EP&T August 2018

AUGUST 2018 CANADA’S INFORMATION LEADER FOR ELECTRONIC ENGINEERS AND DESIGNERS

EPT.CA

CONTRACT ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING OEM goes to China and back in search for ideal CEM partner p. 12

POWER MANAGEMENT

Extending the coin cell battery life in wearable applications p. 16

INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION

Transforming industrial automation to boost profits p. 19

WEARABLES

Jannatec mines success with its Smart Helmet p. 10

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INSIDE Cover photo:Jannatec Technologies Photos Electra Meccanica; IFTech; ON Semiconductor; Schneider Electric Canada

Columns

4 EDITORIAL Tariff’s impact on electronics 8 WEST TECH REPORT Electra Meccanica looks to electrify car market

In every issue

7 NEWSWATCH 14 PRODUCT SOURCE 21 AD INDEX 22 TEARDOWN Xiaomi Tech Mi Sphere camera

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AUGUST 2018

COVER STORY

10 12 16 19

WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY Jannatec mines success with its Smart Helmet CONTRACT ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING OEM goes to China and back in search for ideal CEM partner POWER MANAGEMENT Extending the coin cell battery life in wearables 18 New Products

16 19

INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION Transforming industrial automation systems to boost profitability 20 New Products

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EDITORIAL

Trade tariff’s impact the electronics ecosystem

Canada’s information leader for electronic engineers and designers AUGUST 2018

Volume 40, Number 5 EDITOR Stephen Law slaw@ept.ca · (416) 510-5208 WEST COAST CORRESPONDENT

The impact of on-going tariff wars between global leaders – namely US and China - will have its impact on the electronics ecosystem here in Canada. Often referred to as the ‘trickle-down’ effect (or ‘up’ as geography would have it), electronic OEMs in Canada can expect to pay more for their components and materials required to construct their end-designs.

This spring, when the United States announced it was set to impose a tariff on consumer goods manufactured in China, it placed immediate strain on the electronics ecosystem globally.

More than 800 categories of Chinese goods have been impacted, many of which fit into the electronics devices sector. The tariffs will increase the costs of materials for electronics, thus impacting the price consumers can expect to

pay on end-user devices.

Thanks to this, US manufacturers could replace Chinese imports with production from other countries. However, this would still put pressure on component prices and encourage manufacturers to re-evaluate their supply chains. Directly impacting electronics as a primary target, these tariffs stand to invoke price spikes on basic chemicals and measurement devices, which in turn will impact motor vehicles and electronic OEMs. Josh Kallmer, executive vice president for policy at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) in Washington, D.C. released the following statement about President Trump’s decision to move forward with 25% tariffs on Chinese technology imports worth roughly $34B. “The decision to impose tariffs on Chinese goods will harm American consumers and businesses without addressing discriminatory and systemic Chinese

TARIFF TALK @ EPTECH

A unique opportunity awaits members of the electronics industry within the Greater Toronto Area this fall, as our very own EPTECH Show in Mississauga will include a keynote speaker that will specifically address how tariffs impact the global supply chain for electronic components.

We’ve recruited Dr. Bill Bradford, president and CEO of the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA), who will detail tariffs and their impact on the component supply chain. In addition, Dr. Bradford will provide an overview of the electronic components industry, citing recent trends in technology driving the industry, as well as an update on the market dynamics influencing price and availability of components.

He will also give an update on international trade. Lastly, Dr. Bradford will summarize the challenges facing the industry and how the ECIA is working with its members to overcome them.

So, now you have yet another reason to come out to the EPTECH trade show and hopefully come away with a better understanding of industry topics. The presentation commences at 1pm on October 2, at the Mississauga Convention Centre.

You can register to attend at: ept.ca/eptech See you there.

Connect with EP&T magazine @EPTmagazine

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ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY / August 2018

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trade practices and policies. It is troubling that his Administration continues to assume that the imposition of tariffs will convince China to resolve complex trade issues and it is irresponsible to downplay the impact on American workers and businesses. Instead of going it alone, the president should work with allies to apply pressure on China to make meaningful changes to long-standing damaging trade practices.”

ITI president and CEO Dean Garfield added his thoughts, “Trade is critical to economic growth and supports millions of jobs from Silicon Valley to the savannahs of the heartland. Yet, the administration continues to impose more tariffs without a clear objective or end in sight, threatening jobs, stifling economic investment and increasing the prices of everyday goods.”

The ITI estimates that tariffs on components, such as on LEDs, sensors and printer/scanner devices, would have the greatest impact on consumers, raising the price of computers, phones, thermostats and similar everyday electronic items.

Because many of the components in question are used to make finished goods that can also be exported once assembled in Canada or the U.S., some economists say it’s an ineffective penalty on China that ignores how global supply chains work.

Amid all his bluster and rhetoric, President Trump’s assertion of all-out trade war has the potential to transcend the North American economy and snuff out global economic growth.

How very counterproductive Mr. Trump.You’re fired…

STEPHEN LAW Editor slaw@ept.ca

Sohail Kamal sohail@nextgear.ca

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Scott Atkinson satkinson@ept.ca · (416) 510-5207 ACCOUNT MANAGER Joanna Malivoire

jmalivoire@ept.ca · direct 866-868-7089

ART DIRECTOR Andrea M. Smith

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Tim Dimopoulos tdimopoulos@annexbusinessmedia.com PRESIDENT & CEO Mike Fredericks

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NEWSWATCH IOT

GOOGLE CLOUD JOINS LORA ALLIANCE AS SPONSOR MEMBER

The LoRa Alliance, the global association of companies backing the open LoRaWAN standard for internet of things (IoT) low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs), announced that Google Cloud has joined as a Sponsor Member.

“Google Cloud joining the LoRa Alliance is a clear signal that LoRaWAN connectivity is gaining strong traction for IoT,” says Donna Moore, LoRa Alliance CEO. “All of the data generated by connected devices will enable new insights to be derived. Google Cloud’s participation in the LoRa Alliance will strengthen our efforts to realize value from this IoT data.”

“The vision of the LoRa Alliance around interoperability and openness aligns with our mission to build the world’s most open cloud and enable faster innovation and tighter security,” said Antony Passemard, head of product management for Google Cloud IoT. “With the rapid growth of the LoRaWAN ecosystem, we look forward to contributing to the growth and acceleration of this technology and simplify the process of developing, deploying, and managing IoT solutions.”

Google Cloud delivered a keynote address during the 10th LoRa Alliance Open House in Vancouver this past June. With the theme of ‘Achieving Business Value with LoRaWAN’, the event delivered a solid program and market place showcasing members and end-users.

AI

APPLIED BRAIN RESEARCH RECOGNIZED AS TECHNOLOGY PIONEER

Applied Brain Research Inc. (ABR), a Waterloo-based firm that produces a suite of neuromorphic AI software tools and applications has been selected as one of the World Economic Forum’s ‘technology pioneers’.

Selected among hundreds of candidates, ABR focuses on enabling developers to rapidly build AI systems that run on all major computing platforms, including the emerging class of neuromorphic computer chips, which were designed based on the human brain, such as Intel’s Loihi research chip. Neuromorphic applications @EPTmagazine

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Travis Hagens of Google Cloud delivered a keynote address during the 10th LoRa Alliance open house in Vancouver this past June.

IOT

LoRoWAN standard gets Google backing

AI

Toronto emerges as a leader in artificial intelligence

built with Nengo use less power to compute AI networks than CPUs or GPUs, especially for advanced, highly recurrent, leading-edge AI networks.

