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📢 Стартував прийом заявок на XV Конкурс стартапів «Sikorsky Challenge 2026»! kpi пн, 07/13/2026 - 17:05

💎 Фізико-математичний факультет КПІ ім. Ігоря Сікорського запрошує на AI SkyRun Hackathon kpi пн, 07/13/2026 - 16:22

Whether it actually accomplishes the function intended (or at least asserted), the low price tag and enduring controversy sufficed to motivate a look inside.

Electronic pest control devices have a longstanding reputation (largely-to-completely justified, my own research of others’ studies has concluded) for being ineffective at encouraging mice and other rodents, along with a variety of insects and arachnids, to flee in their actively broadcasting presence. Sometimes it’s because they don’t work at all; the speaker inside might be a flat-out “dummy”, or at minimum nonfunctional over the claimed operating frequency range, for example (all conveniently obscured by the fact that you’re not supposed to be able to hear them anyway). And even when working as designed, there’s little to no evidence that ultrasonic pummeling does anything meaningful to deter pests, particularly after long-term use.

That all said, a teardown video from fellow teardown-er “Big Clive” that I recently came across still piqued my interest.

Clive, like me, made no definitive judgement as to the functional viability of the device, while still noting the overall skepticism derived by studies from others. That said, observations such as the following would, I felt, be unexpected in a product solely intended as a scam:

The PCB in this unit looks very competently designed, with good clearances and logical design. The bulk of the unit’s magic is in the software, and they’ve been quite clever in creating a swept ultrasonic output, while also pulse width modulating the indicator LED. It could even be said that the programmer may have been showboating.

So, when I subsequently came across a set of six ultrasonic pest repellers selling for $14.99 total, I couldn’t resist (nor could others, apparently, as inventory eventually sold out). They’re AC-powered, and each unit is claimed to cover up to 1,600 square feet. I’ll start with some “stock” shots, several of which include “creative” grammar and spelling terms. Can you spot them?

Dual smart chip? Inquiring minds want to know.

I’m not going to proactively point out all of the “creative” English language examples in these, to avoid ruining your investigatory fun, but “Desinsectisation” is just…awesome.

A half dozen for a bit more than a dozen (dollars)

Now for some real-life shots, as usual beginning with the outer box, also as usual accompanied by a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for size comparison purposes:

I couldn’t resist:

Now let’s peer inside:

Remove one of the still-wrapped devices:

and the sliver of literature below them comes into view:

which, of course, I promptly tore while getting it out:

English on one side I’d expected. German on the other? Unexpected.

Here’s our now-“unclothed” patient:

When I first glanced at the screw heads on the back side, their seeming deviation had me wondering whether this was some sort of crude intrusion-prevention security scheme.

Turns out the bottom one had just come into my possession already partially stripped:

And have you yet noticed a curious omission both from the outer packaging and the device itself? Ponder for a bit…I’m not going anywhere…

…time’s up! Although there’s a FCC logo on the back of the box, there’s no actual FCC certification ID to be found anywhere. Even though…y’know…it’s a broadcast device. Anyhoo, onward:

Let’s plug ‘er in before taking ‘er apart. Thar she glows, just like in the stock photos:

For what it’s worth, my Collie seemingly wasn’t phased in the slightest by the supposed ultrasonic broadcast!

Getting to the guts

And now let’s dive inside:

Here’s the supposed ultrasonic-frequency transducer:

and the diminutive PCB:

See that screw, identical to the other two you’ve already seen, at the bottom? Interestingly, at least to me, there’s another screw hole, this one unpopulated, above the PCB. Apparently, the chassis was designed for multiple PCB variants, including one larger than this one. Regardless, removing the screw led to subsequent easy removal of the PCB itself.

Leaving nothing particularly exciting behind.

Let’s start with the PCB front side, which you’ve already seen in several past photos:

There are indeed two main ICs here, to the earlier “dual chip” reference, although still stretching the association. The upper four-lead one, toward the left side of the photo, is faintly marked “MB6F” and appears to be a bridge rectifier, with the “BD1” PCB mark presumably standing for “bridge diode” (not, in this case at least, ferrite bead). Its presumed-by-me function, as we’ve seen before, is to act as a crude AC/DC converter in conjunction with a yet-to-be-seen low pass filter (capacitor).

