Author Topic: Components you wish existed.  (Read 60748 times)

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Offline timb

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Components you wish existed.
« Reply #75 on: May 12, 2017, 01:50:08 pm »
artificial silent running muscle for robots. no more mechanical linear actuators,  the use or invention of a type of dynamic filaments producing contraction by say electrical currents, not by buzzing mechanical drives.

It exists! Check out Muscle Wire (aka Nitinol). It's a shape memory alloy made from nickel/titanium. Passing current through it generates heat, causing it to contract.

It's been commercially available for at least 20 years.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2017, 01:51:54 pm by timb »
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Offline ChristofferB

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #76 on: May 12, 2017, 01:52:32 pm »
Fluxcapacitor

But where are you gonna get the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity?!
Actually, if you only need to hold that wattage for a second, then it's not that bad.  If you need to dish out that total power in one second, then you got some real problems.

Unfortunately they sort of glossed over those details in the movie.

One thing I've always wanted to know is how did he fit a nuclear power plant into a car? It would have been more believable if the flux capacitor was based on nuclear fission directly rather than electricity.

And IF you had a conventional nuclear power plant in a car, it'd be a minor (in comparison) conversion having the car itself run off of it too.

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Offline dimkasta

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #77 on: May 12, 2017, 02:08:16 pm »
High gain, ultra low noise, low capacitance, truly complementary and matched Jfets

And the same thing on power jfets
 

Offline w2aew

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #78 on: May 12, 2017, 02:26:09 pm »
VCCap = voltage controlled capacitance
VCInd = voltage controlled inductance
VCRes = voltage controlled resistance
analog version, not some stair stepped digital trick. various size smd, TH, various C and L range, various power rating. i know there is digital VCRes or somesort of control, but i'm not aware of VCCap and VCInd even in digital trick.

There are voltage controlled capacitors (for small capacitance values), it is called a varactor diode, or varicap diode.
Also, a MOSFET can be used as a voltage controlled resistor it its linear region.
For AC/RF applications, a PIN diode is a voltage controlled resistor.
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Offline DJohn

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #79 on: May 12, 2017, 03:47:17 pm »
FPGA co-packaged with large DRAM.

Xilinx XCVU37P.  FPGA with 8GB of DRAM sitting on top.
 
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Offline babysitter

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #80 on: May 12, 2017, 03:49:38 pm »
VCInd = voltage controlled inductance
analog version, not some stair stepped digital trick. various size smd, TH, various C and L range, various power rating. i know there is digital VCRes or somesort of control, but i'm not aware of VCCap and VCInd even in digital trick.

Use a core with two wire loops, use the one for your application, apply A DC voltage to the second. when you get close to saturation... tadaaaa!

(Once had >Rohde & Schwarz SWOB II that uses this to tune some oscillators that way.)
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Offline IanJ

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #81 on: May 12, 2017, 03:49:43 pm »
zero ppm/degC resistors of all sizes and cheap.

I'll get ma coat......

Ian.
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Offline JanJansen

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #82 on: May 12, 2017, 04:10:49 pm »
3.) linear thermistors

Tempco resistors ?, i need those also.
They do exist, only not for sale anymore.
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Offline KL27x

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #83 on: May 12, 2017, 10:15:42 pm »
Quote
8-bit Optocoupler Isolator in DIP package.

There is a reason this doesn't exist. If you stack 8 single DIP optocouplers side by side, they fit the same footprint and have the same pinout. And per cost of the devices, it will be cheaper and have greater flexibility.

If you want to save money on board and assembly cost, and you are using DIP, you are doing it wrong. I wonder what you are prototyping that this package will save you considerable time and effort. :)
« Last Edit: May 12, 2017, 10:18:26 pm by KL27x »
 

Offline SeanB

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #84 on: May 13, 2017, 05:39:11 pm »
Vacuum thermistors for oscillator stabilization. They used to exist and weren't too expensive, but now unobtainium. Last I saw were the Bowthorpe or NTC RA series. Lots of data sheets out there, but nobody seems to have actual parts.

About the only replacement I can suggest is to get a small grain of wheat lamp, 28VDC rating, and use that. Tungsten filament, vacuum sealed, and does work well when run at under 3V on the filament, with a good control range and only minor room temperature dependence. You will have to drive with a higher current than the RA53 ( I do actually have some in a pack here, but the lamp was easier) but not that much more.

Like this one

http://za.rs-online.com/web/p/filament-indicator-lamps/6559479/
« Last Edit: May 13, 2017, 05:45:11 pm by SeanB »
 

Offline carljrb

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #85 on: May 13, 2017, 08:29:28 pm »
It just feels wrong, somehow, to use a microcontroller for something so trivial.
To some extent it does but sometimes it's the least bad solution.

