I was told this week that the Bluetooth Low Energy Developers Handbook has been published. You can buy the book now on Amazon at the following link: LINK.
So what's the big deal with Bluetooth Low Energy? Well, from my perspective, it enables deeply embedded devices a way to expand their processing powers by taking advantage of someones smart phone processing power. It is the first standard that allows us to have data exchange with the newer Apple mobile devices. Data exchange was possible with Bluetooth Classic in the past but you had to have a Made for iOS (MFi) chip in order to be granted licensing with Apple. Well with the Bluetooth Low Energy devices this is no longer the case.
Other suppliers of consumer software and hardware are jumping on board as well, but there seems to be some controversy. I know a lot of people are frustrated with Google and not saying if/when a unified standard will be coming out for Bluetooth Low Energy. I love checking out the post on this subject, it gets more and more hits every day. The OEMs are also struggling to find out how to incorporate Bluetooth Low Energy. Motorola seems to understand that there customers want this and so they created an API to support devices but it is not a unified API that can be used by the Android community.
In my opinion we need Bluetooth Low Energy support on all mobile devices. It makes it very valuable for the embedded devices I work in on a daily basis. We can then use the mobile smart phones that have this technology in them to offload the processor, data management, and network routing. Most new smart phones coming out have the hardware to support Bluetooth Low Energy, but yet it appears the software on both the Android and Windows platforms that seems late to the party. Hopefully they can catch up.
Do you see Bluetooth Low Energy as useful for your applications?
Great Lakes
Friday, November 30, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
A Challenging Design Project
What if you could design, build, and then drive away in your own car? I was intrigued by a company in Arizona doing just that. They are called Local Motors and I thought I would share a video outlining how the company works. It sounds like building your own car can range upwards of $75k but the experience is worthwhile in the knowledge that you learn. Thanks Dave for the post suggestion:
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Build a yeast stir plate
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I had family over and was able to spend a lot of time with them. No one in my family practices engineering so we used our extra time to build a hobby project for my brother. My brother brews his own beer, and unlike my small operation, he is getting more and involved in the art of beer. He saw a stir plate to mix his yeast online and said that he wishes he could build something like that. As soon as I saw what he was trying to build, I said, we can do that.
It was a lot of fun to build a project with my brother. In fact, I built most of the device with spare parts from around my house. Here is the article on how to build a stir plate from stirstarter.com :
It was a lot of fun to build a project with my brother. In fact, I built most of the device with spare parts from around my house. Here is the article on how to build a stir plate from stirstarter.com :
Instructions
Interested in building your own stir plate? It's a tinkerer's dream
and easily accomplished as a weekend project. Using parts accessible to most, a
functional stir plate can be constructed in just a few hours. The parts you'll
need to gather are:
Tips and hints for construction and operation:
* It's important for the drive magnets be as close to the stir bar as possible for good coupling. This is where the PVC spacer serves as a useful way to stand off the magnets from the fan hub and get them as close to the lid of the enclosure as possible. Measure and cut the spacer carefully, and you'll get the drive magnets up close where they belong.
* You don't need to develop a “Wizard of Oz” vortex in your starter to get good results. A 1" or 2" dimple in the liquid is all that's needed. The deep vortex you see in some of the YouTube videos is fun to watch, but not necessary.
* The distance between the poles of the drive magnets should be as close to the dimensions of the stir bar as possible. If you are using a 1" stir bar, the poles of the drive magnets should be about 1" apart. This is easy if you use two button magnets like I do. You can adjust the distance between the two button magnets for best stir bar stability.
* Don't fill your flask all the way up to the neck with starter wort. Aeration is important for yeast propagation, so try to keep the surface area of the starter wort high. Fill a 2-liter flask with no more than 1.5 liters of wort, for a 1-liter flask, use no more than 750 mL of wort.
* Don't use a stopper and airlock on your flask as you stir. This defeats the whole purpose of aeration. Just keep a loose foil cap over the neck of the flask to keep dust borne bacteria out as much as possible.
· Computer fan
Most computer fans are of the 12 VDC variety. Any size will do, I use an 80 mm fan· Rare earth magnets
These can be harvested from dead hard disk drives. A good source if you need to purchase your own is www.magnet4less.com· Stir bar
You don't need a giant stir bar! A 1" bar works fine. Single bars are available on eBay or get bags of ten from www.stirbars.com· Flask
Get a 1- or 2-liter flask, a good place to buy is www.cynmar.com· Electronics for voltage control : potentiometer, 2,000 ohms ; LM317 voltage regulator ; resistor, 330 ohms ; capacitor, 0.1 mfd
Radio Shack is a good place to get single piece parts like this. Since I buy lots of these parts, I go to www.mouser.com. I have seen some designs that use just a pot for speed control. I don't recommend this. At low speeds, you are using the potentiometer to drop the full voltage from the power supply which could be several watts. Most pots are designed to dissipate ¼ to ½ watt. They won't last long operating like this.· Plug in power adaptor
This adaptor can be anywhere from 9 to 12 volts DC, capable of delivering at least 200 mA continuously. The stir plates I build draw about 100 mA. The current requirements of other fan motors may be larger, but 200 mA should do.· Stub of 1” PVC pipe
Use this as a spacer between the drive magnets and the hub of the fan. Attaching the drive magnets directly to the fan hub will interfere with fan operation and torque. A ¾” PVC coupler also works well.· Enclosure
Any non-metallic box will work but it should be around 2" deep so you can mount the fan to the bottom of the enclosure instead of trying to “hang” it from the cover with long machine screws.
Tips and hints for construction and operation:
* It's important for the drive magnets be as close to the stir bar as possible for good coupling. This is where the PVC spacer serves as a useful way to stand off the magnets from the fan hub and get them as close to the lid of the enclosure as possible. Measure and cut the spacer carefully, and you'll get the drive magnets up close where they belong.
* You don't need to develop a “Wizard of Oz” vortex in your starter to get good results. A 1" or 2" dimple in the liquid is all that's needed. The deep vortex you see in some of the YouTube videos is fun to watch, but not necessary.
* The distance between the poles of the drive magnets should be as close to the dimensions of the stir bar as possible. If you are using a 1" stir bar, the poles of the drive magnets should be about 1" apart. This is easy if you use two button magnets like I do. You can adjust the distance between the two button magnets for best stir bar stability.
* Don't fill your flask all the way up to the neck with starter wort. Aeration is important for yeast propagation, so try to keep the surface area of the starter wort high. Fill a 2-liter flask with no more than 1.5 liters of wort, for a 1-liter flask, use no more than 750 mL of wort.
* Don't use a stopper and airlock on your flask as you stir. This defeats the whole purpose of aeration. Just keep a loose foil cap over the neck of the flask to keep dust borne bacteria out as much as possible.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Get Involved in Milwaukee with Makerspace
Anyone want to attend a Milwaukee Makerspace meeting with me: http://milwaukeemakerspace.org/join/?
Join Us!
We are open to the public each Tues at 7PM and each Thurs at 7PM.
We’d love for you to drop by on one of those evenings and find out what
we are all about. If you get a good vibe, inquire about becoming a
member! Tues are our official meetings and Thurs is our “Builder’s Night
Out” where we all bring our own projects to work on in the company of
other builders.
Our street address:
3073 S Chase Ave, Bldg 34
Milwaukee, WI 53207
Of course there is no substitute for meeting us in person, but below are a number of videos we’ve made that will give you a pretty good feel for our space before you ever come down.
I was intrigued by the skills video:
Our street address:
3073 S Chase Ave, Bldg 34
Milwaukee, WI 53207
Of course there is no substitute for meeting us in person, but below are a number of videos we’ve made that will give you a pretty good feel for our space before you ever come down.
