Taking the Measure
Rick Nelson, editor in chief of Test & Measurement World and EDN, comments on test, globalization, measurement, machine vision, economics, nanotechnology, the engineering profession, and topics of general interest.
Are EEs overconfident?
Last week I quoted Holman Jenkins in the Wall Street Journal on the possibility that electronics and software problems contributed to Toyota’s current problems. Today in a WSJ letter to the editor, reader Ken Cowans weighs in on “the conflict between electronic engineers and their mechanical counterparts,” which may contribute to system-reliability problems. He writes, “ ...... Read More
Comments (0)Drive-by-wire backlash?
Concerns about software bugs may be creating a backlash against x-by-wire systems, based on commentary appearing in mainstream media. For example, in today’s Washington Post, Eugene Robinson waxes nostalgic for what cars once were: “Automobiles used to be mechanical devices,” composed of an air cleaner, a distributor, and “other parts that backyard mechanics of a certai ...... Read More
Comments (10)Concerns about electronics dog Toyota
Toyota attributes sudden unintentional acceleration problems to floor mats and sticky pedals–mechanical problems subject to mechanical solutions (removing mats, increasing pedal spring tension). But the US government’s NHTSA says it wants to take a “fresh look at both electronic throttle control systems and the possible effects of electromagnetic interference on them,” ...... Read More
Comments (4)Internecine competition: good or bad for innovation?
Ex-Microsoft-VP Dick Brass takes to the op-ed page of the New York Times today to chide his old firm for becoming “a clumsy, uncompetitive innovator” whose “huge profits…come almost entirely from Windows and Office programs first developed decades ago.” He adds, “Like GM with its trucks and SUVs, Microsoft can’t count on these venerable products to ...... Read More
Comments (0)Who are you going to trust? Media mavens weigh in
Where do you get your information, and what information sources do you trust? The Edelman PR firm has just released its 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer, which surveys global opinion leaders. President and CEO Richard Edelman says the two information sources that “continue to lead in most markets are financial analyst reports and business media.” Sources that have faded over time, he say ...... Read More
Comments (0)Innovation and a jobless recovery
Will joblessness be a permanent condition of the apparent economic recovery? The employment picture does not look bright, based on an item in the Huffington Post by Martin Ford, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, computer engineer, and author of The Lights in the Tunnel: Automation, Accelerating Technology and the Economy of the Future. Ford begins with a look at a prediction in Salon (”Why Dil ...... Read More
Comments (7)Do you need or want an iPad?
What do you make of the iPad? Do you want one? I’m a big fan of carrying fewer devices, but I don’t see the iPad as helping me do that. It’s just one more thing to drag along. It won’t replace either my phone or my laptop, so why bother? I expect I’ll be in the minority, however, with the majority following the lead of Patricia McGuire, president of Trinity Washi ...... Read More
Comments (15)HIL testing grows as its nature changes
Model-based design and hardware-in-the-loop testing have long been dominant in the automotive and aerospace industries, as I noted last December in “Model-based design and early verification aid designers” and last July in “High-level software for embedded-system design: doing your job?” As I noted in those articles, the techniques are expanding to other applications ar ...... Read More
Comments (0)Cascade acquisition augments 3-D TSV efforts
The semiconductor test industry underwent a round of consolidation this morning (1 a.m. EST) when Cascade Microtech announced that it is acquiring the semiconductor test business of Suss MicroTec AG. The acquisition covers all products and intellectual property related to test, including probe stations and integrated systems, engineering probes, and 3-D TSV, MEMS, LED, optoelectronic, and cryogeni ...... Read More
Comments (1)McGwire, Pistorius, Montag, and you
So, what do you think about Mark McGwire finally coming clean and admitting to steroid use? What about Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee sprinter with carbon-fiber, prosthetic feet: should he have been denied a chance to compete in the Olympics? What about Heidi Montag? Is it exemplary that she has undergone 10 plastic surgeries in one day in an effort to excel at her profession as an entertainer? ...... Read More
Comments (4)Not irrational exuberance, but enthusiastic caution
ORLANDO, FL. Attendees at the annual Automated Imaging Association Business Conference got an overwhelmingly enthusiastic admonition to be cautions as they negotiate emergence from the economic recession. That was the word from economist Chris Thornberg of Beacon Economics yesterday morning as he addressed AIA members as well as attendees of the collocated Robotics Industry Forum and Motion Contro ...... Read More
Comments (0)Studio Suite 2010 addresses EM as well as mechanical and thermal problems
Computer Simulation Technology (CST) is aiming to help engineers and researchers solve electromagnetic problems as well as mechanical and thermal problems within an integrated design environment with the introduction of CST Studio Suite version 2010, which the company said today has begun shipping CST Studio Suite version 2010 offers an extended range of solvers within one design environment, enab ...... Read More
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