Sure, you can make something out of a bunch of circuits (large and expensive, not flexible), or use something like a LTC6992 indeed, but it's an expensive part and that might still require a bunch of circuitry to make it work as you'd wish. I just made something like this out of a PIC10F320 because it was simpler, more flexible and cheaper overall.

It's a a simple fan controller, with a MCP9701 temp sensor (analog), and a cheap but good enough logic level N-Ch MOSFET driving the fan in PWM (no feedback). This way I can change the temperature at which the fan starts, which PWM % the fan starts at, and what the curve will be like overall. Setting those things in hardware would have sucked in many ways. Here the code is easily tweakable, and the total BOM including the PCB is under $2.

The main downside is that the PicKit ICSP header is kinda big for the board. The temp sensor, MCU, LDO and MOSFET are all SOT-23 so it's quite a small board.
 

Offline jbb

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #86 on: May 13, 2017, 09:56:42 pm »
We are all expecting Intel's next Xeon FPGA.

Oh yes, yes we are.

It's gonna be fun watching the high level language guys run smack into the realities of FPGA work  >:D.  Even the best high level 'software' code to Hardware Descriptor Language (HDL) generators won't deliver good results unless you understand the reality of how an FPGA works.  This might cause opportunities for embedded / HDL people to change roles a bit if they want to.
 

Offline theatrus

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #87 on: May 13, 2017, 10:14:26 pm »
It just feels wrong, somehow, to use a microcontroller for something so trivial.
To some extent it does but sometimes it's the least bad solution.

Sure, you can make something out of a bunch of circuits (large and expensive, not flexible), or use something like a LTC6992 indeed, but it's an expensive part and that might still require a bunch of circuitry to make it work as you'd wish. I just made something like this out of a PIC10F320 because it was simpler, more flexible and cheaper overall.

It's a a simple fan controller, with a MCP9701 temp sensor (analog), and a cheap but good enough logic level N-Ch MOSFET driving the fan in PWM (no feedback). This way I can change the temperature at which the fan starts, which PWM % the fan starts at, and what the curve will be like overall. Setting those things in hardware would have sucked in many ways. Here the code is easily tweakable, and the total BOM including the PCB is under $2.

The main downside is that the PicKit ICSP header is kinda big for the board. The temp sensor, MCU, LDO and MOSFET are all SOT-23 so it's quite a small board.

Look into the TagConnect if you want something much smaller without resorting to custom pinprobes.
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Offline retrolefty

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #88 on: May 13, 2017, 10:19:59 pm »
artificial silent running muscle for robots. no more mechanical linear actuators,  the use or invention of a type of dynamic filaments producing contraction by say electrical currents, not by buzzing mechanical drives.

It exists! Check out Muscle Wire (aka Nitinol). It's a shape memory alloy made from nickel/titanium. Passing current through it generates heat, causing it to contract.

It's been commercially available for at least 20 years.

 Actually around 40 years ago I first ran across Foxboro chart recorders that used Nitinol wire 'motors' to drive the plotting pin across a rotating paper strip. Very linear, medium speed, but somewhat current heavy and Nitinol was somewhat pricey in those days. Cool stuff, there are sources for hobbyist and can be pretty cool in some unique applications.

 

Offline BrianHG

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #89 on: May 13, 2017, 10:23:56 pm »
Lithium Oxygen battery packs.
Well, if I wait long enough, they should be with us in around 15 years.  The bigger question is how affordable will they be?
 

Offline cdev

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #90 on: May 13, 2017, 10:42:14 pm »
Most of us already have such an ability, and don't realize it. Its in the earth. You just need a heat exchanger that can properly utilize it. A typical system uses buried pipes. Depending on what the average temperature of the earth there is you can potentially save substantial amounts of energy this way.

Most people have had the experience of being in a cave. Even in areas where outside its a boiling desert, or frigid weather, the temperature in caves underground stays relatively stable year round. You might need a little bit of boosting to get it to 72 in the winter and it might be difficult to achieve really low temps in summer, but "geothermal" as its called really is a huge potential money saver. The biggest one time cost is getting your heat exchanger deep enough, usually they will use buried pipes in a deep trench going back and forth.



Quote from: Circlotron on 2017-05-11, 18:52:27>Quote from: Neomys Sapiens on 2017-05-11, 18:38:43
And also, a little thing that transports heat ELSEWHERE by quantum linkage. Sort of an infinity heatpipe.
I would use one of those to build an air conditioner with one end in a hot climate and the other in a cold climate. Users at both ends get the benefit. The ultimate win/win machine.
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Online westfw

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #91 on: May 14, 2017, 05:31:36 am »
Switching regulator with built-in inductors:  TI "nanomodules": http://www.ti.com/product/lmz20502 and similar.
They're supposed to be reasonable cheap "in quantity."   They're about $5 in small quantities.  Various other vendors have similar modules.  Murata, Torex, Recom...  https://www.digikey.com/products/en/power-supplies-board-mount/dc-dc-converters/922?k=&pkeyword=&pv1525=94&FV=15c0002%2C9540008%2Cffe0039a&mnonly=0&newproducts=0&ColumnSort=0&page=1&quantity=11&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25
 

Online westfw

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #92 on: May 14, 2017, 05:35:19 am »
I'd like a micrcontroller "pin amplifier."  Something that would push/pull 5V@200mA or so from a wimpy 3.3V ARM chip, AND sense/handle input as well.  They make auto-sensing bi-directional level translators, and they make H-bridge drives/chips; I want their functionalities combined.
 

