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My first job out of college was with Intel, in the company’s nonvolatile memory division. After an initial couple of years dabbling with specialty EPROMs, I was the first member from that group to move over to the then-embryonic flash memory team to launch the company’s first BootBlock storage device, the 28F001BX. Your part number decode is correct: it was a whopping 1 Mbit (not Gbit!) in capacity . Its then-uniqueness derived from two primary factors:

• Two separately erasable blocks, asymmetrical in size
• One of which (the smaller block) was hardware-lockable to prevent unintentional alteration of its contents, perhaps obviously to allow for graceful recovery in case the main (larger) block’s contents, the bulk of system firmware, somehow got corrupted.

The 28F001BX single-handedly (in admitted coordination with Intel’s motherboard group, the first to adopt it) kickstarted the concept of upgradable BIOS for computers already in the field. Its larger-capacity successors did the same thing for digital cellular phones, although by then I was off working on even larger capacity devices with even more (symmetrical, this time) erase blocks for solid-state storage subsystems…which we now refer to as SSDs, USB flash sticks, and the like. This all may explain why in-system firmware updates (which involve much larger code payloads nowadays, of course)—both capabilities and pitfalls—have long been of interest to me.

The concept got personal not too long ago. Hopefully, at least some of you have by now read the previous post in my ongoing EcoFlow portable power station (and peripheral) series, which covered the supplemental Smart Extra Battery I’d gotten for my DELTA 2 main unit:

Here’s what they look like stacked, with the smart extra battery on top and the XT150 cable interconnecting them, admittedly unkempt:

The timeline

Although that earlier writeup was published on April 23, I’d actually submitted it on March 11. A bit more than a week post-submission, the DELTA 2 locked up. A week (and a day) after the earlier writeup appeared at EDN.com, I succeeded in bringing it back to life (also the day before my birthday, ironically). And in between those two points in time, a surrogate system also entered my life. The paragraphs that follow will delve into more detail on all these topics, including the role that firmware updates played at both the tale’s beginning and end points.

A locked-up DELTA 2

To start, let’s rewind to mid-March. For about a week, every time I went into the furnace room where the gear was stored, I’d hear the fan running on the DELTA 2. This wasn’t necessarily atypical; every time the device fired up its recharge circuits to top off the battery, the fan would briefly go on. And everything looked normal remotely, through the app:

But eventually, the fan-running repetition, seemingly more than mere coincidence, captured my attention, and I punched the DELTA 2’s front panel power button to see what was going on. What I found was deeply disturbing. For one thing, the smart extra battery was no longer showing as recognized by the main unit, even though it was still connected. And more troubling, in contrast to what the app was telling me, the display indicated the battery pack was drained. Not to mention the bright red indicator, suggestive that the battery pack was actually dead:

So, I tried turning the DELTA 2 off, which led to my next bout of woe. It wouldn’t shut down, no matter how long I held the power button. I tried unplugging it, no luck. It kept going. And going. I realized that I was going to need to leave it unplugged with the fan whining away, while in parallel I reached out to customer support, until the battery drained (the zeroed-out integrated display info was obviously incorrect, but I had no idea whether the “full” report from the app was right, either). Three days later, it was still going. I eventually plugged an illuminated workbench light to one of its AC outlets, whose incremental current draw finally did the trick.

I tried plugging the DELTA 2 back in. It turned on but wouldn’t recharge. It also still ignored subsequent manual power-down attempts, requiring that I again drain the battery to force a shutoff. And although it now correctly reported a zeroed battery charge status, the dead-battery icon was now joined by another error message, this indicating overload of device output(s) (?):

At this point, I paused and pondered what might have gone wrong. I’d owned the DELTA 2 for about six months at that point, and I’d periodically installed firmware updates to it via the app running on my phone (and in response to new-firmware-available notices displayed in that app) with no issues. But I’d only recently added the Smart Extra Battery to the mix. Something amiss about the most recent firmware rev apparently didn’t like the peripheral’s presence, I guessed:

So, while I was waiting for customer service to respond, I hit up Reddit. And lo and behold, I found that others had experienced the exact same issue:

• Ecoflow Delta 2 / Failure
• Delta 2 suddenly beeps and says the battery is at 0%
• etc.