On the way to ABR’s long range goal to deliver the first truly functional service robot control system, ABR has used Nengo to build Reach, the world’s first neuromorphic adaptive robotic reaching system, and Spaun, the world’s largest functional brain simulation.

SAMSUNG RESEARCH AMERICA PUTS AI LAB IN TORONTO

Samsung Research America (SRA) plans on establishing a state-of-theart artificial intelligence (AI) centre in Toronto, as part of a new venture to tap into and contribute to the flourishing AI industry growing in Canada’s largest city.

The opening of the Toronto AI Centre comes on the heels of the company’s global announcement of two additional and newly established AI Centres in Cambridge, UK and Moscow, Russia. The Toronto Centre will work in partnership with the company’s Silicon Valley team to pioneer AI research and development for the region.

Located in Toronto’s downtown core at MaRS Discovery District, the new Samsung AI Centre will contribute to building the connected future by accelerating the adoption of intelligence on multiple devices ranging from household appliances to cars.

The Toronto AI Centre is a part of a network of research Centres dedicated to research and development in the field of AI.

NVIDIA TO OPEN AI RESEARCH LAB IN TORONTO

Nvidia, a global leader in visual

Hyun-suk Kim, president of Samsung Research (front row, third from left), and Dr. Sven Dickinson, head of Samsung’s new, Toronto-based AI Centre (front row, far right), pose for a photo with guests at the facility’s opening ceremony in May.

computing technologies, has announced its plans to open an AI research lab in Toronto.

Nvidia says it recognizes Toronto as a thriving hub for AI experts, in part to foundational work out of the University of Toronto and government-supported research organizations like the Vector Institute. The AI Research Lab will be led by computer scientist and University of Toronto professor Sanja Fidler.

The AI facility will become the focal point of firm’s presence in the city, as NVIDIA first arrived in Toronto in 2015, leveraging our acquisition of TransGaming, a game-technology company, and currently numbers about 50.

With the new lab, Nvidia’s goal is to triple the number of AI and deep learning researchers working there by year’s end. It will be a state-of-art facility for AI talent to work in and will expand the footprint of our office by about half to accommodate the influx of talent.

Visit ept.ca for the latest new products, news and industry events.

August 2018 / EP&T

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WEST TECH REPORT

Vancouver’s Electra Meccanica looks to electrify car market In as little as a decade, cars, buses, or trucks that run on gasoline will no longer sell. The entire market for land transport will upgrade to electrification, leading to a collapse of oil prices and the demise of the petroleum industry as we know it.

Controversial? Sure. However, this is the future that Stanford University economist Tony Seba shared in his report, Rethinking Transportation 2020-2030.

Jerry Kroll, CEO of Electra Meccanica, an electric car company based out of Vancouver, certainly agrees.

He understands the lifestyle and environmental aspirations of consumers, and with his roots in car racing, he is launching two attractive electric vehicles: The SOLO, a mass-market all-electric single passenger vehicle developed to revolutionize the way people commute, and the Tofino convertible, a two-seater elegant high-performance sports car.

Their overarching goal is to shut down gas stations and bring humanity into the new age, and with their car racing roots, to produce a superb driving experience while making commutes cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Kroll, who has a long history in the racing car industry and has

They announced in the fall of 2017 that combined corporate and retail orders amounted to 120,880 SOLO models and 39,642 Tofino models, totaling $4.38 billion (CAD) in anticipated purchase price value.

spent two decades as an Indycar sports agent. He founded the company in 2015.

You have accomplished a lot in three short years. What helped you get to where you are today?

“Two words: Elegant engineering.

The Solo is probably the most attractive consumer product ever

Goin’ SOLO in test drive After inquiring about how a three-wheeler vehicle could drive and feel like a car, West Tech Report columnist Soihail Kamal was invited to take the Solo for a test drive. This short trial run answered many questions for our intrepid driver.

Kamal reports: “Agile, responsive and easy to park, the SOLO feels secure like a car, but maneuvers unlike anything I have ever driven. It was a truly impressive driving experience. The Tofino, a four-wheel, two-seater, is going to make more sense to people at first, but I can understand why Kroll feels the Solo will surprise many people.”

Electra Meccanica now has over 40 staff in British Columbia and is looking to expand the development facility space ten-fold. The new Solo three-wheeler tops out at 130 KM/hr and is retailing for $19,888, with production ramping up to 50,000 units in three years.

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built. It literally describes itself just by sitting there. I think initially the Tofino is easy to understand, but the solo, a one-person electric commuter vehicle, will be a monster success. When cities start to roll in congestion fees where you pay $20 a day to get into the city, or zero because you are in a one-person commuter vehicle, then you can save over $100 a week. That’s the eye of the needle the Solo fits through.”

What was the impetus for building a Canadian production volume electric car?

“I decided that fossil fuels were killing the planet needlessly, electric motors are the way to go in transportation, and can use any kind of power generation.”

What has lit up the electric vehicle market?

“These new battery management systems are so powerful, so inexpensive, so small and so useful, they’re squeezing out every percentage of performance from whatever battery you put in there.”

Editor’s Note: The SOLO and the Tofino both have had a great start.

Electra Meccanica’s mission is to close the last gas station – what does the future look like in your eyes?

“Gas stations are closing these days because of their land value, versus whatever profit they can make pumping gas. People will have to travel further afield to find gas, instead of just plugging in for next to free at home. In 5-8 years you’ll see about as many gas stations as you see Blockbuster video stores.”

The 2-seater Tofino is estimated to sell for $50K and has a comparable range to a Tesla Model 3. How are you positioned in comparison to Tesla?

“We are positioned as a compliment to Tesla, just like an iPhone is a compliment to a larger laptop or desktop computer. Different mission, same clean technology direction. I love those guys!”

Any advice for budding entrepreneurs?

“Think BIG. Really Big. There is no reason for people to be still burning gasoline into the air that children breath in the year 2018.

It’s almost embarrassing. Do what you can to help the world improve the environment, health and education. We are all much more talented than we give ourselves credit for.”

Sohail Kamal is EP&T’s West Coast correspondent. sohail@nextgear.ca EPT.CA

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WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY

COVER STORY

JANNATEC TECHNOLOGIES takes wearables underground Smart Helmet is the latest wearable innovation to aid those working in the mining industry.

Describe how the ENSO Platform represents the next logical step in an increasing world of connectedness for the mining industry?

For many years, communication in the mining industry has relied on LMR (Land Mobile Radio). It’s only been recently that there has been a move towards Wi-Fi and LTE, as many companies look to roll out underground wireless connectivity.

The move allows for further connectivity, cost efficiency, and

head protection PPE. Some others include head/neck load testing done

by Laurentian University, and other collaborations with CEMI, IRAP, SRED, and NOHFC.

Sudbury ON-based Jannatec developed a Smart Helmet for miners. operational safety within the mines.

Private LTE and Wi-Fi are currently being used in surface mining, and now underground is the next step.

Our helmet is designed to not only work with this technological movement, but to make it easier. Not only does our product replace the typical radio communications system with more advanced voice communication delivered over Wi-Fi and LTE networks, the platform packages all the features that you currently would have in your cellular phone. Having all of these features in one allows companies to only have to purchase one product instead of many, and then only having to deal with one company.

Can you describe the type of research collaboration required between Jannatec and other

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advanced technology and academic research partners?

