1. Home

iVOOMi Energy Plans to Create a Unified Platform of Connected Scooters

According to some survey reports published this year, the market for electric cars in the nation is speculated to appear around towards the end of 2025. In order to meet the target of 100 percent electric mobility by the end of 2030, government officials are also framing new-fangled rules and regulations along with new schemes. Hence, the market of this sector is expected to see huge growth in CAGR of 42.38 percent. These optimistic enhancements in this particular industry would magnetize huge foreign investors who want to expand their industry in this nation.

What is the Future of Consumer Service Robotics Market? Defines Experts

With the rapid advancement in technology over the past couple of years, especially in robotics, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and smart data centers, the service industry commenced utilizing robots to carry out a wide variety of activities. According to the experts, the actual intent of utilizing robots was just to perk-up the productivity and the recent coronavirus pandemic has made robots more urgent among the industries, which offer contactless services during the social distancing norms. Conventionally, service providers are human, but the growth of digital technologies such as AI, IoT, and smart robots are constantly wiping out the human workforce. For instance, they have been put on in some hotels, airports, retail stores, and many more. For the past two years, the COVID-19 virus is continuously highlighting the differentiating aspects and performance of robots in various industries and services. These service robots can reduce the work pressure on the hospital staff, while also keeping them safe from infection.

Back in 2020, the service robotics market was estimated at USD 23577.1 million and is speculated to grow by USD 212619.7 million by 2026 and also expected to boost at a CAGR of 44.9% over the forecast period from 2021 until 2026. Manipulation, cognition, and interaction are a couple of imperative aspects that have crafted service robots more alluring, while component providers and top-notch technology have played a vital role in transforming or rather modernizing the robotics ecosystem. For example, a Tokyo-based startup, known as Preferred Networks offers its AI technology for Toyota Motor's autonomous driving systems and the robots made by Fanuc. The Asia Pacific countries such as China and Japan are spearheading the growth in the medical technology sector, thus, crafting a huge market for service robots in the region. In 2017, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications stated that 35.2 million (approx) inhabitants were aged 65 years or above, which is expected to augment by 36.2 million in 2020. In fact, the South Korean LG electronics tested some robots that can wipe out massive workers from the service industry. The robots are crafted to carry out tasks that include proving drinks and food to people at airport lounges and hotels, taking care of check-in and check-out at hotels including transporting luggage.

Service Robotics Market Growth Graph

Source: Robotics Tomorrow

Some Recent Key Barriers to the Service Robots Industry

Reliability is one of the most imperative features of a successful robotics platform or industry. Consumers demand autonomous machinery to be impeccable, which is not only smart but more effective than other variants. The point to be noted is that lack of mobility is one of the main challenges the industry is now facing. An important difference between the robots of the upcoming years and today is mobility- the potential of robotics to follow us perfectly and navigate the environment autonomously. This will be imperative for service robots to completely assist their owners and will have an instant impact on the perceptions of reliability. Mobility crafts connectivity intricate especially for those bots that are made for outdoor functions. This is because the connectivity is either has limited coverage, very costly, or undependable. As most robots require connectivity to operate cannot function properly when deployed in a remote location. Mobility is a hindrance for both logistics and engineering. Hence, service robots require seamless connectivity to operate properly, and if the network drops the devices will not be able to perform as it meant to.

Cybersecurity is another key area for the service robots industry. Cybersecurity is a serious matter of concern in the IoT and robotics domain as both collect imperative data and transmitted by trusted services. In fact, robots that are operating in public areas are in more danger because they are easily accessible to hackers. The robot’s important security is the network that they are connected into. Digital attacks are more common when the network security is inferior and without encryption, the data is unprotected from infiltration. Apart from gathering sensitive data from the robots, the hackers can also gain control over the robots on certain occasions. This can remove the trust of service robots among consumers and they cannot send files as needed.

It is a true fact that robots have the ability to carry out tasks rapidly and or in a reliable way and if not, they will fail to offer longer engagement in the marketplace. Nonetheless, assuring perfect reliability on robots can be intricate as there are various things that even manufacturers cannot control. They comprise location, external interference, connectivity, weather, user errors, and many more that are out of the reach of the manufacturer and the engineer.

The Current Market Scenario of Service Robots

According to new research by Counterpoint Research, the international consumer service robotics market managed to grab 25 percent YoY growth in shipment towards the end of 2021 and is speculated to grow at a CAGR of 27 percent in the coming four years. The growth was spearheaded by an amendment in consumer preference improvement in sophisticated technology and the accessibility of a huge range of low-priced devices. Highlighting the statement above, Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said, "Robots, which are meant for cleaning homes mainly comprise robot vacuums and is the most controlling category in the robotics sector, which grabbed two-thirds of the overall consumer service robotics industry. The pandemic has boosted the entire robotic vacuum sector that witnessed escalating demand from the household consumers."

"Global Consumer Service Robots Shipment Growth"

“With the improvement in artificial intelligence (AI), the cost of software and components are also decreasing, which is making robots more popular in the service industry. Apart from this, there is a huge advancement in other areas such as computer recognition, and speech recognition, which overall spearheaded the growth. Additionally, important policies of the government along with the assistance of investment and funding have improved both the products and the industry,” added Anshika.

The report also highlighted that the shipments of the consumer service robotics market are speculated to perk up at a CAGR of 27 percent between 2021-2025 with the education and personal category contributing the largest of 54 percent by the end of 2025. This category provides the highest share because of the rapid requirement for elderly care, innovative ways of learning for the kids, and social security. Most importantly, the ASP (average selling price) of these products is speculated to decrease further and then these products will be more accessible to the consumers.

Justifying the statement above, Peter Richardson, Research Vice President, at Counterpoint Research said, "We calculate the market growth of education and personal robots will move beyond $4.5 billion by 2025 with an additional growth speculated beyond 2025 because of the aging population in several countries and augmented focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)-based learning. Robots, which are manufactured for these use cases will be furnished with certain technologies that can be used in other emerging segments as well.”

The house cleaning variant mostly consists of vacuum robots, which in 2021 grew by 21 percent and contributed 68 percent of the total consumer service robots shipments in which China was the biggest marketplace followed by North America and Europe. The big OEMs like Roborocks, Ecovacs, and iRobot provide in-house software and hardware podiums and the firms save all the data on their cloud network via amalgamation with cloud organizations. While the education and companion robots provide 31 percent of the overall share in the market in 2021 and garnered 33 percent YoY growth. But, unfortunately, it had the lowest ASP of $279 in 2021. The primary growth spearheaders comprise entertainment, kids' education, social distancing norms, and elderly care.

The market of consumer service robotics holds massive potential in the coming years because of advancing use cases. Among all, the vacuum cleaner market in robotics is mostly mature, which also has huge growth potential. While robotics in the medical fraternity is at a bit risk because they require colossal capital and investment and the R&D aftermaths are incalculable.

Have any question realated to this Article?

Ask Our Community Members

WhatsApp
Telegram
Discord
Forum

How E-Fill Electric will Enable a Tech-Driven Transition to Electric Mobility in India?

Submitted by Lakshita on

E-Fill Electric is working for the complete EV Eco-System. They are providing EV charging stations & electric three wheelers throughout India. The aim of this company is to enable a tech-driven transition to electric mobility in India.

DIY Foam Cutter Using the IRF540N MOSFET

Styrofoam and polystyrene have been one of the most efficient methods of model making amongst the maker community, thanks to their lightweight, extremely low cost, and the ease with which they can be crafted into some breathtaking pieces of artwork.

But working with Styrofoam often requires a lot of heated element tools that get expensive and become out of reach for a hobbyist. The best option here is to create a heated Styrofoam cutting tool on your own, since most of the tutorials available online follow a methodology of using a fixed power source, they limit the user experience to the length of the wire. Hence, in this tutorial, we will make a portable foam cutting tool using Nichrome wire.

