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Board-level EMI shielding: DIY in minutes

ProtoShield sheets from Tech-Etch are depth-etched with a checkerboard pattern for folding, so they can be easily formed into many diverse configurations. In the product-development stage, fully functional shields can be created in minutes with just a pair of scissors and a straight edge for folding. Offered in two sizes: standard (.25-in. squares) and metric (5-mm squares). Both versions are solderable and corrosion resistant due to nickel silver material. Shield prototypes can be directly soldered to the board, or shield clips can be used for easy mounting. Samples available.
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Isolated probing tech for fast-switching power device testing

Keysight Technologies has developed an optically isolated differential probing family dedicated to enhancing efficiency and performance testing of fast-switching devices such as wide-bandgap GaN and SiC semiconductors. Validation of floating half-bridge and full-bridge architectures commonly used in power conversion, motor drives, and inverters requires measurement of small differential signals riding on high common-mode voltages. This measurement can be challenging due to voltage source fluctuations relative to ground, noise interference, and safety concerns.
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Protect sensitive electronics in explosive environments with new aluminum ATEX Cabinet Cooler Systems

EXAIR's ATEX Cabinet Cooler^® Systems deliver a powerful and affordable solution for keeping electrical enclosures cool in hazardous ATEX classified areas -- and they're now available in durable aluminum construction. Engineered for use in Zones 2 and 22, these coolers are UL tested, CE compliant, and meet stringent ATEX standards for purged and pressurized enclosures. With cooling capacities up to 5,600 Btu/Hr., ATEX Cabinet Coolers are ideal for preventing overheating in electrical cabinets. EXAIR offers a comprehensive lineup of systems.
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PLC handbook chock full of must-know information

Automation-Direct's Practical Guide to Program-mable Logic Controllers Handbook has been improved with tons of new need-to-know info, making it a more comprehensive guide to the world of PLCs. Besides covering the basics of PLC history, PLC hardware, and PLC software, this guide takes you deeper into the ever-changing world of PLC communication, the importance of feedback loops, cyber security, and many other areas that are a must-know for any PLC novice or seasoned automation professional.
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Haptic feedback prototyping kit from TDK

Get your customers to feel the difference your products make. TDK has released a development starter kit for fast haptics prototyping. It gives mechanical designers and engineers first impressions of the haptic feedback using PowerHap piezo actuators, shows how the mechanical integration works, and provides a reference design. Applications include automotive, displays and tablets, household appliances, vending machines, game controllers, industrial equipment, and medical devices.
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Mini ESD preset torque screwdriver

Need precision fastening with ESD protection at the smallest torque levels? Mountz has you covered. The new FG Mini ESD Preset Torque Screwdriver is built for low-torque, high-precision tasks. Its compact design makes it ideal for tight spaces and small fasteners, while delivering the same reliable control and ESD protection users have come to expect from Mountz. Two models available: FG25z (3 to 25 ozf.in, 2 to 17.7 cN-m) and FG50z (20 to 50 ozf.in, 14.1 to 35.3 cN-m).
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Laumas load cells and electronics from AutomationDirect

Automation-Direct has added Laumas precision-engineered load cells, transmitters, and accessories that deliver reliable performance in industrial weighing and force measurement applications. The FCAL series high-precision bending beam load cells are ideal for low- to mid-capacity systems. CTL series load cells are designed for both tension and compression, with excellent linearity. The CBL series low-profile compression load cells are perfect for space-limited applications. Laumas load cell transmitters are available too for precise monitoring and control. Very good pricing.
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Engineer's Toolbox: What is ground loop feedback?

Improper grounding can create problems in data logging, data acquisition, and measurement and control systems. One of the most common problems is known as ground loop feedback. Experts at CAS DataLoggers run through five ways to eliminate this problem.
Read the full article.

What is a braking resistor?

According to Automation-Direct, "Braking resistors don't actually provide braking directly -- rather, they allow a drive to stop a loaded motor faster." Why is this important? Protect your AC or DC drive system from regenerative voltage that can create an over-voltage fault on the drive -- especially with high inertial loads or rapid deceleration.
View the video.

New Digital Static Meter: Precise measurement, easy use

Static electricity isn't just a nuisance; it's a serious threat to manufacturing efficiency, product integrity, and workplace safety. Unchecked static can lead to costly downtime, product defects, material jams, and even hazardous shocks to employees. If static is interfering with your processes, EXAIR's upgraded Model 7905 Digital Static Meter offers an essential first step in identifying and eliminating the problem. With just the press of a button, this easy-to-use, handheld device pinpoints the highest voltage areas in your facility, helping you diagnose static issues before they become a problem.
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New laser cutting modulating strategy tested with Mikrotron high-speed camera

Modulating a laser beam's intensity distribution optimizes energy delivery to the process zone, resulting in better cutting speed, cut edge quality, and cut kerf geometry. Scientists in Belgium have come up with a new method that they say produces better cutting results.
Read the full article.

All-in-one embedded PLC based on Raspberry Pi 4 -- build control applications

The new PLC CPI-PS10CM4 from Contec Co. is a compact embedded programmable logic controller (PLC) that is loaded with CODESYS, the world's most widely used software PLC. This product uses Contec's original single-board computer, which is based on Raspberry Pi's latest embedded module, the Compute Module 4 (CM4). By using the wide range of peripheral devices for Raspberry Pi, such as Contec's CPI Series, you can build various control applications in a PLC language that complies with the IEC 61131-3 international standard.
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Torque sensors for fastening applications and more

Saelig Company has introduced the Sensor Technology SGR525/526 Series Torque Sensors to provide precision torque monitoring that is critical for performance and safety. The square drive design (for applications with non-cylindrical shafts) allows for seamless integration into power tools, test rigs, industrial machinery, and precision fastening applications, ensuring superior torque measurement without the need for additional adapters or modifications. The SGR525 offers torque measurement only, while the SGR526 provides torque, speed, and power measurement using a 360-pulse-per-revolution encoder. Industries include automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, and research and development.
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Wide-angle camera optimized for larger, faster conveyor belts

Wider conveyor belts operating at higher speeds are now commonplace in modern logistics. To keep up, SVS-Vistek is offering a cost-effective alternative to multi-camera systems with its fxo901CXGE 10-GigE color camera featuring the Sony IMX901-AQR wide-aspect global shutter 16.4-megapixel CMOS sensor. Unlike standard cameras, this unit captures targets in a wide field of view while maintaining high resolutions. The 4:1 horizontal aspect ratio allows one fxo901CXGE to replace an entire multi-camera system, removing the need for image synchronization.
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Handheld thermal imager cuts diagnostic time

The FLIR TG268 is a next-generation thermal imager that provides professionals in the utility, manufacturing, electrical, automotive, and industrial sectors with a lightweight, handheld, affordable condition monitoring tool. Latest enhancements include higher temperature ranges, improved resolution, and larger data storage capacity. Go beyond the restrictions of single-spot IR thermometers to view and evaluate hot and cold spots that may signify potentially dangerous issues. Accurately measure temps from -25 to 400 C. Native thermal images improved with Super Resolution upscaling.
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Researchers reach quantum networking milestone in real-world environment

A team from the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Stanford University, and Purdue University developed and demonstrated a novel, fully functional quantum local area network, or QLAN, to enable real-time adjustments to information shared with geographically isolated systems at ORNL using entangled photons passing through optical fiber.

This network exemplifies how experts might routinely connect quantum computers and sensors at a practical scale, thereby realizing the full potential of these next-generation technologies on the path toward the highly anticipated quantum internet. The team's results, which are published in PRX Quantum, mark the culmination of years of related research.

Quantum equipment in the Alice laboratory, where the photon source and the first node in the team's network are stored. [Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy]

 

 

 

 

Local area networks that connect classical computing devices are nothing new, and QLANs have been successfully tested in tabletop studies. Quantum key distribution has been the most common example of quantum communications in the field thus far, but this procedure is limited because it only establishes security, not entanglement, between sites.

"We're trying to lay a foundation upon which we can build a quantum internet by understanding critical functions, such as entanglement distribution bandwidth," said Nicholas Peters, the Quantum Information Science section head at ORNL. "Our goal is to develop the fundamental tools and building blocks we need to demonstrate quantum networking applications so that they can be deployed in real networks to realize quantum advantages."