Jannatec’s JETLab is a state-of-theart facility that works in conjunction with Jannatec Technologies. It houses our incredible product designers who continuously develop the latest innovative technological advances.

In the process of the development of the ENSO Platform, our JETLab worked with a variety of government agencies and academic facilities who have assisted in the production of the helmet. One of these includes humanscope, a product development company that provides integrated research, industrial design, product design engineering, development, packaging and manufacturing services. They also have extensive background knowledge in sport/industry design in

Jannatec has developed a collaborative platform that will allow the industrial worker to have multiple technologies available to them.

Describe those technologies.

The ENSO platform provides workers with a number of different customizable features that’s adaptable to technology that they already have.

Some of these features include: H igh-Viz LEDS – 360 degrees of LEDs installed on brim of helmet for visibility RFID Tagging – Identify and track tags on each helmet V oice/ Data Communications – Connect and communicate with others S peakers/ Microphone – Speak with others while wearing the helmet Wi-Fi /Bluetooth/ LTE – Connect to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and LTE Camera – Take videos & pictures.

Send in near-real time or store P roximity Warning – Alert workers, and drivers of vehicles approaching.

Which element to the ENSO Platform was the most difficult to handle during Phase 1 of design process and why?

The most difficult element encountered during the Phase 1 ENSO Platform design was maintaining the balance between cost, performance and aesthetics. As with anytime that you ask a customer to change the way they use or look at a piece of equipment that they use daily, acceptance is vital. The key to acceptance is ensuring the following: 1. Performance of the existing features isn’t affected by the change 2. Performance of the new features is solid;

Photo: Jannatec Technologies

For more than 25years Jannatec Technologies has lead the way as a communication solution provider of total wireless networks to the mining industry across Canada, as well as around the world. Of late, the Sudbury ON-based designer has expanded its capabilities as a recognized innovator in wearable technology for underground communication and safety technologies.

Currently enjoying 85% marketshare within Northern Ontario’s mining industry, Jannatec produces a number of rugged wearable devices, aimed at providing miners with a safer and more secure underground. Some of these items includes a vest to be worn by miners which regulates the wearer’s temperatures and monitors any spikes in body heat.

Jannatec anticipates continued success with its soon to be released ENSO Platform Helmet – which boasts lots of technology, including a 360° high visibility feature utilizing programmable LEDs, onboard brim mounted camera, bio-sensors, RFID and proximity detection.

EP&T took the opportunity to pose a few questions to Wayne Ablitt, president of Jannatec Technologies.

EPT.CA

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3. The equipment is comfortable and looks good; 4. The value added by the new features must justify the additional cost.

If any one of the above criteria is not met, acceptance will not be met at some level in the customers company (management, safety, financial or end user).

Which design element would you consider to be the most critical to delivering safety to the end-user?

Health and safety hazards in underground mining are different from those in other industries.

Hazards can expand further the deeper the mine goes down, such as many mines do in Ontario. Thus, dependent on a number of factors each customer is unique, and so their needs are all different, and therefore the critical safety element may vary from customer to customer. With our ENSO Platform designed to be tailored to each individual customer, this enables them to choose which feature in the helmet they want most dominant above all other features. Perhaps that’s high-viz, or perhaps that’s voice communications. That’s entirely up the customer.

What has been responsible for driving the demand for smart mining technologies?

The concept of Big Data (the growth of and digitization of global information-storage capacity) in the mining industry has been sought after now for the past number of years. The demand for a system that not only functions flawlessly, but also drives better communication between people, and people and vehicles is a constant need in this industry. Individuals are accustomed to this type of technology in their

everyday life, so why can’t they have it in the mines? Our ENSO Platform will allow for this to begin to take place.

Describe the importance of the successful integration of smart mining technologies in order to gain sustainable return on investments for your customers?

With the ENSO Platform technology our helmet has a variety of capabilities, one specifically being the elimination of cell paper transactions for maintenance and service checks. Looking at the mining industry and examining the many tools, and devices that are needed to complete a given task, our helmet has taken what once required a number of different devices and put it into one product. This saves companies a lot of money and elevates them from having to work with multiple companies and trying to integrate numerous products onto

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SITUATIONAL DATA

one network.

Describe the role emerging technologies such as IoT (sensors) will have on the future development of products for Jannatec.

The Internet of Things (IoT) described simplistically is the concept that everyone is connected and everyone is connected to everything. The ENSO Platform allows for this to take place underground. It allows for connectivity not only between people, but also between individuals and their environment.

An example of this would be a vehicle that has a fault in one of its sensors would send this signal to the workers and to the surface.

Given the level of connectedness that exists in most business sectors today, briefly describe how far things could evolve in the mining industry.

Due to the harsh environments in the mining industry, communication and connectivity has lagged behind in comparison to most business sectors today. Currently many mines use LMR (land mobile radio) for methods of communication.

However, recently a number of mines in northern Ontario are testing new LTE networks, which opens the gates to Big Data in the underground mining industry. Due to the mining down turn that occurred four years ago, mines have been slow to

implement these new technologies.

However, as the mining industry returns to a new state, these new systems are finally being implemented and getting up to date with the rest of the world’s current level of connectedness.

In Addendum:

The hard rock mining industry in the Sudbury basin can be a harsh environment. For example, the ambient temperatures of the mine can be as high as 30 degrees Celsius and have an excess of 60% humidity. In this environment, the worker must follow work-rest regiments as stated by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists.

Over the years, more attention has been paid to worker safety.

Not just from the perspective of hazards in the workplace, but also from the short and long term physical effects of working in an environment where conditions can be extreme. There are mines in the Quebec region that go as deep as 9320ft. As miners go deeper underground to provide materials for which the world depends on, they need reliable equipment that is designed to handle the demanding conditions. As these mines continually expand, they will require their communication systems follow their advancements and provide high speed data to move materials to the surface.

August 2018 / EP&T

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WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY

COVER STORY

The road to determining a CEM partner can be a bumpy one Tech product developer Brodie Stanfield of IFTech Inc. discusses his journey to China and back. BY STEPHEN LAW, EDITOR EP&T

Product Development

“In the early stages I was very focused on awareness - versus realism. Enhancing the sensation of the experience was important to me,” says Stanfield, who graduated from University of Ontario Institute of Technology in 2011, with a degree in Bachelor of Information Technology in Game Development and Entrepreneurship (minor in marketing).

In the early design stages, Stanfield engaged with academia – receiving support from a number of tech institutes in the greater Toronto area. After

an extensive and circuitous exploration for financing support, his group was selected to deliver a pitch on The Dragon’s Den TV show. Some inertia was also gained when Stanfield’s gaming vest, called As Real As It Gets (ARAIG), was part of National Geographic’s TV series - Machine Impossible, episode ‘Game On’ in 2016.

“At this stage of development we were testing out the product and getting gamers feedback. Thus, further tweaks and iterations to the product made it more user-friendly,” he adds.

In his march towards commercialization, Stanfield realized the complexities of his end-product would require design assistance from multiple, cross-over supplier fields. An overview, of the ARAIG vest shows that it is assembled with an exoskeleton, stims sensors, transmitter, software (developer and end-user), as well as a battery pack.

Before final assembly, the build of materials (BOM) includes such diverse components as plastics, printed circuit boards, wire harnesses & connectors, software, firmware, fabrics & foam, battery and a liquid spray.

Networking the Ecosystem

Once Stanfield had commenced with the component sourcing process – he was immediately immersed in a networking culture within the electronics supply chain ecosystem in Canada.

