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For coverage of all the key business and technology developments in compound semiconductors and advanced silicon materials and devices over the last month...

Thought you might like this little circuit that drives an usual neon bulb. Difference from usual bulbs you salvage lies in the fact that the bulb must not have a resistor attached. I removed mine from the neon bulb fuse-like package. For anyone wondering, I found this in an old probing screwdriver that broke. Transistor + phone charger transformer + a resistor. Take time to measure the coils. My multimeter isn't precise at all but I measured the coils to be 0.6, 1.2 and 6.7R. Once I measure it better, I will post the results but all three that I built have approximately the same ratios between them. I am providing a bare schematic, the rest of the components on the boeard are a tactile switch, li-po charger and a battery connector. Interesting thing is that the voltage accross the bulb is polarized and only one side of the bulb lights up (negative I believe). I love the circuit and the vibe and I hope I'm not the only one. EDIT: Didn't realize that I uploaded a photo instead of GIF 🤦🏻 submitted by /u/Krki1212 [link] [comments]

Thought you might like this little circuit that drives an usual neon bulb. Difference from usual bulbs you salvage lies in the fact that the bulb must not have a resistor attached. I removed mine from the neon bulb fuse-like package. For anyone wondering, I found this in an old probing screwdriver that broke. Transistor + phone charger transformer + a resistor. Take time to measure the coils. My multimeter isn't precise at all but I measured the coils to be 0.6, 1.2 and 6.7R. Once I measure it better, I will post the results but all three that I built have approximately the same ratios between them. I am providing a bare schematic, the rest of the components on the boeard are a tactile switch, li-po charger and a battery connector. Interesting thing is that the voltage accross the bulb is polarized and only one side of the bulb lights up (negative I believe). I love the circuit and the vibe and I hope I'm not the only one. submitted by /u/Krki1212 [link] [comments]

not able to add video submitted by /u/PlugandPray_2 [link] [comments]

This is my 555 timer circuit in action.The green waveform shows the capacitor charging and discharging, while the yellow trace flips high and low each time the voltage crosses its thresholds. It’s a simple demo, but it illustrates how analog voltage turns into digital logic. (Still learning) submitted by /u/SearchPlane561 [link] [comments]

I was digging through some old stuff and found a PCB from a mouse I'd saved long ago specifically because I knew it was possible to read images from them. The new project itch struck and after 65 hours, I made this! Features: - Sensor 30x30 pixels, 64 colors (ADNS-3090 if you wanna look it up) - Multiple shooting modes (single shot, double shot, quad shot, "smear" shot (panorama), and cowboy), plus bonus draw-on-the-screen mouse mode that uses the sensor as intended - Multiple color palettes - Can lock/unlock exposure, auto-locks for the multi-shot modes - Stores 48 pictures in a 32kB FRAM, view and delete photos - Rudimentary photo dump to computer via Python script and serial port - A few hours of battery life It was a fun design challenge to make this thing as small as I could, the guts are completely packed. There's a ribbon cable connecting the electronics in the two halves, I tried to cram in a connector (0.05" pitch header) but it was too bulky to fit. The panorama "smear shot" is definitely my favorite mode, it scans out one column at a time across the screen as you sweep the camera. It's scaled 2x vertically but 1x horizontally, so you get extra "temporal resolution" horizontally if you do the sweep well. The construction style is also something I enjoy for one-off projects. No PCB, just cobble together stuff I've got plus whatever extra parts I need and design the case to fit. If I ever made more I'd make a board for sure (and it would shrink the overall size), but it's fun to hand-make stuff like this. Despite the low resolution, it's easily possible to take recognizable pictures of stuff. The "high" color depth certainly helps. I'd liken it to the Game Boy Camera (which I also enjoy), which is much higher resolution but only has 4 colors! I tried to post a video for you all but they're not allowed here. :( I'll link it in the comments once I cross-post to another subreddit. submitted by /u/Dycus [link] [comments]

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Sustainability has moved from corporate marketing to a board‑level mandate. For technology companies, this shift is more than meeting environmental, social, and governance frameworks; it reflects the need to align innovation with environmental and social responsibility among all key stakeholders.

Regulators are tightening reporting requirements while investors respond favorably to sustainable strategies. Customers also want tangible progress toward these goals. The debate is no longer about whether sustainability belongs in technology roadmaps but how it should be implemented.

The hidden burden of embedded and edge systems

Electronic systems power a multitude of devices in our daily lives. From industrial control systems and vital medical technology to household appliances, these systems usually run around the clock for years on end. Consequently, operating them requires a lot of energy.

Usually, electronic systems are part of a larger ecosystem and are difficult to replace in the event of failure. When this happens, complete systems are often discarded, resulting in a surplus of electronic waste.

