The D7 robot vacuum from Neato Robotics in California boasts a lot of navigational features such as zone cleaning, no-go lines, and floor plan mapping. We tore down a D7 to see how these features are implemented and to get a close look at the lidar unit that helps the bot find its way around. […]
texas instruments
High-performance MCUs offer increased competing capability of traditional, Flash-based devices
Texas Instruments introduced a new high-performance microcontroller (MCU) portfolio that advances real-time control, networking, and analytics applications at the edge. With new Sitara AM2x MCUs, engineers can achieve 10 times the computing capability of traditional, flash-based MCUs. This high-performance portfolio closes the growing gap between today’s MCUs and processors, enabling designers to push the limits […]
Teardown: The Garmin Forerunner 220 sport watch and heart monitor
Chest-mounted electronics do a more accurate job of counting heart beats than do optical sensors on the wrist. That’s one of the conclusions to come out of a close look at this sport watch aimed at runners. Leland Teschler Executive Editor A sport watch from Garmin called the Forerunner 220 is basically a runner’s watch […]
First 4-20 mA DAC to incorporate buck/boost converter operates from a single supply
The 16-bit digital-to-analog converter DAC8775 operates from a single, wide 12- to 36-V power rail, leveraging an integrated buck/boost converter to generate all of the required internal power supplies. Devised by Texas Instruments, the four-channel DAC8775 addresses the trend in factory automation and process control equipment toward input/output (I/O) modules that must squeeze more channels […]
Teardown: Inside a cable modem
The device which brings cable TV and high-speed internet into homes has a simple design but sports a couple of tricky secrets. Lee Teschler Executive Editor If you’ve got broadband internet from a cable company, it comes into your house through a cable modem. Estimates are that some $8.6 billion-worth of cable modems will be […]
Teardown: Inside the Fitbit Charge
Here’s a look at the electronics and sensors deployed inside a widely used fitness watch. Leland Teschler Executive Editor The fitness tracking firm Fitbit says it sold something over 21 million fitness watches last year. To get an idea of how fitness watches work their magic, we tore down one of the more popular fitness […]
The difference between microprocessors and application processors
Sometimes terminology changes faster than the technology it applies to. That’s arguably the case for the term application processor. Specifically, an application processor is a special kind of microprocessor. The application processor moniker came out of the cellular industry. In a mobile device, it refers to a chip used for the primary processing of cellular […]
