Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Strategies

What right does an individual have to be transported in an inefficient and heavy pod? This, and other strategic questions, are ignored in discussions about electric vehicles. Debate focuses on narrow tactical issues, rather than those of strategic importance.

Yes, vehicles are necessary, but not all vehicles are necessary. Electrification of vehicles is a necessary transition if the world is to avoid the calamity of global warming. Unfortunately, it is probably an insufficient measure. This means that very shortly one must come back to the initial question about individual rights.

Nations and Cities

Much of the debate about electric vehicles has been left to vehicle manufacturers, who have a vested interest in the status quo. EV1 developed by General Motors was a pubic relations dream. Everything about the EV1 was orchestrated to show the impracticality of EVs, except for the fact that the consumers who used them loved them. In the end, GM used all means at its disposal to destroy all vestiges of the EV1. They didn’t succeed.

EV1
General Motors EV1 the iconic electric car loved by everyone except its maker who tried to exterminate every EV1 made, and largely succeeded.

While vehicle manufacturers have their own particular strategies, these will have to be harmonized with those of nations and cities where EVs will be operated. California requires manufacturers to sell EVs in order for them to be allowed to sell environmentally dangerous vehicles. They do so at a loss. Both Norway and the Netherlands have stated that they will not allow the sale of new fossil fuel vehicles after 2025 and 2030, respectively. Many other nations are talking about 2040. The Paris Accord may force these and other nations to react before then.

Consumers

It would be easy to be a vehicle manufacturer, if one could ignore customer needs and desires. Unfortunately, vehicles still have to be sold. This means that consumers are concerned with such matters as net acquisition costs, that is the cost of a vehicle after any government subsidies have been taken into consideration, and operating costs, especially the price differential between gasoline or diesel and electricity.

This said, a mid 21st century consumer may not be a private individual. It may be a ride-share company or other consortium of investors. The riders in that vehicle may not just consist of a vehicle owner and her immediate family.

Types of vehicles

With a little good will, there are six types of motive power in use. ICEV = internal combustion engine vehicles, found in two variants, gasoline and diesel. In addition, there are: HEV = hybrid electric vehicles, PHEV = plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, BEV = battery electric vehicles, and FCV = fuel cell vehicles.

Unfortunately, there is no reason why any of these variants should exist in 2040. WPTEV = wireless power transfer electric vehicles, are the future, especially if they are equipped with auxiliary batteries for “last kilometer” use, and as a safeguard against grid disruptions. In the future, the term hybrid may designate a WPTEV equipped with a battery.

Market segment

The European Union has divided the automotive market into nine segments, referred to by as single letter. These are (with 2011’s market share followed by 2015’s in parenthesis, to closest tenth of a percent) – A: mini cars (8.7/8.8); B: small cars (26/22); C: medium cars (23/20.6); D: large cars (11/9); E: executive cars (3/2.7); F: luxury cars (0.3/0.3);J: sport utility cars (including off-road vehicles) (13/22.5); M: Multi purpose cars (13/10.5); and, S: Sports cars (1/0.7). This leaves (1/2.8) not reported. While other segments show some change, SUVs have almost doubled in quantity. This trend was not noticed in Norway, perhaps because SUVs have already been overrepresented. Further information is found here.

While some electric vehicles target luxury segments, many are for the 99%, segments especially A to C. Low-speed neighbourhood vehicles are largely electric. A large number highway speed A-segment vehicles are found, including the Fiat 500e, VW e-Up and Smart ED.  Only a few B-segment vehicles, such as the Renault Zöe, are battery electric. Choice is further restricted in the C-segment, which is dominated by the Nissan Leaf. The Tesla Model S is in either E or F. J-segment SUVs, such as the Hyundai Kona, are just coming onto the market. The Workhorse W-15 pickup prototype, indicates that electric vehicles may soon enter this market segment.

Manufacturing strategy

Automotive manufacturers tend to concentrate on what they perceive to be their core competencies. They insource everything from electrical components to car interiors from specialist manufacturers, such as Bosch (electrics) and Faurecia (interiors).

Strategic decisions have to be made regarding manufacturing platforms, as well as product design

Platforms

There are two approaches to platforms to produce electric vehicles. Either one can produce battery electric vehicles on existing platforms, or design a completely new platform for electric vehicles.

Product design

There are, similarly, two approaches to electric vehicle product design. Either one can adapt battery electric vehicles to existing ICE designs, or design a completely new product. While an adapted battery electric vehicle could be produced on either type of platform, a new electric vehicle design would almost certainly require the use of a new electric vehicle platform.

Case study # 1 – Fiat-Chrysler

Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is an EV skeptic. In November 2009, he  disbanded Chrysler’s electric vehicle engineering team and dropped sales targets for battery-powered cars, that had been set as it was approaching bankruptcy and needing government aid. Its electric car program had been part of the case for a USD 12.5 billion federal aid package.

As late as August 2009, Chrysler took $70 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a test fleet of 220 hybrid pickup trucks and minivans. Chrysler’s previous owner, Cerberus Capital Management, had set up a special division in 2007 called “Envi” as in, environment, to develop hybrid technology.

Chrysler announced in September 2008, that it was developing three electric vehicles and would sell the first of the models by 2010. In January 2009, at the Detroit Auto Show, Chrysler pledging to have 500,000 battery-powered vehicles on the road by 2013, including sports cars and trucks. By November 2009, Chrysler’s five-year strategy made no mention of electric cars. It was the only one of the six top-selling automakers without a hybrid offering.

In May 2012, Marchionne urged people not to buy Fiat 500 EVs because the company loses about USD 10 000 on every sale.

2014 Fiat 500 1957 Edition
A 1957 Fiat 500 and a 2014 Fiat 500e

What actually concerns Marchionne is a fear that increased use of electric powertrains will lead to car manufacturers losing control to vehicle components suppliers. Yet, his head-burying approach will lead precisely to that outcome.

