Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
The word "How?" springs to mind at this point.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                     

Scope bath

Immerse circuit and view voltages
  (+3)
(+3)
  [vote for,
against]

I build prototype circuit bits mainly "in the air" without the support of a perforated board. In the event that it does not work, circuit nodes have to be probed under power to make sure that the voltages are in the vicinity of what I expect them to be. Sometimes this causes grief as the multimeter or CRO probe shorts out adjacent nodes and sets a load of silicon free of its magic smoke.

I propose a tub filled with a liquid with electro-optically active (kerr effect*) liquid, illuminated by a xenon strobe thorough a polariser, viewed through polarising glasses. The circuit is put in, clocked at x Hz and the strobe run at x + .05 Hz. Voltage changes in each wire will be visible as a change in its colour, slowed down to once per 20 seconds.

* Kerr Effect: Under the action of an electric field, certain fluids change their optical properties, viz: transmission, dispersion, or rotation of polarisation.

neelandan, Dec 24 2001

Magic Smoke (in ICs) http://www.science....n/m/magicsmoke.html
[bristolz, Dec 24 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Bob's Breadboarding ideas http://www.planetee...ment?ArticleID=1706
What is all this breadboarding stuff, anyhow? [neelandan, Dec 24 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Please log in.
If you're not logged in, you can see what this page looks like, but you will not be able to add anything.
Short name, e.g., Bob's Coffee
Destination URL. E.g., https://www.coffee.com/
Description (displayed with the short name and URL.)






       Liquid instumentation! Cool idea. Do you think that such a liquid would alter the behavior of the circuit under inspection?
bristolz, Dec 24 2001
  

       Wouldn't the liquid effectively be putting a (high-ish?) resistance between all of the exposed wire in the circuit? This doesn't seem like a good idea if the circuit is running at a high frequency.
cp, Dec 24 2001
  

       I thought this was going to be about bathing in mouthwash.
TeaTotal, Dec 24 2001
  

       Not all liquids conduct electricity. WD-40 doesn't...I've sprayed it into a moldy ignition switch to clean things up before...
StarChaser, Dec 24 2001
  

       Seems like there'd be a problem of range as well. Would you be able to tell the difference between 4 VDC and 4.5 VDC (if it makes a difference)? And would the same substance work for 500 VAC?   

       If you don't want to breadboard, try a quasi breadboard with cardboard and tacks. Or use stiffer wire for your prototypes.
phoenix, Dec 24 2001
  

       I had a stovetop element burn halfway through over t-giving, there was a pop and no one could figure the source until I happened to look to the white glow coming from under a pot. *Bright* white, I should add. Had I poured water on the pot to put out a boilover …   

       On topic: I like this idea, but it hearkens to much IC processing I know of that is baked. Last neat idea about optically active fluids I saw involved the reproduction of 3D topography in optically active resin. Could an IC surface map be reproduced by activating a IC submerged in optically reactive resin?
reensure, Dec 24 2001
  

       [bristolz]: the liquid might add some capacitance to the circuit; I do not think any effect would be appreciable.   

       [cp]: most kerr effect liquids seem to be insulators.   

       UB: teeth?   

       [PeterSealy]: missed you, on a first cursory look, because the annotation did not have the customary beginning. The board is needed to support components so that the assembled circuit can be carried about. Without a board, the circuit cannot be moved off the table without something shorting out.   

       [phoenix]: try larger separation for larger voltages so that the resulting electric field is about the same. And no, you might not be able to distinguish a change of 10%.   

       [reensure] : Is that reproducing hills and vales using resin, or making voltages visible?   

       [Rods Tiger]: right, on all counts.
neelandan, Jan 04 2002
  

       There's a real-world version: if you put an IC chip under a scanning electron microscope and tune the energy just right, then voltages on the chip surface will appear as black/white changes in the image of the chip. If you clock a microprocessor really slowly, you can see the signals moving through the whole device.
wbeaty, Oct 01 2003
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle