Engineering and Technical Services Reference Materials
Reference Articles 1 - 100 of 351
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Harnessing the Power of Water to Achieve Precise Results
From: BTG LabsDescription: Nature is miraculous. Living entities, be they plants, animals, marine life or humans, can perform an amazing array of complex tasks. As scientists, inventors, and engineers, we at BTG Labs take ...
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The Mars Perseverance Rover's Touch Down on the Red Planet
From: Technetics GroupDescription: With the world watching via live stream, the Perseverance Rover landed on Mars on Feb. 18. Maneuvering down amongst the Martian atmosphere, the Mars 2020 Spacecraft deposited the rover on the planet ...
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Surface Energy Measurement is the Key to Process Control and High Performance
From: BTG LabsDescription: When manufacturing companies take adhesion seriously it can have a remarkable effect on their ability to achieve their business goals. The key is to take a strategic look at adhesion processes early ...
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What is the Difference Between Surface Free Energy and Surface Energy
From: BTG LabsDescription: When it comes down to it, this is another purely semantic question much like the one we dealt with in another article comparing the terms "surface tension" and "surface energy." Surface free energy is ...
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What is the Difference Between Surface Tension and Surface Energy
From: BTG LabsDescription: Using adhesives in manufacturing is becoming increasingly common for building everything from massive machines to everyday tech devices. But companies' reliance on the science of adhesion to make sure ...
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SUCCESS STORY: Oil Refinery Delayed Coker
From: PanametricsDescription: An oil refinery in Turkey needed to revalidate the inline flow meters in the delayed coker unit on the cold/hot feed lines. ...
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A Timely Primer on Wind Power
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Wind is a big part of that grid, and accounts for a bit under one-quarter of Texas energy use. The adverse weather conditions have put a crimp in the wind supply, as turbines have frozen up, but wind ...
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Customer Story: Developing Drive Electronics for Senseeker Engineering
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: "The customers who come to Senseeker are also often looking for other specialist electronics, and that's where Critical Link fits in. They have a reputation for quality, and a long track record of ...
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In the Market for a New TV?
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: As I suspect is true of many folks, since the pandemic hit, I've been watching more TV than is my norm. So I'm grateful that there are so many options to choose from - you really can't ever say that ...
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The (Smart) Puck Starts Here
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Hockey, like most other sports, has been introducing increasingly sophisticated tracking technology for a number of years now, and there've been pucks in play with some level of "intelligence" since ...
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What I Missed at CES This Year
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: A couple of weeks ago, CES2021 was held. This is the mega consumer electronics show (that's where the CES comes from) held annually in Las Vegas. It's attended by 100,000 folks, and the exhibits ...
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What's Trending in Technology for 2021
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: It's still not too late to take a look at the technology trends for the new year. ...
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eFPGAs are Coming of Age
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Last month, I did a post entitled "There's a lot happening on the FPGA front." As a shop that does an extensive amount of work with FPGAs, we're always interested to hear talk about even more stuff ...
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The New Industrial Internet Connectivity Framework
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: It's probably safe to say that most apps being developed these days are connected - they're part of the Internet of Things. To some extent, a lot of IoT development has been the Wild West in terms of ...
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There's a Lot Happening on the FPGA Front
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: It was the title of the article on EE Journal that caught my eye: "FPGAs Race for the Bottom," which rounds up recent FPGA releases. Writer Kevin Morris claims this occur when the "bleary eyed ...
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What a Difference a Decade Makes
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: As the year ends, I always find it interesting to look back at what's happened during the past year in terms of technology. While I was wandering around looking for ideas, I came across an article by ...
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Don't Let This Process Gap Ruin Your Polymeric Powder Coating
From: BTG LabsDescription: Powder coating is a widely used painting and coating technique to create protective and aesthetic barriers on products from vending machines at municipal pools to washers and dryers, or cars sitting ...
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How Surface Sensitive Measurements Help Medical Device Manufacturers Avoid Regulatory Bottlenecks
From: BTG LabsDescription: The pathway to zero defect manufacturing through implementation of quality control procedures is found right there in the name. Quality control requires the control of variables to ensure quality ...
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Document Destruction Relies on Vecoplan Shred Trucks
From: Vecoplan, LLCDescription: HOMETOWN SHREDDER GROWS WITH VECOPLAN SHRED TRUCKS ...
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Mobile Shredding - From Past to Present
From: Vecoplan, LLCDescription: WHAT IS MOBILE SHREDDING? ...
