Electrical & Wire Harness Design Blog

  Telematics Update has published its Automotive HMI Report 2013, containing an analysis of human-machine interface (HMI) features by vehicle segment and an overview of “best in market” HMI designs, including those from automakers such as BMW, Audi, Ford, and General Motors. The report includes insights from more than 40 HMI experts from firms such as Continental, DENSO, Fiat, Garmin, GM, Harman, … Read More

University of Warwick, Telematics Update, NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), Automotive HMI Report, Nokia, Tata, Telecommunication Systems Inc., Audi, DENSO, GM, Harman, Fiat, Human-Machine Interface (HMI), Jaguar Land Rover, Garmin, Ford, General Motors, Visteon, Volvo

  Compared with, say, microcontrollers, there’s relatively little cutting-edge innovation in wiring harnesses, as indispensable as they may be. The wiring harness business, as Rick Burns describes it, is highly competitive and very cost-sensitive, with tight margins. Submit a quote a tad too high and you’ll likely lose the business, says Burns, Mentor Graphics’ product line director, System Integration … Read More

Capital software suite, Mentor Graphics, Capital Harness TVM, Wiring Harness

  Chevrolet has just unveiled a new high-end pickup, the 2014 Silverado High Country. It has a chrome grille with horizontal bars, halogen projector headlamps, body-color front and rear bumpers, 20-inch chrome wheels, all-season tires, and chrome body side moldings, door handles and mirrors. Inside, Silverado High Country has a saddle brown interior and heated and cooled perforated premium … Read More

iPad, MiyLink, Chevrolet, park assist, Silverado High Country

Aerospace engineers and enthusiasts, as well as science-fiction fans, are the latest Eagleworks experiment. The White-Juday warp field interferometer was designed and developed to record warped space and help scientists better understand the space-time bubble that would be required to break Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Albert Einstein theorized that a particle cannot travel faster than … Read More

Mentor Graphics, Mentor, Mentor.com, Albert Einstein, Quantum Vacuum Plasma Thruster, QVPT, Alcubierre drive, Aerospace, Mil-Aero, Geek, Milaero, Harold "Sonny" White, nasa, Eagleworks, plasma, Engineer

Volvo says that beginning this summer, European leasing customers will be able to drive and evaluate an upgraded demo fleet of Volvo C30 fully electric cars. Developed in partnership with Siemens, the cars boast a peak power output of 89 kW (120 hp) and a torque of 250 Nm. They can go from 0-70 km/h in 5.9 seconds. The cars are also equipped with a 22 kW fast-charger that Volvo says is the world’s … Read More

electric cars, fast-charging system, C30 electric fleet, Siemens, Volvo

  It used to not be such a big deal to buy a car and drive it for several years without feeling that much is missing. There were advances, of course, but models were more or less similar from year to year. That was then; this is now: In its annual survey of what vehicle owners want in their next car,  J.D. Power and Associates says there’s a lot of interest in device and application linking for … Read More

J.D. Power and Associates, Smartphones, buy a car, vehicle owners, wireless connectivity

This mil/aero geek is ecstatic that NASA has the resources, since the decommissioning of the shuttles, to start acting as a catalyst for the development of game-changing, space-related technologies. A couple really interesting stories have surfaced recently that have intrigued aerospace geeks, myself included. The most noteworthy is…wait for it…warp speed research! That’s right. You read that correctly. … Read More

SR-71 Blackbird, Skunkworks, Mil-Aero, Eagleworks, electrical, Milaero, Military, nasa, Aerospace, F-117 Nighthawk, John Applewhite, Mentor, F-22 Raptor, Mentor Graphics, Electronic, Mentor.com, Engineer, Geek, F-35 Lightning II, Harold "Sonney" White, U-2, Warp Speed

  Here’s an opportunity to help launch an intriguing company/technology. Mi Alerts is launching mobile technology that will send an alert to a customer’s mobile phone when the customer’s car is hit, damaged, or stolen. The complete Mi Alerts system will take photographs and videos of accidents or hit-and-runs, making it easier for insurance companies and law enforcement to settle disputes. Mi … Read More