Components Required to build Hot Wire Foam Cutter

  1. Nichrome Wire
  2. IRF540N MOSFET
  3. Heatsink for the IRF540N
  4. 100KΩ Potentiometer
  5. 10K Resistor
  6. 3C 18650 Li-Ion Cell X 2
  7. 2S 3A Battery Protection BMS
  8. Toggle Switch
  9. Female DC Jack
  10. Epoxy Sheets
  11. Heat shrinks.
  12. 2 M5 Screws with nuts.

Electric Foam Cutter Parts

The two most important components of the foam cutter are the Nichrome wire and the IRF540N MOSFET.

Nichrome Wire

The heating element used in this project is a Nichrome Wire. “Nichrome” is an alloy made up of mostly Nickle and Chromium with traces of Iron. It is used in almost all heating devices including toasters, room heaters, and electric kettles. We will use a Nichrome wire of around 10 to 15cm in length. This will give us enough temperature to cut the foam also while ensuring that the current draw is limited and within limits of our battery capability.

IRF540 MOSFET

Since we want to efficiently control the current flowing through the wire to control its temperature, we use the IRF540 MOSFET. By controlling the voltage on the Gate terminal of the MOSFET using a potentiometer, we can easily control the current passing through the other two terminals (i.e Source and Drain). More details on the IRF540 MOSFET have been discussed in the schematic discussion of the project. You can also refer to our previous project on Mosfet Switching.

We can visualize the working of the foam cutter components as follows:

Hot Wire Foam Cutter Components

Homemade Foam Cutter Circuit Diagram

The complete circuit diagram of the portable DIY Foam Cutter is shown below. The circuit explanation is as follows:

DIY Foam Cutter Circuit Connection

Schematic:

Foam Cutter Schematic

The complete circuit can be divided into two simple parts, these are:

1. Battery Monitoring and Power Unit

This section is responsible for managing the 18650 cells. Since the cells are connected in series, they must be balanced and kept at the same voltages, along with this, there is also a need for limiting the current draw from the cells to prevent overheating of the components.

You can gain a deeper insight into cell balancing and working of BMS from here.

The BMS Module performs all the following functions with ease, the connections can be simply made as:

  • Connect the 2 cells in series by joining the positive end of one cell to the negative cell of the other.
  • Connect this junction point to the MB terminal on the BMS Module.
  • Connect the negative terminal of the first cell to the B- terminal marked on the BMS Module.
  • Connect the positive terminal of the second cell to the B+ terminal marked on the BMS Module.
  • Connect the P+ and P- Terminals from the BMS Module to the Positive and Negative Terminals on the DC Jack respectively, this will allow us to charge the 18650 cells with an appropriate power supply via the DC Jack.

We can now proceed to connect a switch to the DC Jack positive terminal, this will be our primary switch to control our device.

Also extend a wire from the GND terminal of the DC Jack which can be used to connect the components of the second unit, i.e. the Current Control Unit.

2. Current Control Unit

As the name suggests, this is the section of the circuit that controls the amount of current flowing through the nichrome wire thus controlling the amount of heat generated by the device.

We do so by using the MOSFET IRF540N which is an N channel MOSFET. This MOSFET is a voltage-controlled device that is used to control the flow of current. By Changing the voltage at the GATE Terminal, we can vary the current flowing between the Drain and the Source Terminal.

To control the voltage on the gate terminal of the MOSFET, we simply create a voltage divider circuit using a 100K potentiometer.

Using this voltage divider circuit, we control the current flowing from our battery (connected to the Drain Terminal) to the Load (connected to the Source Terminal).

Making Handheld Hot Wire Foam Cutting Tool

Printing the Case

To house all the electronic components as well as the power source, we will be 3D printing a case, its lid as well as a knob for the potentiometer.

The STL files have been attached to the document, it is recommended to print them with PLA at 20% infill.

You can download STL file from here.

Slicer preview of the 3d files:

Foam Cutter 3D Design

Cutting the Epoxy Sheet

To mount the nichrome wire, we will be using epoxy sheets that will provide us with strength as well as sufficient temperature tolerance.

Cut the epoxy sheet in the following dimensions:

Epoxy Sheet Dimensions

Epoxy Sheet

You can now drill mounting holes on both sides to mount the M5 Screws along with your nichrome wire. Remember to add wires to both the terminals of your Nichrome wire. This would look something like this:

Epoxy Sheet with Nichrome Wire

Mounting Electronics:

Foam Cutter Assembly

Carefully solder the circuit referring to the schematic and the connection diagram and place all the circuit components inside the 3D printed case.

Final Step:

Simply close the Lid and attach the 3d printed knob to the potentiometer. This completes the project and we can now simply turn the switch on to start cutting Styrofoam.

Have any question realated to this Article?

Ask Our Community Members

WhatsApp
Telegram
Discord
Forum

Are Recent Fire Incidents Impacting Growth and Sales of EVs? Find Out What OEMs and Industry Associations Say

The international demand for electric cars has been mounting every year, which is mostly because of the serious environmental concerns and regulations, degrading air quality, and escalating consumer demand. Moreover, top-notch technological innovations in EV and lithium-ion battery technologies are largely responsible for their augmented popularity. Electrification of cars has the potential to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time, it can be attributed to its efficiency over the traditional petrol and diesel-powered vehicles. The power source is one of the main challenges that existed in the ICE vehicles for a long time. According to some automobile experts, when it comes to improving air quality and controlling pollution, the most sophisticated petrol or diesel cars have an efficiency of around 50 percent, while the modern electric cars have an efficiency of around 85 percent.

Now, speaking of the growth and sales of electric cars in the country, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) recently told the media that during the Q1 of FY 2023, the ICE-powered automobile industry witnessed a 27 percent YoY growth, while the cumulative sales of EV cars across all the segments have been increased by an estimated 686% to 211,398 units in the April-June 2022 period. According to the sources of FADA, retail sales of EVs hit their highest at 429,217 units in FY2022, up 218% on FY2021’s 134,821 units, and up 155% on FY2020’s 168,300 units.

Electric Vehicle Retail Sale in India

The Indian Brand Equity Foundation IBEF clearly stated that the entire electric vehicle market grabbed an international share of 8.3 percent, which comprises both Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles. Towards the end of 2020, it was an escalated growth of 108 percent and during the end of 2021, the total volume of EVs sold is around 0.32 million units, which is up 168 percent YoY. Currently, the automobile industry is the fifth largest on the planet and by the end of 2030, it will turn to be the third largest in the world. The point to be noted is that EVs will surpass the popularity of ICE cars because the latter are dependent on traditional energy sources, which are not sustainable, and the country imports 80 percent of crude oil from other nations.

Will EV Fire Incidents Impact its Direct Sales?

A couple of fires ablaze on electric scooters such as Ola, Okinawa, and others over the past few weeks have uplifted safety standards and regulations of this fastest-growing sector of the automobile industry. The fire incidents have also taken the life of a father and his daughter, which caused huge anxiety among the people. In fact, the concerned Ministry has undertaken various steps to probe the incidents and notified OEMS to thoroughly check their products before selling them. Recently, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) stated that it has sent notices to 4-5 EV makers where the manufacturers have been notified to provide clear reasons behind the incidents and why the regulators will prevent themselves from taking stern action against them. The Minister Of Road Transport And Highways Nitin Gadkari also added that the government sent show cause notices to two-wheeler EV makers involved in the incidents. Counting all these actions, a couple of experts in the automobile sector claimed that it would impact this growing segment and will reduce the growth and direct sales of e-scooters.

Refuting the statement above, Sohinder Gill, Director General of Society Of Manufacturers Of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) exclusively told CircuitDigest, "We don't see any direct impact on sales. After the first flurry, the incidents have subsided and the affected OEMs are already responding to them. The government is tightening the battery safety norms and the OEMs are going back to the drawing board to design safer batteries. The exponential growth in the sales of electric two-wheeler continues despite the challenges in the supply chain and we expect the E2W sales  of around 800000 this financial year.”

While many OEMs believe that Globally fire cases in Electric vehicles are not new. India in the EV race is a late entrant and is still in the evolution stage. This industry still needs a lot of research work and keeping the environment and sustainable living in mind, the country has to achieve a very ambitious target, in a short period of time. Certain mishaps where EVs caught fire led to a momentary setback for electric vehicles in India. According to the executives of AMO Electric Bikes, OEMs have been asked to maintain standards of quality not only at the product development stage but also at the time of mass production. The Indian government is continually looking for ways to stimulate the growth of EVs through schemes like the National Electric Mobility Mission and the Fame 2 policy. In the last 10 years, there has been significant progress with electric vehicle production and its sales.

Electric Vehicle on Fire

In an exclusive interaction with some research experts regarding the impact on EV sales, Soumen Mandal, Senior Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research told CircuitDigest, “The recent fire incident signals that OEMs are not conducting proper tests before putting vehicles on the road. The battery chemistries Indian companies use are mainly NMC and NCA which have more energy density but are slightly less safe when compared to LFP. NMC and NCA are used widely across Europe, China, and the US, but only after stringent testing is vehicles put on the road. India’s frequent incidents may lead to a slightly lessened growth rate for the EV market domestically. The Indian government is also trying to standardize battery parameters to avoid these types of situations and increase reliability for EV adoption.”

Now, the question remains whether the EV tests by the OEMs conducted before selling are sufficient or not and what needs to be done. Globally, there is an UN-certified R136 standard for carrying out the safety tests, but for India, the AIS-156 standard is well-accepted and is quite sturdy on shock protection monitoring, how a battery functions when it is over-discharged or overcharged, and testing. As per experts, the AIS-156 proves to be very effective, but they scrutinize only one battery pack. Moreover, the tests carried out do not properly show how properly a battery and its management system functions over time. In order to meet the same, all the OEMs must launch a system that properly supervises and monitors the tests in every possible way and for all battery sets manufactured. In fact, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) recently unveiled systematized frameworks to judge the performance of EV batteries crafted out of lithium-ion. Also, there are two upcoming battery safety standards, which are currently under development.

Rajiv K Vij, Founder of Plug Mobility said, "Fire Incidents should not have taken place and show lack of adequate norms/processes which are critical for EV’s growth going forward. Having said that, Vehicle fires take place for ICE vehicles even today even though these have been in existence for many decades. Such incidents require firm action by the Government-which has acted quickly and taken effective actions and by the industry which has also taken it seriously and is implementing necessary corrective actions. These isolated incidents have not really impacted sales numbers which is visible from the high growth that is being witnessed for EV’s across India."

Detailed Scenario: How Are EVs Currently Performing in India Compared Globally?

Over the past few years, India has been regulating emissions norms (mainly focused on improving fuel efficiency). Although EV sales have grown from 2021, Indians typically suffer from range anxiety, hence they are not too keen on EVs. Moreover, the high price of EVs compared to traditional vehicles coupled with weak charging infrastructure are the two other main reasons for low EV adoption. To push EV adoption, the different state governments recently came up with lucrative subsidies which are acting as EV sales boosters in the two-wheeler and three-wheeler segment, while sales in four-wheelers are limited by the production and availability of charging networks. India has decided to keep its EV-boosting FAME-II policy alive until 31st March 2024. To cut emissions, the government is also relying on biodiesel and ethanol mixed fossil fuels alongside EVs.

“Up to 2021, India had to import all major EV components which only added more to already high EV prices. Since then, however, many companies have been setting up domestic battery production facilities and component manufacturing, thanks to the PLI scheme and other production-side subsidies. Leading EV markets like China, Europe, and the US started boosting EVs a decade earlier than India. Moreover, possessing an abundance of lithium, required for EV component manufacturing, has helped them to roll out EVs faster and at a lower cost. Similarly, stricter emission norms have also played a crucial part in increased EV adoption across Europe and China," added Mandal.

Electric Car in India

But still, there are many challenges in the proliferation of EVs in India. All the vehicle segments have different challenges. In the case of two-wheelers, awareness and demand creation is the biggest challenge that OEM needs to defy. If we talk about the 4-wheeler segment, lack of charging infrastructure is the foremost challenge on which the industry, government and bigger private players need to join hands and work out a solution. As far as public transportation like buses is concerned, the energy needs are very high and the current infrastructure will not support the operations. The government in collaboration with private players should figure out ways to fulfill the energy need through renewable sources.

The listed countries are in different stages of their EV journey. Considering China to start with, their EV ecosystem is ahead of India. If we talk about their electric 2 wheeler segment, the growth is at its maturity. China is manufacturing approx. 40Mn electric Scooters annually, only 2-3% of two wheelers are ICE Vehicles, and the rest of the market has been shifted to Electric 2-wheelers. Whereas in India we are merely manufacturing 4-5 Lacs per year and almost 98% of the total two-wheelers are ICE vehicles. In China, 4 Wheelers and Buses are at a growth phase, on the other hand in India we are at a very nascent stage in these segments.

Europe and The US on the other hand have very different scenarios. Europe as a region has an extremely cold climate and has hilly terrain which together becomes another challenge for electric vehicles to perform.

“The US in the parallel world have very low population density and the distances are way too long, hence EV in the US needs to have good range due to which the two-wheeler market is not so good in the country. However, companies like Tesla in the 4-wheeler segment are doing good. Public transport (Busses) doesn’t do well in the country. Despite all the above-mentioned challenges and scenarios shortage of Semiconductors is a global challenge for the EV industry,” added Kumar.

Have any question realated to this Article?

Ask Our Community Members

WhatsApp
Telegram
Discord
Forum

Working with High Voltage Electronic Designs? Here is What You Should Know

Submitted by Staff on

For engineers who spend their design time in the single-digit, low-voltage world, the phrase "high voltage" may conjure up voltages in the double digits, perhaps as high as 24V or 48V DC, or even the triple-digit domain of line voltages of 120/240 VAC. Yet there's a huge and essential world of engineering design that must be done at 1000V, 1500V, and higher voltages.

Designing products for this region calls for very different thinking, component selection, and interconnection, often in areas designers of low-voltage products do not have to even consider. These concerns apply to passive components, connectors, wiring interconnects, MOSFETs/IGBTs, layout, and of course, safety and regulatory issues. It's a difficult, unforgiving world when your voltage potentials are that high. Trivial oversights can suddenly become major equipment- and life-threatening events. Remember: Rule number 1 is to stop and think before you do anything; rule number 2 is invoke rule number 1 again, perhaps several times.

The Need for High Voltage

Given the challenges and risks, why do design engineers even consider using these voltages at all? It's either because the engineer has no choice, or because it's a really good and necessary idea. The applications fall into two broad groups:

In the realm of "the engineer has no choice," scientific, medical, and physics instrumentation need high voltages in specialized equipment such as X-ray machines, to develop high-intensity fields, ionize atoms, and accelerate electrons and other particles. The same applies to vacuum tubes that still need high-power broadcasting or even moderate-power microwave and mm-wave transmitters. In a more common application, even a commercial neon sign needs several kV to ionize the noble gases inside. Note that many of these applications require kilovolts and more but at relatively modest currents of around 100mA.

Many scientific experiments need potentials of thousands of volts at low current to stimulate particles, or control and accelerate their motion.

In cases where using high voltages is a "really good and necessary idea," engineers are designing for power and efficiency. When a power supply or motor needs to produce large amounts of power, the source must deliver watts, which are the product of voltage and current. But at lower voltages the currents are obviously higher, so IR (current X resistance) losses in conductors, connectors, switches, and active devices cause inefficiency, losses, and I2R heating.