This exchange of ideas is what led to someone suggesting IFTech go to China to look at CEMs and see what they could do for him.

“After 10-days in China, we spoke with experts who seemed to know what they were doing. “We had to find legal counsel to help us protect our IP, but we had to be very careful with what words were used in the contract,” he says.

Ultimately, none of the Chi-

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Brodie Stanfield of IFTech models his ARAIG gaming vest.

Stanfield gave China the thumbs down after failing to properly communicate with CEMs there.

nese-based CEMs could deliver on all of the overly complex elements of the ARAIG design. His understanding and expectations, after all the legal wrangling, was that IFTech was ready to commence with manufacturing.

However, it did not come to fruition, as the China-based CEM was not able to make the things they said they were capable of.

“It was a weird thing, because once the contract was signed we felt good about punching out some end-product and everything would be great. But, the next stages kind of stalled – and did not move in the direction we had hoped or were led to believe,” Stanfield explains. “I think they thought they could handle it (diverse complexities), which was not the case here.”

“Now, after speaking with other Canadian-based designers doing business in China, I have learned that this problem is often consistent.”

China Beware

“If you really have to go to China to do business with CEMs there, you really do need someone on your side that can manage the oversight of the job done – to ensure the job is done exactly to the specs you’ve requested,” Stanfield stressed. “You also need someone on your side that understands the culture and process of how it works. If you don’t have someone who knows that ‘space’ it’s extremely

Photo: IFTech Inc.

For the start-up OEM or new product developer, the search for a contract electronics manufacturer (CEM) can be scary, confusing, exhausting and an angst-filled process.

For most electronic designers, coming up with the conceptual design merely represents the start of an important process – locating and/or determining a manufacturing partner – CEM or electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider.

Brodie Stanfield’s journey represents a prime example of the personal struggle and challenges dealt with when hunting for an appropriate electronic collaborator. As founder and co-CEO of IFTech Inc. (Inventing Future Technology), the Blackstock ON-based designer triggered the concept of developing a computer gaming vest while playing video games with his father over 10-years ago.

“I felt that, as a player or user of video games, I needed to get more involved or immersed in it,” he says.

That’s when we got the idea to begin creating a prototype – cobbled together using a dirt bike vest with speakers strapped to it – then we added servo vibratory motors removed from a personal massage vest.

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2018-07-27 7:44 AM

dangerous. We’ve seen several companies go over there and spend hundreds of thousands – even millions of dollars – only to be very disappointed. Often you have no proper repercussions to handle the fallout.”

Stanfield says other obstacles to consider when doing business in China includes added travel costs and time loss – when jockeying back and forth between Asia – “babysitting the project.”

“Overall, it was an expensive process and we learned a lot from that. Despite having to abort the Asian experience and return to Canadian soil with our designs intact. It didn’t destroy the company, the brand or the product – as we went about things in the safest way,” says

Stanfield, emphasizing the importance of having a termination clause in any contract.

Stanfield stressed the legal process at home is much better – especially at protecting intellectual property (IP). He says complexities of translating a contractual agreement between languages can leave a lot of gray areas in terms of interpretation.

Protect the IP

“Once you’ve lost your IP, it could essentially destroy all of your efforts,” he says.

If you are determined to go into China, Stanfield stressed the importance of reaching out to the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service (TCS), which provides such free services as evaluate market potential, provide qualified contacts who have knowledge in the region, and overall ensure you are taking the best approach to protect your product when you go beyond Canada’s borders.

Upon his return to Canada

with the IP intact, Stanfield says he tapped into the local distribution channels to re-ignite the networking process. Again, due to the complexities behind the ARAIG design, not just any CEM could handle all the elements required.

“The really cool thing when dealing with CEMs in Canada is that they will tell you straight-up if they cannot handle the complete job,” Stanfield says.

Finding a Local CEM

When determining which CEM players to move forward with, Stanfield had a number of factors to consider.

“We developed a level of trust based on their actions, seeing their actual facility, showcasing their capabilities,” he says.

Stanfield was impressed in the CEM’s presentation, which included a demonstration of all the steps they possessed to verify and validate that the product quality was maintained.

“I was immediately made

aware of what services they do or don’t have. They delivered a really good understanding of their company – which includes their workspace, what they can do, and their capabilities and really good transparency of what I am getting in to.”

“For us, it was important that the CEM’s comprehended the required steps we needed to take together in order to achieve our end result,” says Stanfield.

“The structure in Canada is so much better, cleaner. The transparency of CEM processes are so much clearer about how things are proceeding. I’m sure there is the expert quality and expertise in China to do a good job, but if you don’t end up with that – it can be a very, very risky place to do business,” he adds.

Stanfield’s advice to fellow Canadian designers sourcing a CEM - use the network – attend tech meet ups, go to trade shows, conferences and talk with your peers about what works for them. It may work for you.

MORE POWER ON YOUR PCB

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@EPTmagazine

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August 2018 / EP&T 13

2018-04-18 11:41 AM

2018-07-27 7:44 AM

ELECTRONIC DESIGN

NEW PRODUCTS telecommunications, and aerospace & defense. Unit’s maximum output power tops all previous records. The compact, lightweight generators are easy to transport and take up minimal space in the lab. Both devices are available in various configurations. www.press.rohde-schwarz.com

QUICK-FIT TERMINALS ARE UL RECOGNIZED

PROFESSIONAL MAKER KIT COMES IN FORM OF PCAP TOUCHSCREEN

SCHURTER Engineering TouchKit is a professional maker kit in the form of a PCAP touchscreen for development engineers to experience first-hand the advantages of projected-capacitive technology. Kit contains Plug & Play 10.1” PCAP touchscreen sensor with controller based on an EETI chip.

Software for analyzing and evaluating the controller data is included on a USB stick. A stylus pen is also included and enables the user to experience extensive functions of the touchscreen and to perform tests with and without the stylus. www.schurter.com

THERMAL IMAGING CAMERA COMES WITH INTERCHANGEABLE LENSES

ITM INSTRUMENTS FLIR E75 Thermal Imaging Camera 320 x 240 provides interchangeable lenses (14°, 24°, 42°) that auto-calibrate with the camera, as well as a vibrant 4” touchscreen with scratch-resistant Dragontrail cover glass and a fast and responsive interface. From wide angle to telephoto, the lenses provide complete coverage of near and far targets. Each lens can be set up to auto-calibrate using AutoCal for quick swapping in the field with little down time and no need to send to the factory. www.itm.com/flir-e75

RUGGED DC LINK FILM CAPACITORS ENDURE HARSH CONDITIONS

TDK CORP B3277*H series range of EPCOS film capacitors for dc link applications provides types for particularly harsh environmental conditions. The robustness has been verified in a temperature, humidity, bias (THB) test at 60°C, 95% relative humidity and the rated voltage for 1000-hours.

Special types are also available that are THB tested at 85°C, 85% relative humidity and the rated voltage for 1000 hours.

