Bench Talk

PLCs bridge the industrial and information revolutions, evolving from manual rewiring to programmable automation and advanced networking, enabling IIoT integration and real-time data exchange. Early PLCs required assembly or Fortran knowledge, but ladder logic emerged as the dominant programming method.

Camsie McAdams at Discovery Education describes her unique approaches to developing and scaling up opportunities for all students to explore and pursue STEM, such as organizing local excursions, creating accessible digital content, and connecting students to STEM professionals.

In an era of customizable and flexible products, the analog AC/DC power supply can be a constraint. Digitally controllable power supplies remedy this with products that are fully configurable, operate efficiently over wide operating ranges, and are compatible with global AC supplies and applications.

“Did you download the app for it?” Before too long, this may be the response from your doctor to many common health issues. This blog examines a new area of medicine known as digital therapeutics and how software and wearables work together to keep us healthy.

Distributed ledger technology is at the heart of blockchain. Blockchain enables smart city data to be securely captured and manipulated without interference from malicious third parties. Take a walk around the block of the smart city of tomorrow to learn about blockchain component considerations.

Recently I attended the 137th Audio Engineering Society (AES) Convention in Los Angeles. If you aren’t familiar with the AES Convention it’s a small event that hosts a pro audio trade show along with a wide range of technical sessions for design engineers developing new audio products. This year the AES technical programs featured a product design track that covered networked audio, analog-to-digital (A/D) and Digital-to-Analog (D/A) design for high-resolution audio (HRA). Some of the best producers, recording engineers, and audio hardware designers in the world attend to participate in workshops and make themselves available for questions. If you’re designing products that include audio and have never attended the convention you might want to consider looking into next year’s convention.