I was intrigued by the skills video:
Monday, November 19, 2012
Cultivating Creativity with Gener8tor
Milwaukee is encouraging innovation through the group Gener8tor. Look at some of the ideas coming from their launch party. This article is taken from the Milwaukee Journal. Nice work Milwaukee!
enlarge photo
Gener8tor holds launch party for 7 companies
Jeff Holtebeck photo
Before making presentations at the Gener8tor event Thursday at Discovery World, Carley Lanpher of Swapferit (from left), Josh Gross and Gregori Kanatzidis (of SpanDeX) and Tim Nott (right) of MobileIgniter relax by playing bocce ball.
enlarge photo
Jeff Holtebeck photo
Kanatzidis
makes his presentation for SpanDeX to potential investors Thursday.
Seven new companies completed a class from the Milwaukee group
Gener8tor.
Mayor Tom
Barrett, state legislators, financiers and others were among more than
300 people who attended a launch party for seven new companies Thursday
night at Discovery World in Milwaukee.
The companies recently completed a 12-week class at Gener8tor, a for-profit Milwaukee group that works to help chosen start-up companies identify customers and accelerate their growth. Potential investors evaluated the companies' presentations and in coming weeks will make decisions about whether to invest in them, said Joe Kirgues, a Gener8tor co-founder.
"All of the companies were very well prepared," said Chris Schiffner, technology investment manager at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. "Obviously the experience they had in the class prepared them for presenting to investors and helped them put together great business plans and models for moving forward."
The companies showcased at the launch party had potential - but even more important, the event showed that Milwaukee and other areas of the state are putting time and energy into young companies, which will be the job creators of the future, said Mark Ehrmann, a partner in Quarles & Brady's Madison office who works with emerging companies and their investors.
The state needs organizations like Gener8tor that support young companies in order to compete with other cities such as Chicago that have big accelerator programs, Ehrmann said. Many of the companies presenting at Gener8tor's launch party were run by younger entrepreneurs.
"If we can keep their companies in Wisconsin, it will help the state immensely and help stem the brain drain," Ehrmann said. "Some of these companies will create significant job growth."
The seven start-ups were: Uconnect; Mobile Igniter ; The Good Jobs; Subsidence; Swapferit; SpanDeX; and Date Check Pro.
This was the first launch party held by Gener8tor, which was formed in February by Dan Armbrust, president of Granite Microsystems, and other partners. Kir gues and Joel Abraham, both formerly of 94labs, are also founders.
Gener8tor provides seed investments of nearly $20,000 to start-ups selected from a competitive application process, plus its expertise, mentorship, community and network, Kirgues said.
It is modeled after Y Combinator, a start-up accelerator in the Silicon Valley that was started by Paul Graham in 2005. Gener8tor recently said American Family Insurance has become one of its partners.
The companies recently completed a 12-week class at Gener8tor, a for-profit Milwaukee group that works to help chosen start-up companies identify customers and accelerate their growth. Potential investors evaluated the companies' presentations and in coming weeks will make decisions about whether to invest in them, said Joe Kirgues, a Gener8tor co-founder.
"All of the companies were very well prepared," said Chris Schiffner, technology investment manager at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. "Obviously the experience they had in the class prepared them for presenting to investors and helped them put together great business plans and models for moving forward."
The companies showcased at the launch party had potential - but even more important, the event showed that Milwaukee and other areas of the state are putting time and energy into young companies, which will be the job creators of the future, said Mark Ehrmann, a partner in Quarles & Brady's Madison office who works with emerging companies and their investors.
The state needs organizations like Gener8tor that support young companies in order to compete with other cities such as Chicago that have big accelerator programs, Ehrmann said. Many of the companies presenting at Gener8tor's launch party were run by younger entrepreneurs.
"If we can keep their companies in Wisconsin, it will help the state immensely and help stem the brain drain," Ehrmann said. "Some of these companies will create significant job growth."
The seven start-ups were: Uconnect; Mobile Igniter ; The Good Jobs; Subsidence; Swapferit; SpanDeX; and Date Check Pro.
This was the first launch party held by Gener8tor, which was formed in February by Dan Armbrust, president of Granite Microsystems, and other partners. Kir gues and Joel Abraham, both formerly of 94labs, are also founders.
