PocketPico USB Instruments

Spectroscopy Application Note

Ian — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:12:08 +0000

This application note details how the PocketPico Picoammeter may be used in photoemission spectroscopy for the purposes of beam monitoring, beam current measurements and beam alignment.

Researchers Develop New Way to Harvest Electromagnetic Energy

Ian — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:28:14 +0000

Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a new method for harvesting ambient energy by using an ultra-wideband antenna, resulting in “greatly increased power-gathering capability.” The researchers believe that this technology could power networks of wireless sensors for chemical, biological, and heat sensing, RFID tagging, and other monitoring tasks at a very low cost.

Interestingly, the researchers use inkjet printers to print sensors and antennas on flexible surfaces like paper and other polymers. But don’t expect everyone with an inkjet printer at home to be able to print their own sensors — it turns out you’ll need to get a hold of some silver nanoparticles and other nanomaterials first.

Ambient electromagnetic energy harvested as power source [EDN]

PocketPico Reader 1.1 Released

Ian — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:55:25 +0000

Ix Innovations is pleased to announce the release of version 1.1 of its PocketPico Reader software for use with the PocketPico Picoammeter. Among minor updates and bug fixes, the new software version adds advanced data logging features including the ability to set the sampling interval and the number of samples to log before stopping, and to append new data to an existing data file.

This new software installer is available for download immediately from the downloads tap at pocketpico.com (note: unless already registered, you must create a pocketpico.com account to download).

Optical Measurements Application Note

Ian — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:02:53 +0000

This application note explores the low-current optical measurements — including exponential behavior of photodiodes and the currents induced in phototubes — that are possible with the PocketPico Ammeter.

Resistance Measurements Application Note

Ian — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:26:43 +0000

Resistance measurements are more than just power, they are process. Best-practices for resistance measurements are introduced in our resistance measurements application note. Test approaches are discussed for both low and high voltage testing.

Firmware 1.1 includes native LabVIEW compatibility

Ian — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:34:32 +0000

All new PocketPico Picoammeters are now shipping with our latest firmware, version 1.1. Among stability enhancements, this firmware version now includes native LabVIEW compatibilty (with the PocketPico enumerating as a virtual serial device in the list of COM ports. Contact Ix Innovation if you are a current owner of a PocketPico and would like to upgrade to the latest firmware.

PocketPico Picoammeter Wins 2011 “Best in Test” Award

Ian — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:43:54 +0000

Ix Innovations is proud to announce that our PocketPico Picoammeter has won the Test & Measurement World 2011 Best in Test Award in the “Instruments, handheld and bench” category. We want to extend a special thanks all all who voted for our product!

T&MW announces winners of 2011 Best in Test awards [Test & Measurement World]

When is a Kilogram not a Kilogram?

Ian — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:25:45 +0000

Did you know that the kilogram is the last of the International System of Units (SI) units to be tied to an actual artefact? If you did, you must be interested in metrology! The ‘official’ kilogram is a platinum-iridium alloy cylinder cast in London and now located outside of Paris. For 130 years, metrologists have used several copies of the original prototype to provide official measures of mass for the metrology community. The problem with this system is that the cylinder’s mass has been changing slightly over time (by a matter of micrograms), thus throwing into question what, exactly, the mass of one kilogram is.

The NIST Watt Balance

Now, an effort is under way to define the kilogram to something less variable. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has proposed a new definition of the kilogram based on the Planck constant (h), which is a measure that relates the energy of photons to their frequency. In order to do this, they have been experimenting with a watt balance, a weighing scale that measures the electric power necessary to oppose weight as it is pulled by earth’s gravity. This method would ensure that the new kilogram will be an absolute and universal standard. A resolution for the new SI will be submitted for consideration at the next Conférence générale des poids et mesures (General Conference on Weights and Measures), which will take place later this year.

Weighing a kilogram: The constant gardeners [The Economist]

Bonus explainer: It is commonly understood that a kilogram is equal to the mass of 1L of water at 4 °C. However, this definition was abandoned in 1799 because the density of water changes with temperature and with pressure.

Extra bonus explainer: In case you’re wondering, the other four basic SI units are the ampere (electricity), kelvin (temperature), mole (quantity of atoms, molecules or other particles) and candela (light).

PocketPico Featured in EDN’s ANABLOG

Ian — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:41:45 +0000

The PocketPico picoammeter was recently featured in Paul Rako’s ANABLOG on EDN.com. In addition to highlighting the specs of our instrument, Paul solicited feedback on our instrument and our theory of operation from a few analog industry experts.

Open, honest debate is the best way to learn about our users and to look for improvements in future models. Paul’s post highlights the different use cases and tradeoffs that are made during the design and use of picoammeters. We’re pleased that others see the value in having the option to not fix a range due to our unique, low-noise log processing.

And extra props to Glen for finding a small typo in our theory of operation document. Error fixed!

USB picoammeter resolves 20pA-2mA [EDN.com]

PocketPico is an EETimes.com Readers Top 20 Product in 2010

Ian — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:55:41 +0000

UPDATE: The PocketPico was one of the top 20 most-read product stories of 2010!

EETimes.com Products 2010: Readers flocked to low-cost, no-cost [EETimes.com]

(Originally posted December 13,2010)

The PocketPico picoammeter product announcement article was just named one of the Top 10 most viewed product articles on EETimes.com in November! Okay, we’re done patting ourselves on our backs.

EE Times Products: Readers’ Top 10 and more [EETimes.com]