High Voltage designing for very high voltage

To minimize IR losses in cables, connectors, magnetics, and active components, motors are designed to operate from mains at very-high voltages.

The way to minimize these losses is to increase the voltage and thus reduce the current, thereby reducing IR losses and I2R heating. That's why, for example, electric locomotives operate at 20 kV and power-company AC-feeder lines can run at 100 kV and more. If we were to operate this kind of equipment at lower voltages, basic line and other losses- both as efficiency cost and dissipation of heat- would be significant and could not be tolerated. In contrast to the scientific, medical, and physics instrumentation applications cited above, these "power delivery" designs can be at tens or hundreds of amps, in addition to their kilovolt rating.

Start With Physical Dimensions

Dealing with high voltage begins with conductor spacing and associated dimensions. The critical terms for spacing conductors at higher voltages are creepage and clearance.

  • Creepage is the distance an arc may travel measured over a surface, such as between two traces on a printed-wiring board or across the surface of a connector or IC.
  • Clearance is the shortest distance an arc may travel through air, such as from the pin-to-pin of a connector or IC.

The creepage and clearance requirements are a function of the peak voltage; for a sine-wave AC signal, the peak value is 1.4 times the RMS value, plus a substantial safety factor. While it would be nice to be able to call out specific creepage and clearance dimension requirements at any given voltage, it is not possible to do so because their dimensions depend on many factors:

  1. Whether it is a potential shock hazard or only a functional-breakdown issue,
  2. The region of the world: different zones have different standards,
  3. The application: scientific, industrial, or medical, for example, or even a consumer product,
  4. Maximum operating altitude and humidity (dry air at sea level has a flash-over rating of about 4kV /cm, or 10kV/inch),
  5. Across PC boards and other surfaces: the degree of potential contamination that may be expected due to various kinds of pollution; the PCB material group; and the coating (if any).

Therefore, some serious research is needed to determine the required minimum creepage and clearance values, or engineers may need to call an experienced consultant, especially if the end product will need formal regulatory approval for manufacturing and sale.

Move On to Passive Components

Designers who work at lower voltages rarely need to look at the voltage ratings of their basic passive components; those almost countless resistors, capacitors, and inductors that support ICs and discrete devices. Yet each of these does have a maximum working voltage rating specification. Above this voltage, the component may not work to specification, may "gracefully" degrade, fail prematurely, or suffer catastrophic failure.

For example, a capacitor may be specified as "10μF/15 VDC," a voltage rating at the maximum it should ever be allowed to see. Note that the question of how long it can tolerate this overvoltage depends on the vendor; it may be as short as milliseconds or as long as minutes, so engineers must look at vendor definitions. If used at 100V, it is likely that there will be arcing between internal layers of the capacitor, shorting them out and destroying the capacitance function. Most designers like to work with a safety factor of two to three times their expected maximum voltage, so a designer of a 1-kV DC circuit would select passives rated for 2 to 3kV.

For example, the AVX SXP style molded, radial, multilayer capacitor (Fig. 3) comes in a variety of maximum-voltage ratings, up to 3000 V. The largest member of the family, SXP4, is available from 100pF to 2200pF, and measures 22.4 × 16.3 × 5.84-mm thick, with lead spacing of 19.8 mm (about the length of a standard paper clip.)

capacitor

This capacitor in the AVX SXP series is rated to 3000V, and has a lead spacing of just under 20 mm.

Connectors and Cables

What about connectors and cables? Although they are often not considered along with "passive" components like resistors, capacitors, and inductors, they are also a critical link in the high-voltage chain and have many of the same parameters as basic passive components. As with layout and wiring, creepage and clearance are primary factors when choosing high voltage interconnects. But there is a difference between the issues in wiring and layout compared to connectors and wires: circuit and system designers do not typically design connectors; they buy them. Whether a standard, off-the-shelf part, or a custom-designed one, it is the connector manufacturer who determines and defines the voltage rating of the connector for different applications and situations.

Nearly all high-voltage connectors target specific industries and needs, rather than addressing general purpose high-voltage applications. A vendor may call out a given connector as "rated to 2000 V DC for medical applications, per standard IEC60601," for example, which provides the kind of statement on suitability for use that a system designer needs when making a connector selection.

For example, the TE Connectivity HVTT and HVTE cable assemblies are high-voltage inter-connector cables and connectors for use on electric rail vehicles and are rated to 15/25 kV for car and coach roof-line and equipment connection depending on specific model. In addition to their basic DC-operating rating, they feature AC-withstand voltage of 50/90kV and impulse-withstand voltage to 125/175kV. Of course, these are large connectors, with diameters of 90 to 135mm and creepage of 650 to 1000mm. Their terminations include heavy-duty, flexible shrink tubing to keep moisture and containments out of the exposed final assembly.

High-Voltage Active Devices are Also Needed

High-voltage designs require more than just routing current at high potential. The design also involves controlling and switching current at high voltages. IGBTs and MOSFETs are the most common devices used here, although vacuum electron devices (VEDs)- often referred to as vacuum tubes- still play a surprisingly large role in this area, as they can handle and dissipate large amounts of power, especially in the RF spectrum.

Whether to use a MOSFET or an IGBT is often a difficult decision at first review. In general, IGBTs are better for combinations of higher voltage, higher current, and lower switching frequencies. MOSFETs are better for combinations of lower voltage and lower current, but at higher switching frequencies.

Regardless of which discrete power device is chosen, packaging is determined by three related factors: voltage, with issues of creepage and clearance, again; current, with larger lead dimensions to reduce IR (current x resistance) drop; and power dissipation, including low-thermal impedance from die to case to maximize internally generated heat, whether due to on-resistance RDS(on) in MOSFETs or diode drops in IGBTs, out of the die and package.

For example, International Rectifier's IRG7PK35UD1 IGBT is rated at 1400 V, targeting higher-power, single-ended, parallel-resonant power converters used in stove-top induction heating systems and microwave ovens (Fig. 4).

IRG7PK35UD1 IGBT

The International Rectifier IRG7PK35UD1 IGBT is optimized for home-appliance applications and is housed in a standard through-hole TO-247 package to keep costs down and simplify installation use on PC boards.

In addition to the 1400-V rating, this IGBT supports 40A continuous collector current and switching speeds from 8 to 30kHz, which is very fast for an IGBT. Due to the voltage, current, and maximum dissipation rating of 167W, it is housed in an industry-standard TO-247 package. The width of each of the three package leads is a little over 1 mm while the minimum lead separation is about 5 mm, commensurate with the 1400V/40A rating (Fig. 5).

TO-247 dimensional drawing

The TO-247 dimensional drawing shows how it must adhere to creepage and clearance mandates for the rated IGBT voltages while handling double-digit currents. (Source: International Rectifier)

The choice of high-voltage IGBT versus MOSFET for applications where they are both viable candidates now has an added dimension: the commercial availability of MOSFETs based on silicon carbide (SiC) rather than traditional silicon alone. In a SiC device, the wider band-gap and other detailed physics result in breakdown voltages that can be 10 times higher than for silicon. The result is that it is possible to fabricate SiC MOSFETs that are much thinner and smaller, and capable of carrying more current with fewer losses, despite other limitations within the SiC device. Further, SiC has a much higher thermal conductivity compared to silicon, resulting in superior power densities. For the critical maximum operating temperature parameter, SiC devices can run at a junction temperature of more than 150°C, reducing system-level heat sink and packaging costs.

Cree offers the C2M family of 1220V and 1700V SiC MOSFETs, also in TO-247 packages, which illustrate this shift. The C2M0160120D is rated to 1.2kV at 17.7A, with just 160mΩ RDS(on), and has a 125W power-dissipation rating; their C2M0160120D is also a 1.2kV device, but for currents up to 90A, with just 25mΩ RDS(on), and a maximum dissipation rating of 463W. This family is well-suited for solar inverters, high-voltage DC/DC converters, motor drives, switch-mode power supply (SMPS), and uninterruptible power-supply (UPS) designs. Cree claims that their SiC MOSFETS have three times the power density of silicon-based IGBTs, and just 20 percent of the losses- both very significant improvements (Fig. 6).

MOSFETs and IGBTs graph

MOSFETS based on silicon carbide offer substantially better high-voltage/high-current efficiency and density than roughly comparable silicon MOSFETs and IGBTs; 300A SiC is more capable than 600A IGBTs (Shown: 250A RMS @ 500V; Source: Cree)

Despite the many challenges of design directly with -- or even just around -- these high voltages, they are an unavoidable, essential aspect of many products. That's why it is important for engineers to be familiar with the associated design aspects and basic high-voltage-related issues, as well as safety and regulatory concerns, to develop a proper perspective along with respect for what high voltages can do and why they are needed.

About Author

Bill Schweber is an electronics engineer who has written three textbooks on electronic communications systems, as well as hundreds of technical articles, opinion columns, and product features. In past roles, he worked as a technical web-site manager for multiple topic-specific sites for EE Times, as well as both the Executive Editor and Analog Editor at EDN. He has been on both sides of the technical PR function, presenting company products, stories, and messages to the media and also as the recipient of these.

He has an MSEE (Univ. of Mass) and BSEE (Columbia Univ.), is a Registered Professional Engineer, and holds an Advanced Class amateur radio license. Bill has also planned, written, and presented on-line courses on a variety of engineering topics, including MOSFET basics, ADC selection, and driving LEDs.

Original source: Mouser

Have any question realated to this Article?

Ask Our Community Members

WhatsApp
Telegram
Discord
Forum

AMO Electric Bikes Intends to Concentrate on AI and IoT Technologies in the Future

In addition to creating an economic boost, it was always expected that this astoundingly revolutionary approach to transportation electric mobility would provide a significant amount of employment, which would be necessary to overhaul the conventional auto industry, which is still dependent on the unsustainable burning of petrol and diesel.

Rajiv K Vij, Founder of Plug Mobility explains how EV firms are Lowering Carbon Footprint in India

There are no toxic emissions from the tailpipe of electric cars, but the electricity generation while charging the cars might discharge carbon pollution. The volume depends on how the local power is sourced, that is utilizing natural gas or coal that are responsible for carbon pollution, while renewable sources like solar or wind do not emit toxic gasses.

Amid Tough Challenges Why International Wafer Fab Equipment Market to Grow in 2022?

Back in 2019, before the pandemic, the semiconductor equipment industry suddenly faced a huge slowdown coupled with severe technical impediments, which are still looking for an accurate solution. In 2017, the same equipment sector witnessed a colossal demand and the same has been extended into Q1 of 2018. But, interestingly, in the middle of 2018, the memory market started decaying, which in the end forced the vendors of DRAM and NAND to extend or rather reject their equipment orders. Experts on the other hand already predicted that the momentum of this downturn will be carried out throughout 2019 and will hamper the equipment manufacturers with exposure of NAND and DRAM. After that, geopolitical tension appears, and the business tussle between China and the US is a matter of serious concern even though the indelible collision remains unclear.

But, before proceeding further we must understand what the semiconductor equipment is all about. In the fab, there is an imperative process, which is IC manufacturing and there the semiconductor equipment plays an important role. Then, the semiconductor wafer fabrication is utilized to craft circuits that are further utilized in electrical and electronic products. Now, during semiconductor device fabrication, a vast range of procedures are utilized to alter a bare silicon wafer into a circuit. The different procedures comprise CMP (chemical-mechanical planarization), PVD/CVD (physical or chemical vapor deposition), and  RTP (rapid thermal processing) plasma etch, photolithography.

The semiconductor wafer fabrication entails important steps of the photolithographic and chemical process that makes a semiconductor product. On the other hand, the device fabrication requires four steps that comprise different procedures ranging from removal to modification of electrical properties, and deposition. When the fabrication process is completed, silicons are used to manufacture the wafers. Silicons are cooled, melted, and purified to shape an ‘ingot’ that is then cut into wafers. In order to assure the state-of-the-art quality of the semiconductor equipment, a wafer test is performed to supervise the damages because it aids in monitoring whether the processing can be completed or not.

Now, the question is why the demand of this market is augmenting. Various characteristics such as the escalating demand from the consumer and B2B electronics industry coupled with ever-increasing technological improvements in the semiconductor and telecom industry are speculated to spearhead the demand for the semiconductor wafer fab equipment market from 2019-2030. There are some additional factors like equipment and silicon wafer that would assist in analyzing the concerned market in the coming years. Most importantly, new-fangled innovation in wafer technology has crafted a denser packaging of devices like transistors and MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) are speculated to create a way for the foundation of innovative opportunities that can be leveraged by various global firms.

The New Road of Problems for the Semiconductor Equipment Sector

Counting the massive demand for memory, the semiconductor equipment sector was anticipated to grow by 15.5 percent back in 2018 as noted by VLSI Research. But, as the memory market at that time witnessed a downturn it was speculated to pull down the entire industry, which in the end caused a decrease in the IC market by 1.6 percent in 2019. On the other hand, the semiconductor equipment industry is following the same path. According to the experts, 2018 was a massive year for the semiconductor industry’s growth, but the memory market’s reduction in demand reduced the pace of the semiconductor industry. Both the semiconductor and memory market was speculated to gain back the pace, but somehow, the downturn that was carried out in the Q2 of 2018 was witnessed during the entire 2019, a year before the pandemic surfaced. 2019 was expected to be optimistic, but sadly both the markets declined in 2019 and the effect was felt till now after the pandemic. This is because there is some sort of over-build in the sectors discussed above and more uncertainty was added when entire China was under stern lockdown. Calculating the entire problem is the memory decline. In 2019, the sales declined to almost 10 percent where it was expected the market to be positive with a growth rate of 4 percent.

However, it has broken the entire semiconductor equipment market. In another survey, the US-based industry association SEMI stated that the international sales of top-notch semiconductor equipment would escalate from 9.7 percent to $62.1 billion in 2018, but in 2019, the market reduced by 4 percent. In the same year, South Korea turned to be the biggest supplier of semiconductor equipment, which is then followed by Taiwan and China, claims SEMI. The picture is also hazy from the applications perspective because the smartphone market remained dull at that time, but additional applications like wireless, automotive, and AI were expected to lead the IC demand.

Wafer Fab Equipment Market

In order to grab the vein of the market to carefully examine the demand picture of two key important centers in the IC sector-photomasks and silicon wafers. SEMI clearly noted that the shipments of silicon wafers were 13,090 million square inches in 2019, which is about 5.2 percent more than 2018. The shipment was about 7.1 percent during 2018. In 2019, the photomask market outstripped to $billion, which is more than 4 percent in 2018.

For several years, China has been a huge prospective market for semiconductor equipment, but nonetheless, trade scuffles are posing a huge problem in this region. In this country, there are two varieties of chip manufacturers; domestic and international firms. Domestic firms have been investing for many years to perk up the industry. An unnamed industry expert stated that 200mm is a very imperative equipment market and the demand for RF chips, analog, and MEMs caused the scarcity of 200mm fab equipment and capacity.

The Sudden Growth of Wafer Fab Equipment Market

According to the experts at Counterpoint Research, the paucity of semiconductors is going to pose a huge challenge to the Wafer Fab Equipment supply chain this year. But, interestingly the profits of the WFE manufacturers are speculated to augment 18 percent this year, which will surpass the $129 billion market. This investment in this sector will grow this year due to the massive spending on higher semiconductor performance, complex technology transformations, ongoing investments for the expansion of production capacity, and escalating manufacturing and device intricacy.