Case study # 2 – Volkswagen

Currently, Volkswagen uses MQB,  Modularer Querbaukasten, translated as “Modular Transversal Toolkit” or “Modular Transverse Matrix”. It launched in 2012 for all VW Group brands, including Volkswagen, Seat, Audi and Škoda. It covers the A0 segment to the C segment. It is flexible in terms of powertrains and vehicle’s chassis. Larger vehicles use MLB, which stands for Modularer Längsbaukasten, translated as “Modular Longitudinal Matrix”. This was officially launched in 2012, but has its origins in 2007, with the Audi A5.

MQB and MLB are not platforms, but production systems for transverse and longitudinal engine vehicles, respectively, regardless of production platform, model, vehicle size or brand. There is a core “matrix” of components. A frequently cited example is their common engine-mounting core for all drivelines (e.g., gasoline, diesel, natural gas, hybrid and battery electric) of the specific approach (transverse or longitudinal). In each system, the pedal box, firewall, front wheel placement and windscreen angle are fixed. Otherwise vehicles can be shaped to fit any body style and size range. Results from this approach include reduced vehicle weights (which reduces vehicle operating costs) and allows different models to be manufactured at the same plant, reducing production costs.

The only problem with MQB and MLB is that they were eclipsed by Dieselgate, the Volkswagen emissions scandal, revealed in September 2015. The challenge is that while catalytic converter technology has been effective since the early 1980s at reducing nitrogen oxide in gasoline engine exhaust, it does not work well for diesel exhaust because of the relatively higher proportion of oxygen in the exhaust mix.

In 2005, there was disagreement at Volkswagen regarding the use of Mercedes-Benz BlueTec technology. If they had opted for this, there would have been no scandal. Instead, starting in the 2008, Volkswagen began using a common-rail fuel injection system that failed to combine good fuel economy with compliant NOx emissions. Already about 2006, Volkswagen programmed the Engine Control Unit to switch from good fuel economy and high NOx emissions to a low-emission compliant mode when it detected an emissions test. This made it into a defeat device.

Dieselgate forced Volkswagen to re-think its options. It lied and deceived consumers as well as environmental authorities. In order to claw back its reputation, Volkswagen decided to position itself as a leading battery electric vehicle manufacturer, but without a significant number of battery electric models to offer the public. In this new world, the driveline approach of MQB and MLB became obsolete.

Welcome Modularer Elektrifizierungsbaukasten (MEB). In terms of vehicle size this approximates that of the MQB, but is is restricted to electric vehicles. The MEB is optimizing axles, drive units, wheelbases and weight ratios for battery electric vehicles. It is focusing on the design and position of high-voltage drive batteries.   battery. Its flat placement on the vehicle floor free up interior space. Other changes allow the dashboard to be more compact, the position of the centre console to vary, and provide space occupants in an autonomous vehicle to work or enjoy leisure.

Volkswagen has released a time frame for five EMB vehicles. The first will be the 125kW, 500km ID Hatchback shown at the Paris Motor Show in 2016. It could/should be available in 2019. Europe will be the priority market for this model. At the far end of the spectrum with a 2022 debut, is the ID Buzz. This has been a long journey for Volkswagen, which has been teasing the public with such a vehicle since 2001, when it presented a Microbus concept vehicle. The ID. Buzz was first shown at the North American International Motor Show, in Detroit, in 2017. It has potential markets throughout the world. The Buzz may also play a significant role in Volkswagen’s upcoming Uber rival, MOIA, launched in December 2016.

Volkswagen_I.D._concept_family-0008
Volkswagen’s ID. vehicles based on MEB: Buzz, Hatchback, and Crozz (left to right)

MOIA was set up to redefine urban mobility. With offices in Berlin, Hamburg and Helsinki it aims to become a leading mobility service providers by 2025, including on-demand ridehailing and ridepooling services. It is investing in digital startups and collaborating with cities and established transport providers

Between these two vehicles, three other vehicles will be released. The next vehicle will be the ID Crozz crossover coupe. At 225 kW, it is more powerful, but will retain the same 500 km driving distance on a single charge. It will be available in Europe and China. The ID. Crozz was first shown at Shanghai Auto Show, in 2017. Perhaps the most important feature of the concept vehicle were the four roof-mounted laser scanners for autonomous driving mode, or in VW-speak, ID. Pilot mode.

After this come two additional vehicles with code names ID. Lounge and ID. AEROe. The Lounge could be a luxury car, possibly a promised Phaeton, whose second generation development was halted, then changed to an electric vehicle post Dieselgate. The AEROe could be a sporty four-door coupe.

In contrast to Fiat Chrysler, Volkswagen is focused on controlling its electric future.

This weblog post was updated 2021/12/21. to eliminate Seeds from the title. This post formed part of a Needs, Seeds and Weeds website that belonged to my daughter, Shelagh. In addition, other things are also out of date, or my opinions have changed. Apart from the title, updating the text to a block format and other minor formatting changes, the text above this paragraph remains as it was before. Any significant content changes are found below this paragraph.

Electric Power

In a quest to find inventor heros, Nicola Tesla (1856 – 1943) is frequently attributed as the inventor of alternating current (AC). Unfortunately, the world is a messy place, and a long list of contributors to the development of AC needs to be acknowledged. In 1831, Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) devised a machine that generated electricity from rotary motion. This was made into a machine by Hippolyte Pixii (1808 – 1835) in 1832. Independently of this, Joseph Henry (1797 – 1878) devised the same thing in the United States.

Wechselstromerzeuger
Pixii’s AC generator (Illustration: F. Niethammer 1906  Ein- und Mehrphasen-Wechselstrom-Erzeuger)

ZBD from the names of Károly Zipernowsky (1854 – 1942), Ottó Bláthy (1860 – 1939) and Miksa Déri (1854 – 1938) invented a highly efficient transformer in 1885. Transformers are important because they allow different voltages to co-exist on a network. High-voltages reduce transmission losses when transferring energy over long distances. Low-voltages offer safer environments in domestic, commercial and industrial settings.

Tesla did play a role in AC development, but is usually remembered for the invention of an AC motor, rather than anything to do with transformers or generators. The challenge at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, was to develop a safe, convenient electrical system that could be commoditized.

Perhaps one should go further back in time, with William Gilbert’s (1544 – 1603) experiments on the relationship between static electricity and magnetism, recorded in De Magnete (1600). Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790), is famous for his kite in lightning experiment of 1752. Alessandro Volta (1745 – 1827) is credited as the inventor of the first electrical battery, the Voltaic pile in 1799.  Even if one regards Faraday’s thought experiment as the starting point,  it took almost 50 years for the technology to reach a commercially viable stage. In 1878 the time was ripe. Joseph Swan (1828 – 1914), Thomas Edison (1847 – 1931) and perhaps as many as fourteen others developed domestic light bulbs. which led to the first commercial power plant in 1881.

As AC systems rapidly expanded in the United States, at the expense of DC systems, a media war of the currents emerged in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Many see it as a propaganda campaign by the (DC oriented) Edison Electric Light Company to stifle commercial competition by raising electrical safety issues that put its rival, (AC oriented) Westinghouse Electric Company, in a bad light.

Unfortunately, one of the main challenges with DC, is its inability to transform to lower or (especially) higher voltages, which was needed for the economic transmission of power over long distances. DC power conversion is not a hurdle today, and HVDC (high-voltage, direct current) systems always includes at least one  rectifier (converting AC to DC) and one inverter (converting DC to AC). HVDC systems can be less expensive to construct, and offer lower electrical losses compared to equivalent AC systems. HVDC is especially allows transmission between unsynchronized AC transmission systems. ABB entered into a contract in China in 2016 to construct an ultra-high-voltage direct-current (UHVDC) line featuring 1.1 MV voltage,  3,000 km transmission length and 12 GW of power, which, when completed, would set world records for highest voltage, longest distance and largest transmission capacity.

There is a lot of uncertainty about reason having any role in the selection of an AC frequency.  Since the main purpose of electricity was to provide lighting, the only consideration was to prevent flicker. Thus, a multitude of frequencies emerged, in the period 1880 through 1900. Single-phase AC was common and typical generators were 8-pole machines operating at 2000 RPM, a common frequency was 133 Hz.

At the other extreme 16.7 Hz is used in AC railway electrification system in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway. The low frequency was chosen to reduce energy losses from early 20th century traction motors. The  high voltage (15 kV) enables high power transmission. The preferred standard frequency for new railway electrifications is 50 Hz with an evening higher voltage (25 kV). Yet, extensions to existing networks, often use 15 kV, 16.7 Hz electrification. High conversion costs mean that older systems keep their voltage and frequency, despite potential on-board step-down transformer weight reductions to one third that used on the older system.

Preferred Numbers

In 1877, Charles Renard (1847 – 1905) proposed a set of preferred numbers, later adopted  as international standard ISO 3 in 1952. This system divides the interval from 1 to 10 into 5, 10, 20, or 40 steps, leading to the R5, R10, R20 and R40 scales, respectively. For some, the R5 series provides a too fine graduation. Often a 1, 2, 5 series is used, a R3 series rounded to one significant digit, a pseudo preferred number.

Myth has it, that when AEG built their European generating facility, its engineers decided to fix the frequency at 50 Hz, because the number 60 wasn’t a “R3” preferred number. This standard spread to the rest of the continent, including Britain after World War II.

Lower frequencies have a number of negative characteristics. Not only is 50 Hz 20% less effective in generation, it is 10-15% less efficient in transmission, and requires up to 30% larger windings and magnetic core materials in transformer construction. Electric motors are much less efficient at the lower frequency, and must also be made more robust to handle the electrical losses and the extra heat generated. But there are advantages too, such as lower impedance losses.

Yet, there are enlightened countries with the insight to follow Tesla’s advice and use the 60 Hz frequency together with a voltage of 220-240 V: Antigua, Guyana, the Leeward Islands, Peru, the Philippines and South Korea.

Originally Europe was 110 V too, just like Japan and North America today. Voltages increased to get more power with less voltage drop (power loss) from the same copper wire diameter. At the time the US also wanted to change but because of the cost involved to replace all electric appliances, they decided not to. At the time (50s-60s) the average US household already had a fridge, a washing-machine, etc., but this was not the situation in Europe.

The end result is that now, the US seems static. It appears to be the same now as it was in the 1950s and 1960s. It still has to cope with transformer related problems, such as light bulbs that burn out rather quickly when they are close to the transformer (too high a voltage), or too far away, with insufficient voltage at the end of the line (105 to 127 volt spread !).

Most new North American buildings provides a 240 volt residential service in the form of two 120 volt conductors and a neutral conductor. When a load is applied from either 120 volt conductor to the neutral it uses 120 volts. When a load is applied from one 120 volt conductor to the other, without using the neutral, 240 volts is used, which is useful for air conditioners, clothes dryers, electric furnaces, stoves, water heaters and others high power appliances.

There is some confusion about North American voltages. It is 120 V, not 110 V. This was increased starting in the 1950s. The historic reason for 110 V was due to Thomas Edison’s DC power systems, which probably used 110 V because that was the optimal voltage for his light bulbs. These systems converted to AC, but the voltage wasn’t changed so existing lighting didn’t need to be replaced.

North Americans could get a better system than Europeans, with no infrastructure changes, except inside buildings. Since houses get 240 V delivered, wall outlets could be supplied this too, offering the lower current and higher power advantage of the European system.

In terms of safety, current (amperes) kills, not electrical potential (volts). Even so, 240 V is regarded as more dangerous than a 120 V system. To compensate Europeans use high quality insulation and wiring methods, that include Ground Fault Current Interruptor (GFCI) or Residual Current Device (RCD) in the breaker box to cut the supply instantaneously if any significant difference is detected between the currents flowing in the live (hot) and neutral wires. This saves lives.

This weblog post was updated 2021/12/21. to eliminate Seeds from the title. This post formed part of a Needs, Seeds and Weeds website that belonged to my daughter, Shelagh. In addition, other things are also out of date, or my opinions have changed. Apart from the title, updating the text to a block format and other minor formatting changes, the text above this paragraph remains as it was before. Birth and death dates have been added to many of the people named in the text. Any significant content changes are found below this paragraph.

Fiber broadband

Within a year we should have fiber broadband to the house. Today, 2018-01-24, we have to make a decision  and sign papers ordering products.

Currently we have a «Bredbånd 5» ADSL subscription from Telenor. It offers 0.2 – 6 Mbit/s (down) and 0.1 – 0.6 Mbit/s (up). We pay NOK 358 per month for this. In addition, we pay NOK 196 per month for telephone, for a sum of NOK 554 per month.

Our new broadband supplier will be NTE. They want to supply us with «100% trønderfiber helt inn til husveggen» = 100% Trønder [an adjective referring to people and things from our county] fibre right to the walls of the house. This presents a conundrum, since the fiber is being sold under the brand name Altibox, which is being used by over 35 local Norwegian and 6 Danish FTTH (Fiber to the House) networks, and was originally set up far from Trøndelag county by Southwestern Norwegian multi-utility firm Lyse Energi in 2002 under the name Lyse Tele. It became Altibox in 2009. Since 2002, over 360 000 houses have been connected, the majority self-install (over 80 per cent).

At the top of the information sheet provided by NTE is their blurb about fremtidens tv-løsning = futuristic television solution. I didn’t even know that there was a future to television. Personally, I am very happy to decide what I want to watch, and when to watch it. So, we won’t be watching television, or buying any of the packages that cost NOK 1 099 or 1 599 per month, [providing storage, television options and standard 500 or extra 1 000 Mbit/s up and down, respectively.]

After having consulted with our children, we decided to buy the lowest speed product available: 50 Mbit/s up and down. Here is a breakdown of the costs, compared to the standard package. At a 30% income tax rate, NOK 6 588 per year after taxes is equivalent to earning NOK 9 411.

Product50/50 Mbit/s InternetStandard Package
Monthly cost5491099
Annual cost6 58813 188
Startup charge (NTE)4 9002 400
Connection charge (Inderøy)12 50012 500
First year costs13 98828 088
First year cost savings4 100
Subsequent year costs6 58813 188
Subsequent year cost savings6 600

This weblog post was updated 2021/12/21. to eliminate Needs from the title. This post formed part of a Needs, Seeds and Weeds website that belonged to my daughter, Shelagh. In addition, other things are also out of date, or my opinions have changed. Apart from the title, updating the text to a block format and other minor formatting changes, the text above this paragraph remains as it was before. Any significant content changes are found below this paragraph

At the time of this update, we were paying NOK 659 a month = 7 908 a year, for 80 Mbit/s up and down. A speed test was conducted to confirm this, which it did. This is no longer available as a new product, but continues to be provided to those who opted in at an earlier date. Broadband, without television, now provides 150 Mbit/s for NOK 719 per month, or 8 628 per year. So, today, we ordered this, which required a telephone call. About five minutes after the order was placed, a second speed test was conducted. This confirmed that the new up and down speeds were available. The price for the standard and extra packages deliver the same content (storage, television channels and broadband) as before, but now cost NOK 1 229 or 1 729 per month, respectively.

From Analogue to Digital Workshop

In my retirement, I am currently a denizen of an analogue world that that roughly approaches my teenage ideal. In that world, Plywood, marine plywood especially, was the material I preferred to shape. The preferred shape being that of a hard-chined sailboat. The radial arm saw was, unquestionably, the most exalted workshop tool. Yes, Roy Henderson had one that occupied a central position in his workshop. When I think carefully about it, that is where my idea of a line of tools, Machine Alley, has come from. He had few options, as an under-used recreation room occupied most of the basement. It was in the rec room that his son, Grant, spent his time, building and painting plastic model cars from kits.

DeWalt Radial Arm Saw 1957
A 1957 De Walt Radial Arm Saw, largely as I remember them, although I cannot recall any red sawblades. (Photo: https://vintagewoodshop.wordpress.com/1957-dewalt-10-radial-arm-saw-gw-i/ )

Roy’s shop was one of four that has influenced me. The second was a commercial workshop run by English immigrants building hard-chine, plywood hulled Enterprise sailboats from kits along the shores of Blind Bay, on Shuswap Lake, British Columbia. The third was the school workshop at Vincent Massey Junior High School, where I learned to use assorted woodworking tools, and found that mastering the jack plane was harder than mastering the band saw.

The fourth was the unloved workshop at my parents house in New Westminster. Its tools seemed to be from a previous century, and many probably were. They had belonged to my father’s Uncle, Thomas McGinley. He was the same uncle that had participated in the Klondike gold rush, but had otherwise worked as a carpenter. These tools were all rugged and heavy, designed for work on ship’s timbers or log cabins, rather than more delicate objects. I never saw my father use any of the tools. I’m not sure if it was from a lack of skills or a lack of interest. When my parents sold their house in 1972, these tools were disposed of.

These days I am more moderate in my opinions, but more excessive in my purchases. I am fortunate in being able to buy the tools I want. Yet, I hesitate to buy the best quality. I am buying the equivalent of Craftsman tools: Good, but not great. I don’t mind the challenges of working with imperfect tools. The fact that I may have to use extra time to adjust the table saw’s fence rather than have it snap into a precise position is a challenge with its own reward.

As I approach 70 years, I realize that the time I have to use analogue tools is limited. Yes, I am focusing on analogue woodworking tools. I am more comfortable working with wood than metal, or textiles or plastic or clay. In five years time, the worst of my infatuation with band saws, sliding compound mitre saws (UK)/ chop saws (US), spindle moulders (UK)/ wood shapers (US) and lathes should have eased. That is tomorrow. Today, I want to master this analogue world around me.

Because it is so many years since I used analogue tools seriously, I have to rebuild my skills. At the same time the workshop is being formed. The wisdom of what I had hoped would be a single line of stationary tools along a wall, Machine Alley, is being questioned. The table saw, an essential tool for transforming plywood, MDF and even OSB into useful components is demanding a more central placement. Already now the as yet un-purchased lathe has been repositioned in Machine Alley. The prudence of purchasing a separate thickness planer, rather than one in combination with a jointer, is being questioned.  While tools are cheaper now, it doesn’t mean that they are easy to come by. I regret Norway being outside EU’s Customs Union. It makes my purchasing decisions more complex and expensive. Because importing goods is an expensive and bureaucratic hassle, Norwegian tool retailers and importers can ignore people like me, and just offer a selection of popular tools. All of the tools that I want, but cannot find in Norway, can be found stocked in Ireland.

