element14 reveals technologies that will revolutionise electronics design engineering

SINGAPORE: element14, a collaborative global electronics community from Premier Farnell plc, has revealed the biggest technologies that have the potential to revolutionise electronics and the one product engineers can’t do without out of a survey conducted across all its social media channels.

The “We love innovation” poll that was conducted for a week starting 3rd Feb captured responses from over 4,500 element14 Facebook, Twitter and Google+ fans and provides interesting insights into the world of electronics technology.

More than 50 percent of the respondents chose the iPad as the one electronics product they love and can’t do without. This was followed by the Amazon Kindle, the iPhone and the Playstation, which is further complemented by Sensing, which was voted as the biggest technology with the potential to revolutionise electronics in the future, followed closely by LED Lighting, Robotics and medical electronics.

Sensing has increasingly become critical in terms of enhancing the ways in which humans interface with technology. Sensing technology facilitates intuitive human interactions with devices such as smartphones and without it, we would be restricted to more mechanical methods of interface, which wouldn’t allow for things like miniaturisation which is critical going forward.

The technology is also significant in terms of industrial applications, including areas like factory automation, the international space programme and alternative energy, and will be one of the driving technologies in medicine as we move toward non-invasive diagnosis and treatment.

The 2012 Olympics also turned out to be an interesting theme where the majority of respondents chose embedded as the technology that will be a highlight this year, followed by Sensing, Green IT and mobile and wireless. This was particularly interesting given the latest announcements around wireless spectrum demands during the games in London this year. Embedded technology in the games can be combined with Sensing to be used in various areas like monitoring athletic performance or prosthetics for paralympians.

“Our bespoke “we love innovation” poll was an initiative to gauge the current perceptions the electronics design community has around various technologies and to look at what design engineers love the most,” said Dianne Kibbey, global head of Community, element14. “The results do show some interesting trends within the industry and the technologies that will spearhead the future, which is where key innovations will become even more significant.”

RoadTest continues to be the favourite element14 Group to assist with design work and the biggest challenge faced by electronic design engineers is the time involved in initial design stages so element14 will be looking at ways how the Knode and the Drawer can be used as solutions to overcome such challenges.