The WFE market looks very promising because foundries are undertaking tough efforts to enhance wafer output, ameliorate productivity and decrease defects. On the other hand, the demand is now exceeding supply and in fact, the wafer processing steps are escalated to offer intricate and manifold applications. In 2021, the investments in WFE are restricted by supply, and the demands that are unmet are pushed to 2022 and moreover, customers have extended the allocations of capex.

Wafer Fab Equipment Manufacturer

Highlighting the reason behind the growth of the WFE market, senior research analyst, Ashwath Rao told, “This year, the top five WFE manufacturer's revenue will surpass $100 billion, which is due to the increasing capital volume, new-fangled product range, sturdy demand of chips across various industries, and well-built WFE investment outlook. As the global supply chain has been hampered, there is not much availability of components for WFE sub-systems, which would augment the lead time of equipment and obstruction of deliveries. This will lead to the fall of revenue during the Q1.”

If the market of WFE is carefully examined, it will reveal that towards the end of 2021, the revenue recorded a staggering growth of $110 billion, an escalation of 33 percent YoY, spearheaded by the sturdiness of varied segments such as Foundry/Logic, NAND, DRAM. The top five supplier’s service revenue recorded 29 percent YoY to $22.2 billion. The year back in 2020, the overall growth of various segments across the market was escorted by Foundry/Logic enhancement, NAND recovery, and a bit of increase in the market for DRAM assisted in grabbing the total revenue growth of $83 billion, an extension of 17 percent YoY.

“In spite of supply chain obstructions due to the pandemic and increased geopolitical problems, during the Q2 of 2022, moderate growth of WFE industry will be witnessed. Along with that, gross for that year will also be reduced due to the impact of price increases due to workforce, logistics prices, and components from suppliers. The new drift towards export regulations between regions also entails close supervision. Hence, growth in Q2 is speculated to be dampened,” added Rao.

Have any question realated to this Article?

Ask Our Community Members

WhatsApp
Telegram
Discord
Forum

How to Select the Best GSM/GPS Module for a Vehicle or Asset Tracking Applications

When starting a project, the first challenge is to select the best parts for it. In the case of a tracking project, the main parts would be the GPS and GSM modules are the main components. This article will help you find the best ones from the choices available in the market. We will discuss the features or specifications you should check before sourcing these parts.

Things to Consider before Purchasing a GPS Module

  • Size: Sizing matters as it may affect not only the size constraints but also other technical parameters like lock time and accuracy etc. For applications like tracking, we will need the module with the smallest size possible without any compromise in the accuracy or the response time, etc.
  • Update Rate: The update rate of a GPS or GNSS module is basically how often it recalculates and reports its position. The standard for most devices is 1Hz (Only once per second). 5-10Hz update rates can be considered if you need them to work on faster vehicles which are not required in most real-life scenarios.
  • Communication Interface: It’s the interface used to communicate with the GPS Module. Serial/TTL or the USB interface is the most commonly used interface type by the GPS module.
  • Communication Speed/Baud Rate Refers to the speed of communication between the microcontroller and the GPS module, in the case of serial interface it is called the baud rate. Higher the baud rate allows for faster GPS data to be sent to the MCU.
  • Navigation Sensitivity dBm figure dictates how prone the GPS module is able to capture the signal from the satellites. Higher dBm indicates that the module is able to better pick up satellite signals
  • Power Requirements include the working voltage and the power consumption. It is necessary to select the proper device because in most cases the modules will be battery powered and we will need to conserve the battery to maximize working time. The average power consumption of most common GPS modules is around 30mA at 3.3V
  • Number of Channels that the GPS module runs will affect your time to first fix (TTFF). Since the module doesn’t know which satellites are in view, the more frequencies/channels it can check at once, the faster a fix will be found. After the module gets a lock or fix, some modules will shut down the extra blocks of channels to save power. If you don’t mind waiting a little longer for a lock, 12 or 14 channels will work just fine for tracking.
  • Accuracy: Lower the distance it can get down to = Higher accuracy. Usually able to find out your location within 30 seconds, down to +/- 10m. Most modules can get it down to +/-3m
  • Antenna: Remember, that little GPS module is receiving signals from satellites about 12,000 miles away in the sky. For the best performance, you want a clear path between the antenna and most of the sky. Weather, clouds, and snowstorms shouldn't affect the signal, but things like trees, buildings, mountains, and the roof over your head, will all create unwanted interference, and your GPS accuracy will suffer. So, the choice of the proper antenna is very crucial.
  • Gain: The gain is the efficiency of the antenna in any given orientation. This applies to both transmitting antennas and receiving antennas.
  • Chipset: The GPS chipset is responsible for doing everything from performing calculations, to providing the analog circuitry for the antenna, to power control, to the user interface. It’s a lot of work, and yet that’s exactly what these tiny GPS units are doing. The chipset is independent of the antenna type, therefore you can have a range of different antennas for GPS modules with specific chipsets. Common chipsets are ublox, SiRF, and SkyTraq, and all contain very powerful processors that allow for fast acquisition times and high reliability. The differences between chipsets usually fall on a balance between power consumption, acquisition times, and accessibility of hardware. So, choosing the best one for our application is a crucial part.
  • Price: Last but not least the price of the module is very important. It is very important to keep everything under the budget.
  • Time to First Fix(TTFF): Time taken for satellite lock after power-up or reboot.

So now as we know what we are looking for in a GPS Module, let us take a look at a few GPS Modules in the market now:

NEO-6M GPS Module

NEO-6M GPS Module

Considered as one of the more popular GPS modules in the market, the NEO-6M module is a family of stand-alone GPS receivers from the NEO-6 module series.

Based on the list of considerations:

Size: 23mm x 30mm

Update Rate: 1 Hz, 5Hz maximum

Power Requirements:

  • Power Supply Voltage: 3V – 5V

Baud Rate: 9600

Communication Interface: UART

Sensitivity: -161dBm

Number of Channels: 50

Time to First Fix:

  • Cold Start: 27s
  • Warm Start: 27s
  • Hot Start: 1s
  • Aided Starts: <3s

Antennas: Includes external patch antenna

Accuracy:

  • 2.5m GPS Horizontal Position Accuracy

Product Applications:

  • Battery-operated mobile devices
  • GPS tracker
  • GPS navigator

NEO-M8N GPS Module

NEO-M8N GPS Module

The NEO-M8M GPS Module with Ceramic Active Antenna series of concurrent GNSS modules is built on the high-performing M8 GNSS engine in the industry-proven NEO form factor. The NEO-M8M is optimized for cost-sensitive applications, while NEO-M8N/M8Q provides the best performance and easier RF integration. The NEO-M8N offers high performance also at low power consumption levels. The future-proof NEO-M8N includes an internal Flash that allows future firmware updates. This makes NEO-M8N perfectly suited to industrial and automotive applications.

Based on the list of considerations:

Size: 23mm x 30mm

Update Rate: 1 Hz, 5Hz maximum

Power Requirements:

  • Power Supply Voltage: 3.6V

Baud Rate: 9600

Communication Interface: UART/USB/SPI

Sensitivity: -164dBm

Number of Channels: 72

Time to First Fix:

  • Cold Start: 26s
  • Hot Start: 1s
  • Aided Starts: 4s

Antennas: Includes external patch antenna

Accuracy:

  • 2.5m GPS Horizontal Position Accuracy

Product Applications:

  • Battery-operated mobile devices
  • GPS tracker
  • GPS navigator

SIM28ML

SIM28ML Module

SIM28ML is a small, high-performance, and reliable GPS module. This is a standalone L1 frequency GPS module in an SMT type and it is designed with an MTK high sensitivity navigation engine, which allows you to achieve the industry’s highest levels of sensitivity, accuracy, and Time-to-First-Fix (TTFF) with the lowest power consumption.