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A Great Idea to Help Save the Aerospace Industry
From: BTG LabsDescription: The great idea to help save the aerospace industry is: For manufacturers to cut costs and remain resilient, they must employ surface quality management programs that offer high-resolution, data-rich, ...
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Better Consumer Electronics Reliability: Coatings and Adhesives
From: BTG LabsDescription: In a recent study conducted by Instrumental, the top ten most common manufacturing defects were examined. The number one defect that manufacturers fight against is a deficiency in glue. It's a simple ...
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Manufacturing Best Practices for Business Continuity Plans
From: BTG LabsDescription: Even though coming to the end of 2020 has not at all meant the end of the impact of Covid-19, manufacturers are pushing forward to make sure 2021 is not marred by the setbacks of this year. This has ...
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Reliable Wire Bonding Through Quality Data Collection for Industry 4.0
From: BTG LabsDescription: Wire bonding and sintering are critical processes involved in the manufacture of a majority of electronic devices. These processes are used to connect silicon chips, integrated circuits (ICs), and ...
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Keep Your Distance! Technology for Maintaining Social Distancing.
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: If you've been in a grocery, pharmacy, or big box store recently - or lined up outside a Starbucks - you've seen the duct-taped X's telling you where to stand to keep your social distance from the ...
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Keep Your Distance: The Electronics Industry Responds to COVID, Part 3
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Over the summer, EDN Aspencore published a series of articles on how the electronics industry has responded to the COVID pandemic. In term, I'm doing a series of blog posts summarizing these articles. ...
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Keeping Hackers Out of Industrial Control Systems
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: It seems that there's always a hacking story in the news, the most recent being a hack of Twitter accounts which you've likely read about. Hackers had managed to con a couple of Twitter employees into ...
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On the Road to Autonomous Vehicles
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: When it comes to Active Driving Assistance, we're still in the early development stage. So proceed with caution. ...
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Oura Rings Enlisted in the Fight Against COVID
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Remember mood rings? They were a 70's fad that recycles every once in a while. The rings contained liquid crystal, which changes colors when the temperature of your finger changed. Red means you're ...
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The Electronics Industry Replies to COVID - Part One
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Since the pandemic hit our shores earlier this year, we've been keeping our eye out for ways in which the electronics industry has responded. ...
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The Electronics Industry Replies to COVID - Part Two
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Two weeks ago, we kicked off a set of blog posts focused on a series of articles from EDN/AspenCore on how the electronics industry has been responding to the pandemic. (These articles appeared in EE ...
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The Electronics Industry Responds to COVID - Part 4
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Summary of EDN Aspencore's series of interesting and informative articles on the response that the electronics industry has been making to the coronavirus crisis. ...
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The Perseverance Rover is Headed for Mars. Safe Journey, Percy!
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Somewhat lost in all the pandemic and political news is NASA's launch of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover (nickname: Percy), which on July 30th headed off on its seven-month trip to the Red Planet, ...
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Underwater Energy Harvesting
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: I'm always bookmarking articles of interest, and in going through my backlog, I just came across one on underwater energy harvesting that appeared in EETimes this past February. (And speaking of ...
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Your Smartphone's Getting Even Smarter
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: When the pandemic hit, I'm sure I wasn't alone in making sure I knew where the thermometer was, replacing the battery on the pulse oximeter, and checking the expiration dates on the cold medicine in ...
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Where to Look to Achieve Operational Visibility in Manufacturing
From: BTG LabsDescription: Enterprise manufacturing operations are made up of interlocking, overlapping and critically interdependent processes. Each process in this symbiotic web consists of a series of steps that are only ...
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Domain Control Units, a Critical Step for Safer and Autonomous Driving
Description: Domain Control Units - or DCUs - are a breakthrough on the path towards integrated systems, assisting the driver in his search for a smooth and safe ride. ...
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Xylon Case Study
Description: Instrumentation Technologies helped the Xylon team solve design issues on their data logging product, allowing them to deliver to their end customer on time. Our team identified the core problem and ...
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3 Things You Need to Know to Create Strong, Reliable Bonds With Laser Cleaning
From: BTG LabsDescription: Manufacturers are always looking to create stronger, more durable, more reliable and, in the automotive and aerospace sectors, lightweight products. In this pursuit they've often upgraded and swapped ...
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COVID-19 Makes Remote Quality Monitoring Crucial for Manufacturers
From: BTG LabsDescription: Since COVID-19 has reshaped the economic landscape for the foreseeable future and there are many questions about how to safely and effectively respond to it, now is a good time for manufacturers to ...