At this point I would like to comment on my feelings in relation to my fate. It is complex, combining regret with acceptance, even contentment. Yes, I regret never having built my own house. Yet, I am sure that I could never build one in Norway, in a way that I would like to build it. Norway is a country without building inspectors, that allows each trade to police itself. A loose canon, such as myself or anyone without trade qualifications, would never be given permission to build such a major undertaking. In Canada, anyone can do anything, but it has to be inspected, to ensure that it meets the standards. I am equally sure that I would find it equally frustrating to build a house in Canada. I am not sure that I could regress to 24″ from 600 mm.

A lack of house building means that my workshop activities have limited scope. The workshop will ensure that improvements are made to the various rooms of the house, including the kitchen and living room. A minor addition or a shed will be added. Siding will be replaced, possibly with stucco. Furniture will be built. That could take up to five years. What will happen after that? Unfortunately, many makers do not plan for their future. They see their activities proceeding linearly, forever.

What I do see happening is that at some point old age will demand a transition away from analogue tools. My eyesight will worsen, and some of my skills may degenerate. Yet, hopefully, working in the workshop will keep my strength up. I am giving myself five years to accomplish my analogue goals. Everything has to be finished by 2022-12-31, although that date may be extended, health permitted.

Let me repeat that comment about my feelings in relation to my fate. “It is complex, combining regret with acceptance, even contentment.” What I am looking forward to is replacing analogue with digital, working more with workshop automation, home automation and robotics, including robots for the elderly.

I am not quite sure what this world will look like. Yet, in my later retirement years, I am looking forward to being a denizen of a digital world that is vastly different from my teenage ideal. In this future world, I may still be using plywood, but my table saw will be replaced with a CNC machine in the centre of the workshop. It will allow me to work with different processes, simply by replacing a head. It will work with different materials, some currently unknown.

CNC Router Parts 4896
CNC Machine kits are available from many sources, including CNC Router Parts. (photo: cncrouterparts.com )

Yet, transitions have to be planned. An analogue workshop will neither appear nor disappear by itself, a digital workshop has to be planned and implemented.

This weblog post was updated 2021/12/21. to eliminate Seeds from the title. This post formed part of a Needs, Seeds and Weeds website that belonged to my daughter, Shelagh. In addition, other things are also out of date, or my opinions have changed. Apart from the title, updating the text to a block format and other minor formatting changes, the text above this paragraph remains as it was before. Any significant content changes are found below this paragraph

Maker’s block

Everyone has heard of writer’s block, and much more competent authorities have written on it – so that will not be mentioned beyond this paragraph. Instead, I want to write about maker’s block, and take an example from my own life – the non-installation of a dust extraction system for a workshop. Writer’s block is a writer’s inability to write; Maker’s block is a maker’s inability to make. Here, we will look at why this happens, and how to get the maker making again.

Several months have passed since I purchased a dust extractor. Still there is no sign of any ducting to transport that dust from their production centres to a storage centre. Why not? Unfortunately, there are not many good answers to choose from. Perhaps the best reply is to say,  I’m awaiting a miracle.

The challenge is that a dust extractor is a system, not just a single product. The system is made up of many components, that have to work together. These components are all sold individually, not prepackaged in a kit.

There is no single criteria that can be used to judge components. Instead, there are three that compete with each other. Each appears to make a system better, but each also introduces weaknesses. The three criteria are finding and using: 1) a uniform type of material, in this case a plastic; 2) a uniform tube/pipe diameter, 100 mm is the diameter of tubing that comes with the dust extractor; and 3) a wide selection of components.

Of the local shops where I can purchase DIY equipment, only one, Jula, offers blast gates or more specialty components related to dust extraction. One expects these products to have the type of plastic imprinted on them, so that at end of life they can be recycled. Before then, the same information might be useful for knowing what to do with the component. None of these specialty components from Jula have any such markings, and none of the product descriptions include anything about the type of plastic. However, each component does have “Made in Taiwan” on it. From experience, I am fairly certain that each of these components is made from ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plastic, a type most notably known for its use in Lego bricks.

Why is having only one type of plastic so important? The challenge is that it is very difficult to “weld” a plastic from one resin family to a plastic from a different resin family. This means that connections between components made from different types of plastic have to be made mechanically.

I can obtain: hose made of PU (polyurethane) and PVC (polyvinyl chloride); pipe made of PP (polypropylene) and HDPE (high density polyethylene). ABS pipe is more difficult to find.

Pipe/hose diameter.

The dust extractor comes equipped with an inside diameter of 100 mm (that’s about four inches) hose. This is the same diameter that is used for other household ventilation purposes. While hoses have a varying diameter, because of reinforcement wires, ducting and pipe are more stable. Using Vernier calipers, one finds that their diameter varies from about 100 to 103 mm. This is probably because 101.6 mm is the exact equivalent of four inches.

At Jula they offer 6 meters of PU hose with 100 mm inside diameter for NOK 800. This is only part of the cost. Every joint requires the use of a hose clamp at each end, that costs NOK 70 for 2. PU hose is described as being very flexible. Which makes it suitable for “last meter” attachment between a blast-gate and a machine, or – more often than not – an adaptor, which costs NOK 70. A blast-gate costs NOK 100, and a Y-joint separating the machine feed from the common line costs NOK 200. The last meter of machine attachment costs about NOK 570 for each machine.

Hose is not really suitable for transport between the other side of a blast gate, and the dust extractor. One of the challenges has been to find a suitable 100 mm pipe system. At Biltema this size pipe can be purchased for NOK 90 for one meter; At Jula it costs NOK 100, for 860 mm. Unfortunately, there are no sleeves at the end of either pipe, so these must be purchased for every joint. These cost NOK 40 at Biltema.

Component Diversity

The main logical flaw at this point is the expectation is that the selected components are actually suitable for the job. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The miracle that I am awaiting is that these components will suddenly become available, if only I search the internet one more time!

Enter wastewater pipes.

Wastewater pipes are available in 1, 2 and 3 meter lengths (the last one costing NOK 170). Each comes with a sleeve at one end. Sliding sleeves are also available so that cut off pieces can be attached easily. These cost NOK 60 each, as do elbows available in 15, 30, 45 and 90 degree varieties. There are also Y-joints, that cost half the price of the ABS joints, or NOK 100. This variety eases the installation process and reduces waste. There are no problems fitting these components to each other, they are designed to fit together without glue or clamps.