Size: 10.1*9.7*2.5mm

Update Rate: Up to 10Hz, 1Hz by default

Power Requirements:

  • Power Supply Voltage: 2.8~4.3V
  • Power consumption
    • Acquisition 17mA
    • Tracking 16mA
    • Backup 8uA

Baud Rate: Adjustable 4800bps~115200bps Default: 9600bps

Communication Interface: UART

Sensitivity: -165dBm

Number of Channels: 22 (Tracking)/ 66 (Acquisition)

Time to First Fix:

  • Cold Start: 32s
  • Warm Start: 3s
  • Hot Start: <1s

Antennas: Embedded patch antenna: 15.0mm × 15.0mm × 4.0mm

Accuracy:

  • 2.5m GPS Horizontal Position Accuracy

Product Applications:

  • Battery-operated mobile devices
  • GPS tracker
  • GPS navigator

Quectel L80

Quectel L80 Module

L80 GPS module with an embedded patch antenna and LNA brings the high performance of MTK positioning engine to industrial applications. It is able to achieve the industry’s highest level of sensitivity, accuracy and TTFF with the lowest power consumption in a small-footprint leadless package. With 66 search channels and 22 simultaneous tracking channels, it acquires and tracks satellites in the shortest time even at the indoor signal level. The embedded flash memory provides the capacity for users to store some useful navigation data and allows for future updates.

Size: 16.0mm × 16.0mm × 6.45mm

Update Rate: Up to 10Hz, 1Hz by default

Power Requirements:

  • Power Supply Voltage: 3.0V~4.3V Typical voltage: 3.3V

Baud Rate: Adjustable 4800bps~115200bps Default: 9600bps

Communication Interface: UART

Sensitivity: -165dBm

Number of Channels: 22 (Tracking)/ 66 (Acquisition)

Time to First Fix:

  • Cold Start: 35s
  • Warm Start: 30s
  • Hot Start: 1s

Antennas: Embedded patch antenna: 15.0mm × 15.0mm × 4.0mm

Accuracy:

  • 2.5m GPS Horizontal Position Accuracy

Product Applications:

  • Battery-operated mobile devices
  • GPS tracker
  • GPS navigator

Beitian BN-220

Beitian BN-220 Module

BN-220 is a small gps receiver module, with 4M flash to save the configuration. It is mostly used with drones.

Size: 16.0mm × 16.0mm × 6.45mm

Update Rate: 1Hz-10Hz,Default1Hz

Power Requirements:

  • Power Supply Voltage: 3.0V~5.5V Typical voltage: 5V

Baud Rate: Adjustable 4800bps~921600bps Default: 9600bps

Communication Interface: UART

Interface Protocol: NMEA-0183orUBX,DefaultNMEA-0183

Sensitivity: -167dBm

Number of Channels: 72Channel(Acquisition)

Time to First Fix:

  • Cold Start: 26s
  • Warm Start: 25s
  • Hot Start: 1s

Antennas: Embedded patch antenna

Accuracy:

  • 2m GPS Horizontal Position Accuracy

Product Applications:

  • Drones

Grove – GPS Module

Grove – GPS Module

The Grove – GPS Module is the Seeed version of a GPS receiver that’s cost-efficient and field-programmable. It’s armed with a SIM28 and serial communication configuration.

Size: 40mm x 20mm x 13mm

Update Rate: 1 Hz, max 10 Hz

Power Requirements: 3.3/5V

Baud Rate: 9600 – 115,200

Communication Interface: UART

Sensitivity: -160dBm

Number of Channels: 22 tracking/66 acquisition channels

Time to First Fix:

  • Cold starts with EASY: 13s
  • Warm Starts with EASY: 1-2s
  • Hot Starts: <1s

*EASY is a self-generate orbit protection

Antennas: Antenna included in the package

Accuracy: 2.5m GPS Horizontal Position Accuracy

Product Applications:

  • GPS tracker
  • GPS navigation
  • Distance measurement

Other Product Features:

  • Low power consumption
  • Baud rates configurable
  • Grove compatible interface

Grove – GPS (Air530)

Grove GPS Air530

Next up, we have the Grove – GPS (Air530). It’s a high-performance, highly integrated multi-mode satellite positioning and navigation module. It supports GPS / Beidou / Glonass / Galileo / QZSS / SBAS, which makes it suitable for GNSS positioning applications such as car navigation, smart wear, and drone.

If your GPS isn’t working well in urban areas or outdoors under only one or a few satellite modules, you should definitely check out this GPS module. Meanwhile, this module is capable of receiving more than 6 satellites at the same time and is able to work excellently even if there’s a very bad signal.

This GPS adopts the integrated design of RF baseband, which integrates DC/DC, LDO, LNA, RF front-end, baseband processing, 32-bit RISC based chip, RAM, FLASH storage, RTC and power management functions.

Size: 40mm x 20mm x 13mm

Update Rate:

Power Requirements: 3.3/5V

Baud Rate: – 9600 –921600

Communication Interface: UART

Sensitivity: – –166dBm

Number of Channels:

Time to First Fix:

  • Cold start: 30 seconds
  • Warm Start: 4 seconds

Antennas: Antenna included in the package

Accuracy: 2.5m Horizontal positioning accuracy

Product Applications:

  • GPS tracker
  • GPS navigation
  • Distance measurement

Other Product Features:

  • Highly integrated Multi-mode satellite positioning and navigation
  • Grove compatible interface

Things to Consider before Purchasing a GSM Module

  • Size: Similar to the GPS module the size matters in the case of a GSM module too. The smaller the size more compact our project will be.
  • Communication Interface: It’s the interface used to communicate with the GSM Module. Serial/TTL or the USB interface is the most commonly used interface type by the GSM module.
  • Communication Protocol: Communication protocol is used to communicate with the module. Most modules use AT Commands for this purpose. With AT commands, there will be commands to control each function of the module. We will use these commands to configure the module, to get information from the module, for services SMS, MMS and for voice and data links too.
  • Communication Speed /Baud rate Refers to the speed of communication between the microcontroller and the GSM module, in the case of serial interface it is called the baud rate. Higher the baud rate allows for faster GSM data to be sent to the MCU.
  • Communication Standard refers to the mobile standards like GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, LTE etc. GSM commonly stands for 2G, WCDMA for 3G and LTE for 4G communications. And the CDMA is no longer used in most areas of the world.
  • Supported Frequency Bands refers to the frequency bands supported by the module. 900MHz and 1800Mhz are the most common 2G bands in India while 900MHz and 2100MHz are the 3G bands. And for 4G the most common bands used in India are  B1 (2100 MHz), B3 (1800 MHz), B5 (850 MHz), B8 (900 MHz), B40 (TDD 2300 MHz), B41 (TDD 2500 MHz). So it is very important to choose the correct module which supports the bands supported by the carrier in the intended area.
  • Supported services refers to the services supported by the module including voice, SMS and data. Some even support FM. Not all modules support all the protocols. So be careful when choosing the correct one.
  • Data Transmission Throughout It refers to the maximum upload and download data speed supported by the module. For example, the most famous SIM800L has a maximum upload and download speed of 85.6kbps, while the SIM7500 module supports up to 150Mbps of download and 150Mbps of upload speed in LTE Category 4. So, if our applications need more bandwidth we must choose accordingly.
  • Transmit Power: Transmission power of the module. Higher the power higher the reception, but with higher power usage. Not only that the power regulation may vary with countries so make sure to choose the correct module with proper transmission power rating as per your regulatory authorities.
  • Power Requirements: This includes the working voltage and the power consumption. It is necessary to select the proper device because in most cases we will the modules will be battery powered and we will need to conserve the battery to the maximum.
  • Price: Last but not least the price of the module is very important. It is very important to keep everything under the budget.

