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Share A Design Tip to be included in our next Engineers eBook

jwatson

Let your fellow makers in on your design secrets here!

 

Have you found a solution to a common design problem?  Have you found an easier / cheaper way to do something?

 

Share your ideas with us for your chance to have your tip appear in Premier Farnell's edition of ebooks.

 

It’s your opportunity to share with your peers and promote your ideas or business at the same time.

Of course, please steer away from the obvious or too simple, such as ‘if you are writing software, take backups, OR drill holes this way instead of that way’.

 

We would like to create an ebook to provide both inspiration and assistance that help readers create interesting and fun projects, whether they are trying to kickstart a business or simply developing something for their own home.

 

Here’s some topics to get you thinking:

  • Using Maker boards – how do you get boards to do what you need, or configure boards to give you the inputs or outputs to do something cool?
  • Using Sensors – ideas for collecting information about what’s happening in the world, whether it’s temperature data or interfacing a camera...
  • Robotics and Controls – how do you control motors and movement? Ideas for making robots or simply just controlling a motor to close your curtains..
  • Displays – some boards have built-in displays, while don’t others? What are your best tips for displaying information in your projects?
  • IoT and Connectivity – soon almost everything will be connected, so tell us how you make it easier to get connected to the internet and transfer data...
  • Software development – what are your tips for writing better software, or just overcoming specific challenges? Show off your software expertise...
  • Just for fun – perhaps you’ve had a great idea for a new way of doing things, but aren’t sure if there are any serious uses. Tell us about your less serious tips and ideas!

 

We’re looking for tips of around 40 to 50 words with a simple diagram or image. 

 

Share your ideas as a comment on this discussion and we will be in touch with you to let you know if your tip will be included in the next edition of ebooks.

Parents

  • Maybe obvious, but it is really worth using a spreadsheet program (Excel or otherwise) and keep a file to store all your favourite calculations : )

    I still use online calculators but it's not the same as keeping a local file where I can put my own notes, save the calculations and modify later, etc.

    I create a new worksheet for each topic (e.g. RC circuits, LC circuits, 555 circuits and so on) and have the formulas in there. I can then use the spreadsheet like as if it were Casio's answer to an Electronic Engineer's Calculator.

    I use green to indicate inputs, and pink to indicate calculated outputs.

    image

  • in reply to shabaz

    Hi Shabaz,

    This is a great tip. I use the Xcel already to keep track of my parts and bin locations. Putting the formulas into Xcel also would save a lot of searching and rework each time I need one.

    John

  • in reply to jw0752

    Hi John,

     

    That's awesome! I too keep a spreadsheet of parts, although I don't have any bin locations stored yet so still have to end up searching!

Reply Children
  • in reply to shabaz

    Dear god! YASS (yet another spreadsheet)! you haven't learned your lessons yet. I use MySQL I have 3 tables: this might be overkill for some but I have a lot of military parts, so that why I have the NSN and others. why three tables you ask ok here goes

    1. holds manufacturer information.
    2. holds information about the part itself. The Key field is Info_ID.  such as pn, manufacture(id) and others that you might never use.
    3. holds the history of the part such as the quantity, cost, condition (new, used, etc) and two location fields one is LOC for external storage and LAB which is my current parts.

    I don't even have a front end for this it was all built inside phpMyAdmin.

    LETS STAMP OUT THE PLAGE OF SPREADSHEETS!!!

    1)

    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `Manufacture` (

      `Man_ID` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment,

      `name` varchar(100) NOT NULL,

      `CAGE` varchar(6) default NULL,

      `RN Number` varchar(10) default NULL,

      `Parent` varchar(6) default NULL,

      `ACTIVE` enum('YES','NO') default NULL,

      `Replaced` varchar(6) default NULL,

      `Logo` varchar(50) default NULL,

      `www` varchar(256) default NULL,

      `phone` varchar(20) default NULL,

      PRIMARY KEY  (`Man_ID`)

    ) ENGINE=MyISAM  DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=390 ;

     

    2)

    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `info` (

      `Info_ID` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment,

      `Aircraft_ID` int(11) default '0',

      `Man_ID` int(11) NOT NULL,

      `Part` varchar(50) default NULL,

      `Alt_Part` varchar(50) default NULL,

      `UPC` varchar(20) default NULL,

      `Replaced` varchar(50) default NULL,

      `Description` varchar(200) NOT NULL,

      `PMA` enum('NO','YES') default NULL,

      `Spec` varchar(55) default NULL,

      `NSN` varchar(16) default NULL,

      `MRC Features` enum('NO','YES') default NULL,

      `MRC_ID` bigint(20) default NULL,

      `INC_ID` int(11) default NULL,

      `WPN_SYS_list` varchar(500) default NULL,

      `Model` varchar(25) default NULL,

      `ROHS` char(1) NOT NULL,

      `FSG` int(11) default NULL,

      `EEM_ID` bigint(20) default NULL,

      `Sort1` char(10) NOT NULL default 'U',

      `Sort2` varchar(10) default NULL,

      `Sort3` varchar(10) default NULL,

      `Sort4` varchar(10) default NULL,

      `Notes` varchar(5000) NOT NULL,

      `PRIVATE_NOTE` varchar(500) default NULL,

      `Pricing` decimal(8,3) default NULL,

      `Punits` int(11) default NULL,

      `Pwait` int(4) default NULL,

      `pdfs` varchar(50) default NULL,

      `Photo` varchar(100) default NULL,

      `Photo2` varchar(50) default NULL,

      `info_date` timestamp NULL default CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,

      `webcat` timestamp NOT NULL default '0000-00-00 00:00:00',

      PRIMARY KEY  (`Info_ID`)

    ) ENGINE=MyISAM  DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=747 ;

    3)

    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `history` (

      `Info_ID` int(11) NOT NULL default '0',

      `Man_ID` int(11) NOT NULL,

      `Quan` int(11) NOT NULL,

      `CC` enum('NW','NS','RP','BER','AR','SCRP','NIB','USD','OBX','SV','REFB','RFS') NOT NULL,

      `Serial` varchar(50) default NULL,

      `Cost` decimal(10,3) NOT NULL default '0.000',

      `db_date_stamp` timestamp NOT NULL default CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,

      `Notes` varchar(200) default NULL,

      `Location` varchar(500) default NULL,

      `Lab` varchar(100) default NULL

    ) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;

  • in reply to Jan Cumps

    image Normal off the shelf ones are not recommended because of the Static Electricity generated.

    image They generate enough energy to make your hair stand on end.

     

    image Use ESD dissipative ones like the ones from DESCO. They make suitable binders and inserts.

  • in reply to mcb1

    And I'd get the blame for many of them. Please don't do that image

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    Recently I've also added dev boards, microcontrollers, and SBCs into the list

    I'm scared to do that ... it would show how many I've got image

  • in reply to shabaz

    cheap and small storage binder for smd components

     

    - A standard office binder with plastic inserts

    - smd parts in an envelope, part number and size written on envelope

    - envelope in insert

    - that's it

     

    image

  • in reply to shabaz

    I have a parts spreadsheet too, though I think my spouse will "frown upon" me ever allowing my inventory to require bin locations!

    Recently I've also added dev boards, microcontrollers, and SBCs into the list, to keep details handy as well as keeping track of where some of them are (inside of projects).