Offline GeorgeOfTheJungle

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #93 on: May 19, 2017, 02:43:59 pm »
Magic smoke refills !!!
The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
 

Offline BrianHG

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #94 on: May 19, 2017, 03:32:23 pm »
Affordable 1KW, dentin free, noise free, 3 phase permanent magnet generator with over 90% efficiency right from 15 rmp through 150 rpm, at all voltage and current loads, with over 98% efficient ideal diode bridge rectifier.  (Looks like I gonna hire/contract a specialist engineer to work on this one...)

Wind turbine, I assume?

Exercise bike...
Though, over 1kw is intermittent.  Top riders can sustain an average of 700 watts at the pedals for an hour under occasional peak performance conditions.  I don't want gearing and, IE crank shaft right on the motor, but I also need to simulate the effect of a flywheel for the lower RPM and the sharp transition multi-ton torque point generated when a rider shifts his weight on each peddle when sprinting.  I might be stuck with a chain & gear up to a pancake generator to increase RMP & have a bit of mechanical flywheel effect to aid the software loading, but, I'll loose power efficiency when sending the surplus generated back to the grid and increase weight and frame/chassis complexity.

« Last Edit: May 19, 2017, 03:37:17 pm by BrianHG »
 

Offline Cerebus

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #95 on: May 19, 2017, 04:50:19 pm »
Top riders can sustain an average of 700 watts at the pedals for an hour under occasional peak performance conditions.

A bit less than 700W. The UCI hour takes around 500 watts average power for an hour and, pretty much by definition, that's the world record for average cycling power output over an hour. The 1972 record of Eddie Merckx has been calculated at 485 W average and that's probably the highest effort attained because, although the record has been broken several times since, the bikes have improved over the same period reducing the actual physical effort required.
Anybody got a syringe I can use to squeeze the magic smoke back into this?
 

Offline JPortici

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #96 on: May 19, 2017, 05:12:02 pm »
I would like a 'perfect' active-synchronous bridge rectifier.  Like four IR11672, but without the external components, in a standard bridge rectifier footprint.

And a similar part for low voltage, perhaps integrated with a switching buck/boost regulator.  That would allow using any power brick up to 24VAC with small gadgets.

something like... http://www.mouser.it/new/Fairchild-Semiconductor/fairchild-greenbridge-solutions/
?
 

Offline timgiles

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #97 on: May 19, 2017, 05:38:25 pm »
A real working 800% batteriser!
 

Offline BrianHG

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #98 on: May 19, 2017, 06:35:44 pm »
Top riders can sustain an average of 700 watts at the pedals for an hour under occasional peak performance conditions.

A bit less than 700W. The UCI hour takes around 500 watts average power for an hour and, pretty much by definition, that's the world record for average cycling power output over an hour. The 1972 record of Eddie Merckx has been calculated at 485 W average and that's probably the highest effort attained because, although the record has been broken several times since, the bikes have improved over the same period reducing the actual physical effort required.

You are correct, the reported 700watts I saw was for 1h and 25min, not 1 hour.  As for the extra power on the generator, without a flywheel, the generator needs to withstand the 2 heavy torque strokes in the pedaling cadence at lower RMP without fail, otherwise the rider will get a slip, like when a stepper motor skips.  Just having heavier magnets and a slightly larger diameter which comes with a more powerful generator will also add to the mechanical flywheel effect as well.

Note, we are talking power at the pedals, not power transmitted to the road after all the mechanical gears/bearings/wheels...
« Last Edit: May 19, 2017, 06:39:11 pm by BrianHG »
 

Offline Housedad

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Re: Components you wish existed.
« Reply #99 on: May 19, 2017, 07:00:03 pm »
Fluxcapacitor

But where are you gonna get the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity?!
Actually, if you only need to hold that wattage for a second, then it's not that bad.  If you need to dish out that total power in one second, then you got some real problems.

Unfortunately they sort of glossed over those details in the movie.

One thing I've always wanted to know is how did he fit a nuclear power plant into a car? It would have been more believable if the flux capacitor was based on nuclear fission directly rather than electricity.
It was a fusion device, not fission. The name on the side of the unit said "Mister Fusion". 
« Last Edit: May 19, 2017, 07:02:03 pm by Housedad »
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