When two photons -- particles of light -- are paired together, or entangled, they exhibit quantum correlations that are stronger than those possible with any classical method, regardless of the physical distance between them. These interactions enable counterintuitive quantum communications protocols that can only be achieved using quantum resources.

One such protocol, remote state preparation, harnesses entanglement and classical communications to encode information by measuring one half of an entangled photon pair and effectively converting the other half to the preferred quantum state. Peters led the first general experimental realization of remote state preparation in 2005 while earning his doctorate in physics. The team applied this technique across all the paired links in the QLAN -- a feat not previously accomplished on a network -- and demonstrated the scalability of entanglement-based quantum communications.

This approach allowed the team to link together three remote nodes, known as "Alice," "Bob," and "Charlie" -- names commonly used for fictional characters who can communicate through quantum transmissions -- located in three different research laboratories in three separate buildings on ORNL's campus. From the laboratory containing Alice and the photon source, the photons distributed entanglement to Bob and Charlie through ORNL's existing fiber-optic infrastructure.

The Bob laboratory houses a GPS antenna and the second node in the new network. [Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy]

 

 

 

 

Quantum networks are incompatible with amplifiers and other classical signal-boosting resources, which interfere with the quantum correlations shared by entangled photons. With this potential drawback in mind, the team incorporated flexible grid bandwidth provisioning, which uses wavelength-selective switches to allocate and reallocate quantum resources to network users without disconnecting the QLAN. This technique provides a type of built-in fault tolerance through which network operators can respond to an unanticipated event, such as a broken fiber, by rerouting traffic to other areas without disrupting the network's speed or compromising security protocols.

"Because the demand in a network might change over time or with different configurations, you don't want to have a system with fixed wavelength channels that always assigns particular users the same portions," said Joseph Lukens, a Wigner Fellow and research scientist at ORNL as well as the team's electrical engineering expert. "Instead, you want the flexibility to provide more or less bandwidth to users on the network according to their needs."

Compared with their typical classical counterparts, quantum networks need the timing of each node's activity to be much more closely synchronized. To meet this requirement, the researchers relied on GPS, the same versatile and cost-effective technology that uses satellite data to provide everyday navigation services. Using a GPS antenna located in Bob's laboratory, the team shared the signal with each node to ensure that the GPS-based clocks were synchronized within a few nanoseconds and that they would not drift apart during the experiment.

The third and final node used in the experiment is located in the Charlie laboratory. [Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy]

 

 

 

 

Having obtained precise timestamps for the arrival of entangled photons captured by photon detectors, the team sent these measurements from the QLAN to a classical network, where they compiled high-quality data from all three laboratories.

"This part of the project became a challenging classical networking experiment with very tight tolerances," Lukens said. "Timing on a classical network rarely requires that level of precision or that much attention to detail regarding the coding and synchronization between the different laboratories."

Without the GPS signal, the QLAN demonstration would have generated lower quality data and lowered fidelity, a mathematical metric tied to quantum network performance that measures the distance between quantum states.

The team anticipates that small upgrades to the QLAN, including adding more nodes and nesting wavelength-selective switches together, would form quantum versions of interconnected networks -- the literal definition of the internet.

"The internet is a large network made up of many smaller networks," said Muneer Alshowkan, a postdoctoral research associate at ORNL who brought valuable computer science expertise to the project. "The next big step toward the development of a quantum internet is to connect the QLAN to other quantum networks."

Additionally, the team's findings could be applied to improve other detection techniques, such as those used to seek evidence of elusive dark matter, the invisible substance thought to be the universe's predominant source of matter.

"Imagine building networks of quantum sensors with the ability to see fundamental high-energy physics effects," Peters said. "By developing this technology, we aim to lower the sensitivity needed to measure those phenomena to assist in the ongoing search for dark matter and other efforts to better understand the universe."

The researchers are already planning their next experiment, which will focus on implementing even more advanced timing synchronization methods to reduce the number of accidentals -- the sources of noise in the network -- and further improve the QLAN's quality of service.

Sources: DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Published October 2021

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