Industrial Equipment: Now and Later

Supplier Printed Circuit Board Equipment And Analysis

19 March 2020

Laurie Washington

With the ever-increasing ubiquity of electronic devices in our normal, everyday lives, there exists an exponential shift in the need for integrated, and custom printed circuit board technology to deliver said devices to consumers. Developers can primarily go two routes when it comes to circuit board equipment in designing a product. The first are devices that run off of Direct Current (DC) energy.  And, the second are devices that run on Alternating Current (AC) energy. As for the former, this will usually translate to a device that runs off of replaceable batteries, or from an external battery powered source (such as a car). For the latter, this equates to a device that plugs into a standard wall electricity outlet. The next thing a developer must decide is whether they can use a standard prefabricated circuit board, or if they will need a custom-built one. A few of the main reasons for going with a prefabricated board are; they're more readily available; tend to cost less; and are generally much easier to find. The main reason to go with a custom-designed and built circuit board from a supplier would be; special functionality requirements, or; possibly special size requirements towards the device's aesthetic.  

It used to be, even just forty or fifty years ago, that circuit board equipment was bulky, and usually could only accommodate simple transistors, logic gates, vacuum tubes, and/or other (now) antiquated technology. They also tended to be, psychically, much, much larger in size. That is why most technology from the period was either; highly functional, yet extremely bulky, or; very small, but fairly limited in ability. Today, however, with advancements in production technology, and supplier capabilities, devices with incredible functionality, and more conveniently sized form factors, are commonplace. For example, most current personal smartphones that can fit inside one's pocket actually possess several times greater computing power than the original NASA designed Lunar Rover from the Apollo Space Program.  

Even with these advancements, considerations such as performance and power usage are still of paramount importance for circuit board designers and equipment printers. This is especially true of devices intended to operate from battery power. There are entire fields of study dedicated to the analysis of circuit board equipment power consumption.  Even a marginal increase in power efficiency can translate to an extra hour (or more) of real-world use. Additionally, reduced power consumption can also potentially allow for a further reduction in overall device size and weight. 

To learn more about printed circuit board analysis equipment, contact an industrial professional near you.

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