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Something that hasn't been mentioned in other posts yet is that ESD events needn't be utterly destructive. Most ESD events are "microevents". That is, they don't damage a part by rendering it non-o...
What material is used in the tabs of power packages? (TO-220, D2PAK, etc.) I would assume probably a tin-plated copper alloy, but I can't find a reference. Datasheets don't seem to mention the mat...
Let's take a soft-start circuit that looks like this: To my understanding, the function can be described as follows: C1 charges to open the gate. Value of C1 will dictate the soft-start delay...
What are the essential safety features of such types of hardware? One option to make such hardware safer is to make it battery powered. What other safety features are generally recommended? ...
Like every Product, there is a price-functionality curve, and while it is true that some big ECAD software have capabilities beyond what Eagle or Kicad offer (see other answers), those capabilities...
First, let's redraw your schematic so that it's not so annoying to look at. High voltages go at top, low voltages at bottom, and logical flow left to right: This is not a great soft-start circu...
If a data sheet gives the thermal noise (of +3/-3 standard deviations) as 1 uVpp does it mean that out of every thousand samples, 3 will have noise more than ±1 uV at any sample rate? 1000 sps wi...
I guess it would work. I have used electrodes on a PCB to detect whether water level got high enough to turn on a sump pump. It worked, although it hasn't been installed very long. In that case ...
Consider a device with a microSD card. The microcontroller writes to the SD card periodically. The operators have an ability to remove the microSD card at any time (they will be removing it every...
The efficiency of the LDO is a function of the input and output voltages. $$\eta = \frac {P_{out}} {P_{in}} = \frac {I_{out} V_{out}} {I_{in} V_{in}}$$$I_{out} \approx I_{in}$ for a series linear ...
Problem description & speculation about causes I've having a problem with MAX485 transceivers breaking intermittently, passing our production tests but later failing. The error phenomenon is w...
I have run into an interesting phenomenon related to ceramic capacitors. This question is part of the effort to understand the issue, and eventually work around it. But first, some background of ...
Is there any way to reset a core quickly without having ground / reference terminal pulled towards negative voltage Unfortunately not but, if instead of trying to send the complete pulse throu...
I have recently finished designing a buck-boost converter for a job that uses a split (+/-) input power supply. Load power is taken equally from both positive and negative input supplies and, the ...
First, we have to clarify what you really mean by "embedded systems". There are many systems where something that is logically a PC is embedded. There is a whole industry around "single board com...
[Disclaimer. This is not for an academic class. I'm self-studying.] I’m reading an introductory book on DSP for audio and computer music [Steiglitz 1996, ISBN 0-8053-1684-1 p. 287]. One of the ...
A taper pad is a resistive attenuator that maintains impedances on both ports and provides a specific amount of gain-loss ($A_{12}$): - I have derived formulas for each resistor (that I know to ...
Whenever declaring a variable in C outside a function at file scope or when specifying it as static, it gets assigned a life time known as static storage duration. Meaning it will be accessible thr...
Things happening/things we want to happen before main() is called: The code executed before main() is often referred to as "the C runtime (CRT)" or just "start-up code". This code is typically pro...
Embedding pictures is a pain in the ass. First you have to find the picture and save it locally then you have to drop it onto a special box before it can be processed. On SE, you just drag it to wh...
After reading various low quality questions Someplace Else today, it (once again) occurred to me that a whole lot of people, mostly hobbyists and engineering students, have no clue how to do the mo...
I am trying to analyse what is controlling the load current in the below Darlington configuration. Is it the base current of transistor Q3 which is controlling current through R14 / emitter curr...
Thank you for your report. This case is being handled. In general: We take our voting rules very seriously. Users should vote based on the content of a post and not based on who wrote it. It is al...
I saw that this PCB socket: Is marked as pressfit for non-plated holes. However, can it be used with plated holes as well, or will it damage the plating inside?
I have a PIC32MZ2048ECG064, a 64-pin 32-bit microcontroller with 512kB RAM. This is not enough for my purposes, I need to extend it by at least 32MB, preferably 64 or 128. I believe this means I ca...