Devices are designed for rated voltages of between 450Vdc and 1100Vdc and offer capacitance values of between 1.5µF and 120µF. www.epcos.com/film_mkp

SIGNAL GENERATORS SET STANDARDS IN THE CLASS UP TO 6GHZ

ROHDE & SCHWARZ R&S SMB100B analog RF signal generator and the R&S SMBV100B vector signal generator set new standards in their class, offering improved spectral purity, output power and easy, intuitive touchscreen operation. Both models specifically address the requirements of RF semiconductor development,

14 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY / August 2018

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KEYSTONE UL recognized, male and female, pcb quick-fit terminals and male rivet mount quick-fit terminals hold up under repeated mating cycles. Pcb mountable terminals have an

innovative Sturdi-Mount design that provides increased pcb mounting strength and stability by maintaining the device’s perpendicularity to pcbs during and permanently after wave soldering. The rivet mount styles permit design and mounting flexibility for boards, panels and chassis mating environments.

Devices meet NEMA 2-1982-1988 and UL 310 specifications. www.keyelco.com

ARDUINO BOARDS FEATURE WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY

ARDUINO Arduino and u-blox, providers of open-source hardware and software ecosystem, introduced four new boards to its MKR family, delivering enhanced wireless connectivity options for IoT applications. Product family and form factor address IoT use cases by focusing on a standard blue print including a hardware crypto chip for enhanced security, a LiPo charger for power management, and an ARM Cortex M0 microcontroller. MKR family provides a wide range of connectivity options, from low power long range to more traditional options, to satisfy the

most stringent user requirements for IoT applications. www.arduino.cc

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POLYURETHANE SPLASH PROOF OVERLAY BOOSTS PROTECTION NKK SWITCHES Protective Polyurethane Splash Proof Overlay for SmartSwitch is a 0.3 mm thick sheet of non-yellowing, 90% transmissive polyurethane with a water resistant, 10mm wide perimeter of adhesive. Designed to provide increased protection to devices requiring additional protection, an IP65 rating can be achieved with supporting bezel.

Overlays come in 4 standard sizes, while custom sizes available, w/ or w/out adhesive. www.nkkswitches.com

ANODIZED SURFACE CONNECTORS PROVIDE QUICK ID IN HARSH ENVIRONMENTS

HEILIND ELECTRONICS LEMO M Series ratchet coupling connectors with anodized surface treatment are lightweight, compact and high-density. The anodized colors aid in identifying connections and remain visible even after extensive

use in extreme environments. Device is also IP68-compliant, vibration-resistant and comes with a variety of gasket and sealing options to enhance resistance to oil and fuel.

Versatile device is available in eight sizes and the colors can be applied to 37 connector models. Products accommodate a variety of contact configurations and cable diameters ranging from 2.8 mm to 14 mm. www.heilind.com Visit ept.ca for the latest new products, news and industry events.

EPT.CA

2018-07-27 7:44 AM

EPT_Aug

Connect to the World Interpower® Accessory Power Strips make it easier to connect to the world.

Product designers can design electrical equipment to be sold globally by simplifying power supply connections using an Accessory Power Strip with IEC 60320 components.

At its core, this power strip incorporates an AC power inlet with multiple AC power outlets. Other features may include power on/off switches and circuit protection.

The Accessory Power Strip allows different components to work together in one system. For example, instead of making five different systems to export to five different countries, use this one system and add a cord set with a country-specific plug. This allows the same system to be exported globally with cost-saving benefits.

To help prevent accidental power interruptions, some Interpower Accessory Power Strips include the new Interpower Connector Locks. This patent-pending design does not require tools for use.

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POWER MANAGEMENT

FEATURE

Extending coin cell battery life in wearable applications

BY MAJID DADAFSHAR

Introduction

Cost of maintenance or battery replacement can be an obstacle in adoption of these wearable or IoT devices and it is crucial to have a good understanding of different sections used in these circuits and a means to properly estimate the battery life or a time in between replacing batteries.

The IoT can also be very beneficial in health care applications with using sensors to measure and monitor various medical parameters in the human body.

Wearable devices like smart watches, wristbands, monitoring patches that are pasted on the

skin or even smart textiles can provide real time information to the health care provider through a secured Cloud computing data base platform. In the case of monitoring patches, they are supposed to be worn by the patient for a few days or longer and with many smart devices being battery powered, this mandates a need to operate at low power and also to have efficient power.

Power section part of Building Block

Five sections form the basic building blocks of a wearable device, including a coin cell battery, power section, sensors, low power ASIC or a processors and RF section. Each of these nodes has to have their own characteristics in order to be efficient.

Environmental sensors, collecting physical environment parameters like temperature, humidity, pressure, water and air pollution or medical sensors collecting various medical parameters, all collect real time data from their surroundings and send to the low power ASIC for processing.

The collected sensor data can be stored and analyzed, by the low power ASIC or a processor in order to create a useful intelligence out of the collected data and in some Miniature Implantable Medical Devices (MIMDs) it might require a development of new category of Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs).

New low power ASICs can be designed to perform very specific functions, which reduces both the size of the circuits and the power required to run them.

Since a low power ASICs use just the energy needed for a specific task, no energy is wasted on unnecessary functions and can run on smaller batteries to further enable device size reduction or

16 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY / August 2018

EPT_Aug2018_AMS.indd 16

Typical wearable sensor device.

extend the battery life. Key points for processor chips are using low power technologies to reduce internal operating voltage, reducing the onboard oscillator frequency to a low speed during standby and optimize the circuits to reduce power consumption.

Clock gating is one technique that can be used to reduce the active power dissipation in a system by turning on the clocks (not the power) to specific logic blocks only when there are tasks pending. When there are no pending tasks, the clocks to a specific logic blocks can be turned off, reducing the active power for that block only.

In many medical applications the low power ASIC or a processors are responsible for securing the data by performing encryption and decryption of the received data before transmitting the sensed data wirelessly (PAN, WAN or LAN) to a gateway and finally to a remote Cloud-based

end-to-end platform.

The combined sensor, processor, transmission path and gateway, operate in conjunction with a user controlled application, which are essential for proper utilization of all the data collected. When selecting a wireless technology for your final application, you have to consider factors like, expected battery life, maximum throughput (Mbps), power consumption, maximum distance range and whether you need to connect your device to the internet through Wi-Fi. Another solution besides clock gating described earlier, is to turn off power to those blocks that are not being used. Power Amplifier (PA) section for Wi-Fi or any other wireless protocol is the main power consumption section and can be switched on/ off using a load switch.

Now, we need to calculate the current draw from the PA from its RF power in dBm. For example, the RF power for Wi-Fi

Photo: ON-Semiconductor

Most low-power wireless interfaces like Bluetooth, ZigBee and Wi-Fi can be found in many Internet of Things (IoT), wearable, medical, health and fitness applications. These mobile applications require a small size coin-cell battery that can function for many months or even years without attention or replacement.

As the Internet gets connected to more of our embedded hardware devices, the next step is to connect multiple devices within our homes or our environment.

Most of these devices will be operated using a small coin cell battery.

Long life expectancy of these batteries is one of the critical factors for successful merging of both the Internet and devices.

Designing wearable to meet the needs of small size and longer battery life.

This article will try to provide an overview and basic understanding of power blocks, effects of beacons, beacon interval, maximum throughput, transmit packet size in estimating the life for a coin cell battery.

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transfer. The beacon frames are type of management frames that can be set through the access point configuration which enables any stations to establish and maintain communications.

Beacon signals and used as a discovery mechanism with around -40dBm to +4dBm power range for broadcasting its signal. The beacon frames lead to more overhead or bits and will cause more power dissipation.

Each beacon frame carries information like beacon interval 1002000ms which represents the time between each beacon transmissions and are usually about 50 bytes long.

