In the dynamic landscape of artificial intelligence, few innovations have garnered as much attention and acclaim as ChatGPT. Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language model that has redefined the boundaries of human-computer interaction. With its remarkable ability to understand, generate, and respond to natural language, ChatGPT has emerged as a powerful tool with diverse applications across various industries and domains.
At its core, ChatGPT leverages cutting-edge deep learning techniques to comprehend and generate human-like text. Trained on vast swathes of internet data, it has acquired a nuanced understanding of language, enabling it to engage in conversations, answer questions, and even exhibit a degree of creativity. What sets ChatGPT apart is its versatility; it can adapt to a wide range of tasks and contexts, from providing customer support to generating creative content. One of the most significant advantages of ChatGPT is its ability to enhance communication channels. Businesses are increasingly integrating ChatGPT-powered chatbots into their customer service operations, providing users with instant support and assistance round the clock. These chatbots can understand queries, troubleshoot problems, and deliver personalized recommendations, thereby improving customer satisfaction and streamlining operations. Moreover, ChatGPT is revolutionizing content creation and curation. Writers, marketers, and creatives are harnessing its capabilities to generate engaging articles, product descriptions, and social media posts at scale. By automating mundane tasks and offering inspiration, ChatGPT frees up human talent to focus on higher-value activities, fostering innovation and productivity. Beyond its commercial applications, ChatGPT holds promise in education, healthcare, and accessibility. In education, it can serve as a personalized tutor, adapting its teaching style to individual learning preferences and pacing. In healthcare, it can assist medical professionals by analyzing patient data, providing insights, and even offering emotional support. For individuals with disabilities, ChatGPT-powered tools offer new ways to interact with technology, empowering them to communicate and access information more effectively. Another compelling application of ChatGPT is in aiding those who struggle with writing letters and emails. For individuals who find it challenging to articulate their thoughts or lack proficiency in written communication, ChatGPT can serve as a valuable assistant. By simply providing some context or key points, users can receive well-crafted letters and emails tailored to their needs. Whether it's composing a heartfelt message to a loved one, drafting a professional correspondence for business purposes, or even crafting a formal complaint, ChatGPT can help bridge the gap and ensure effective communication. However, the rise of ChatGPT also raises important ethical considerations. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, questions surrounding privacy, bias, and accountability come to the forefront. It is essential to ensure that ChatGPT is deployed responsibly, with safeguards in place to protect user data and mitigate potential harms. Looking ahead, the potential of ChatGPT is virtually limitless. As researchers continue to refine its capabilities and expand its knowledge base, we can expect to see even more transformative applications emerge. From advancing human-computer interaction to unlocking new frontiers in creativity and innovation, ChatGPT stands poised to shape the future of technology and society.
0 Comments
In recent weeks, Tesla, the innovative electric vehicle (EV) company led by Elon Musk, has made headlines for a development that strikes at the heart of its workforce: layoffs. The decision to downsize has sent shockwaves through both the industry and the affected employees, prompting questions about the company's trajectory and the challenges faced by those now finding themselves without a job.
The Layoff Landscape: Tesla's decision to reduce its workforce is part of a broader strategy aimed at streamlining operations and optimizing efficiency. While specifics regarding the extent of the layoffs remain undisclosed, reports suggest that they span across various departments within the company. This move follows a pattern observed in many industries during periods of restructuring or economic uncertainty, where companies seek to realign resources in response to evolving market dynamics. Implications for the Company: For Tesla, the decision to downsize may reflect a combination of factors. Despite its pioneering role in the EV market and a devoted customer base, the company faces mounting pressure to deliver consistent profitability and navigate supply chain disruptions. By trimming its workforce, Tesla aims to control costs and enhance its agility in addressing these challenges. However, such measures inevitably raise concerns about the impact on morale and organizational culture, elements crucial to sustaining innovation and competitiveness in the long run. Challenges for Affected Workers: While layoffs are often positioned as strategic imperatives from a business standpoint, their consequences extend far beyond boardroom discussions. For the employees directly impacted, the experience can be deeply unsettling, characterized by uncertainty about their financial security and future prospects. Amidst a highly competitive job market, finding new employment opportunities, especially ones that match the skills and expertise honed at Tesla, can be a daunting task. Moreover, the emotional toll of sudden job loss cannot be overstated, as individuals grapple with feelings of rejection, self-doubt, and anxiety about what lies ahead. Navigating Forward: In response to the layoffs, Tesla has emphasized its commitment to supporting affected employees through severance