The other IC, labeled U1, eight-lead and below and to the right of its companion, is absent any topside mark and therefore something of a mystery, although if I was a betting man, I’d lay odds it’s an inexpensive MCU, akin to the one in Big Clive’s teardown victim. What about those glowing LEDs you saw in the earlier plugged-in device photo? They’re at the far upper right and left, with their PCB markings on the other side, which you’ll see next.

They operate somewhat oddly. When I preview them through my smartphone’s camera and display in “still” image capture mode, they generally blink at what I’m guessing is a 60-Hz rate. That said, they also occasionally dim and then return to their prior illumination intensity, and sometimes the blinking also temporarily ceases. When previewed in “video” mode on the smartphone (which I know because I tried to capture a clip of the aforementioned behavior), they exhibit constant illumination. Mysterious!

You might have also noticed PCB sites for two other LEDs, LED3 and LED4, although they seem to be unpopulated, along with multiple other unpopulated locations on this side of the PCB. Chassis placeholders for multiple PCBs…placeholders for additional components on this PCB variant…once again, all very mysterious!

In closing, let’s flip the PCB over.

At top is capacitor C2 which, given its proximity both to the AC inputs to the PCB and to the bridge rectifier, I’m guessing is our aforementioned low-pass filter. The resistor below is specifically labeled “FR1”, presumably referencing its augmented fuse function.

Aside from one other electrolytic capacitor, along with pass-through holes to solder sites on the other side of the PCB for the dual two-wire harnesses (one going to the “ultrasonic speaker”, the other to the AC plug), that’s it of note.

And with that, I’ll conclude for today. At some point after this teardown is published, as usual allowing time for reader questions, I’ll put the device back together, presumably still functional afterward (to whatever degree that term is relevant in this particular case).

But what do I do then? Donate the lot to some pest-plagued recipient hoping against hope for a miracle? Or donate all of ’em to the dump? Let me know your thoughts on this ethical quagmire, or anything else I’ve discussed here, in the comments!

—Brian Dipert is the associate editor, as well as a contributing editor, at EDN.

Related Content

• Automatic Ultrasonic Yard Guard
• Ultrasonic Frequencies For Repelling Insects & Pests
• Electronic Mosquito Repellent Circuit
• Dissecting an underwhelming dog bark controller
• Dog Repellent Circuit
• Dog Repellent Ultrasonic Circuit 2

The post Ultrasonic device claims to repel pests appeared first on EDN.

Nippon Paint participated in SMARTCOR 2026 – 1 st International Conference on Materials for Corrosion Resistance and Smart Control, held on July 10–11, 2026 at CSIR–Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR-IMMT),
Bhubaneswar, highlighting Advanced Coil Coatings for a sustainable future.
The premier, global platform united researchers, academia, industry, and innovators to
collaborate and advance corrosion-resistant materials and smart control technologies for a
sustainable future.

Representing the company, Subash Gaijes Selvaraj, President – Industrial Coatings, Nippon
Paint India, delivered a technical presentation on ‘High-Performance Coil Coating Solutions
for Pre-painted Steel’, highlighting the evolving role of advanced coating technologies in
improving durability, corrosion protection, weather resistance, sustainability and lifecycle
performance.
Mr. Gaijes’ Presentation highlighted Nippon Paint’s global R&D capabilities, advanced
exposure testing across diverse climatic conditions and an innovation-led approach to
developing customised coating solutions. He also spoke about next-generation
fluoropolymer technologies, high-performance primer systems, functional coatings and
sustainable solutions, including low-VOC, lead- and chromate-free coatings, cool roof
technologies, and energy-efficient coating systems designed to meet the evolving needs of
modern infrastructure.

Speaking at the conference, Subash Gaijes Selvaraj, President – Industrial Coatings,
Nippon Paint India, said: “Industrial coatings have evolved beyond surface protection to
become strategic enablers of asset performance, sustainability and lifecycle value. At Nippon
Paint, we continue to leverage our global innovation legacy, R&D expertise and customer-
centric approach to develop future-ready coating solutions that support India’s growing
infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.”
Mr. Gaijes also participated in an expert panel discussion on ‘Rust, Risk and Resolution:
Advanced Practices in Industrial Corrosion Management’, where industry leaders discussed
emerging technologies and best practices for enhancing asset protection and lifecycle
performance.

SMARTCOR 2026 brought together researchers, industry experts and technology leaders to
discuss advancements in corrosion prevention, materials science, and sustainable industrial
technologies.