When a station is entering into a power save mode, it needs to know the beacon interval so it could wake up at a right time to receive the beacon and update its local clock for proper timing synchronization among all stations that are communicating with a given access point. The shorter the beacon interval, the more stable the signal but it also can significant impact to the battery life.

Each beacon also carries information that indicates the data rates that the WLAN supports, like 1, 2, and 5.5Mbps, etc. By increasing the beacon interval, we can reduce the number of beacons, overhead and make the association and roaming process less responsive. We can also decrease the beacon interval, causing an increase in the rate of beacons and overhead which will cause additional devices using power save mode to consume more power since they’ll need to awaken more often, thus reducing power saving mode benefits.

We also need our own tool so ACTIVE Mode

Low Power/SLIQ Mode

IOUT-Max < 100mA IOUT Iq ECO (Mode Select)

VOUT

IOUT-Max < 100uA Iq =<200nA

VOUT- Offset

Figure 1: SLIQ operation mode for LDO. @EPTmagazine

EPT_Aug2018_AMS.indd 17

Iq-Max = 30uA

VOUT

TX

CURRENT [mA]

operating at 2.4GHz could be around 17dBm (50mW), 16dBm (40mW) at 5GHz operation and 20dBm (100mW) as the maximum allowable RF power emission set by regulatory limits.

Each transmission would result in the other side to send back an ACK, so there will be transmit and receive for each transmission and the current will fluctuate from TX to RX. The TX current (30+mA) is higher than RX current (5mA) with active TX/RX duration in 2msec range with the rest of time being at either SLEEP or receive of beacon mode.

Many power amplifiers (PA) or RF transmitters in a wearable device spend most of their time in sleep mode and only send the measured and processed data on a very low duty cycle basis. They also consume a considerable amount of power, so before attempting to estimate the battery life, we need to be able calculate the average power by finding out more timing details.

The duration of actual transmission depends on many factors like the byte size, number of packets, beacon interval, encoding overhead of data and overall number of bits to be transmitted.

For example, with 5 packets of 200 bytes and 40% encoding overhead, it translates into 11200 total bits to be transmitted. With the data throughput of around 2.75Mbps for Wi-Fi transmission, it will take 407us to transmit 11200 bits of data.

(Figure 1) In WLAN 802.11 wireless protocol, there are data frames to carry information and management frames to support data

RX ACK

Beacon

Data Aquisition

TIME[s] Figure 2: Transmit profile.

we could input all different parameters for different designs and look at entire design parameters in order to drive the power consumption calculation and estimate battery life.

The shorter the beacon intervals, the shorter the battery life, but the faster the device can be discovered. Broadcasting power directly impacts signal range and more power equates to a longer range. Increasing the power can also make the signal more stable, but keep in mind it can have a negative effect on battery life.

Since the active power is a function of both supply voltage and frequency (Freq * V^2), we can control the active power by dynamically controlling the supply voltage or by modulating the clock frequency of the processor as a function of the intensity of the computing task. When less performance is required or during sleep mode, the system can lower the frequency or lower the supply voltage to the system.

The new trend in power management to improve the overall power dissipation is using a Super Low IQ (SLIQ) dc-dc and LDO with ‘Mode Select’ capability. By lowering the output voltage of the dc-dc for SLIQ or sleep mode, the voltage across the LDO can also be reduced, causing lower power dissipation across the LDO devices. (Figure 2) The benefits in this design approach using SLIQ dc-dc or SLIQ LDO is the ability in changing or lowering the IQ when transitioning from active mode to SLIQ mode. It can also change the output voltages with a pre-selectable manufactured settable offset voltages, so the

output voltage can be changed from a higher voltage (0.8V) during active mode to a lower output voltage (0.6V) when transitioning to SLIQ mode.

Conclusion

In order for wearable devices to extend battery life, a proper design need to consider low power ASIC that can perform heavy computational with minimum of power usage. The wireless connectivity protocols like Bluetooth Smart and ZigBee with power amplifier (PA) in the radio side, power-ICs and sensors with low leakage currents, all need to be specifically designed for ultra-low-power applications.

For a coin cell battery to last several months or even years, data rate, beacon interval and transmit time, all have to be considered in order to lower the average current draw to a few 10s of milliamps (mA) when operating in active mode and few (nA) when in sleep mode.

Using load switch to actively disconnect Power amplifier and digital section from the supply rails can also have a significant effect in lowering the power consumption of different sections when they are not used.

Using a Super Low IQ (SLIQ) dc-dc and passing their output through an SLIQ LDO with both low voltage drop and ‘MODE’ select pin can also lower the power consumption and extend battery life.

Majid Dadafshar is principal field application engineer, ON-Semiconductor August 2018 / EP&T 17

2018-07-27 7:44 AM

POWER MANAGEMENT

NEW PRODUCTS full range of point and ring illuminated metal line switches rated for 24Vdc supply voltage. Unit processes dc (127 370Vdc) or ac (90 - 264Vac, 47 - 63Hz) from the input side. A constant 24Vdc, with a power of 8W, is then available at the output. Product’s housing is completely insulated and rated IP42 for indoor use. The operating temperatures may vary between -30°C and +70°C. www.schurterinc.com

POWER CONNECTOR SPEEDS RELIABLE CONNECTIONS

WEIDMULLER OMNIMATE Power LUF and LUFS 10.00 printed circuit board (pcb) terminals come with firm’s Push In connection system for wiring solid, stranded or ferruled wires from 18...6AWG– with ease and low force– to help prevent potential damage to expensive circuit boards. Select versions of the devices are UL/CSA rated for use up to 61A and 600V according to UL1059, meeting the requirements for high power applications that include drive controllers and photovoltaic converters. Devices come in a range of options from clamping activation to wire insertion orientation. www.weidmuller.com

DELIVER 1K WATTS @ 97% EFFICIENCY

MURATA 1 kW DRQ-11.4/88-L48 Series of quarter brick, intermediate bus, dc-dc converter modules address the growing power requirements of high-reliability networking and telecommunications infrastructure equipment. The fully regulated devices provide 11.4Vout at 88 A, with a Vin Range of 36 to 60Vdc, operating from 48Vdc battery systems or networking equipment that operates at 54Vin.The fully regulated, fixed frequency, 1kW rated bus converter delivers an efficiency level of 97%. www.murata.com

40 - 65W EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLIES MEET MEDICAL STANDARDS

TDK-LAMBDA AMERICAS DTM65-D medical certified external power supplies meet the stringent DoE Level VI and EU Tier 2 v5 standards for efficiency and off-load power.Products are certified to the medical IEC 60601-1 standards, suitable for a variety of healthcare applications. Convection-cooled device is housed in a rugged, vent-free enclosure, measuring 132mm x 69mm x 40mm (L x W x H). AC is applied through the standard IEC 60320-C14 (3-prong) socket and the output dc cable is fitted with a 4-pin Power-DIN connector as standard, with other connector types available upon request. The adapters also feature over-voltage and over-current protection. Accepting a 90 to 264Vac input, the 40 to 65W adapters are available with 5V, 12V, 15V, 19V, 24V, 28V, 36V and 48V outputs and can operate in ambient temperatures ranging from -20 to +60°C (derating linearly to 50% load from 40 to 60°C). www.tdk-lambda.com/en/

UNIVERSAL SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY ACCESSORIZES METAL LINE ILLUMINATED SWITCHES SCHURTER Firm accessorizes its illuminated Metal Line switches with the PSUP 24Vdc universal switching power supply. The Class II unit supports a