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How to Bond Fiber Reinforced Plastics for Harsh Environments
From: BTG LabsDescription: Many manufacturers have a dual performance concern when their products are out there in the world being used in whatever capacity they were designed for. These parallel interests are: how to maintain ...
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Single vs Multi-fluid Contact Angle Techniques Part 1: Surface Energy and the Attractions Between Substances
From: BTG LabsDescription: This is part one of a two-part series explaining the finer points of BTG Labs' approach to helping companies build reliability into their cleaning and adhesion processes through consultation and ...
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EMC Compliance
Description: In order to make sure that your products are compliant with regulations we help you plan your device from the idea onwards. The sooner in the development process, we start planning, the more certain ...
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Greenwood Fuels Case Study
From: Vecoplan, LLCDescription: VECOPLAN TECHNOLOGY PRE-TREATMENT SYSTEMS FOR PELLETIZING ...
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Proposed ASTM Standard Will Ease the Pain of Manufacturers
From: BTG LabsDescription: An exciting development is taking place to make surface quality and cleanliness inspection technology more available to all manufacturers. We have collaborated with ASTM International and other ...
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More Than a Software Company, That's for Sure
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: I know, I know. There's plenty of evidence that Microsoft is more than a software company, even if old guys like me who remember when Windows was just becoming a force, and when everyone was beginning ...
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20 Technology Forecasts for 2020 (Part One)
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Whenever a new year rolls around, I always like to look back - and look forward. I did some looking back on 2019 in my Thanksgiving post, so now I'm taking a look forward with a roundup of some of the ...
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20 Technology Forecasts for 2020 (Part Two)
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: When I began this short series, I mentioned that the forecasts I'd be listing would be in no particular order. That wasn't quite true, as I saved the ones that are closest to my heart - the ones from ...
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From the MIT Tech Review: Breakthrough Technologies for 2020 (Part One)
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: I enjoy reading about technology. And I enjoy reading about the future of technology. So I much enjoyed the article on breakthrough technologies in the current edition of the MIT Technology Review. ...
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From the MIT Technology Review: 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2020 (Part Two)
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: In my last post, I described the first five breakthrough technologies listed in the March/April edition of The MIT Technology Review. In this post, I'm doing the remainder of the Top Ten. (In ...
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New Study Proves the Surface Analyst is Dependable for Process Control
From: BTG LabsDescription: One of our favorite services we provide to manufacturers is to help optimize surface preparation techniques for their particular materials and products. It's our specialty and one of our biggest ...
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Covid-19: Biological vs. Chemical Contamination in Manufacturing
From: BTG LabsDescription: Lately, the whole world has been having variations on the same conversation. Whether the discussion centers on N95 masks, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, or what movies to watch ...
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2-Wire HD Test Solution for IVR and VM Systems
From: GL Communications, Inc.Description: Testing Interactive Voice Response (IVR) along with Voice Mail (VM) functionality and quality is crucial for any carrier or industry using such supporting methods for customer response. In addition, ...
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Cleaning Strategies for Great Adhesion
From: BTG LabsDescription: Cleanliness in manufacturing gains avid devotees all the time. Once the importance of cleanliness is grasped, it's nearly impossible to think about manufacturing processes without considering the ...
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Plasma Treatment for Complete and Reliable Cleaning with Richard Burke
From: BTG LabsDescription: At IPC APEX 2020 in San Diego we wanted to explore the ways that electronics manufacturers, who are encapsulating their circuit boards with a conformal coating, are cleaning their boards. What are the ...
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Controlled Tolerance with Powder Metallurgy
Description: Powder metallurgy (PM) parts can be produced at rates from several hundred to thousands of parts per hour. The key elements of dimensional change include orientation, component size and complexity, ...
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Superior Fatigue Integrity with Powder Metallurgy
Description: Studies have shown that material fatigue annually contributes to an estimated $600 billion in losses. Starting in the early 1800s, concepts have evolved into today's models and tests to prevent ...
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Certification Assistance
Description: Instrumentation Technologies has assisted a customer in passing certification for a new edition of their existing product. We detected the core of the issue and provided a solution that allowed the ...
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Product Consulting and Certification Assistance
Description: We helped a customer pass certification of their telecommunication module and start production of their product. Our team identified the problem and implemented the solution. ...
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Rapid Prototyping and Solution Delivery
Description: We were asked by a customer to create key hardware solutions for CES2018 that showcase hardware and software solutions for smart cities. ...