The post Nippon Paint highlights Advanced Coil Coatings for a sustainable future at SMARTCOR 2026 appeared first on ELE Times.

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) today announced the APS-ONE-400, a modular network cybersecurity test platform. This new 4x100GE platform significantly boosts performance for Layer 4-7 traffic, encrypted traffic, and Elephant Flow traffic all within a 1 rack unit (RU) system. It enables network equipment manufacturers (NEMs), service providers, and data center operators to validate demanding scenarios while lowering overall infrastructure requirements.

The growing complexity and volume of network loads — including legitimate and malicious traffic, post-quantum cryptography (PQC)-encrypted traffic, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), and the Elephant Flow transmissions common in AI and large language model (LLM) workloads — require network equipment manufacturers (NEMs), service providers, and data center operators to validate that their solutions can withstand these demands prior to deployment. However, this often requires multiple specialized test tools that can drive up costs and consume limited lab resources.

To address this challenge, Keysight developed the APS-ONE-400 appliance, an addition to its APS-100/400GE hardware family. The new modular, scalable 4x100GE network application and cybersecurity test platform generates hyperscale Layer 4-7 traffic, PQC-encrypted Transport Layer Security (TLS) throughput, security strikes, and ZTNA test capabilities — all within a compact 1RU footprint that improves lab efficiency.

The APS-ONE-400 4x100GE test platform offers the following benefits:

• Increased performance and efficiency: Delivers 400 gigabits per second (Gbps) Layer 4-7 throughput, 380 Gbps of hardware-accelerated encrypted TLS throughput, 95 Gbps Elephant Flow throughput, and the latest security strikes in a compact 1RU platform that minimizes rack space, cooling, and power consumption.
• Compatibility and flexibility: Deploy as a stand-alone appliance or seamlessly integrate with existing deployments of Keysight’s APS-100/400GE series, including APS-M8400, APS-M1010, and APS-ONE-100. With APS-ONE-400’s fanout support for 100/25/10GE, the platform accommodates a range of critical network speeds.
• Hyperscale performance: When paired with the APS-M8400 appliance or APS-M1010 management controller, the APS-ONE-400 enables hyperscale testbeds that emulate the rigorous demands of data center and service provider environments. The platform can generate up to 16 terabits per second (Tbps) of Layer 4-7 traffic, 20 billion concurrent connections, 15 Tbps of TLS traffic, and 25 million TLS connections per second.
• Modular, scalable solution: Designed as a “pay-as-you-grow” solution, the APS-ONE-400 lets users support current test needs while retaining the flexibility to scale up capacity as requirements evolve.

Ram Periakaruppan, Vice President and General Manager, Keysight’s Network Test and Security Solutions, said: “The exponential growth of data transfers and bandwidth demands generated by AI and machine learning workloads is putting unprecedented strain on data center, service provider, and enterprise network infrastructures. Continuously validating that networks can handle these challenges without compromising security requires realistic, hyperscale traffic emulation capabilities. Keysight’s modular APS-ONE-400 compute node delivers new heights in realism, emulating the traffic flows associated with generative AI models and agentic applications at hyperscale, including the huge Elephant Flow datasets common to LLM training use cases and PQC-encrypted traffic flows, all in a compact form factor that conserves critical lab resources.”

The post Keysight Delivers New High-Performance 4x100GE Network Cybersecurity Test Platform appeared first on ELE Times.

In a bid to provide safer drinking water to thousands across Delhi’s largest informal
settlements, 16-year-old Devika Raj Batra, has developed a community water-safety initiative
built around a patent-pending submersible UV-C LED sterilisation device. The unit disinfects
stored household drinking water in about fifteen minutes. Running on a standard USB cable,
this purification solution is designed to be placed directly into the buckets, matkas, and drums
families already use.

The device works with a single button and emits an audible cue when the sterilisation cycle is
complete. The users do not need to follow any user’s manual or read any instruction guide
before using this device. What’s more, they can carry on with the household’s existing water-
storage habits while making the most of this technology.

As part of the developmental process, Devika and her team has conducted microbiological testing, adhering to
IS and WHO standards on household water samples before and after treatment. The device
was claimed to be tested for total coliforms, E. coli, faecal coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus,
Salmonella, and Shigella. Every tested indicator pathogen was successfully inactivated.
With this initiative, Devika intends to target India’s urban informal settlements, where the act
of collecting, storing, boiling, filtering, and protecting household water is a strenuous task. A
class 12 student from New Delhi, Devika has designed this unit from scratch. This portable
sterilisation device is part of Project Amrit, which already reaches more than 10,000 residents
across nearly 2,000 households in the Kusumpur Pahari region of South Delhi.