Rapid advances in technology make this issue more pronounced. Processor architectures, network interfaces, and security protocols become obsolete in shorter cycles than they did just a few years ago. As a result, organizations often retire complete systems after a brief service life, even though the hardware still meets its original requirements. The continual need to update to newer standards drives up costs and can undermine sustainability goals.

Embedded and edge systems are foundational technologies driving critical infrastructure in industrial automation, healthcare, and energy applications. As such, the same issues with short product lifecycles and limited upgradeability put them in the same unfortunate bucket of electronic waste and resource consumption.

Bridging the gap between performance demands and sustainability targets requires rethinking system architectures. This is where off-the-shelf computer-on-module (COM) designs come in, offering a path to extended lifecycles and reduced waste while simultaneously future-proofing technology investments.

How COMs extend product lifecycles

Open embedded computing standards such as COM Express, COM-HPC, and Smart Mobility Architecture (SMARC) separate computing components—including processors, memory, network interfaces, and graphics—from the rest of the system. By separating the parts from the whole, they allow updates by swapping modules instead of by requiring a complete system redesign.

This approach reduces electronic waste, conserves resources, and lowers long‑term costs, especially in industries where certifications and mechanical integration make complete redesigns prohibitively expensive. These sustainability benefits go beyond waste reduction: A modular system is easier to maintain, repair, and upgrade, meaning fewer devices end up prematurely as electronic waste.

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Open standards that enable longevity

To simplify the development and manufacturing of COMs and to ensure interchangeability across manufacturers, consortia such as the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturing Group (PICMG) promote and ratify open standards.

One of the most central standards in the embedded sector is COM Express. This standard defines various COM sizes, such as Type 6 or Type 10, to address different application areas; it also offers a seamless transition from legacy interfaces to modern differential interfaces, including DisplayPort, PCI Express, USB 3.0, or SATA. COM Express, therefore, serves a wide range of use cases from low-power handheld medical equipment to server-grade industrial automation infrastructure.

Expanding on these efforts, COM-HPC is the latest PICMG standard. Addressing high-performance embedded edge and server applications, COM-HPC arose from the need to meet increasing performance and bandwidth requirements that previous standards couldn’t achieve. COM-HPC COMs are available with three pinout types and six sizes for simplified application development. Target use cases range from powerful small-form-factor devices to graphics-oriented multi-purpose designs and robust multi-core edge servers.

COM-HPC, including congatec’s credit-card-sized COM-HPC Mini, provides high performance and bandwidth for all AI-powered edge computing and embedded server applications. (Source: congatec)

Alongside COM Express and COM-HPC, the Standardization Group for Embedded Technologies developed the SMARC standard to meet the demands of power-saving, energy-efficient designs requiring a small footprint. Similar in size to a credit card, SMARC modules are ideal for mobile and portable embedded devices, as well as for any industrial application that requires a combination of small footprint, low power consumption, and established multimedia interfaces.

As credit-card-sized COMs, SMARC modules are designed for size-, weight-, power-, and cost-optimized AI applications at the rugged edge. (Source: congatec)

As a company with close involvement in developing COM Express, COM-HPC, and SMARC, congatec is invested in the long-term success of more sustainable architectures. Offering designs for common carrier boards that can be used for different standards and/or modules, congatec’s approach allows product designers to use a single carrier board across many applications, as they simply swap the module when upgrading performance, removing the need for complex redesigns.

Virtualization as a path to greener systems

On top of modular design, extending hardware lifecycles requires intelligent software management. Hypervisors, a software tool that creates and manages virtual machines, add an important software layer to the sustainability benefits of COM architectures.

Virtualization allows multiple workloads to coexist securely on a single module, meaning that separate boards aren’t required to run essential tasks such as safety, real-time control, and analytics. This consolidation simultaneously lowers energy consumption while decreasing the demand for the raw materials, manufacturing, and logistics associated with more complex hardware.

Hypervisors such as congatec aReady.VT are real-time virtualization software tools that consolidate functionality that previously required multiple dedicated systems in a single hardware platform. (Source: congatec) Enhancing sustainability through COM-based designs

The rapid adoption of technologies such as edge AI, real‑time analytics, and advanced connectivity has inspired industries to strive for scalable platforms that also meet sustainability goals. COM architectures are a great example, demonstrating that high performance and environmental responsibility are compatible. They show technology and business leaders that designing sustainability into product architectures and technology roadmaps, rather than treating it as an afterthought, makes good practical and financial sense.

With COM-based modules already providing a flexible and field-proven foundation, the embedded sector is off to a good start in shrinking environmental impact while preserving long-term innovation capability.

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