h a l f b a k e r y"It would work, if you can find alternatives to each of the steps involved in this process."
add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random
news, help, about, links, report a problem
browse anonymously,
or get an account
and write.
register,
|
|
|
Please log in.
Before you can vote, you need to register.
Please log in or create an account.
|
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.
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]
[link]
|
|
Liquid instumentation! Cool idea. Do you think that such a liquid would alter the behavior of the circuit under inspection? |
|
|
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. |
|
|
I thought this was going to be about bathing in mouthwash. |
|
|
Not all liquids conduct electricity. WD-40 doesn't...I've sprayed it into a moldy ignition switch to clean things up before... |
|
|
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. |
|
|
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? |
|
|
[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. |
|
|
[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. |
|
|
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. |
|
| |