packages and job placement assistance. While these efforts provide a measure of relief, the road to recovery remains fraught with challenges. For workers, reentering the job market may entail reevaluating career aspirations, acquiring new skills, or exploring alternative industries—an endeavor that demands resilience and adaptability. Similarly, for Tesla, the aftermath of layoffs presents an opportunity to reassess its approach to talent management and employee engagement. Fostering a culture of transparency, empathy, and continuous learning can not only mitigate the negative impacts of downsizing but also reinforce the company's reputation as an employer of choice in the tech sector Gaining from Experience: Amidst the uncertainty brought about by the layoffs, it's essential to acknowledge the invaluable experience gained by Tesla employees during their tenure with the company. Working at the forefront of innovation in the electric vehicle industry offers a unique opportunity to acquire skills and expertise that are highly sought after in today's job market. From engineering advancements to supply chain management intricacies, employees at Tesla have been immersed in a dynamic environment that demands creativity, problem-solving, and adaptability. The exposure to cutting-edge technology and the challenges inherent in pioneering a sustainable transportation revolution are not only resume boosters but also testimonies to the resilience and ingenuity of Tesla's workforce. As these individuals embark on their job search journey, their time at Tesla serves as a testament to their ability to thrive in fast-paced, high-stakes environments. Employers across various industries recognize the value of such experience and are keen to onboard candidates who can bring a fresh perspective and a track record of innovation to their teams. Furthermore, the culture of innovation fostered at Tesla instills a mindset of continuous learning and experimentation—a mindset that is increasingly prized in today's rapidly evolving job market. Whether it's mastering new software tools, adapting to emerging technologies, or embracing cross-functional collaboration, Tesla alumni are well-equipped to navigate the challenges of a dynamic workforce landscape. In this regard, while the layoffs may mark the end of one chapter for Tesla employees, they also open doors to new opportunities fueled by the wealth of experience and skills acquired during their time with the company. As they embark on the next phase of their careers, they carry with them not only the legacy of Tesla's groundbreaking achievements but also the confidence born out of their contributions to shaping the future of transportation.
Buy or make your own circuit card for IoT, that’s the questions. When developing a connected device, the question about whether you could buy an off the shelf module like a raspberry pi or will actually develop a printed circuit card will come up. Either direction will required a module that includes many electronic components, such as wireless connectivity ICs, sensors, connectors, processor, and power system. There are many companies now that have developed off the shelf modules, sometimes called on board computers, motherboards, processor cards, or system modules. These modules will have everything you need to develop your internet of things product. If it does meet all of your requirements, then the next question will be does it mechanically fit into your application. This is important, as the modules may have unnecessary components (too many bells and whistles) that make it too big for your footprint or space available. If that is the case, then developing a circuit card from scratch can be a daunting tasks. If you absolutely need to then you have no choice. But if you can live with the size of the off the shelf module, then I highly recommend that approach. These are some of the cons for developing your own circuit card or printed circuit card.
1) Requires PCB design engineer. They are hard to find and they demand a high salary. In my 20 years, I have only came across a few that can really layout a printed circuit board. The skills to use Allegro or Mentor Graphics or Altium are not taught much in college. 2) Requires an electrical engineer to develop a schematic of the circuit card prior to beginning layout of the board. 3) Requires a mechanical engineer to identify the mechanical interfaces, such as hole diameters, connectors, and keep out areas. In some cases a mechanical engineer will have to perform a thermal analysis to ensure thermal performance is met.
4) A design for manufacturing review with the PCB fabrication house will be required.
5) Work with a circuit card assembly company to solder on all of the components. 6) A test set to perform a test on all of the circuit cards once they are built to check them out. 7) An ESS temperature cycle may be required as well. An ESS test is an environmental stress screening test used by electronic manufacturers to weed out defective devices a latent defects. As listed above, it requires many tasks and will require many resources. The development time for this is months. The advantage is that you can really customize your PCB. If costs is no issue, and you have many resources then its the way to go. If you are a small company and don't have access to these resources, I recommend trying to fit the off the shelf boards into your application.
If you are thinking of majoring in mechanical engineering, it’s an exciting time. The mechanical engineering field opens up so many opportunities for you. From developing your own product to working for a major tech company like Apple, Amazon, or Google, or maybe even at SpaceX working on rocket designs. There are many skills that you will learn at college, but from experience I will outline what I believe are the most important and some new skills that are not taught.