This initiative has showcased documented health improvements across 300 households till
date. The design choices behind Project Amrit, says Devika, are not specific to Delhi, but
across all applicable informal settlements, which feature a submersible form factor, chemical-
free operation, low maintenance, compatibility with existing storage vessels, and usability for
households with limited literacy or time. This makes the model scalable across urban
settlements in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia, where stored drinking
water remains a major site of contamination.

The post 16-Year-Old Develops Innovative Water Sterilisation Technology appeared first on ELE Times.

What looks like a simple port is in fact a silent architect—quietly shaping how energy and data flow between your car and your mobile world. Hidden inside that small rectangle of metal and plastic is a choreography of power regulation, signal integrity, and protocol negotiation.

It’s the unseen engineering that turns a “plug” into a lifeline, ensuring your EV and your phone don’t just connect, but truly communicate.

From socket to smart port

Once upon a dashboard, the humble “cigarette lighter” socket was nothing more than a dumb power tap—12 volts, no questions asked. Fast forward to today, and the USB-C port in your EV is no longer a passive outlet; it’s an intelligent node in a vast digital ecosystem. That tiny connector is the handshake between two massive computers: your phone and your car.

It juggles a delicate balance, delivering high-wattage energy to keep devices alive while simultaneously orchestrating millisecond-sensitive data streams that define navigation, entertainment, and even safety. In short, your USB port is not just a plug; it’s a bridge, a translator, and a silent engineer behind the scenes of modern mobility.

Power architecture: From traction to tablet

Unlike traditional cars, EVs don’t carry an alternator humming under the hood. Instead, they rely on a DC-DC converter—a silent workhorse that steps down the traction battery’s 400-V or even 800-V supply to the familiar 12-V rail that powers the cabin. That same rail feeds the USB ports, infotainment systems, and auxiliary electronics.

Think of it as an “infinite power bank”: charging your phone at 15 W for an hour consumes only about 0.015 kWh. Put that in perspective, a 75 kWh Tesla battery could technically recharge an iPhone 15 Pro Max more than 4,000 times. In other words, your EV’s energy reserves make mobile charging almost trivial, yet the engineering behind that seamless handoff is anything but.

Figure 1 Onboard DC-DC converter services the low-voltage auxiliary rail by extracting energy from the high-voltage traction battery. Source: Brogen EV Solution

Sidenote: Instead of combustion fuel, the high-voltage traction pack stores electrical energy at hundreds of volts, driving the motor and, through the DC-DC converter, sustaining the 12-V system.

The “signal” side: The handshake

If the power architecture is the muscle, the signal side is the brain. In USB-C, no current flows until a negotiation takes place. That negotiation happens over the Configuration Channel (CC) pins, where your EV and your phone exchange digital hellos before any electrons move.

Through this handshake, they decide critical roles: Who is the host? (almost always the car), and how much voltage can the phone safely accept?—whether it’s 5 V for legacy devices, 9 V or 15 V for fast-charging, or even 20 V for high-power modes. Only after this millisecond-level dialogue does energy begin to flow, ensuring that what looks like a simple plug-in is actually a carefully choreographed agreement between two computers.

Figure 2 Integrated electronics drive a 60-W USB-C car power socket, providing native support for Power Delivery, Quick Charge, and other fast-charging protocols. Source: Pro Car

Once the roles and voltage levels are agreed, the conversation doesn’t stop—it deepens into data protocols. Over the very same power pins, USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) runs a digital dialogue, negotiating charging speed and ensuring both sides stay within safe limits.

Parallel to that, separate high-speed differential pairs carry the real payload: the streams of audio, video, and control signals that make Apple CarPlay and Android Auto feel seamless. In effect, your EV’s USB port is multitasking—one channel whispering about volts and watts, another racing to deliver maps, playlists, and messages—all in perfect sync.

The challenge: Noise and interference

Your EV’s cabin is far from electrically serene. High-frequency switching from motor inverters and power electronics creates a “dirty” environment filled with electromagnetic noise. To keep your USB connection clean, manufacturers rely on shielded twisted pairs (STP) cables designed to resist interference and preserve signal integrity, so your music and navigation don’t glitch under the influence of stray magnetic fields.

But shielding alone isn’t enough. The electronics inside the USB interface must also withstand sudden voltage spikes and magnetic surges. That’s where common-mode transient immunity (CMTI) comes in; it’s a design requirement that ensures the transceivers can survive and keep data flowing even when the EV’s power electronics throw out nanosecond-scale noise bursts. Without strong CMTI performance, those spikes could corrupt packets or drop connections.

Figure 3 Oscillogram illustrates an EV-style CMTI spike waveform during a high-speed transient event. Source: Author (AI-generated)

Sidenote: In high-performance EV architectures, the drive for faster switching efficiency can turn CMTI into a critical bottleneck. As platforms move to 800-V systems, the steep voltage transitions (dv/dt) from wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors—notably SiC and GaN—produce intense high-frequency transients. These spikes can leak through parasitic capacitances in isolation barriers (in gate drivers or digital isolators), risking shoot-through events where both switches conduct simultaneously, a destructive failure mode for traction inverters.

Especially, GaN’s ultra-fast switching makes it more vulnerable. To protect control logic and safeguard costly WBG modules, modern EV designs now require isolated gate drivers with ultra-high CMTI ratings (often >150 kV/µs, specified for both positive-and negative-going transients), a design safeguard that directly underpins range, reliability, and performance.

Also, it’s worth noting that there are two types of CMTI: static and dynamic. Static CMTI refers to the test condition where the input is held at a fixed logic high or logic low, and the output state is monitored during a common-mode transient strike. The requirement is that the gate driver output remains in its specified state across variations in process, voltage, and temperature.

Dynamic CMTI, by contrast, evaluates immunity while the device is actively switching. This measures whether the transient causes timing jitter or pulse distortion—making it the more demanding metric and the true limiter in fast-transition EV platforms using WBG devices.

And then there’s the subtle menace of ground loops: a cheap, poorly shielded cable can create electrical conflict between the car’s ground and your phone’s ground, producing that familiar buzzing in the speakers. What seems like a trivial accessory choice can make the difference between crystal-clear audio and noisy rides.

Why do some ports “only charge”

Ever noticed that not every USB port in your car lets you run CarPlay or Android Auto? That’s by design. Many automakers follow a hub strategy: one “Master Data Port” up front, usually near the driver, and several “dummy ports” in the rear that are charge-only. The reason is cost and complexity.

A data-capable port requires an automotive-grade controller, shielded wiring, and careful integration into the infotainment system—all of which add expense and engineering overhead. By contrast, a charge-only port is far simpler: just a buck converter stepping down voltage to feed your device. It’s a deliberate hardware trade-off, balancing convenience for passengers with the realities of automotive design budgets.

V2L: The ultimate USB upgrade

If USB-C feels powerful, Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) takes the idea to an entirely new scale. Cars like the Hyundai IONIQ 5 or Kia EV6 don’t stop at charging your phone; they turn the whole vehicle into a rolling generator. Instead of 60 W from a USB-C port, V2L delivers up to 3.6 kW through a standard AC outlet at 120 V (North America) or 230 V (Europe/Asia). That’s enough to run a full desk setup: monitor, laptop, and lights, all powered via a USB-C multi-charger.

And in trucks like the Ford F-150 Lightning, the concept scales even further with Pro Power Onboard, offering up to 9.6 kW across multiple AC outlets. At that level, the EV isn’t just a power bank; it’s a backup generator capable of supporting tools, appliances, or even parts of a home during an outage. In essence, V2L is the logical extension of the same engineering principles—scaling from watts to kilowatts—while keeping the promise of mobility and connectivity intact.

Sidenote: V2L technology depends on a coordinated handshake between the vehicle and adapter, primarily through the Proximity Pilot (PP) and Control Pilot (CP) pins defined by IEC 61851. The PP resistor identifies the adapter type and signals readiness, while the CP line maintains PWM-based communication for safe connection and disconnection.

In bi-directional on-board chargers, detection of the correct PP resistance or proprietary handshake prompts the system to enter discharge mode, closing internal contactors to deliver AC power outward. If the CP signal drops or the adapter is unplugged, the vehicle instantly opens the contactors to prevent arcing—ensuring safe, reliable V2L operation across varying manufacturer implementations.