Gener8tor provides seed investments of nearly $20,000 to start-ups selected from a competitive application process, plus its expertise, mentorship, community and network, Kirgues said.
It is modeled after Y Combinator, a start-up accelerator in the Silicon Valley that was started by Paul Graham in 2005. Gener8tor recently said American Family Insurance has become one of its partners.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
SEG Market - What a shopping experience
I saw this video on the ultimate electronics shopping experience. I can't imagine having the ability to have on demand access to components like this:
If you don't have time to check out the video, I reposted the content from DangerousPrototypes.com:
SEG market is the best known electronic part market in Hua Qiang Bei neighborhood. It’s two giant floors of component and tool stands. The upper floors are full of computer parts and consumer electronics, also very cool, but we’re here for the electronics.
This is an overview of the second floor of SEG Market. It’s not as crowded and narrow as the 1st floor. Check the ultimate stop on our Global Geek Tour below the break.
Small glass display cases with sample components line each isle of the market floor. If you ask to see a component the shop owner slides open the top and pulls it out. Sample quantities are usually available for immediate sale, but larger quantities of many things are couriered from somewhere nearby in 5-10 minutes.
Stands represent distributors or factories. There’s lots of stands with the exact same thing, either from competing manufacturers or distributors. Parts like switches, pin headers, coin cell holders, pogo pins, programming adapters, and LEDs are all sold like this.
Stands with wire piles do custom cable assembly. The stand on the right is numbered 2368. Each stand has a business card with its number to help you find it again.
Each stand has a card. Take the card and write down the price of stuff you like. Use the stand number printed on the card to find your way back later.This stand has bundles of cold cathode tubes.
Tully, one of our guides, said it was more important to build a relationship than bargain. Once you have a relationship the price is the same for 1 or 1000. This in mind, on the second day we also gave our card, which was accepted graciously by everyone.
Breakout boards for potted chips. These are the kind of low cost chips you see in calculators and watches, they bond directly to the PCB. This stand has breakouts for several dozen.
The ultimate selection of programming adapters. SOIC, SSOP, QFP, QFN, even 10×10 ball grid arrays! Unfortunately nobody was there to give us prices.
You need magnets? We got 1000 for about two bucks.
This shop was well equipped with all kind of programmers and development boards. Notice the number – 2860 – this is printed on the business card too so you can find it again.
Part displays get creative. Most stands are run by salespeople, not engineers.
Despite the six floor market dedicated to LEDs across the street, SEG Market also has all kinds of LED and LED sign shops.
A stand with two dozen different microscopes. We bought the USB version of this scope. Look for a review later today.
Checking out a photography light box. The SEG price was half of the Hong Kong price, and exactly the same as on TaoBao (the Chinese eBay).
On the 3rd and up to the 10th floor there were more shops, but unfortunately no more component shops, only consumer electronics stores. Prices on components beat anywhere else, but a lot of the consumer electronics are more expensive than in the US.
Lets move on to the next component market!
What SEG Market looks like from the outside.
If you don't have time to check out the video, I reposted the content from DangerousPrototypes.com:
SEG market is the best known electronic part market in Hua Qiang Bei neighborhood. It’s two giant floors of component and tool stands. The upper floors are full of computer parts and consumer electronics, also very cool, but we’re here for the electronics.
This is an overview of the second floor of SEG Market. It’s not as crowded and narrow as the 1st floor. Check the ultimate stop on our Global Geek Tour below the break.
Small glass display cases with sample components line each isle of the market floor. If you ask to see a component the shop owner slides open the top and pulls it out. Sample quantities are usually available for immediate sale, but larger quantities of many things are couriered from somewhere nearby in 5-10 minutes.
Stands represent distributors or factories. There’s lots of stands with the exact same thing, either from competing manufacturers or distributors. Parts like switches, pin headers, coin cell holders, pogo pins, programming adapters, and LEDs are all sold like this.