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Camping Gear Goes High Tech
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: If you're thinking that camping gear is still a nylon pup-tent, a damp and lumpy sleeping bag, and a flashlight, well, I guess you're still living in the twentieth century. Or so I was reminded when I ...
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Meeting World Demand While Polluting Less
From: AggrekoDescription: With efforts to shift things in the right direction, it is doable though. Take the petroleum industry in the US, which is meeting the highest world demand ever while still managing to lower the amount ...
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Optical coating Ability
Description: Daheng Optics offers antireflective coatings for wavelength range from 350nm to 1800nm, as well as reflective coatings, beam splitter coatings and filter coatings. We not only provide catalog coating ...
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EPA SNAP Compliance resources, clarifications, and how it all affects you
From: Foam Supplies, Inc.Description: Ultimately, the effect of the SNAP program is to promote a smooth transition to safer alternatives. ...
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Evaluation of Land Mobile Radio & Cellular Networks
From: GL Communications, Inc.Description: Land Mobile Radio and Commercial Cellular Networks are constantly evolving. A large majority of traditional P25 Land Mobile Radio Systems for private and public safety bands, have already ...
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Project Management and Technical Support for a Large Contact Center
From: GL Communications, Inc.Description: Welcome to another February 2017 issue of GL's newsletter. In this issue, we focus on solutions for Consolidated Reporting for Large Contact Call Centers. Such a system can provide valuable ...
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Public Address System Performance Evaluation
From: GL Communications, Inc.Description: Welcome to a May 2017 issue of GL's newsletter. In this issue, we focus on Performance Evaluation of Public Address (PA) Systems. In the past, GL has been privileged to test, design, and author ...
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Test and Verification of High Speed Telecom Lines
From: GL Communications, Inc.Description: These days telecom networks support a number of applications, including voice, data, and video. The underlying technology may be different - such as TDM, ATM, IP, even Wireless. The physical network ...
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Typical Centralized Train and Facilities Control System
From: GL Communications, Inc.Description: Welcome to our May 2008 issue of GL's consulting newsletter. In this issue, we focus on a typical centralized train and facilities control system for an underground metro rail transit network. In ...
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Article: Anodizing 101
Description: Anodizing aluminum is an electrochemical process that creates a layer of protection that makes the lightweight, durable material ideal for applications from automotive parts to bakeware. Working with ...
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Article: Why a Career in Manufacturing is a Great Choice for Women
Description: Manufacturing has made strides when it comes to adding women to its ranks, but there's still a fairly significant gender gap. In this article, two women in the industry offer their perspective on why ...
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Engineers, Technicians, and Tradesmen... balancing of resources is key to efficiency
Description: Engineers, Technicians, and Tradesmen... balancing of resources is key to efficiency ...
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Trending: 5G Tech, Self-Sailing Boats, Electric Excavators, and More
From: Proto Labs, Inc.Description: At Protolabs, we work with a variety of industries and, it seems no matter the industry, innovation continues to drive product development and fuel flourishing companies. Here's a look at five recent ...
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Effect of Surface Roughness on Contact Angle Measurements Obtained with the Surface Analyst™
From: BTG LabsDescription: A frequent question from people who use contact angle measurements to characterize surfaces and control manufacturing processes is, "What effect does surface roughness have on these measurements?" ...
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Challenging Environments Part I: The Physical Demands on Technology Solutions
From: Sealevel Systems, Inc.Description: Deeper, higher, dirtier and longer: industries are going further than ever in their operations. The technology used to support their missions must be able to go the distance with rugged enhancements. ...
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Green Manufacturing: Industry 4.0 and the Sustainable Future
From: Sealevel Systems, Inc.Description: Industry 4.0 technology and green manufacturing go hand-in-hand, and they are guiding manufacturing conversations. Part of this "green dialogue" exists from redirected priorities toward global climate ...
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Applications for Advanced Ethernet Testing
From: GL Communications, Inc.Description: GL's PacketExpert 10GX is a comprehensive Ethernet Tester available for 1 Gbps, and 10 Gbps networks. PacketExpert 10GX finds use in testing a wide range of networks - from testing individual ...
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White Paper: Choosing the Right Deep Draw Supplier
Description: See how Vollrath Manufacturing Services helped a client develop a better way to produce one of their most important components. ...
