Sector News

Foremost adds HEC connectors from Binder

Thu, Apr 25, 2019

Electromechanical component distributor, Foremost Electronics, expands its range of harsh environment connectors (HEC), with the Binder 696 series. The connectors are designed specifically for outdoor use.

It is a power connector, designed to handle up to 32A at a rated voltage of 600V, It is available in both cable and panel mount formats and comes with 4+PE silver-plated male or female contacts. The panel-mount version is fitted with a hinged waterproof and dustproof cover for maximum protection when not mated.

Designed by Binder for fast and easy assembly, the Series 696 HEC female connector protects to IP67/IPX9K and can be supplied with 4+PE, 8 (4+3+PE) and 12 silver-plated contacts and features crimp termination. The contacts are also rated up to 32A at 600V.

Binder has also introduced a protective conduit hose fitting for applications where cables and single wires need to be protected in harsh environments. It protects to IP68/IPX9K and it can be retrofitted to existing installations as required. It can be used with both HEC 696 cable connectors and panel mount connectors. The fitting consists of a hose seal, pressing screw and securing clip, Binder can also supply the hose if required.

The Series 696 HEC connectors are manufactured from a robust UL 94V-0 rated polyamide and feature a fast and secure three-point, quarter-turn bayonet locking system for quick and secure fastening. The Binder HEC series is characterised by a service life of greater than 1000 mating cycles and a variety of crimp contacts to ensure a secure, vibration-proof termination.

The connectors are waterproof and dustproof to IP68/IP69k and are rugged enough for use in harsh environments, such as agriculture and construction where the use of high-pressure washing is common. Other applications include difficult environments including traffic and signalling systems, process engineering plants, water purification facilities and recycling equipment.

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Fujitsu adds gentle resistive touch panels

Thu, Apr 25, 2019

Customisable, flush-surface, resistive touch panels from Fujitsu Components America, have less than half the input force of conventional resistive panels, and are nearly identical to that of projected capacitive panels, says the company.

The FID series offers OEMs a cost-efficient alternative to projected capacitive touch (PCT) panels, with the reliable input and choice of input sources, of resistive technology. Target applications include industrial automation and human-machine interface (HMI) machine control, medical equipment, and vehicle navigation systems.

There are two options, the FID-1300 (four-wire) and FID-1520 (five-wire) series touch panels. Both support a minimum input force of 0.02N (0.45 typical) while maintaining reliable user input and smooth sliding and flicking operations. To activate touch input, the user can use bare skin, gloved fingers, wet fingers, pens, or stylus pens. The FID-1300 is available with two-point input, enlarge/shrink and rotation operations using a dual-touch control board.

The panels consist of a film-glass sensor layer with a flush-surface film overlay, making them dustproof, waterproof, and easy to clean. They feature 80 per cent (typical) transparency and have an input life of one million (FID-1300) and 10 million taps (FID-1520) at 1.96N input force. Standard operating temperature range is -5 to +60 degrees C.

The touch panels can be specified with custom colours, decorative patterns or multi-colour graphics for specific brand, industry or application needs. Customers can submit specific frame colours, logos, icons, and legends, and also request embossed key switches, custom panel shapes, aperture, finishes, coatings, and other customisations.

The panels are available immediately. The FID-1300 four-wire panels are available in sizes up to 19 inches, and the FID-1520 five-wire panels are available in sizes up to 15 inches.

Fujitsu Components America markets and distributes relays, connectors, input and pointing devices, touch panels, thermal printers, and wireless modules throughout North and South America.

http://www.fujitsu.com

 

 

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Gecko series 2 scales IoT connectivity

Wed, Apr 24, 2019

SoCs and software in Wireless Gecko series 2, from Silicon Labs, are designed to optimise smart home and industrial IoT (IIoT) applications.  Initial offerings are small form factor SoCs with a dedicated security core and an on-chip radio. According to Silicon Labs, the radio delivers x2.5 the wireless range of competing solutions.

The Wireless Gecko series 2 simplifies IoT product design with integrated SoC options and reusable software that make RF communication more dependable and energy efficient, claims Silicon Labs.

The first products include EFR32MG21 SoCs supporting multi-protocol, Zigbee, Thread and Bluetooth mesh networking, and EFR32BG21 SoCs dedicated to Bluetooth Low Energy and Bluetooth mesh. These SoCs provide line-powered IoT products including gateways, hubs, lights, voice assistants and smart electric meters.

According to the company, the SoCs provide best-in-class RF performance with +20dBm output power and up to +124.5dB link budget. Improved blocking performance enables a robust radio and processing and security are assured with the 80MHz Arm Cortex-M33 core, which has TrustZone technology.

The 40nm process technology yields a low active current SoC (50.9 microA/MHz). The multi-protocol SoCs are in a 4.0 x 4.0mm QFN package.

The company has released some details of future pin- and software-compatible Wireless Gecko Series 2 SoCs and modules, which will have additional dedicated security technologies for connected products with enhanced security features, which is expected to drive mass adoption of the IoT.

Silicon Labs’ Simplicity Studio suite of tools for development support includes a unified wireless development kit, software development kits, energy profiler, patented network analysis, application demos and mobile apps. The Wireless Gecko starter kit mainboard and EFR32xG21 radio boards are also available now.

The EFR32MG21 and EFR32BG21 are available now in sample and production quantities.

http://www.silabs.com

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Microcontrollers replace sensors in industry and the home

Wed, Apr 24, 2019

Materials or liquids can be detected without sensors using the Renesas Electronics Material Detection Solution. Connecting electrodes via Renesas’ RX130 capacitive touch-key microcontrollers, can lower the bill of materials and enable detection at multiple points, using a single chip, points out Renesas.

It can be used by industrial equipment, office automation equipment and home appliance manufacturers in detection systems.

The touchkey microcontrollers’ capacitive touch sensor is sensitive and has a high resistance to noise, explains Renesas. This enables the Material Detection Solution to detect the presence or absence of a powder such as vacuum cleaner dust, a liquid such as refrigerator and coffee maker, or material such as paper by measuring the capacitance between electrodes to the microcontroller. The increase or decrease of the powder, liquid, or material will change the capacitance value between the electrodes.

The development reflects the increased demand for sensor-based technology in industry, the office and the home. These applications require fine-grained sensing for predictive maintenance capabilities. The Material Detection Solution can be used to detect the remaining amounts of consumable materials in, for example vacuum cleaner filters or printers, and inform users in advance when replacements are required.

Although these applications can be implemented by using a mix of pressure sensors for detecting physical objects, photosensors, IR sensors, and CMOS sensors, the use of multiple sensors creates additional cost and heavy development burdens, points out Renesas.

The sensor-less physical object detection connects two thin-film electrodes and measures the capacitance between them using a touchkey microcontroller. Changes in the measured materials are determined by detecting the change in capacitance between the electrodes.

This method eliminates the need for sensor evaluation and operating condition determination, while the initialisation and sensitivity adjustments can be performed using the development support graphical user interface (GUI) tool available for capacitive touch sensor systems. Renesas add that this enables developers to quickly implement a capacitive touch sensor unit in equipment that require a detection function.

The Material Detection Solution is available now for free download.

http://www.renesas.com

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