|
PCM Electronics Ltd
You have the idea, we will do the
engineering. The world is analogue and we have the experience to interface with
it, from very low powered battery equipment to medium current (~100A) power
supplies and loads. Once we have captured the data, we can use digital
electronics to process it.
With an automotive and test equipment background, PCM Electronics Limited
was formed in 1994 to provide a design and manufacturing service to a wide range
of customers involved in Power, Control and Measurement electronics. The
majority of our customers are manufacturers of components, stand-alone products
or test equipment who need expertise beyond what they have available with their
in-house design team. Much of our work is repeat business with satisfied
customers, from small entrepreneurs to blue-chip companies.
The requirement ranges from a short consultancy to a full product development.
For the latter, we produce a design specification, design - to component level -
and make prototypes then either make the final product or pass the design to the
customer with full professional documentation so they can make it themselves.
The design process may include simulation and development results can be
recorded directly from instruments to a computer.
Our experience in developing low-noise and high-speed measuring equipment as
well as high-efficiency switch-mode power supplies means that we have a
significant amount of expertise in creating optimal PCB layouts, using the
Altium Designer suite, to minimise electromagnetic susceptibility and
interference (EMC).
Recent customers have found our expertise in the power conversion field useful.
A manufacturer of photovoltaic cells, or solar panels, wanted efficient circuits
to allow them to charge Ni-MH batteries of different voltages for intermediate
storage, so that the batteries could later charge mobile (cell) phones or power
LED lamp arrays in Africa.
A customer who makes DC - DC converters for the automotive and yacht market had
a problem in manufacture. Investigating this led to improving one of their boost
converters so that it was still protected when subject to a short circuit and
would start into a truck headlamp load.
TRL, who specialise in all aspects of transport research, use us as a dependable
resource to provide bespoke one-off equipment that is not available on the
market. Examples include: rugged isolated power supplies to run multiple low
voltage units such as LCD screens for a research vehicle, a variable three-phase
electronic load up to 1kW to calibrate the strain-gauge instrumentation which
measures drag on a truck wheel and a remote switch to allow signals from a
microphone array to be recorded sequentially.
One of our biggest customers makes end-of-production-line test equipment for
discrete semiconductor manufacturers. We have developed a linear regulator
tester and a FET gate parameter tester for them. The gate parameters of interest
are inter-electrode capacitance and gate series resistance (Rg) to match
switching times of paralleled FETs for computer board power supplies. The test
is complete in 5ms and measures devices having a gate capacitance of 100pF or
more with 1pF and 50mohm resolutions.
|
