Powering Unmanned Vehicles: DC-DC Converters for Diverse System Power Solutions source: p-duke
One could claim that Montgolfier’s hot-air balloon presented in 1783 was the first unmanned aircraft. However, the flight of an unmanned balloon without a rope to the earth is determined only by the wind. In 1892 Thomas Edison demonstrated a wire-guided torpedo and Nikola Tesla displayed his radio-controlled boat in 1898. A few decades later […]
Empowering Defense Applications with MIL-COTS Front-end Filters source: p-duke
Engineers designing power systems must meet several specifications for input voltage ranges and transients, load requirements, EMI, environmental conditions, heat management, and reliability. Military applications are the most demanding and require special filtering and protection circuits to ensure safe operation under extreme conditions. The following article describes how these challenges can be solved and shows […]
High-Reliability Power Supplies for Communications, Industrial, and Defense Applications source: p-duke
Every piece of mains-powered electronic equipment requires some form of power supply unit (PSU) with unique requirements. As a starting point, the equipment designers need to consider the PSU’s form factor (size, shape, weight, and other physical characteristics), input and output voltages supported, power capability (wattage), efficiency, reliability, etc. Designers also need to consider the […]
Beyond Size and Power Density: What Matters in Industrial DC/DC Integration source: p-duke
For decades, AC transformers with rectifiers and linear regulators were used to generate DC voltages. They were bulky and, with efficiencies below 60%, generated a significant amount of waste heat. The technology to convert voltages using switched-mode power supplies was already known at the beginning of the 20th century. The ignition circuit of a gasoline […]
