New Circuit Board Measures Force

A new circuit board is expected to soon be released that is designed for OEMs to quickly drop into a prototype or to easily design into a product to obtain force measurements.  The circuit board is designed to make the force sensor integration quicker and easier.

The new circuit board can detect and measure a relative change in force, or applied load, identify force thresholds and suggests appropriate action, detect contact.  The new circuit board is expected to start selling at $150.

Source:

http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/03/19/new-circuit-board-tekscan-makes-force-sensor-integration-easier-oems

Interested in teaching your students more about electronics? Check out SSR's Vol 41 DVD, episode Electronics – The Science of Circuit Boards.  If your school would like to receive this free resource, visit http://www.ssrvideo.com/nhcmsp.html.   

Interested in speaking to students about electronics? E-mail Fallon@ssrvideo.com

3-D Printers and Circuit Boards

3-D printers, rising in popularity for their ability to print 3-D images, may soon be used in a way never thought possible: printing circuit boards.  CEO of 3-D printing company Ponoko, David Ten Have, predicts circuit boards will be printed in 18-24 months.  This circuit board creation will be made possible through a method of printing known as “additive printing,” in which materials such as plastics, metals, and rubber are layered to create the 3-D image.

Ten Have notes that this printing process is not yet to the point where microprocessors will be printed.  Currently, the auto, nautical, aerospace and military industries use 3-D printers in different testing facilities for part manufacturing.  CEO of Autodesk, Carl Bass, says 3-D printing could reinvent workplace collaboration. 

Interested in teaching your students more about Electronics? Check out SSR's Vol 41 DVD, episode Electronics – The Science of Circuit Boards.  If your school would like to receive this free resource, visit http://www.ssrvideo.com/nhcmsp.html.   

Interested in speaking to students about Electronics? E-mail Fallon@ssrvideo.com

Source:

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2011/11/3d-printing-autodesk/