110 mm to 100 mm transition

The key to being able to move on, was the realization that it would be possible to joint 100 mm components with 110 mm components, despite their belonging to different plastic resin families. Weatherstripping can be placed on the exterior of the 100 mm components. These can then be joined together, and filled with silicon. Duct tape can then be wrapped around the entire joint.

Conclusion

The conclusion of this article cannot be written at this moment. At my next opportunity, I have to make a shopping list of 110 mm components, drive into Steinkjer, purchase them and then drive home.  Then the difficult part comes, actually doing the work of installing them. The end of maker’s block is within sight.

This weblog post was updated 2021/12/21. to eliminate Weeds from the title. This post formed part of a Needs, Seeds and Weeds website that belonged to my daughter, Shelagh. In addition, other things are also out of date, or my opinions have changed. Apart from the title, updating the text to a block format and other minor formatting changes, the text above this paragraph remains as it was before. Any significant content changes are found below this paragraph

Volunteering and other 2nd class words

In a comment to another post, I mentioned that I would be working up to one day a week at Hastighet, a technology workshop. The type of work that I would be doing would be very similar to that which I have done throughout my life – teaching.

The difficulty with using the term work is that there are assumptions baked into it. Work is paid work. Except, it isn’t always. Let’s take a real world example. In homes throughout the world, people work to clean bathrooms, to prepare and serve meals, to read stories to children. It is probably safe to say that most people do not employ hired staff to have these tasks performed.

If one moves outside the family/household, other adjectives come into play. Volunteer work implies that the work is unpaid. An even more poignant example is to to talk about an unpaid internship. It seems clear that an intern (like the volunteer) is inferior in some way, because they are working without pay, and people are forced to label themselves with these job titles.

I don’t want distinctions made between unpaid work, and other forms of work, where people are paid. Work is work. Similarly, I don’t want to see people labeled in terms of their income status. I find it offensive when nametags prominently display, Volunteer.

Job titles should indicate a persons level and area of competence. Senior street cleaner, junior brain surgeon and deputy assistant manager have both of these characteristics, which is fine. Sometimes, it may also be appropriate to indicate that the person is undergoing training, as in apprentice cabinet maker or management trainee.

What should be done about volunteerism?

One solution is to ensure that all work is paid, although I am unsure who is going to pay me for washing the dishes, shoveling the snow or writing a blog post.

An alternative solution is to ensure that no work is paid, that everyone receives a basic income. The challenge with this approach is that while there may be a lot of people wanting to work as CEOs, there could be less people choosing to work as pipe fitters at the local sewage works.

Perhaps the most appropriate approach world be to pay people according to the inverse popularity of the job. So while CEOs work for minimum wage, pipe fitters at the local sewage works receive supplemental income payments.

What is clear at the moment is that taking an unpaid internship is unhealthy. If nothing else, it damages long-term income prospects. An unpaid intern is identified as a loser, and will be treated as such. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jul/29/unpaid-intern-damage-graduate-career-pay

Plastic tablesaw blade guards

Cheap table saw blade guards are seldom worth the plastic they are made of.

One reviewer suggested that potential purchasers of table saws should disregard the saw blade guards that come with the machines. They will probably have to be replaced with more appropriate equipment. Recently, I was happy to have been given that advice. When a 25 kg sheet of Baltic birch plywood crashed into my guard it shattered, with two large broken pieces the result.

A temporary repair involved the disassembly of the two main plastic parts. Contact cement was then used to glue each broken pieces to its main piece. Finally, the two main parts were assembled again. If this guard is ever used again, it will be further reinforced with duct tape. While the repairs were being made, I was building the next iteration of a saw blade guard in my mind.

bty
Here are the four pieces of the broken saw blade guard, along with the screws used to hold each half of the guard together.
bty
The pieces after being glued together with contact cement.
bmd
The reassembled saw blade guard.

The guard was actually not fit for purpose. While the guard had its own connection to the dust collector, it was unable to accommodate sheets of plywood because its hose was in the way. Thus, I had to disconnect the hose while cutting the plywood.

Marmot is the brand name of products I make for my own personal enjoyment. During the design process of the saw blade guard, I made 4 iterations of the design, designated V (for version) 1 to 4.

V1

guard-wood-v1.jpeg

V1 is conceptually the same guard as the original Scheppach guard, but made with 12 mm Baltic birch plywood. The version was made just before I went off to sleep for the night.

V2

bty

In the morning, when I awoke, I knew there were two changes that had to be made to the guard. The first was the use of 6 mm Baltic birch plywood for the side pieces. This reduced the width of the guard by 12 mm. The second was a repositioning of the dust extractor. It now exits the guard horizontally, rather than vertically.

V3

bty

Here the main change was the orientation of the drawing. In terms of materials, I tried to take advantage of the irregular size of Baltic birch plywood. Its sheets are 1220 mm x 2440 mm. When making 600 mm oriented products, this leaves lengths of 20 mm plywood and widths of 40 mm plywood as waste. In this case, this waste can be used to make some of the structural components for the guard, in particular those coloured green in the drawings. No sooner had I made the drawing, than I noticed a logical flaw, which necessitated another version, V4.

V4

bty

To save time, I got out my light table. which made redrawing faster, but slightly less accurate than using a pencil, eraser and ruler. The logical error involved the thickness of the orange pieces in V4. These are 6 mm in V4, but 12 mm in V3. These pieces originate in the isosceles right triangles removed from the front of the 300 x 110 mm rectangular sides. These have a side length of 90 mm, and a hypotenuse length of 127 mm.  Each of these triangles has two additional isosceles right triangles removed to be used to strengthen the front of the guard. Their side lengths are 25 mm, with a hypotenuse length of 35 mm.

The next step will to actually build the saw blade guard, and to test it out.