Resuscitation

It turns out that V1.0.1.182 wasn’t the most recent firmware rev available, but for reasons that to this day escape me (but seem to be longstanding company practice), EcoFlow didn’t make the V1.0.1.183 successor generally available. Instead, I needed to file a ticket with technical support, providing my EcoFlow account info and my unit’s serial number, along with a description of the issue I was having, and requesting that they “push” the new version to me through the app. I did so, and with less than 24 hours of turnaround, they did so as well:

Fingers crossed, I initiated the update to the main unit:

Which succeeded:

Unfortunately, for unknown reasons, the subsequent firmware update attempt on the smart extra battery failed, rendering it inaccessible (only temporarily, thankfully, it turned out):

And even on the base unit, I still wasn’t done. Although it was now once again responding normally to front-panel power-off requests, its display was still wonky:

However, a subsequent reset and recalibration of the battery management system (BMS), which EcoFlow technical support hadn’t clued me in on but Reddit research had suggested might also be necessary, kicked off (and eventually completed) the necessary recharge cycle successfully:

(Longstanding readers may remember my earlier DJI drone-themed tutorial on what the BMS is and why periodic battery cycling to recalibrate it is necessary for lithium-based batteries):

And re-attempt of the smart extra battery firmware update later that day was successful as well:

Voila: everything was now back to normal. Hallelujah:

That said, I think I’ll wait for a critical mass of other brave souls to tackle the V1.0.1.200 firmware update more recently made publicly available, before following their footsteps:

The surrogate

And what of that “surrogate system” that “also entered my life”, which I mentioned earlier in this piece? This writeup’s already running long, so I won’t delve into too much detail on this part of the story here, saving it for a separate planned post to come. But the “customer service” folks I mentioned I’d initially reached out to, prior to my subsequent direct connection to technical support, were specific to EcoFlow’s eBay storefront, where I’d originally bought the DELTA 2.

They ended up sending me a DELTA 3 Plus and DELTA 3 Series Smart Extra Battery (both of which I’ve already introduced in prior coverage) as replacements, presumably operating under the assumption that my existing units were dead parrots, not just resting. They even indicated that I didn’t need to bother sending the DELTA 2-generation devices back to them; I should just responsibly dispose of them myself. “Teardown” immediately popped into my head; here’s an EcoFlow-published video I’d already found as prep prior to their subsequent happy restoration:

And here are the DELTA 3 successors, both standalone:

and alongside their predecessors. The much shorter height (and consequent overall decreased volume) of the DELTA 3 Series Smart Extra Battery versus its precursor is particularly striking:

As previously mentioned, I’ll have more on the DELTA 3 products in dedicated coverage to come shortly. Until then, I welcome your thoughts in the comments on what I’ve covered here, whether in general or related to firmware-update snafus you’ve personally experienced!

—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Vision Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the company’s online newsletter.

Related Content

• EcoFlow’s Delta 2: Abundant Stored Energy (and Charging Options) for You
• EcoFlow’s RIVER 2: Svelte portable power with lithium iron phosphate fuel
• Portable power station battery capacity extension: Curious coordination
• Diagnosing and resuscitating a set of DJI drone batteries
• The Energizer 200W portable solar panel: A solid offering, save for a connector too fragile
• Energizer’s PowerSource Pro Battery Generator: Not bad, but you can do better

The post Firmware-upgrade functional defection and resurrection appeared first on EDN.

While traditional artificial intelligence (AI) frameworks often struggle in ultra-low-power scenarios, two new edge AI runtime solutions aim to accelerate the deployment of sophisticated AI models in battery-powered devices like wearables, hearables, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and industrial monitors.