Stands with wire piles do custom cable assembly. The stand on the right is numbered 2368. Each stand has a business card with its number to help you find it again.
Each stand has a card. Take the card and write down the price of stuff you like. Use the stand number printed on the card to find your way back later.This stand has bundles of cold cathode tubes.
Tully, one of our guides, said it was more important to build a relationship than bargain. Once you have a relationship the price is the same for 1 or 1000. This in mind, on the second day we also gave our card, which was accepted graciously by everyone.
Breakout boards for potted chips. These are the kind of low cost chips you see in calculators and watches, they bond directly to the PCB. This stand has breakouts for several dozen.
The ultimate selection of programming adapters. SOIC, SSOP, QFP, QFN, even 10×10 ball grid arrays! Unfortunately nobody was there to give us prices.
You need magnets? We got 1000 for about two bucks.
This shop was well equipped with all kind of programmers and development boards. Notice the number – 2860 – this is printed on the business card too so you can find it again.
Part displays get creative. Most stands are run by salespeople, not engineers.
Despite the six floor market dedicated to LEDs across the street, SEG Market also has all kinds of LED and LED sign shops.
A stand with two dozen different microscopes. We bought the USB version of this scope. Look for a review later today.
Checking out a photography light box. The SEG price was half of the Hong Kong price, and exactly the same as on TaoBao (the Chinese eBay).
On the 3rd and up to the 10th floor there were more shops, but unfortunately no more component shops, only consumer electronics stores. Prices on components beat anywhere else, but a lot of the consumer electronics are more expensive than in the US.
Lets move on to the next component market!
What SEG Market looks like from the outside.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
A Good Offer
I was introduced to a great deal yesterday that I wanted to share for all my hardware and software friends out there. If you are using a Real-Time Operating System today you probably recgonize the name Micrium with their uC/OS operating system versions. They have just paired up with Renesas and are offering their kernel for free, middleware for free, and one year of support if you use a Renesas RX or RL78. If you use all the middleware components that is estimated to be greater than a $100k value. There are some stipulations to the deal (such as it must be for a commercial product), but if you are looking for a quick way to get started on a 16bit or 32bit microcontroller this might be a way. Check out the post to learn more:
http://am.renesas.com/products/mpumcu/promotions/micrium/index.jsp
http://am.renesas.com/products/mpumcu/promotions/micrium/index.jsp
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Brewing Beer with MSP430
One of my hobbies is brewing beer, check out how one engineer made a simple control system to automate some of the process:
Dave brews beer at home on a stove, but waiting and standing for water to boil takes most time and fun out of it. He came up with an improved automated system with an electric brewing system. A MSP430 Launchpad commands solid state relays which control 5500W heating elements which significantly reduces boiling time to 15 minutes for 5 gallons.
A zip file on his Element14 blog post has schematics, BOMs and documentation.
A MSP430 Double-Kettle Electronic Brewing System
Dave brews beer at home on a stove, but waiting and standing for water to boil takes most time and fun out of it. He came up with an improved automated system with an electric brewing system. A MSP430 Launchpad commands solid state relays which control 5500W heating elements which significantly reduces boiling time to 15 minutes for 5 gallons.
A zip file on his Element14 blog post has schematics, BOMs and documentation.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
A Large Box of Fry's Please!
So we are not going to talk about fast food today, but some of my favorite electronic stores for hobbyist electronics.
I have started to accumulate my collection but it definitely is a slow process. First off, I have to secretly hide my purchases so my wife cannot see the amount of new stuff I am buying. Secondly, I am starting to already run out of room. I plan to someday build a larger lab, but for now it is two folding tables. I use one as my rework / teardown station and the other as my debug station.
When I was in college I could visit the Radio Shack or our school's EE lab and buy all the discrete components I needed (This also explains why my designs were so simple). One of my first projects was to create a stopwatch using standard logic parts. I was able to source all the components right from the Radio Shack next to my apartment. Now, as box stores have declined, I have noticed that the number of electronic stores carrying parts has also been on the decline. Radio Shack still has the sliding shelves of components but the inventory is never as plentiful and the variety is never as diverse as what it once was. Perhaps my perception is skewed because my interests have also moved to more complicated parts that would not be able to be purchased there anyways.
On one of my recent trips to Texas, I went with a friend to a store I wish we had in Wisconsin - Fry's Electronics. For those of you that don't have one in your area, I highly suggest a field trip to a local store near you. I felt overwhelmed, excited, and wish I had more time to spend navigating the aisles of components. So if Fry's is reading this post, please keep me posted if you plan to build in Wisconsin because you definitely have a customer.
Today the majority of my components are sourced from the web. I use AvnetExpress for all my components and evaluation kits. I also have been known to hang out on Ebay and look for that great mega-deal (like the 10000 piece resistor packs). For other design tools and supplies I have used Amazon and SparkFun. Are there any other good sites I should be checking out?
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Getting Political with Electronics
Happy Election Day America! I woke up early this morning and it made me reflect on the sacrifice of the men and women who have and are still making America great. No matter what political views we hold it makes me proud to be able to cast my vote. But before I go into a political rant (which I will always avoid in my posts), let's turn the discussion over to electronics.
We have started to see electronic voting in America. Unfortunately these systems have not had the best press because people have found ways to hack into them. While many companies make great products that are not hacked, it only takes one incident to raise questions about the integrity of their electronic voting system.
However as I stood in line, I wondered, will we see the voting system go purely electronic? Can we stay at home, log into the web, and cast our vote in the future? As a technology guy, I only see the system moving towards that direction. However, it is a great feeling waking up early, sitting out in the cold, and casting your vote with your fellow Americans.
Thanks to everyone who has served our country!
We have started to see electronic voting in America. Unfortunately these systems have not had the best press because people have found ways to hack into them. While many companies make great products that are not hacked, it only takes one incident to raise questions about the integrity of their electronic voting system.
However as I stood in line, I wondered, will we see the voting system go purely electronic? Can we stay at home, log into the web, and cast our vote in the future? As a technology guy, I only see the system moving towards that direction. However, it is a great feeling waking up early, sitting out in the cold, and casting your vote with your fellow Americans.
Thanks to everyone who has served our country!
Monday, November 5, 2012
How Do You Stay Current
I work in the world of silicon chips and I am constantly looking at new ways to stay current. I did find a good website out there (Thanks to a friend for the suggestion), and wanted to repost the Podcast and the website. The following information is from Chip Report TV, a website dedicated to talking about some of the recent chip releases out there:
The following information is from ChipReportTV, a new Podcast I listen to:
The following information is from ChipReportTV, a new Podcast I listen to:
ChipReportTV #6 — CC2564, LT8300, MAX5318
Oct 20
CC2564 from Texas Instruments
- What it does
- Bluetooth
- Industry it is targeted at:
- Everything in wireless consumer electronics
- Project Ideas
- Adding Bluetooth to your uC projects
- Comparable to
- CC254x (2.4 Gig)
- Bluetooth modules like the SPBT2632 from ST (higher cost)
- What’s The Special Sauce?
- This is the all in one radio chip and MAC
- Best-in-class range of about 2x, compared to other BLE-only solutions.
- On-Chip Power Management (Can reliably operate for 7 years).
- Easy Integration with Stellaris and MSP430 MCUs (need a stack, included)
- Power
- Power Supply Voltage 2.2-4.8V.
- I/O Power Supply Voltage. 1.62 -1.92.
- Packaging
- footprint: 76 pins, 0.6-mm pitch,8.10- × 7.83-mm mrQFN
- Price
- $2.14 @ 1K
- Comments/Thoughts
- Aside from FCC cert, why WOULDN’T you put this in a project? We’ve finally reached the point where Bluetooth is as standard to implement as Ethernet.
- What it does
- Isolated flyback converter for isolated power delivery.
- Industry it is targeted at
- Anything requiring an isolated power supply. Telecom, automotive, industrial, medical, etc.
