September 8, 2008

College teams begin green-vehicle competitions
Students representing 17 North American universities converged at the MathWorks for a week of training that kicks off a three-year competition to improve vehicle efficiency and reduce emissions. The competition, called EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge, builds on the Department of Energy's 20-year history of sponsoring advanced vehicle technology competitions. Read More

A D V E R T I S E M E N T New Talon Instruments™ Highest-Density Dual-Waveform ANSI Standard MA-Module EADS North America Test and Services announces the availability of the Talon Instruments™ MA1801A, that contains two 14-bit Arbitrary Waveform Generator (AWG) channels which can operate independently or in synchronization for use in VXI, PXI, PCI, VME, and Ethernet platforms. The small size and high performance of the dual channel MA1801A make it ideal for use in high channel-count applications. Click here for more information

Tools to tame noise and vibration
Alan Humphrey of Bruel & Kjaer discusses the challenges of performing sound and vibration tests. Read More

Teseq emission test system meets ISO 7637-2 standard
The AES 5500 automotive transient emissions system from Teseq is designed for emission testing to the ISO 7637-2 standard. Read More

Measurement Specialties debuts signal-conditioned sensors
Offered in ranges from 2 g to 500 g, these signal-conditioned accelerometers from Measurement Specialties provide stable vibration measurement over a wide temperature range. Read More

Omega's datalogger works with infrared thermocouples
The miniature OM-CP-IRTC110 data logger from Omega Engineering teams with the company's OS36 series of Type K infrared thermocouples to measure and record up to 16,383 measurements per channel. Read More

A D V E R T I S E M E N T Get Competitive Bids on Industrial Purchases Compare prices for industrial and materials handling equipment, business services and more! Start saving today by getting FREE price quotes from BuyerZone - Where Smart Businesses Buy and Sell. Click here

Simulation permits fuel-consumption analysis
IPG Automotive and AVL have interfaced the AVL Cruise powertrain simulation tool with the IPG CarMaker driving dynamics simulation platform to enables users to perform a full fuel-consumption analysis by simulating the multidimensional losses of individual vehicle components. Read More

PCB Auto teams microphone with high-temperature preamp
PCB Piezotronics offers an IEC-compliant high-temperature acoustic measurement system that combines a prepolarized ICP microphone and preamplifier, eliminating the need for high-priced probe microphones. Read More

New challenge questions posted for September
Answer a challenge question correctly, and you could be eligible to win a prize.

Oscilloscope Challenge:
Question: What is the relationship between an oscilloscope and a time-domain reflectometer, and how can either or both be used to troubleshoot serial buses?
Prize: TomTom ONE GPS
Sponsor: Yokogawa

Data-Acquisition Challenge:
Question: Which type of sensor needs no excitation voltage or current, thus no external power source?
Prizes: Three $100 American Express gift cards (three winners of $100 each)
Sponsor: Data Translation

Go to the Challenge Page

An RFIC for the world
For our September cover story, we visited BitWave Semiconductor to learn how the company's engineers test a software-defined radio IC that supports multiple RF wireless standards. Another feature explains how you can use a function generator and an oscilloscope to measure gain and phase shift versus frequency in a power supply's control loop. Plus, the issue also includes the PXI Test Report. Read it today.

Industry calendar of events
Upcoming events include Automotive Testing Expo North America (October) and AeroTest America (November). For more information about these and other test-related events, visit our online calendar.