So now as we know what we are looking for in a GSM Module, let us take a look at a few GSM Modules in the market now:

SIMCOM SIM800L

SIMCOM SIM800L

SIM800L is a quad-band GSM/GPRS module, that works on frequencies GSM850MHz, EGSM900MHz, DCS1800MHz and PCS1900MHz. SIM800L features GPRS multi-slot class 12/ class 10 (optional) and supports the GPRS coding schemes CS-1, CS-2, CS-3 and CS-4. With a tiny configuration of 15.8*17.8*2.4mm, SIM800L can meet almost all the space requirements in user applications, such as smartphones, PDA and other mobile devices. SIM800L has 88pin pads of LGA package and provides all hardware interfaces between the module and customers’ boards.

SIM800L GSM Module

It is also available as a module. The image of the module is given above.

Size:  15.8*17.8*2.4mm

Communication Interface:  UART/USB

Communication Protocol: AT Command

Communication Speed /Baud rate: 1200bps to 115200bps

Communication Standard: GSM GPRS(2G)

Supported Frequency Bands: Quad-band: GSM 850, EGSM 900, DCS 1800, PCS 1900

Supported services: Voice, SMS, DATA GPRS

Data Transmission Throughout: GPRS data downlink transfer: max. 85.6 kbps/GPRS data uplink transfer: max. 85.6 kbps 

Transmit Power: Class 4 (2W) at GSM 850 and EGSM 900, Class 1 (1W) at DCS 1800 and PCS 1900

Power Supply: 3.4V ~4.4V typical power consumption in sleep mode is 0.7mA

Ai Thinker A9 GPRS Series Module

​Ai Thinker A9 GPRS Series Module

Ai Thinker A9 GPRS Series Module can be used in a wide range of IoT applications and is ideal for IoT applications for home automation, industrial wireless control, wearable electronics, wireless location sensing devices, wireless location system signals, and other IoT applications. The A9 is a complete quad-band GSM / GPRS module in a compact design SMD package. Its stable performance, appearance of compact, and cost-effective, could meet the diverse needs of customers.

Size: 19.2*18.8*2.7mm

Communication Interface: UART/USB/I2C

Communication Protocol: AT Command

Communication Speed /Baud rate: 1200bps to 115200bps

Communication Standard: GSM GPRS(2G)

Supported Frequency Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHZ

Supported services: Voice, SMS, DATA GPRS

Data Transmission Throughout: GPRS data downlink transfer: max. 85.6 kbps/GPRS data uplink transfer: max. 42.8Kbps

Transmit Power: Class 4 (2W) at GSM 850 and EGSM 900, Class 1 (1W) at DCS 1800 and PCS 1900

Power Supply: 3.8V-4.2V, 4V power supply is recommended

IoT-GA6 Mini GPRS GSM Module

IoT-GA6 Mini GPRS GSM Module

GA6 module is a mini version of serial GSM / GPRS core development board based on GPRS A6 chip. This chip supports GSM/GPRS network, available for GPRS and SMS message data remote transmission. With the help of the A6 chip, GPRS never deactivated until its application is on and online. It supports either digital and analog audio, with HR, FR, EFR, AMR voice coding. This module can add voice, text, SMS, and data capabilities to your Arduino project. It has more price to performance value than the SIM800, SIM900 modules. This small and low power consumption module can communicate with the microcontrollers and Arduino boards through the UART interface, with the capability of command reception, including GSM 07.07, GSM 07.05 standards. It can be used for IoT projects, M2M applications, industrial automation, BMS projects, home automation, public transportation, personal tracking, electricity environment detection, wireless POS, smart metering, and other M2M applications

Size: 17.6*15.7*2.3mm

Communication Interface: UART/USB

Communication Protocol: AT Command

Communication Speed /Baud rate: 115200bps

Communication Standard: GSM GPRS(2G)

Supported Frequency Bands: Quad-band: GSM 850, EGSM 900, DCS 1800, PCS 1900

Supported services: Voice, SMS, DATA GPRS

Data Transmission Throughout: GPRS data downlink transfer: max. 85.6 kbps/GPRS data uplink transfer: max. 42.8kbps 

Transmit Power: Class 4 (2W) at GSM 850 and EGSM 900, Class 1 (1W) at DCS 1800 and PCS 1900

Power Supply: 3.5V ~ 4.2V 3.3V Logic

Quectel M66

Quectel M66 GSM Module

The M66 is a quad-band GSM/GPRS 2G module measuring 17.7mm × 15.8mm × 2.3mm which uses LCC castellation packaging. Based on the latest 2G chipset, it is optimized for data, SMS and audio transmission, and is designed for low-power IoT use cases that operate in harsh conditions. The M66 uses surface-mounted technology, making it ideal for large-scale manufacturing, which can have strict requirements on cost and efficiency. The M66’s ultra-compact profile makes it particularly suited to size-sensitive applications, and the module can serve a range of applications such as wearable devices, automotive, PDAs, asset tracking, POS, smart metering and telematics.

Size: 17.7mm × 15.8mm × 2.3mm

Communication Interface: UART/USB

Communication Protocol: AT Command

Communication Speed /Baud rate: 115200bps

Communication Standard: GSM GPRS(2G), Bluetooth 3.0

Supported Frequency Bands: Quad-band: GSM 850, EGSM 900, DCS 1800, PCS 1900

Supported services: Voice, SMS, DATA GPRS

Data Transmission Throughout: GPRS data downlink transfer: max. 85.6kbps/GPRS data uplink transfer: max. 85.6kbps 

Transmit Power: Class 4 (2W) at GSM 850 and EGSM 900, Class 1 (1W) at DCS 1800 and PCS 1900

Power Supply: 3.3V ~ 4.6V

SIMCOM SIM868

SIMCOM SIM868 Module

SIM868 module is the complete Quad-Band GSM/GPRS module which combines GNSS( GPS/GLONASS/BDS) technology for satellite navigation. It has strong extension capability with abundant interfaces including UART, USB2.0, GPIO etc. The module provides much flexibility and ease of integration for customers’ applications.

Size: 17.6*15.7*2.3mm

Communication Interface: UART/USB

Communication Protocol: AT Command

Communication Speed /Baud rate: 1200bps to 115200bps

Communication Standard: GSM GPRS(2G)

Supported Frequency Bands: Quad-band: GSM 850, EGSM 900, DCS 1800, PCS 1900

Supported services: Voice, SMS, DATA GPRS

Data Transmission Throughout: GPRS data downlink transfer: max. 85.6 kbps/GPRS data uplink transfer: max. 85.6 kbps 

Transmit Power: Class 4 (2W) at GSM 850 and EGSM 900, Class 1 (1W) at DCS 1800 and PCS 1900

Power Supply: 3.4V ~ 4.4V

Update Rate: Up to 10Hz, 1Hz by default

Power Requirements:

  • Power Supply Voltage: 3.0V~4.3V Typical voltage: 3.3VCommunication Interface: UART

Sensitivity: -167dBm

Number of Channels: 33 tracking /99 acquisition

Time to First Fix:

  • Cold Start: 28s
  • Warm Start: 22s
  • Hot Start: 1s

Antennas: External

Accuracy:

  • 2.5m GPS Horizontal Position Accuracy

Conclusion

We are concluding this article hoping you got a better idea about the available option for a GPS/GSM module. In the article, we haven’t included any 3G/4G modules since they are not good for such an application, and they are very costly at this point. 2G GSM modules will give the best result because of their coverage and they are dirt cheap nowadays. And modules we have covered are the most common available once in the market and many other variants are there too. You may extend your scope to them if you can’t find a suitable one from the above suggestions.

Have any question realated to this Article?

Ask Our Community Members

WhatsApp
Telegram
Discord
Forum
Subscribe to