Ambiq Micro, the company that develops low-power microcontrollers using sub-threshold transistors, has unveiled two new edge AI runtime solutions optimized for its Apollo system-on-chips (SoCs). These developer-centric tools—HeliosRT (runtime) and HeliosAOT (ahead-of-time)—offer deployment options for edge AI across a wide range of applications, spanning from digital health and smart homes to industrial automation.

Figure 1 The new runtime tools allow developers to deploy sophisticated AI models in battery-powered devices. Source: Ambiq

The industry has seen numerous failures in the edge AI space because users dislike it when the battery runs out in an hour. It’s imperative that devices running AI can operate for days, even weeks or months, on battery power.

But what’s edge AI, and what’s causing failures in the edge AI space? Edge AI is anything that’s not running on a server or in the cloud; for instance, AI running on a smartwatch or home monitor. The problem is that AI is power-intensive, and sending data to the cloud over a wireless link is also power-intensive. Moreover, the cloud computing is expensive.

“What we aim is to take the low-power compute and turn it into sophisticated AI,” said Carlos Morales, VP of AI at Ambiq. “Every model that we create must go through runtime, which is firmware that runs on a device to take the model and execute it.”

LiteRT and HeliosAOT tools

LiteRT, formerly known as TensorFlow Lite for microcontrollers, is a firmware version for TensorFlow platform. HeliosRT, a performance-enhanced implementation of LiteRT, is tailored for energy-constrained environments and is compatible with existing TensorFlow workflows.

HeliosRT optimizes custom AI kernels for the Apollo510 chip’s vector acceleration hardware. It also improves numeric support for audio and speech processing models. Finally, it delivers up to 3x gains in inference speed and power efficiency over standard LiteRT implementations.

Next, HeliosAOT introduces a ground-up, ahead-of-time compiler that transforms TensorFlow Lite models directly into embedded C code for edge AI deployment. “AOT interpretation, which developers can perform on their PC or laptop, produces C code, and developers can take that code and link it to the rest of the firmware,” Morales said. “So, developers can save a lot of memory on the code size.”

HeliosAOT provides a 15–50% reduction in memory footprint compared to traditional runtime-based deployments. Furthermore, with granular memory control, it enables per-layer weight distribution across the Apollo chip’s memory hierarchy. It also streamlines deployment with direct integration of generated C code into embedded applications.

Figure 2 HeliosRT and HeliosAOT tools are optimized for Apollo SoCs. Ambiq

“HeliosRT and HeliosAOT are designed to integrate seamlessly with existing AI development pipelines while delivering the performance and efficiency gains that edge applications demand,” said Morales. He added that both solutions are built on Ambiq’s sub-threshold power optimized technology (SPOT).

HeliosRT is now available in beta via the neuralSPOT SDK, while a general release is expected in the third quarter of 2025. On the other hand, HeliosAOT is currently available as a technical preview for select partners, and general release is planned for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Related Content

• AI at the edge: It’s just getting started
• Implementing AI at the edge: How it works
• AI Is on the Edge, but Is Safety in the System?
• Edge AI: Bringing Intelligence Closer to the Source
• Edge AI: The Future of Artificial Intelligence in embedded systems

The post Two new runtime tools to accelerate edge AI deployment appeared first on EDN.

For full adder submitted by /u/Careful-Rich9823 [link] [comments]

I work in electronics repair and this glue is used in an extremely large amount of units. Unfortunately there are certain types of this glue that go conductive after a while (3-10 years) and it creates an absolute nightmare. submitted by /u/samul_da_camel [link] [comments]

Addressing the 14th convocation of IIT Hyderabad, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw declared a landmark achievement. India’s electronics exports have surpassed USD 40 billion an incredible eight-fold increase in just 11 years. The production of electronics within India grew six-fold during the same timeframe, a factor that lends credence to the manufacturing capability of the nation.

Important Highlights from Vaishnaw’s Address:

Exports & Production Growth: Electronics production has grown 6× and the exports 8× during the last 11 years, sustaining double-digit CAGR.

Semiconductor Ambitions: The commercial production of the first Made-in-India semiconductor chip is expected to be seeded by the end of this year. India aspires to become one of the top five semiconductor countries in the near future.

Telecom Stack Success: A fully indigenous 4G telecom stack was created in just 3½ years and is now powering ~90,000 towers, more than the networks in many countries.

5G Labs & Talent Building: The government has rolled out 100 5G labs, having distributed EDA tools from Cadence, Synopsys & Siemens to over 270 colleges and institutions (including startups, the number increases to 340) for the fostering of semiconductor design talent.

Infrastructure Boost: Vaishnaw also discussed the quick development of Mumbai-Ahmedabad, India’s first bullet train, which is expected to start operations in August or September 2027.

These achievements highlight the Modi government’s efforts to create a self-sufficient electronics ecosystem that includes chip design, telecommunications, and semiconductor manufacturing under the Make-in-India project.

The electronics export stood at an estimated USD 12.41 billion in Q1 FY26 (April-June), with year-to-year growth clocking an impressive 47%. The chief markets for Indian electronics export were the United States (60.2%), the UAE (8.1%), and China (3.9%), marking India’s ascension on the global map of electronics manufacturing.

The growth in Q1 confirms India’s status as a developing center for electronics production and makes a significant contribution to the USD 40 billion annual export milestone.

The Significance of This Leap:

1. Global Market Integration: Dominance of markets like US, UAE, and China signals deeper integration of India into global supply chains.
2. Security and Self-Reliance: Indigenous telecom stack and semiconductor push furthers the national security and reduces import dependency.
3. Job Creation and Skill Building: Economic boom arising from semiconductors, EDA labs, and 5G infrastructure projects is creating demand for skilled professionals.
4. Strategic Infrastructure Synergy: By collaborating with major projects like telecom, railroads, and bullet trains, the growth of electronics supports national modernization

Conclusion:

Rising electronics exports in India with the scaling-up of manufacturing processes crystals the evolution of a manufacturing ecosystem aligned with the Make-in-India initiative. The assurance of indigenous semiconductors, solid telecom backdrop, and a talent pipeline pave India’s way as an electronics and technological hub across the world.

The post India’s Global Rise in Electronics Backed by $40B Exports, Says Vaishnaw appeared first on ELE Times.

Discrete device designer and manufacturer Nexperia of Nijmegen, the Netherlands (which operates wafer fabs in Hamburg, Germany, and Hazel Grove Manchester, UK) and the Hamburg University of Technology (TU Hamburg) have launched an endowed professorship in power electronic devices. The position, held by professor Holger Kapels, will drive research on next-generation semiconductor components and train highly skilled engineers at TU Hamburg’s School of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics. As part of this initiative, Kapels will also lead the newly founded Institute for Power Electronic Devices...

Renesas Electronics Corp of Tokyo, Japan has introduced three new high-voltage 650V gallium nitride (GaN) FETs for AI data centers and server power supply systems including the new 800V HVDC architecture, E-mobility charging, UPS battery backup devices, battery energy storage and solar inverters...

КПІ ім. Ігоря Сікорського співпрацюватиме з АТ «Укртелеком» kpi пн, 07/21/2025 - 10:00

The signing of the MoU by Tata Electronics and Robert Bosch GmbH stands as a landmark in the electronics and semiconductor manufacturing industries, significantly marking a major achievement in India’s journey toward attaining self-reliance.

A Strategic Duo:

Under this MoU, the parties will cooperate on semiconductor chip packaging and manufacturing, which concern the latter part of the semiconductor supply chain after wafer fabrication. The projects shall be undertaken at Tata Electronics’ assembly-and-test plant in Assam near completion and at its semiconductor foundry in Gujarat.

Assam: Tata Electronics is setting up the ₹27,000 crore, 600-acre semiconductor assembly and test facility in Jagiroad. Commercial operation of the plant will commence in mid-2025 and will entail advanced packaging technologies with a production capacity of 41 million chips per day.