Figure 4 A universal V2L adapter with a mode selector supports multiple EV platforms by initiating the vehicle’s power-discharge sequence. Source: Author

The future: Wireless vs. wired

Convenience is pushing hard toward wireless, but the trade-offs are real. Wireless charging pads promise a cable-free cabin, yet they come with hidden costs: extra heat from inductive transfer and a slight latency in power delivery compared to the precision of a wired USB-C port. That means slower charging and less efficiency, especially when you’re juggling multiple devices.

On the data side, the shift is already happening. Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto bypass the USB port entirely, riding on the car’s internal Wi-Fi signal. In this setup, the USB port is relegated to pure power duty, while your phone streams navigation, music, and messages over a wireless link. It’s a glimpse of the future—where the port becomes less about data and more about energy, while the car’s network takes over the role of digital bridge.

The car as a service

We used to choose cars based on horsepower; now we choose them based on their digital horsepower. Infotainment speed, connectivity options, and seamless integration with our mobile lives have become as decisive as torque or acceleration. And at the center of that experience sits the most-used interface in the cabin: the USB port.

It’s no longer just a plug—it’s the gateway to energy, data, and the services that define modern mobility. In this sense, the car has evolved into a platform, a service hub on wheels, where the humble port is the everyday touchpoint between driver, device, and digital ecosystem.

From volts to vision, engineering isn’t just power, it’s empowerment.

T. K. Hareendran is a self-taught electronics enthusiast with a strong passion for innovative circuit design and hands-on technology. He develops both experimental and practical electronic projects, documenting and sharing his work to support fellow tinkerers and learners. Beyond the workbench, he dedicates time to technical writing and hardware evaluations to contribute meaningfully to the maker community.

Related Content

• USB Keypad Reference Design
• USB Proves Ready for T&M Tasks
• Top 10 innovative USBs and peripherals
• Take off with Simplified USB Type-C Development
• The USB takeover: Why modern T&M is moving to your pocket
• A quick and practical view of USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) design

The post More than a plug: The hidden USB engineering in your EV appeared first on EDN.

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Built a hardware bridge UART-CPU for 8080(known as the КР580ВМ80А or VM80 in the postUSSR region) architecture microcomputers parallel bus. Heart of this small project is КР580ВВ51A(Intel8251) manufactured nearly 40 years ago. Below it sits a baudrate generator on some discrete logic gates: К155ЛА3(7400) as xtal generator with frequency 4.9152 MHz, К155ТМ2(7474) as 1/4 predivider, К561ИЕ10(4520, two CMOS dividers). Seven jumper headers under the blue UART connector are selecting current dividers output from 4800 Hz (300 baud) up to 307.2 kHz (19200 baud). Everything is point-to-point wired on both sides of 50mm x 70mm perfboard. And the brain of this circuit is an Arduino Nano which is emulating 8080 bus and control signals(CS, RD, WR, C/D), sadly I don't have a real computer from that era. submitted by /u/Most_Sentence2425 [link] [comments]

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I built a simple LED flasher circuit using a 2N2222 transistor, resistors, capacitors and LEDs. This project helped me better understand transistor switching and timing circuits. The circuit was assembled and tested on a breadboard, and the LEDs flashed successfully submitted by /u/Flashy_Knowledge5080 [link] [comments]

I've been working on a virtualized version of the old spring and wire electronics kit. It's far from finished, how ever I would like to show it off. Play: https://ellisgl.github.io/virtual_65-in-1_28-250/ Code: https://github.com/ellisgl/virtual_65-in-1_28-250 submitted by /u/ellisgl [link] [comments]

Made a simple power supply from an old atx psu. Wiring is pretty ugly but it works. submitted by /u/SearchPlane561 [link] [comments]

L&T Technology Services, a global leader in Engineering Intelligence Solutions & ER&D Consulting Services successfully concluded Engineering Intelligence (EI) OpenHack 2026, a first-of-its-kind global innovation challenge conducted simultaneously across nine locations spanning India, the U.S. and Europe.