There are many skills I believe one should learn in a bachelors degree program, some of the are listed below. I will elaborate on each one, specifically how it relates to IoT connected devices ( Internet of Things)
3D CAD Modeling Structural Mechanics Heat Transfer Programming (i.e. Python etc...) Some Electronics FEA modeling Materials Manufacturing Processes The skills that should be the easiest to learn is 3D Modeling. That is a must if you want to work for either a large aerospace company or to design your own product. I highly recommend learning Solidworks, mastering that will make you comfortable with any 3D Modeling Tool. The next two skills of structural mechanics and heat transfer are emphasized in the curriculum, and don’t be worried if you can not solve every problem that is thrown at you. Just learn the fundamentals and the trick is to the learn FEA modeling to help you solve the more challenging problems. In my 20 years of working on design and analyzing I have yet to be required to have solve problems using the crazy equations, including calculus, that you learn in school. Mastering Finite Element Modeling will be your back up and strength to solving today’s complex engineering problems. The next skill I can not emphasize enough. Learning to program using software like Python I believe is a must for all graduates of engineering. Especially if you would like to work in the ever growing Internet of Things space we are in. I think it is imperitive to fully master how a connected device works in the physical world and in the cloud and knowing some programming will help. Moreover being that college kid that comes to a company with programming skills will allow you to shine in an ever aging engineering landscape when many engineers still rely on laborieous manual take using Microsoft Excel. If you can automate tasks, especially analyses tasks, you will shine. The next skill is Electronics, now I know when I was in school I hated electronic circuits, and many mechanica engineers do. However, I highly recommend learning how wireless systems work and especially a connected device or smart device like the Nest or Ring. I think this skill is a must. Learn what components are inside of these devices and how they talk to the cloud through wireless sensors. Learn what’s inside an apple phone. These skills along with knowing how sensors work for sensing such things like temperature and motion will separate you from the rest. The last two skills are material and manufacturing. Having a strong familiarity to how things are made can help you save in your design. In relation to materials. I highly recommend knowing about aluminums, steels, and lastly plastics. Moreover, 3D printed materials, such as ABS, and others used in 3D printers. And as always please feel free to comment and ask me any questions.
Connectors have been used for many years in electronics. There are many companies that use them. For the IoT connected devices market, they are very critical. The use of connectors are very realiable over other methods such as wiring. On this site I will periodically review and discuss connectors.
For this post, I want to just focus on the RF Connector space. A few of the companies that make them are TE, Molex, and I-PEX. One of the most used is the MHF4L connector offered by I-PEX. It is small and can be used in mobile devices. As more and more consumer electronics are developed in many industries, it will be on many people’s list to use. I recommend it and I believe that a mechanical locking feature is being developed for it so it can be used in harsher environments. It is mostly used to connect to wireless WiFi modules or LTE radios (i.e. Sierra Wireless radios)
The internet of things industry is growing every year, many predict there will be billions of connected devices in the near future. Many entrepreneurs are thinking of new ideas everyday. If you are one of those innovative entrepreneurs with a great idea for a connected device, however, you are not an engineer, this blog will help you understand what skills and what type of engineers you need to collaborate with. The blog will focus on the technical side of developing the product only, as you know there are other skills needed to bring a product tot market.
The IOT engineering team will consist of a few types. The first one is the electrical engineer (EE), preferably one with programming skills and system level experience. The EE will be able to create an electrical schematic if you are designing a custom circuit card. A custom circuit card for the system may be required based on application. The EE will be able to understand power requirements to power the circuitry. An EE with some power supply design experience will definitely be of value. The EE will identify electrical parts such as WI-FI radio, capacitors, resistors, and processors to be used. He or she will make sure the system is functioning with the proper current and voltage. An EE with experience is designing wireless system will be a must. If he or she has system level experience and programming skills that would be a plus and can help reduce the size of the team. If the EE does not have programming skills, then the obvious next engineer will be a software engineer (SE). The software engineer will create the dashboard for the app if needed. The SE should have wireless system experience so that he or she can allow the unit to talk to the cloud. Experience in cloud based system will be of value also in the software engineer. Security of the system shall also not be an after thought. Cyber security experience for the software engineer is needed. Another engineer will be a mechanical engineer (ME). As mentioned throughout this website, the ME will help develop the physical system, such as the housing in a NEST product. The ME will use tools such as SOLIDWORKS. It will be of value if the ME has manufacturing experience in fabricating electronic hardware, including housings, and circuit cards. There are some MEs that can even create the gerber files for a printed circuit board. If the ME has ALTIUM or Allegro experience that would be best. In summary there are a few engineering skills required to develop an IOT device, listed below are the ones I believe are required. In todays competitive world there will be some engineers that have multiple skills, hard to find but there are some out there. Electrical Engineer Software Engineer Mechanical Engineer System Engineer Cyber Security Specialist Printed Circuit Card Layout Designer Manufacturing Engineer (Mechanical Engineer should have this skill) Hope this post is helpful. Please feel free to comment or contact me if more in depth feedback is needed. This is part 4 to performing a thermal analyses. So at this point we have cleaned up model for preparation for FEA thermal analyses, imported the STEP CAD model, applied material properties, applied heat generation or power dissipation, and now we are ready for apply environmental conditions. For most connected devices used in an industrial or consumer environment, the ambient temperature that can be assumed is 45 C or about 110 F. This is probably the hottest ambient that the device will be exposed to, so we will assume this. The analyses will assume that the internal parts are being cooled via conduction only. The external surfaces can be assumed to be cooled via natural convection. To consider conduction cooling inside only, make sure all parts that are touching each other are making contact and are considered welded to each other at their mated interfaces. The external surfaces will be convection cooled by applying a convection coefficient of approximately 10 w/m^2K. This considers a natural cooled environment. To do this, select all external faces and apply the convection coefficient to them. Next, the initial temperature condition for this steady state analyses will be room temperature, about 23 C. And that’s all that is needed to run the analyses. Stay tuned as I delve deeper into each section to really provide analyses techniques that only experienced professionals know and use, and which are not taught in school.
