Local engineer wins international electronics design award
24 January 2007
News
Recognising innovation and excellence in ultra low power microcontroller (MCU) design, Texas Instruments awarded first, second and third place MSP430 eZ Design Contest prizes during the fifth annual MSP430 Advanced Technical Conference in Dallas.
First prize went to a shirt pocket-sized, two-channel digital storage oscilloscope designed by Shaun Parsons of Johannesburg, a field application engineer at Hi-Q Electronics. The second and third place prizes went to a tiny, battery-free temperature recorder and to a realtime clock temperature-compensating display watch.
Shaun Parsons
From July-October of 2006, over 100 contestants from around the globe submitted projects ranging from practical everyday devices to industry-specific solutions showcasing design skills.
Parson's winning 'pocket scope' design shrinks on size, not the features. The pocket scope features an eight-channel logic analyser, function generator, bode plotter, spectrum analyser and two-channel voltmeter with simultaneous AC/DC display and data logging functionality. The design was chosen for its ability to shrink the functionality of a much larger portable oscilloscope - which would weigh several kilograms and cost thousands - into a convenient, portable unit that could be sold for under $200.
Contestants in the Design Contest were invited to submit their original product designs along with elements including design schematics, MSP430 MCU firmware, technical diagrams, block diagrams, pictures of finished and incomplete designs or videos of running hardware.
Judges from TI, CMP Media and online votes determined the winner based on innovation and the use of on-chip MSP430 MCU features to determine the first, second and third winners. Prizes included 61", 50" and 42" Samsung DLP HDTVs along with free airfare and attendance to the ATC held in Dallas in November.
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