomes even more critical when implementing technologies such as autonomous driving. The “eyes” of an autonomous vehicle are called light detection and ranging (lidar) technology, which provides precise images of what surrounds the vehicle. Lidar systems use a light source and…
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