Gujarat: Tata is executing the construction of its first fab in the Dholera Special Investment Region worth ₹91,000 crore, with support from Taiwan’s Powerchip, which will be used for large-scale production of 50,000 wafers per month starting around 2026.

This initiative jointly puts the strengths of each partner category to use: aggressive investments made by Tata across design, assembly, and test, fabrication, and packaging,” and Bosch’s deep expertise in packaging technologies and its position as a long‑time global supplier of automotive electronics.

Strengthening India’s Auto & Electronics Ecosystem

Beyond chip processing, the collaboration is intended to be widened into EMS space for the automotive industry, an area rapidly soaring as vehicles themselves become electrified and digitized.

For Tata, this alliance clearly steps into its layered approach: prior MoUs with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) on chip design, with Powerchip Semiconductor and with Himax Technologies on display-chip manufacture signaling an ambition to head in fab-to-front-end packaging.

India Semiconductor Leap: What This Alliance Brings

1. An integrated chip supply chain: The MoU is a signal for moving towards a vertically integrated semiconductor network-from chip fab to packaging and system implementation-anchored within India.
2. Job creation & Regional growth: Thousands of direct and indirect job opportunities will be created, more so for the backward regions like Assam where indu will be fast.
3. Global cooperation: The agreement reflects global confidence in India’s manufacturing potential—joining forces with an engineering giant like Bosch intensifies that signal.
4. Auto‑tech transformation: As vehicle electronics grow more sophisticated—covering sensors, advanced driver assistance, power management, and connectivity—this alliance prepares India to be a hub for innovation in mobility.

Path Ahead & Prospects:

Looking ahead, Tata Electronics plans to ramp up its Gujarat line for large‑scale wafer production by 2026 and expand its packaging & test unit in Assam. Bosch may also deploy its global packaging tech like 3D packaging helping India cross into advanced nodes and complex system‑in‑package offerings.

This collaboration stands as a cornerstone for India’s semiconductor journey where strategic investments, policy support, and global partnerships could coalesce into a self‑sustaining, world‑class semiconductor economy.

The post Tata Electronics and Bosch Sign Pact to Advance India’s Chip and Auto-Tech Ecosystem appeared first on ELE Times.

The flex ribbon that was bonded to this LCD ripped. Good thing there's test points on the board submitted by /u/aspie_electrician [link] [comments]

It was not meant to be inserted there friend... submitted by /u/cyao12 [link] [comments]

Fully analog sound signal path, but digital control that allows automation. Only about 20 were ever made and the full device weighs 1400 pounds xD submitted by /u/XDFreakLP [link] [comments]

Lol there is an extra resistor which is out of place. bad soldering lol submitted by /u/scattercat_123 [link] [comments]

I guess the resistor wanted to cuddle up a bit xd There shouldn’t be too much heat. The buck converter is powering a small fan, so not much current. Also the fan is right behind the trimmer pushing air in. But the trimmer somewhat shields the diode from getting airflow.. submitted by /u/JaNicJaMuzikant [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/AutoModerator
[link] [comments]

I love a well designed board, but there’s also something so fun about Frankensteining a dev board to meet your needs. submitted by /u/Ezra_vdj [link] [comments]

You’re likely familiar with the concept of “sunsetting,” where a connectivity standard or application is scheduled to be phased out, such that users who depend on it are often simply “out of luck.” It’s frustrating, as it can render an established working system that is doing its job properly either partially or totally useless. The industry generally rationalizes sunsetting as an inevitable consequence of the progress and new standards not only superseding old ones but making them obsolete.

Sunsetting can leave unintended or unknowing victims, but it goes far beyond just loss of connectivity, and I am speaking from recent experience. My 2019 ICE Subaru Outback wouldn’t start despite its fairly new battery; it was totally dead as if the battery was missing. I jumped the battery and recharged it by running the car for about 30 minutes, but it was dead again the next morning. I assumed it was either a defective charging system or a low- or medium-resistance short circuit somewhere.