GPS, hit & run, car, Indiegogo, Mi Alerts

During the Mentor Graphics Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum (IESF) 2013 last month, Teal Group Vice President of Analysis Richard Aboulafia delivered both good and bad nws related to current and future aerospace market trends. The commercial passenger jet airliners (or jetliners) to watch are the Airbus A320neo and the Boeing 737 MAX. “This is a well-run duopoly brought to you by Airbus and Boing,” … Read More

Military, Milaero, Mentor, aerospace market, Mentor Graphics, Mentor.com, Mil-Aero, Aerospace, china, Geek, IESF, CS300, Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum, Bombardier, Japan, C-Series, Electronic, electrical, Engineer, Richard Aboulafia, Richard L. Aboulafia, Russia

NASA, for the second consecutive year, is actively seeking proposals for suborbital technology payloads and spacecraft capability enhancements capable of potentially revolutionizing future space missions. NASA will help test selected technologies before they are used for their intended purpose and environment—being launched into and functioning in the dark, cold reaches of outer space. After the selected … Read More

NASA's Langley Research Center, NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, Mil-Aero, Computer, Milaero, Military, nasa, Aerospace, electrical, Hardware, Mentor, Electronic, Mentor Graphics, Design Automation, Mentor.com, Electric, Game Changing Development Program, Engineer, Geek, NICER/SEXTANT, Small Spacecraft Technology Program, Stephen Gaddis

As a tier one supplier focused on telematics and infotainment, Sprint Velocity is tasked with recruiting mobile app developers and integrating apps into cars. “Automakers have gone from semi-closed gardens to recruiting the best and brightest to write automotive-appropriate apps,” says Tim Johnson, Sprint Velocity global business development manager. “It’s the natural evolution of what’s going on … Read More

Automotive, mobile app, automaker, Sprint Velocity

Aerospace engineers and executives will be happy to hear that, for the second year, NASA plans to assist makers of space-related technologies, such as advanced payloads and spacecraft systems. This month, NASA announced that it is soliciting proposals from aerospace technology companies from far and wide. NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program is sponsoring the solicitation for proposals, which … Read More

nasa, Military, Mentor Graphics, Computer, Mentor.com, Mil-Aero, Milaero, Aerospace, electrical, Geek, Hardware, Electronic, James Reuther, Design Automation, Mentor, Electric, Flight Opportunities Program, Engineer, Game Changing Opportunities in Technology Development, suborbital

During the Mentor Graphics Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum (IESF) 2013 earlier this month, Teal Group Vice President of Analysis Richard Aboulafia delivered both good and bad news related to aerospace market trends. The good news: The commercial aviation market segment continues its strong growth, with orders for passenger jets extending to 2018. The bad news: The regional jet segment is suffering, … Read More

Mil-Aero, Mentor.com, Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum, A320, Aerospace, Interest Rate, Mentor, Mentor Graphics, 737-800, Fuel, Electric, Geek, Hardware, DC-9, IESF, electrical, Electric Aircraft, Electronic, Milaero, Teal Group, Technology, Richard L. Aboulafia, Software, Military, Richard Aboulafia

The Teal Group Vice President of Analysis Richard Aboulafia discussed aerospace market trends, including continued growth in the commercial aviation segment, during the Mentor Graphics Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum (IESF) 2013 in Dallas earlier this month. Commercial jetliners are a “serious anomaly” and make up more than half of the entire market in terms of industrial output and revenue—with … Read More

Military, Milaero, Mentor, Mentor Graphics, Mentor.com, Mil-Aero, Aerospace, electrical, Hardware, Electronic, IESF, Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum, Electric, Interest Rate, Electric Aircraft, Geek, Fuel, General Electric GEnx, Richard Aboulafia, Teal Group, Technology, Richard L. Aboulafia, Software

Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at The Teal Group, a provider of aerospace and defense market intelligence, analysis, and forecasts, was informative (as always) at the Mentor Graphics Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum (IESF) 2013 in Dallas this month. Not surprisingly, Aboulafia’s valuable insights will be the subject of a series of blogs on the aviation market, including both civil … Read More

Teal Group, Software, Mil-Aero, Milaero, Military, Richard Aboulafia, Aerospace, electrical, Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum, Mentor, Electronic, Mentor Graphics, Electric, Mentor.com, Electric Aircraft, Hardware, Geek, IESF, Technology