I will do a summary of the first two steps before I get into the next. So far we have created a copy of the product assembly model and performed some clean up on it. We removed any unnecessary hardware such as screws, inserts, and washers. Detail part modeled were simplified by deleting miscellaneous holes and filler radio that will not add value to the thermal model. The next step was to apply material properties to all components. For example, the circuit board properties that I usually use are 35 w/mk in the in-plane directions and about 0.5 w/mk in the z through the thickness direction. It is important to use as accurate as possible material properties.
Now that the model has been cleaned up and material properties have been applied, the next step is to apply power dissipation or heat generation to the circuit board. The heat generation can be applied onto a surface area or it can be applied to a shape in volumetric form. For simplicity we will apply it to a surface area. The surface area that we will apply it to will be an area that should have been previously created in the CAD model. To review for example, if a processor is being used or a radio/wifi module is used, they typically are of rectangular shape with volume. While in the 3D model, you can suppress the component model and simply create a 2d rectangle at its location and on the surface it is soldered to. Once you create the 2d generated curve, you can use a split face operation so that it is selectable in the analyses model.
Back in the analyses software model, we can now apply power in the form of watts to the previously created surface area. So the question is how much power do you apply, well this is where an electrical engineer is needed to calculate how much typical power will be used while the unit is fully powered on. The electrical engineer should be able to provide the power being dissipated during operation for each component. Apply the power to each surface area and then our next step will be to simulate the operating environment.
This is part two to performing a thermal verification of your connected device. To summarize the first step, it is important to minimize or defeature and remove unneeded parts. Also, make sure there are no parts that over lap each other as that could cause the finite element model issues. So now that the model has been imported, the next step is to assign material properties. Depending on what type of thermal analyses is being performed, with the two primary analyses being steady state and the other transient. The difference in the two is steady state assumes the component will be powered on infinitely, example being using an iPhone continuously for 3 hours. Transient is time dependent, which can be more realistic in highly critical application.
For IoT devices I would say 99 percent will be steady state. I say this because you would want to analyze the worst case which is fully powered on and on for a long time. One thing not mentioned in part one, is that all electrical component do not need to be included in the model. We will simulate the heat generation by applying to the surface area right underneath the parts. The material properties for each part can usually be found on technical data sheets for each part. For components made of metal they are usually easy to find on websites such as www.matweb.com. For plastics they can also be found there. In some cases manufacturers may have to be contacted. The two only properties that are needed to run a steady state analyses are density and thermal conductivity. For transient analyses the only other property would be specific heat. Make sure that the units are correct, meaning they have to match each other such as inches should not be mixed with meters. The next post will be in how to apply the heat generation.
In this article I will share with you the first step on how to very quickly evaluate your IoT connected device from a thermal point of view. To be more precise how to know if your product will not overheat for its entire operational life. To do this, the most effective approach will be the finite element method. The finite element modeling method requires the use of a CAD model. Nowadays most product designs have an engineering model developed. In some cases the CAD modeling tool used will have an integrated analyses module for it. If it does not, then I highly recommend Ansys, Solidworks, or MSC Patran/Nastran. There are many more analyses software out there, but what I will discuss here will apply to almost any tool.
The first step is to perform some model simplification or de-featuring. What this means is to first save your assembly model and all of its detail parts as new file names so that the original CAD model is not affected. Next, I recommend eliminating any features of your parts that will not provide any value added. These features include holes used for mounting, plated through holes for components on circuit boards. Do not include any surface mount pad features on parts. Erase by making corners sharp on parts, as fillets do not make any significant impact to results. Also, any connectors modify to simple geometric shapes. The main goal is to simplify meshing that will be needed. The more complex a model the more elements and nodes are needed and for thermal analyses they are not needed. One should strive to optimize the model so that a minimum number of elements are used and consequently the computer run time is reduced significantly. I do not recommend including screws, nuts, and any other insignificant parts to the simplified thermal model. The primary components should be those that provide the thermal path to transfer heat.
After the model is simplified, create an export of a STEP model from your CAD tool. Now open your analyses tool being used and import the STEP model. I will write about the next step in my next post. |
Proudly powered by Weebly