(As an added punch to the gut, with the battery dead, there was no way to electronically unlock the doors or get to the internal hood release, so it seemed it would have to be towed. Fortunately, the electronic key fob has a tiny “secret” metal key that can be used in its old-fashioned, back-up mechanical door lock just for such situations.)

I jump-started it again and drove directly to the dealer, who verified the battery and charging system were good. Then the service technician pulled a technical rabbit out of his hat—apparently, this problem was no surprise to the service team.

The vampire (drain) did it—but not the usual way

The reason for the battery being drained is subtle but totally avoidable. It was an aggravated case of parasitic battery drain (often called “vampire drain” or “standby power”; I prefer the former) where the many small functions in the car still drain a few milliamps each as their keep-alive current. The aggregate vampire power drawn by the many functions in the car, even when the car is purportedly “off,” can kill the battery.

Subaru used 3G connectivity to link the car to their basic Starlink Safety and Security emergency system, a free feature even if you don’t pay for its many add-on subscription functions (I don’t). However, 3G cellular service is being phased out or “sunsetted” in industry parlance. Despite this sunsetting, the car’s 3G transponder, formally called a Telematics Data Communication Module (TDCM or DCM), just kept trying, thus killing the battery.

The dealer was apologetic and replaced the 3G unit at no cost with a 4G-compatible unit that they conveniently had in stock. I suspect they were prepared for this occurrence all along and were hoping to keep it quiet. There have been some class-action suits and settlements on this issue, but the filing deadline had passed, so I was out of luck on that.

An open-market replacement DCM unit is available for around $500. While the dealer pays less, it’s still not cheap, and swapping them is complicated and time-consuming. It takes at least an hour for physical access, setup, software initialization, and check-out—if you know what you are doing. There are many caveats in the 12-page instruction DCM section for removal and replacement of the module (Figure 1) as well as in the companion 14-page guide for the alternative Data Communication Module (DCM) Bypass Box (Figure 2), which details some tricky wire-harness “fixing.”
Figure 1 The offending unit is behind the console (dashboard) and takes some time to remove and then replace. Source: Subaru via NHTSA

Figure 2 There are also some cable and connector issues of which the service technician must be aware and use care. Source: Subaru via NHTSA

While automakers impose strict limits on the associated standby drain current for each function, it still adds up and can kill the battery of a car parked and unused for anywhere from a few days to a month. The period depends on the magnitude of the drain and the battery’s condition. I strongly suspect that the 3G link transponder uses far more power than any of the other functions, so it’s a more worrisome vampire.

Sunsetting + vampire drain = trouble

What’s the problem here? Although 3G was being sunsetted, that was not the real problem; discontinuing a standard is inevitable at some point. Further, there could also be many other reasons for not being able to connect, even if 3G was still available, such as being parked in a concrete garage. After all, both short- and long-term link problems should be expected.

No, the problem is a short-sighted design that allowed a secondary, non-core function over which you have little or no control (here, the viability of the link) to become a priority and single-handedly drain power and deplete the battery. Keep in mind that the car is perfectly safe to use without this connectivity feature being available.

There’s no message to the car’s owner that something is wrong; it just keeps chugging away, attempting to fulfill its mission, regardless of the fact that it depletes the car’s battery. It has a mission objective and nothing will stop it from trying to complete it, somewhat like the relentless title character in the classic 1984 film The Terminator.

A properly vetted design would include a path that says if connectivity is lost for any reason, keep trying for a while and then go to a much lower checking rate, and perhaps eventually stop.

This embedded design problem is not just an issue for cars. What if the 3G or other link was part of a hard-to-reach, long-term data-collection system that was periodically reporting, but also had internal memory to store the data? Or perhaps it was part of a closed-loop measurement and control that could function autonomously, regardless of reporting functionality?

Continuously trying to connect despite the cost in power is a case of the connectivity tail not only wagging the core-function dog but also beating it to death. It is not a case of an application going bad due to forced “upgrades” leading to incompatibilities (you probably have your own list of such stories). Instead, it’s a design oversight of allowing a secondary, non-core function to take over the power budget (in some cases, also the CPU), thus disabling all the functionality.

