RoHS
The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have adopted legislation restricting or banning certain substances in the electrical and electronic equipment. The RoHS Directive states that: “Member States shall ensure that from 1 July, 2006, new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market does not contain lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, […]
Conflict Minerals
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations pertaining to “Conflict Minerals” such as Gold, Tantalum, Tin and Tungsten sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo or adjoining countries controlled by non-governmental military groups, state that such minerals should not be utilized in products produced in or by U. S. Corporations. Download OTA Conflict Minerals […]
Industry 4.0
The classic lean approaches to business practices in general, and manufacturing in particular, are losing their ability to make further, meaningful gains as they have been in practice for so long that gains become minimal at best. The ability for organizations to integrate and transform systems into optimized confluences of activity could offer the next […]
PCB Assembly Testing
In-Circuit Testing One of the most powerful and comprehensive tools for printed circuit board test is called, In-Circuit Test (ICT). ICT test equipment uses a bed-of-nails (test probes) to access circuit noes on a board assembly and measure components on an isolated basis. That is, one component at a time, regardless of any other components electrically connected […]
Flying Probe In-Circuit Testing
A flying probe tester is an automated test system which some specific advantages for particular applications. The Basics Flying probe testers avoid a custom, unique “bed-of-nails” fixture for a given PCB assembly to access all the required nodes . Rather, the system uses a generic board fixture, and one or more probes moves across the board to […]
In-Circuit Testing
Basics of an ICT test system An ICT tester consists of Controller – The controller is a computer to drive the system and run the required software. Switch – Routes the system to the specific area or node of the board to test. Interface – To allow a variety of board fixtures to be placed […]
Manufacturing Defect Analyzer (MDA) Testing
A Manufacturing Defect Analyzer (MDA) is a tool that uses in-circuit test techniques to enable the detection of manufacturing defects within a printed circuit board assembly. Since the majority of manufacturing defects are simple connection issues, an MDA is restricted to making measurements of continuity. MDA Basics A MDA tester is based on the condition that the […]
RF / Bluetooth – Standards Based vs Proprietary Design
For wireless connectivity applications a fundamental decision that needs to be made, is whether to go with a standards based RF interface like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or ZigBee, or a proprietary RF design. There are many reasons and tradeoffs to consider, such as cost, security, power consumption, interoperability, design time, and certification requirements. Many of these […]
Selecting FCC / CE Compliant Wireless Modules
Wireless communication typically use radio waves to communicate over short distances of a few feet to longer distances of many miles (or even up to millions of miles for deep space radio communication). However, techniques also include optical, sonic and electromagnetic induction. Wireless communications involve numerous topologies. There are point-to-point devices using Bluetooth 3.0 and […]
Non-Disclosure Agreements and Electronic Manufacturing Services
It is commonly expected that there exists an inherent trust built into a solid supplier relationship that extends beyond the quality, price and delivery of your products. There is an expectation that the electronics manufacturer will keep your confidential information safe and secure. Even though it’s sometimes stated that Non-Disclosure Agreements, or NDA’s, are not worth the […]