This weblog post was updated 2021/12/21. to eliminate Weeds from the title. This post formed part of a Needs, Seeds and Weeds website that belonged to my daughter, Shelagh. In addition, other things are also out of date, or my opinions have changed. Apart from the title, updating the text to a block format and other minor formatting changes, the text above this paragraph remains as it was before. Any significant content changes are found below this paragraph

Contentment and thanks

Older people report higher levels of contentment than teenagers and younger adults. They are resilient. They set realistic goals. The paradox of old age is that as people’s minds and bodies decline,they feel better. In memory tests, they recall positive images better than negative; under functional magnetic resonance imaging, their brains respond more mildly to stressful images than the brains of younger people.

The secret is to spend energy on the things one can still do that brings satisfaction, not to dwell on what one had lost to age. It is time to be wild, but in a friendly, considerate way that does not harm others. It is a time to be thankful.

I would like to take this moment to thank Trish for everything she has given me, including a lovely lab coat to wear in the workshop.

2018-01-02-red-labcoat.jpeg

 

Industrie 4.0: DM&D vs CIM

Version 2: Includes the conclusion left out of Version 1, and some corrections.

digital-manufacturing
Photograph used to illustrate Tim Page’s article on Digital Manufacturing. Not quite sure what is being manufactured, it looks like more service work, most likely maintenance of a helicopter, although I appreciate the gesture of ethnic and gender equality displayed. Photo credits: dunno, perhaps TUC?)

Does the world really need another meaningless abbreviation: DM&D? Probably not, but abbreviations are cheap, and give the impression that there are many users embracing the term, and the term is used so often that it is necessary to abbreviate it. The University of Buffalo, through Coursera (The MOOC organization) is offering courses in “Digital Manufacturing & Design”. They referred to something called opendmc.org (where dmc appears to stand for Digital Manufacturing Commons). This site only provides cryptic error messages, until one finds www.portal.opendmc.org, after which it is indeed possible to explore some of the site and meet a bunch of dead ends. Finally, one stated: “Our platform is currently in a closed beta.” So much for the openness of opendmc.org.

Now, the main reason I actually visited the site was to find out what distinguishes DM&D from CIM, Computer Integrated Manufacturing. This latter term has gradually won favour in all sorts of environments. It has been in continual use since 1973, with the publication of Joseph Harrington’s book, Computer Integrated Manufacturing. It has become the preferred term since 1984 when computer-integrated manufacturing actually began, promoted by machine tool manufacturers,  and CASA/SME or the Computer and Automated Systems Association and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. So why change?

In a quest for greater insight and illumination (in the more abstract sense of the term) I turned to Wikipedia, and their article on Digital manufacturing: “Digital Manufacturing is an integrated approach to manufacturing that is centered around a computer system.” This sounded suspiciously like CIM, just with a more abstract digital replacing the more concrete computer. Yet more enlightenment followed, “Overall, digital manufacturing can be seen sharing the same goals as computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), flexible manufacturing, lean manufacturing, and design for manufacturability (DFM). The main difference is that digital manufacturing was evolved for use in the computerized world.” One could only ponder. Does computer-integrated manufacturing only exists in some non-computerized world? Perhaps CIM is only some form of primitive virtual reality.  Readers are left to cogitate: Digital Manufacturing is Computer-Integrated Manufacturing evolved for use in the computerized world.

What could be better than cloud computing, except cloud-based manufacturing? The same Wikipedia article on Digital Manufacturing, states: “Cloud-Based Manufacturing (CBM) refers to a model that utilizes the access to open information from various resources to develop reconfigurable production lines to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and improve response to customer needs.”

That quoted text contains any number of insights (although the most probable  number is 0). Unfortunately, this reader lacks the ability to understand what the text actually means. Could women and men of insight please help me understand this text? I would be eternally grateful. Yet, inside of me, I know there is nothing to understand. These are simply empty words.

The major challenge with texts about computer/digital manufacturing is the role to be played by people. Dark factories want to prohibit people from even entering them, at least during the manufacturing processes. At the other extreme, there is the growing field of collaborative robotics which in some way wants to hook up (as it were) humans and robots in the workplace.

As expected, trade unions are pressing for a humanized working environment. Tim Page writes in The Fourth Industrial Revolution: a breakthrough that must be humanized, ” So we must put people at the heart of digital manufacturing. The German engineering union IG Metall has developed some clear priorities for the introduction of this production revolution. Alongside Industrie 4.0, the German name for digital manufacturing, IG Metall have called for Arbeit/Work 4.0. This should include:

  • Job security and fair remuneration
  • A reduction of workload
  • A revaluation of activities
  • Better professional development and learning opportunities;
  • More time sovereignty
  • Informational self-determination
  • Involvement and participation on an equal footing

The introduction of digital manufacturing must be accompanied by the relentless quest for new jobs, better jobs, empowering jobs. The German approach, introducing this with the full involvement of the future labour force, is the right approach. It means working constructively with trade unions and other civil society organisations. ” http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2016/11/fourth-industrial-revolution-breakthrough-must-humanised/

These are all very nice sentiments, but the pathway from “Industrie 3.9” (or where ever we are now) to 4.0 is unclear.

Martin Ford in Rise of the Robots: Technology and the threat of a jobless future, sketches a new economic paradigm in his tenth, and last, chapter. He writes about diminishing economic returns from education, cites Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows, which Ford regards as anti-automation. He then writes warmly about a basic income guarantee, especially from Friedrich Hayek’s perspective. This warmth continues as he writes about markets as renewable resources. Many other proposals are taken up, but in the end Ford presents no other solution than a basic income, bread and circus for the 21st century. Even though I gave it a 5 on Goodreads, the last chapter of Ford’s book was a depressing read.

There seems to be no need for yet another phrase (digital manufacturing) to replace Computer Integrated Manufacturing. Yes, manufacturing processes have matured, or at least aged, these past 45 years, but that is no reason to discard a perfectly good term. We still call a 2017 laptop a computer, even if it differs significantly from a Digital Equipment PDP-11/20 mini-machine from 1970.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_manufacturing

Ethan & Ethel 03: Electrical Power

Some things in life are just so important that they just have to be learned. Memorization can be the right approach for some. For others, it might mean keeping a piece of paper handy, with formulas written out. Regardless, Ohm’s law and related formulas have to be learned.