Have you ever been involved with a design where a non-critical function was inadvertently allowed to demand and get excessive system resources? Have you ever been involved with a debug challenge or product-design review where this unpleasant fact had initially been overlooked, but was caught in time?

Whatever happens, I will keep checking to see how long 4G is available in my area. The various industry “experts” say 10 to 15 years, but these experts are often wrong! Will 4G connectivity sunset before my car does? Abd if it does, will the car’s module keep trying to connect and, once again, kill the battery? That remains to be seen!

Bill Schweber is an EE who has written three textbooks, hundreds of technical articles, opinion columns, and product features.

Related Content

• Powering the autonomous car
• The beneficial ripple effect of new automotive power devices
• Vampire Drain: The Bane of Today’s Cars
• Being Honest About Your Power Source
• Battery Self-Discharge is Real — But One Case Has Me Mystified

References

• Wexler Boley & Elgersma LLP, Subaru 3G Battery Drain Lawsuit
• JND Legal Administration. Subaru Battery Settlement
• Legacy GT, Subaru Battery Drain due to shutdown of 3G net
• Subaru/NHTSA, Telematics DCM Replacement
• Subaru/NHTSA, Data Communication Module (DCM) Bypass Box
• Subaru Outback.org, That annoying battery drain problem on the Outback and other models
• Subaru Outback.org, Dead Battery: Telematics Data Communications Module (DCM) Warranty Extension 8yr/100k miles
• EV Guide, What Is Vampire Drain?

The post Did connectivity sunsetting kill your embedded-system battery? appeared first on EDN.

The EPC91118 reference design from EPC integrates power, sensing, and control on a compact circular PCB for humanoid robot joints and UAVs. Driven by the EPC23104 GaN-based power stage, the three-phase BLDC inverter delivers up to 10 A RMS steady-state output and 15 A RMS pulsed.

Complementing the GaN power stage are all the key functions for a complete motor drive inverter, including a microcontroller, rotor shaft magnetic encoder, regulated auxiliary rails, voltage and current sensing, and protection features. Housekeeping supplies are derived from the inverter’s main input, with a 5-V rail powering the GaN stage and a 3.3-V rail supplying the controller, sensors, and RS-485 interface. All these functions fit on a 32-mm diameter board, expanding to 55 mm including an external frame for mechanical integration.

The inverter’s small size allows integration directly into humanoid joint motors. GaN’s high switching frequency allows the use of compact MLCCs in place of bulkier electrolytic capacitors, helping reduce overall size while enhancing reliability. With a footprint reportedly 66% smaller than comparable silicon MOSFET designs, the EPC91118 enables a space-saving motor drive architecture.

EPC91118 reference design boards are priced at $394.02 each. The EPC23104 eGaN power stage IC costs $2.69 each in 3000-unit reels. Both are available for immediate delivery from Digi-Key.

EPC91118 product page

Efficient Power Conversion

The post Evaluation board powers small robotics and drones appeared first on EDN.

TDK SensEI’s edgeRX Vision system, powered by advanced AI, accurately detects defects in components as small as 1.0×0.5 mm in real time. Operating at speeds up to 2000 parts per minute, it reduces false positives and enhances efficiency in high-throughput manufacturing.

AI-driven vision systems now offer real-time processing, improved label efficiency, and multi-modal interaction through integration with language models. With transformer-based models like DINOv2 and SAM enabling versatile vision tasks without retraining, edge-based solutions are more scalable and cost-effective than ever—making this a timely entry point for edgeRX Vision in high-volume manufacturing.

edgeRX Vision integrates with the company’s edgeRX sensors and industrial machine health monitoring platform. By enhancing existing hardware infrastructure, it helps minimize unnecessary machine stoppages. Together, the system offers manufacturers a smart, integrated approach to demanding production challenges.

Request a demonstration of the edgeRX Vision defect detection system via the product page link below.

edgeRX Vision product page

TDK SenseEI 

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