The hackathon brought together nearly 4,000 engineers (770+ teams) from Bengaluru, Mysuru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Vadodara, Mumbai, Dallas and Munich to tackle complex engineering challenges through AI-led innovation. More than 500 challenge statements were aligned with company’s strategic growth priorities, spanning Software Defined Mobility, Plant Buildout & Modernization, Energy & Automation, Next-Gen Compute & AI Infrastructure, Digital Manufacturing, MedTech, and Software Platforms & AI. By combining domain expertise with emerging technologies, participants developed AI-powered solutions across industrial automation, cybersecurity, autonomous systems, supply chain intelligence, enterprise optimization, and healthcare – all aimed at helping enterprises reimagine products, operations, and decision-making.

An esteemed jury comprising senior LTTS leaders and technology experts evaluated the solutions through multiple rounds, assessing entries on innovation, technical excellence, scalability, real-world relevance and effective use of AI. Winning teams were awarded cash prizes worth over INR 30 lakh, while standout innovations received opportunities for further development through Project Equinox, an LTTS platform that supports promising, scalable solutions. Patent-worthy innovations were also shortlisted for special recognition, enabling participants to transform breakthrough ideas into valuable intellectual property.

Congratulating the participants and winning teams, Mritunjay Kumar Singh, Chief Operating Officer, L&T Technology Services, said “The EI OpenHack 2026 reflects LTTS’ vision of Engineering Intelligence, where engineering expertise and AI come together to solve real-world industry challenges. What stood out was not only the scale of participation, but the ability of our engineers to apply contextual understanding, domain knowledge and AI prowess to develop solutions with tangible business relevance. Initiatives like OpenHack create opportunities for our talent to experiment, collaborate and develop solutions that will shape the future of engineering.”

The post L&T Technology Services Global EI Hackathon Sparks the Next Wave of AI-Native Engineering Solutions appeared first on ELE Times.

Selective oscillation achieves desired attention aspirations absent undesirable side effects.

Someone I knew long ago had a small electronics company with a client who wanted to make an attention-grabbing light display for a store window. This fellow’s office was set up with six light sources that were to be part of that display, where each source was a mirrored half-globe roughly one foot in diameter with a very bright light bulb that would turn on and off at its own independent rate.

As these bulbs would flash on and off asynchronously, the visual effect was quite stunning. There was one problem, though. Now and then, all six bulbs would go dark at the same time and when they did, the visual effect was actually jarring. That was a problem. I was asked if there was something we could do to avoid the jarring darkness, but quite frankly, I had no idea how this could be achieved with the items at hand.

This past December, a local diner set up a flashing light display out front in celebration of the holiday. It reminded me of my past-history display issue…and then I realized something.

Figure 1 A selective flashing light display still cultivates sizeable viewer attention.

The diner’s flashing light display was as visually striking as the globe set up was supposed to have been, but the diner’s display never went entirely dark. That was because only some of the light sources were blinking. Most of the light sources stayed lit all the time. Only a few of them needed to be blinking to achieve the desired visual effect.

Had I been smarter, I might have been able to solve that client’s problem. But since I don’t have a time machine, I couldn’t go back and do anything.

John Dunn is an electronics consultant and a graduate of The Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (BSEE) and of New York University (MSEE).

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The post Blinkers appeared first on EDN.

Keysight Technologies today announced Keysight Eggplant Find by Description, which allows automation engineers to locate interface elements by describing them rather than capturing and matching screenshots. Each test targets an element by its description rather than its visual appearance, enabling it to keep running through redesigns, theme changes, and resolution shifts. This removes the manual recapture work that has historically wasted engineering resources.

‘Half of Organizations’ believe a chief test automation barrier is the upkeep of scripts that fail as applications change. Maintaining image-based scripts is a hidden cost, as they break when the interface shifts, even when the underlying software runs correctly. Engineers then spend hours recapturing screenshots for cases that should still pass, a cycle that repeats across every release and environment.

With Keysight Eggplant Find by Description, part of Eggplant Studio and Eggplant Functional, an engineer can describe an element, such as a ticket price for a given date, and the software locates it without reference to screenshots, document object model access, or changes to the system under test. In a Keysight demonstration, this reduced script volume by 92 percent and cut the task from over an hour to under 15 minutes. This extends Keysight Eggplant’s use of AI and computer vision in test automation, which lets a description keep working as the design changes and applies across legacy desktop, embedded, and web applications.

Gareth Smith, Software Quality Engineering General Manager, Keysight, said, “Our goal is to help teams automate more of their testing. However, for too long, the maintenance burden has held that back. Keysight Eggplant Find by Description clears one of the biggest barriers, moving us toward a future where teams automate what they want, not only what their tools allow.”

 

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