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Success Story: AERZEN Sewage Plant ICHENHAUSEN
From: Aerzen USA Corp.Description: Hans Kempfle, manager of the sewage works in Kötz, a few kilometres to the South of Günzburg, has sufficient experience with the production by turbo blower as well as by positive displacement blowers. ...
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4G, 3G, 2G Wireless Network Simulation Test Suite
From: GL Communications, Inc.Description: Welcome to another April 2019 issue of GL Communications' Newsletter providing information and insight into our enhanced End-to-End Wireless Network Simulation Test Suite (4G LTE + IMS, 3G, 2G). The ...
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Working with Dimensional Tolerances
Description: Understanding the nuances of tolerances makes life easier for engineers. ...
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The Skills Embedded Engineers Need: Part One
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Karen Field, on Embedded.com, had an interesting article a few weeks back. In"10 Skills Embedded Engineers Need Now", she asked a number of embedded development professionals (and one recruiter) what ...
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The Skills Embedded Engineers Need: Part Two
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Last week I posted Part One of a two-parter based on Karen Field's recent article, "10 Skills Embedded Engineers Need Now", which was published on Embedded.com. Matt Liberty thinks engineers should ...
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Engineering Support Hits -and Passes- a New Milestone
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: More and more often we are hearing from customers that the responsiveness and support provided by our engineering team is head and shoulders above most others in the industry. To be honest, we never ...
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The Human Brain Project
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: A couple of weeks back, I saw an article on a very interesting topic over on EE Times. Like a Manhattan Project, resources are coming together for the big push to simulate the human brain. Personnel ...
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It's Official: Critical Link is ISO 9001:2008 Certified
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: It's official. In late June, we received the official certificate that lets the world know that we're ISO 9001:2008 certified. ...
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Keep on Truckin'
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Since it's an area where so much interesting embedded technology is being deployed, you may have noticed that we've done our share of transportation related posts - positive train control, driverless ...
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Building a Test Bed for New 5G Technology Using NI Software Defined Radio
From: NIDescription: We aimed to develop wireless communication technology that could remarkably reduce the latency caused by a series of communication-related processes while multiple mobile phones, also called user ...
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The 10% Rule of Preventive Maintenance
From: Allied Reliability GroupDescription: Many organizations use the PM compliance metric as a measurement of their maintenance department's performance. This metric is often viewed by professionals as a joke because if your PM compliance is ...
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Google's Modular Smartphone
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: For those of us who like gadgets, like to tinker, and like the idea of smartphones getting even smarter, there's good news: Google is continuing to work on the Ara, a modular smartphone. ...
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The 4 Biggest Benefits to Working with a SOM Developer
Description: OEMs' new product developers may face the crucial decision of whether to source system-on-modules "off the shelf" through a distributor, or through a direct relationship with a SOM developer. Here are ...
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Best Practices for Designing for Bevel
From: SigmaTEK Systems, LLCDescription: For many employing nesting software, the process to produce a quality beveled part evolves from days or even weeks of trial and error. ...
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Embedded Milestones for 2013 - theirs and ours
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: While looking back on 2013, I found an interesting article on embedded.com in which Jack Gaussle gave his take on "The Most Important Milestones in Embedded in 2013". Here's the list (with a bit of ...
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In the News : New US Ozone Standard Takes Effect
From: Environics, Inc.Description: On October 1, 2017, a new ozone standard took effect in the US amid widely differing opinions. ...
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A systems engineering approach to embedded development
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: One of the main benefits our customers derive from embedding a Critical Link System on Module (SoM) in their application is speeding up time to market. We've been told by some of you that the ...
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DoorBot drops into the Shark Tank
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Don't know if you're a fan of Shark Tank, but I am. For those who aren't familiar with it, Shark Tank is yet another one of those addictive reality shows - but without the dumb down. ...
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When the Information Superhighway was new
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: A couple of days ago, I came across an article on Gizmodo that includes a link to a Computer Chronicles episode from 1995 in which Stewart Cheifet explores the then-mysterious Information ...
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Update on the Altera-Based Mity
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Anyway, we are very pleased to announce that the SoM is up and running, the baseboard is in and up, and we've been through basic hardware bring up and checkout on both boards (to varying degrees ...
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Working with your PCB Manufacturer
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: One of the principal reasons that developers choose to embed a Critical Link System-on-Module in their applications is to reduce their risk. A big part of that risk is what happens when a board moves ...
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Customer Spotlight: Mayville Engineering Company
From: SigmaTEK Systems, LLCDescription: With SigmaNEST they can automate the process, but they can also jump in and modify things at any part of the workflow. ...