18 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY / August 2018

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OPEN FRAME AC-DC CONVERTER BOOSTS INPUT VOLTAGE

PCI-104 form factor is designed to operate in demanding power conditions typically experienced in ground vehicles and aircraft applications. This enables the power supplies to function without active cooling in temperature ranges from -40°C to +85°C per MIL-STD-810G, when attached to a base enclosure for heat dissipation. www.elma.com/en

STEP-DOWN DC-DC POWER MODULE REGULATOR DELIVERS 40V INPUT VOLTAGE

ANALOG DEVICES Linear LTM8002 step-down dc-dc µModule (power module) regulator with a 40V input voltage rating (42V abs max) and 2.5A of continuous

AIMTEC AMEOF5-BJZ 5W compact open frame ac-dc converter complements the current 90-528Vac ultra-wide

input voltage range. Product’s open frame design has an operating temperature range of -40°C to +85°C and has full power output between -20°C and +55°C. The output voltage options are 3.3, 5, 9, 12, 15 and 24V for both the standard and the right-angled SIP version. Product provides low power consumption, high efficiency & reliability, 4000Vac isolation and continuous short circuit protection. www.aimtec.com/home

MODULAR POWER SUPPLIES OPERATE IN TOUGH CONDITIONS

ELMA PCI-104-based rugged power supply modules can be used as the bottom module in any PC/104, PC/104-Plus, PCI-104, PCIe/104 or PCI/104-Express embedded system stack arrangement. Units also provide power for other small form factor (SFF) embedded computing systems, such as COM Express.

Product’s rugged mechanical

(3.5A peak) output current, housed in a 6.25mm x 6.25mm x 2.22mm BGA package. Device includes a switching regulator controller, power switches, inductor and other supporting components. Only the bulk input, output capacitors and two resistors are required to complete the design. www.analog.com

65W AC-DC POWER SUPPLY COMES IN CLASS I IN SINGLE OUTPUT VERSIONS

POWER PARTNERS PEA65 Series 65W 2 x 4 ac/dc open frame power supply is available in single output models. Units deliver maximum 65 watts as a Class I power supply with a universal input voltage range of 90-264Vac and six output voltage selections (12V, 15V, 19V, 24V, 36V and 48V), with measurements in a 2” x 4” x 1.31” package and weighs under a half pound (0.44lbs).

Products are approved and certified to UL/cUL/TUV 60950-1 and are compliant to Energy Star V2.0 and ErP STEP 2. www.powerpartners-inc.com Visit ept.ca for the latest new products, news and industry events.

EPT.CA

2018-07-27 7:44 AM

INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION

FEATURE

Transforming industrial automation systems to boost profitability

How industrial automation is breaking down the barrier between information technology and operational technology to deliver true business performance.

BY GURVIE WARAICH You’ve probably heard of a ‘smart home’ or ‘smart appliances’ but when it comes to factories, many of us still envision the traditional assembly line that pioneer Henry Ford invented at the beginning of the last century.

But that mould has now been broken. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is transforming the Canadian manufacturing industry, which has legacy systems that have been in place in excess of four decades. While many businesses are familiar with the Internet of Things (IoT) in the examples given above, they may not be as familiar with the IIoT. The main difference between the two is that the latter is a subcategory of the broader IoT, focusing specifically on industrial applications such as manufacturing and agriculture. The IIoT adds value to these applications by increasing efficiency as well as improving health and safety.

Industrial manufacturers in this country and around the globe are starting to realize the value of the IIoT and how it offers the ability to extend real-time control across their value chain because it has the potential to finally dissolve the barrier between information technology (IT) and operational technology.

Unlocking the value of IIoT

The IIoT is driving transformation in the manufacturing industry, rendering old models of production obsolete. This transformation is achieved by integrating industrial automation, communications and networking siloes at the base level. Companies can then unlock the true value of the IIoT by controlling @EPTmagazine

EPT_Aug2018_AMS.indd 19

asset performance from the bottom up through automation and control architectures. By controlling business variables in real time using the IIoT, manufacturers can make business decisions to achieve true cost and time savings that will ultimately have a positive impact on their bottom lines.

Unfortunately, the industrial manufacturing sector is still reliant on legacy systems that have been in place for decades and were only focused on improving manufacturing process efficiencies rather than total business performance. While distributed control systems (DCS) have traditionally done an excellent job of controlling process performance, they have had little or no impact on total business performance. In addition, because of technological limitations, the financial impact of configuring, engineering, installing, implementing and operating these systems has not been properly

and accurately measured.

While many plants may have completed a system upgrade recently, most continue to run their operations in siloes. Unlike the IIoT, where everything is connected, legacy systems were designed to act and work independently. Plants have also not traditionally been connected to the Internet. Therefore the issue of connectivity remains a great hurdle for manufacturers to overcome in planning their IIoT journey.

Proactive versus reactive

By being connected, OEMs are able to work in real time, enabling them to predict problems before they happen and not get caught up in constantly reacting to them. In an IIoT environment, all systems are connected through applications and a central architecture. Sensors feed information back to the applications, enabling better insight into the operation of individual pieces

of equipment, or groups of equipment, such as a line.

Monitoring assets and the health of machinery and equipment in the plant using sensors provides real time early warnings on failures and actionable alerts that support the maintenance team’s decisions.

In other words, workers are able to detect if a machine is going to break down before it actually happens so they can address the problem right away and order a new part if necessary, saving time and money.

Another big benefit to leveraging IIoT tools includes the ability to process the unstructured data gathered from the plant via the sensors. By analyzing historical and operational data gathered from the plant, operational improvements can be made and the maintenance team can gain insights to help them realize profits and reduce energy consumption.

Measurable Benefits

By leveraging available tools, one ethylene plant saw an improvement in production rates to the tune of up to 5%, while reducing its energy consumption and material costs as well. The plant was able to achieve an operational profitability of up to US$20 million or more per year.

These results are proof the IIoT can help plants boost their profitability. However, with any digital transformation project, the true success doesn’t lie in just the technology but having a clear vision and successful implementation that incorporates the people and processes behind it.

Gurvie Waraich, offer manager for Digital Plant within the Industry Business at Schneider Electric Canada August 2018 / EP&T 19

2018-07-27 7:44 AM

INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION

NEW PRODUCTS retaining the revision status of drives and their parameters and other technical information. This helps ensure reliable operations, minimizes downtime during setup or maintenance and can even form part of a predictive maintenance program. www.harting.com

DC UPS MONITORS, OPTIMIZES ENERGY STORAGE PHOENIX CONTACT

32-BIT MICROCONTROLLER EXTENDS LIFE IN EXTREME/HARSH IIOT ENVIRONMENTS

RELCHIP RC10001 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 microcontroller is a full featured processor core and peripherals are designed in a high-temperature SOI process with -55C to 300C operations, 5V operation @ 14mA/MHz, 4MHz, internal and 2G external memory, programmable clocks, 21 programmable priority interrupts, 90 GPIO, SPI, UART, 4 timers, serial wire (JTAG) port parity and hardfault error detection, real time clock, system tick, watchdog and external expansion bus.

Peripherals include a UART interface, a SPI interface, a LIN interface, four timer/counters with one capture input and four match outputs, a real-time counter, and up to 90 general purpose input/output (GPIO) pins. Device is designed for extreme environment applications. www.relchip.com

The Formed-In-Place PUR Gasket maintains the NEMA 4X and 6P ratings, securing your components in a dry and dust free environment.