- Project Ideas
- Isolated USB (2.5W), Isolated anything
- Comparable to
- UCC28600 from TI
- What’s The Special Sauce?
- Integrated 150V, 260mA DMOS power switch.
- Vout set with a single resistor.
- Boundary Mode Operation at Heavy Load.
- Low-Ripple Burst Mode Operation at Light Load.
- Power
- 6-100V input
- 70uA in Sleep, 330uA in Active.
- Packaging
- TSOT-23-5
- Price
- 3.58 @1K
- Comments/Thoughts
- Great if you need isolation and don’t have a ton of space or requirements. The no 3rd turn is a cool feature and the regulation on this thing looks great.
- What it does
- 18 Bit High Accuracy DAC with Digital Gain and Offset Control
- Industry it is targeted at:
- Data-Acquisition Systems, Medical, Communication, Automation
- Project Ideas
- Voltage source
- Comparable to
- DAC9881
- What’s The Special Sauce?
- Accuracy Guaranteed with ±2 LSB (max) Over Temp.
- Buffered Voltage Output Directly Drives 2kΩ Load
- Rail-to-Rail.
- Fast Settling Time (3µs) with 10kI || 100pF Load.
- Power
- Continuous Power Dissipation (T= +70C): 1111.1 mW (1.1W)
- Packaging
- 4.4mm x 7.8mm, 24-lead TSSOP
- Price
- $24.88 @100
- Comments/Thoughts
- Eesh, is the resolution worth it? I’m not so sure. What kinds of applications need 18 bits? What are you wrapping around it? That could immediately kill your resolution.
Podcast: Play in new window
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A Tribute to a Legend
I just listened to a great Podcast from a friend of Jim Williams. If you are not sure who Jim is, check out LT's application notes, he is one of the authors of some of the most impressive application notes. I wanted to repost the information about the Podcast, so other geeks out there could enjoy:
The following post was taken from the Amp Hour Episode 119:
Welcome, Dr Kent Lundberg!
The following post was taken from the Amp Hour Episode 119:
The Amp Hour #119 — Luculent Linear Legacy
Welcome, Dr Kent Lundberg!
- Kent has been a lecturer at MIT and now teaches at Olin College.
- He also keeps a great blog called “Reading Jim Williams”. Kent personally knew Jim through Jim Roberge
- Kent also has a bibliography of all of Jim’s publications, which were very numerous.
- As fans of JW’s will know, some of his app notes were epic. AN47 clocked in at 130 pages.
- Kent has had one student in particular he remembers and has seen all over the place, including the cover of Wired: Limor Fried (AKA Ladyada) of Adafruit Industries.
- In his control systems classes, he doesn’t use network analyzers but uses Dynamic Signal Analyzers like the HP3562A.
- Dave says “Bow-duh”, Chris and Kent say “Bow-dee”, Bode’s family (but not him), say “Bow-dah”. Dave has been to Bodie, California.
- Kent is a fan of the Severed Heads, a long time Aussie band that did a lot of experimentations with synths.
- Kent also has a bunch of synths of his own, including Moog and Dave Smith synths.
- When he’s not teaching, Kent consults for industry for analog. His company is called Keeling Flight Hardware, Ltd. “Flight Hardware” also refers to hardware that is ready off the shelf.
- He also works at Lincoln Labs and has worked indirectly with Dr. Greg Charvat, who was a guest on show 115.
- When he’s not teaching or consulting, he also collects and repairs scopes, thanks to JW’s inspiration:
- Kent has a 511, a 556 and a 7104. Great hardware! He also has one digital scope from the older era: 7854
- Kent was the historian and editor for the IEEE Control Systems magazine and did a feature about analog computing.
- Beyond all this, he’s also an avid book collector and has hard-to-find books from the Rad Lab and the Manhattan Project (the ones that are allowed to be collected).
- He’s now developing a new class along with students to teach EE Prototyping. We can’t wait to see how that turns out!
Thanks again to Dr Kent Lundberg for being on the show! Find him on Twitter at @DoctorAnalog or at the variety of sites linked above.
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