Industrial Electronics

 Aaeon has introduced an industrial IoT edge PC with a choice of 8th generation Intel Core (Whisky Lake) processors. It comes in two versions: VPC-5620S IS industrial (right) VPC-5620S VS in-vehicle (below) With up to 64Gbyte of memory, the PCs can be used in intelligent visual analysis applications for smart factories or security, said the company. They have expansion slots, ...

Arduino is offering a stripped-down version of its high-end Portenta H7 computer board, without the video output, with one secure element rather than two, and with no Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Called Portenta H7 Lite and part of the organisation’s ArduinoPro industrial IoT family, it sees it being used in AI applications and low-latency control projects “for everything from high-end industrial machinery ...

ST has announced a multi-zone FlightSense ToF  sensor to be offered for general-purpose applications, bringing sophisticated distance sensing to the full spectrum of consumer and industrial products. The VL53L5CX sensor provides up to 64 sensing zones with multi-target detection, distance measurement up to four meters in each zone, and a wide square-edged field of view with 63° diagonal. The sensor ...

Texas Instruments has introduced 70W brushless dc motor drivers with code-free sensor-less ield-oriented or trapezoidal control. In common, the devices include a set of commutation control algorithms which manage functions such as motor fault detection and protection mechanisms. Operation is from 4.5 to 35V (40V abs max) and the 95mΩ output drivers (high-side plus low-side 25°C) can deliver 8A peak. An adjustable ...

Würth Elektronik has created a smart CAN-bus controlled power distribution box, with multiple analogue and digital inputs for measurement. Called CAN Box 8FR6, it is a system building block for vehicle, industrial and commercial uses that includes has various diagnostic options and is supported by two software tools: WEcontrol Designer and WE Flasher – more of these later. Intelligence in ...

Infineon has added four current ratings to its EconoDual 3 portfolio of 1.2kV dual IGBT modules. Rated at 300, 450, 600 and 900A (see table below) the transistor pair inside the modules is connected in a high and low-side totem pole half bridge. “New chip dimensions enable optimisation of the module layout to reduce switching losses,” according to the company. ...

Products in many diameters, cross-sectional areas and lengths Grounding is the basic protection used in almost all industries. It is a method of protecting users of all electrical devices, ranging from small machines and even household appliances, to infrastructure elements – e.g. railroading or civil engineering. Proper grounding is also necessary for the proper functioning of RCDs, which are the ...

Swiss packaging company Model Group bought in ABB to re-fit a huge paper-making machine at its Weinfelden plant with new motors. The machine, almost 80m long, has dozens of motors and operates 24 hours a day seven days a week as one of a pair that make enough paper for ~1,500 million square meters of corrugated board each year. The machine was nearing ...

Environmental sensing and smart algorithms in a distributed computing architecture can transform automation, says Cliff Ortmeyer. Sensing technologies are critical components that enable industrial IoT (IIoT) applications to capture accurate, real-time data about environmental conditions before transmitting data to computers operating locally and in the cloud. Analytics software running on cloud computers can turn the huge quantities of data into ...

STMicroelectronics has agreed to buy a further $300m worth of bare and epitaxial 150mm silicon carbide wafers from Cree, bringing the total of the multi-year supply agreement to $800m. “We are very pleased that STMicroelectronics will continue to leverage Wolfspeed [brand] silicon carbide materials as part of their supply strategy for the next several years,” said Cree CEO Gregg Lowe. ...