Ranging in several sizes, product accommodates 30.5 mm (1.2 in) and 22.5 mm (0.8 in) push buttons and any switches. It is available with either a transparent cover or a matching gray opaque cover. www.fiboxusa.com

INTELLIGENT INDUSTRIAL CONNECTORS

HARTING Three Han-Smart modules deliver intelligent capabilities to customer configurable Han-Modular industrial connector system. Han-Modular Mini-Switch US4 module is a 4 port unmanaged Ethernet Mini-Switch that supports RJ-45 terminated high speed Ethernet devices. An advanced Ethernet and network switch in one, it facilitates the

PUSH-BUTTON BOXES MAINTAIN IP 67 IMPACT RESISTANCE

FIBOX ENCLOSURES PICCOLO Push Button Enclosure Series is built to last and handle the ins and outs of daily use in even the most demanding locations. Molded in specially formulated UV resistant, WiFi friendly polycarbonate, enclosure maintains its high IP 67 impact resistance rating in the field.

integration of additional Ethernet nodes to make expansion or retrofitting easier than ever.

Han-Modular Surge Protection module puts transient overvoltage protection for analog and digital devices in the connector that would otherwise require separate, external protective solutions. This simplifies wiring arrangements, saving on space and labour cost.

Han-Modular CAN ID Module has 10MB of memory storage for

20 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY / August 2018

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Intelligent UPS with IQ Technology ensures superior system availability, by monitoring and optimizing energy storage. The IQ Technology is intuitive and provides users with information as soon as required. The integrated interfaces allow you to see the operating state of your system from anywhere, at any time. Device provides full use of the energy content: processes and applications continue to be supplied for as long as possible. Unit allows early warning before failure, as the UPS knows the remaining life expectancy of the energy storage. Device determines the current performance of the energy storage. www.phoenixcontact.ca

SENSOR IN TO-6 PACKAGE SERVES PCBLESS APPLICATIONS

TDK CORP TAD2140 type TMR angle sensors comes in a TO-6 package for automotive and industrial applications, providing a system-in-package solution for pcb-less applications.

Device includes two full TMR bridges, a dedicated ASIC for signal conditioning and integrated passive components. Device delivers an angle accuracy of ±0.2 °, achieving a small angle error of ±0.05 ° at room temperature. Devices are capable of contactless sensing from 0 ° to 360 ° over a temperature range of ?40 °C to +150 °C. Device’s fast response, high angular accuracy and advanced

compensation algorithms make it suitable for the optimization of motor control applications such as BLDC motor commutation. www.tdk.com

CONNECTORS BOOST PERFORMANCE ON LOW LOSS CABLES AMPHENOL RF Redesigned TNC connectors are optimized for use with Low Loss 195 and 240 cables, which provide enhanced shielding with a bonded foil construction ensuring 100% coverage. Devices provide a nominal

impedance of 50 ohms and low return loss from dc to 6GHz. Devices are available in straight jack, bulkhead jack, straight plug and right angle plug configurations. All designs feature a crimp termination. www.amphenolrf.com

WATERPROOF D-SUB EARTHING CONNECTOR PROVIDES IP66, IP67

MOLEX D-Sub form factor Earthing Connector to help customers make secure and robust earthing connections without the use of special tools or specialist training. Device is designed for hash environments and meets IP66 and IP67 requirements, protecting equipment from stray voltages through a secure and low-impedance connection to earth.

Device provides a 40.0A contact to an Earth cable (8AWG) with straight termination and a metal sealing frame for rear installation. www.molex.com Visit ept.ca for the latest new products, news and industry events.

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PRODUCT SOURCE GUIDE PANEL MOUNT BEEPERS & BUZZERS

AD INDEX Allied Electronics and Automation . . . . 24 BEA Lasers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Blockmaster Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Coilcraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Digi-Key Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1, 2 Electro Sonic Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Hammond Mfg Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Interpower Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Newark element 14 Electronics. . . . . . . . 9 Phoenix Contact Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Protocase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Transducers USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Wago Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

TO ADVERTISE in an upcoming issue of EP&T, contact Scott Atkinson, Associate Publisher, satkinson@ept.ca or (416) 510-5207 or Joanna Malivoire, Account Manager, jmalivoire@ept.ca or direct 866-868-7089.

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The new M12 Push-Pull connector is plug-and-play convenient. With similar dimensions to M12 standards, the M12 Push-Pull creates a secure connection, comparable to the market standard. Its innovative spring concept creates a reliable shield connection, even under extreme mechanical strain, and its connector springs back when not fully engaged.

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TEARDOWN Xiaomi Tech focuses on thin with Mi Sphere 360 camera

BY JIM MIELKE, VP TEARDOWNS, ABI RESEARCH

ABI Research recently tore down the Xiaomi Tech Mi Sphere camera, which is one of a growing number of 360 cameras that are used to capture content for virtual reality playback systems.

What makes Xiaomi’s version of a 360-degree camera different is its ‘focus’ on keeping the camera thin? The camera is 7.8cm x 6.7cm with 2.1cm thickness at the thickest point (center of the dual camera lens), and 1.3cm thick throughout the remainder of the device. This is quite thin when compared to most 360 cameras on the market (like the 3.15cm thick Essential 360 camera recently torn down by ABI research). The main feature enabling the thin form factor is the camera module.

A typical 360 camera places two identical cameras back to back. One camera capturing everything in front and one camera capturing everything in the back. The outermost lenses on both sides are very wide-angle lens capturing everything up to 90 degrees in all directions from the direction the lens is facing.

Xiaomi does the same thing in the Mi sphere, but instead of focusing the light straight from the light source to the imager, it uses an internal mirror just after the outermost lens. This allows for a deep stack of internal focal lenses without sacrificing thickness (adding lenses increases the width, but not the thickness).

A thin 360 camera is not just for desirable for portability, but it improves the 360 image. Ideally, the outermost front and back lens would have no distance between them. The larger the distance between the outermost lenses, the larger the gap between the front and rear images, thus more distortion.

Here are the electrical components found in Xiaomi Mi Sphere:

Broadcom (Cypress) BCM43438 combination Wi-Fi/ BT/FM/wireless charging IC is found in a 7mmx7mm module containing Rs, Cs, Xtal, and a ceramic filter.

Sensors Sensors include a combination accelerometer/ Gyro from Bosch (BMI160) and two mem microphones from Akustica (AKU143).

Audio and Power management

The audio and power management section includes GMT’s PMU/ Charger (G2206), Realtek for the audio codec (ALC5660), TI for the USB hub, SiTime for the 32Khz clock, and Qualcomm for the Quick charger (SMB1351).

For more teardowns by ABI Research, check out https://teardowns.abiresearch.com

Front and Back of Main PCB

Memory

There are two memory chips in the Mi Sphere: A Samsung 1Gb DDR3 SDRAM chip for the FPGA, and Chipsip 2Gb Nand Flash/4Gb DDR3L SDRAM combination chip for the video processor.

This image taken with a light source poionted at the rear leans only to show the light path inside the camera

Xiaomi Tech Mi Sphere 360 Camera

Processors

Camera has three processors: a video processor from Ambarella (A122s), an FPGA from Xilinx (XC6SLX25) and an 8b MCU from STM (STM8L151G6).

22 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY / August 2018

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Front and Back of Imaging Processing PCB

Photo: ABI Research

Connectivity

Xiaomi Tech Mi Sphere Camera

Typical 360 Camera EPT.CA

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