Each week, the editor of Planet Analog finds items of interest and then features them in two sections, entitled “Also of Interest” and “Elementals”. Each cites items from publications outside the Planet Analog and EETimes portfolios. And we also have an archive of recent weekly Planet Analog Newsletters, as pdf files; see the list at the very bottom.
“Also of Interest” and “Elementals” is an extension of our belief that engineers are interested in on-going tutorial on obviously relevant topics, as well as the serendipity of exploring topics which are not directly related to their jobs, but which will broaden their knowledge and sometimes spurs innovative and creative approaches. The first box highlights items of general interest to the engineer, while the second highlights basic and tutorial electronic-engineering material. Among the publications we check are IEEE Spectrum , Machine Design , Design News , Laser Focus World , EDN , Electronic Design , NASA Tech Briefs , Microwave Journal , RF & Microwaves , and Physics Today , plus others.
Consider these items as online extras, and worth a look. (Please note: there are also links to the previous weeks' editions, in the “Navigate” box to the right.)
Also of Interest:
- Some engineers are trained in the art of building things out of folding sheets of paper and metal into useful objects (origami):
“Crease here, fold here and here and — Voila! — a collapsible, steel grocery bag,”
Machine Design , May 5, 2011 - Research with tiny artificial muscles may yield a full-page active Braille system that can refresh automatically and come to life right beneath your fingertips:
“Braille Displays Get New Life With Artificial Muscles,”
Medical Design Briefs , May 2011 - Understand how individual elements in rugged designs are critical to ensuring a system can perform in harsh environments:
“Thermal Management Techniques for Military Embedded Computers,”
Defense Tech Briefs , June 2011 - The capability of hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber to transmit ultrahigh-power femtosecond pulses without distortion has been extended from the infrared to the visible:
“Hollow-core fiber delivers ultrafast visible pulses,”
Laser Focus World , May 2011
Elementals:
- Receiver front-ends for Global Navigation Satellite Systems are required to provide the lowest noise figure, even in the vicinity of high power jammer signals:
“New Generation High Linearity Navigation Front-end Devices Covering GPS and GLONASS,”
Microwave Journal , June 2011 - Traditional QR (quasi-resonant) controllers are subject to the so-called valley jumping, which creates uneven switching cycles and generates acoustic noise in the transformer:
“Solving The Valley Jumping Issue in Quasi-Square Wave Resonant Power Supplies,”
Power Electronics Technology , June 2011 - For safety reasons, an Uninterruptible Power Supply is mandatory on oil rigs to ensure that signal lighting is operational at all times:
“UPS System for Offshore Platform Requires More Safeguards,”
Power Electronics Technology , June 2011 - Combining theory, research results and emprically-obtained performance characteristics of ferrite materials:
“The Small-Signal Frequency Response of Ferrites,”
High Frequency Electronics , June 2011
Recent Planet Analog Newsletters:
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