Fortunately, a cool soldering iron will help explain Ohm’s law, and the related formulas. The soldering iron is a Miniware TS100.

TS100-soldering-iron
A Miniware TS 100 Soldering iron shows a warning when it is too hot compared to a preset maximum temperature. (photo: Miniware)

Ethan has saved up his money to buy a TS 100 soldering iron. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough money to buy a new power supply, so he wants to know if he can use this one, which he has lying around:

12V2A
A power supply with 12 V and 2 A output values. Is it good enough to power a TS 100 soldering iron?

This gives him an opportunity to learn about electricity and how it works. A plumbing analogy is often used to explain electric power. Think of voltage, the pressure driving electricity through a wire, as water pressure forcing water through a pipe. The cross-section area of a pipe is like current, or amperage. The bigger the pipe, the more water that can be pressed through. The diameter of the electrical wires determines how much current is allowed through the system. If more current is pressed through than the wires are designed for, a device could fry.

The problem.

The TS 100 instruction sheet says that a maximum of 65 W can be obtained with a 24 V power supply. It also says that the minimum requirement is 17 W with a 12 V power supply. The power supply itself confirms that it provides 12 V output. But it doesn’t mention amperage, only wattage. The easiest way to find out if a correct amperage is being supplied is to use a power triangle. This is what it looks like, in three almost identical versions:

vip
The power triangle allows Ethan to find an unknown value, when two values are known. In this thought experiment we know the power (P=17 W) and the voltage (V=12 V) but not the amperage (I). (illustration: http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws)

Ethan uses the middle power triangle, because he knows the power (17 watts) and the voltage (12 volts) but is missing the current or amperage, abbreviated as I. So he takes out his cell phone, uses the calculator app and inputs the necessary numbers, as shown here: I = 17 / 12 = 1.41 A. Since 1.41 A is less than 2 A, Ethan can use the power supply he already has.

A soldering iron works by using a resistor to heat up a metal tip. The relationship between the Voltage, Current and Resistance forms the basis of Ohm’s Law, which can be shown as another triangle, the Ohm’s Law triangle, also in three version, below:

vir
The Ohm’s triangle shows relationships between I = current, measured in A = amperes or amps, V previously E = voltage, measured in volts. R = resistance, measured in Ω (ohms).

Using the third triangle, the resistance is found using the following formula: R = V /A = 12 / 1.41 = 8.5 Ω.

Starting off only knowing two values, Ethan ends up knowing four. These relationships are summarized in the Ohm’s law pie chart:

pie
The Ohm’s law pie shows all of the twelve calculations that can be made. If you know two values, then you will only need to use two formulas to calculate the missing two values. The secret is knowing which two.

These relationships are explained even better in an Ohm’s law matrix. If any two values are know, the relevant row can be found by looking at the leftmost column. That row will show the two formulas that are needed to calculate the missing values.

ohm matrix

Electricity comes into houses in the form of alternating current (AC). This is because AC can be easily transformed into lower or higher voltages as required. Most workshop equipment uses standard household voltage. In North America, this is 120 V. In Europe, it is 220 (or 230 or 240) V. The other big difference is that North America supplies electricity at 60 Hz, while in Europe it is 50 Hz.

These differences used to create lots of problems, but if you look at the power supply shown above, you will see that it can use any input from 100 V to 240 V. There is also no problem using 50 Hz or 60 Hz. This means that the same power supply can be used anywhere in the world. The only thing needed is a plug adapter.

adapter US to EU
An adapter is useful when travelling from one part of the world to another. This adapter allows North American devices, for example a power supply, to be plugged into European wall sockets.

Not everything works this well. Clocks are notoriously bad, because many tell time based on the frequency of the network. A European clock brought to North America, may show 28.8 hours in the course of a day. A North American clock brought to Europe, may show only 20 hours in the course of the same day.

The biggest difference between North America and Europe is in the wiring that is required to run equipment. That is because current or amperage (and not power or wattage) determines the thickness of wires used. A 2 000 W mitre saw on a 120 V system needs a 20 A circuit breaker and #10 wire which is 5.26 mm² (in Europe, it has just exceeded the 16 A wiring limit, 2.5 mm²). On a 240 V system this same mitre saw only needs a 10 A circuit breaker and #14 wire which is 2.08 mm² ( In Europe, one could actually get away with 1.5 mm²).

Workshops need a lot of electrical power because they use machines that are transforming material into useful products. The work being done requires energy. That is not the only use of energy. Heating and dust extraction are also major energy consumers.

The Cost of Heating

Ethel and Ethan have a problem. They find the work space soooo cold that they have installed a 1500 W heater. The twins turn on the heat one hour before they begin working, and turn it off half an hour before they plan to stop. So far this month, they have had the heater on 46 hours.

A workshop needs energy to do work or create heat. Work is officially measured in joules ( J ). One joule is the same as one watt-second. If one knows how many watts one is using, and how many seconds it is being used, it is easy to calculate the number of joules.

Work = 1500 W · 46 hours · 60 min/hour · 60 sec/min = 248 400 000 J or 248.4 MJ (mega-joules). When calculating joules, it can be useful to know that there are 3 600 seconds in one hour, and 86 400 seconds in one day (24 hours).

When it comes to buying electricity, the kilowatt-hour is the standard units of energy recorded by the electricity meter. This can be a lot easier to calculate: 1 500 W, is the same as 1.5 kW; 46 hours is the same as, well, 46 hours. The heater’s electrical consumption is 1.5 kW · 46 h = 69 kWh. The price of 1 kWh varies, but in some places is about 15 cents.  So the cost of heating the work space for a month is 69 kWh · $0.15 = $10.35.

Bonus Questions. Since the twins live in Canada, they have 120 V electrical power in their workshop. Calculate: What is the Amperage required for a 1500 W heater? What is the resistance inside the heater? (answers: 12.5 A;  9.6 Ω)

Power Requirements

Here are the wattages I use in the Unit One workshop. If all of the machines and other equipment were all turned on, they would use over 19 kW. Fortunately, that has never happened.

Use Wattage
Workshop
Lighting

100 W

Computing

100 W

Compressor

750 W

Workshop air cleaner

200 W

Dust extractor

1 100 W

Heating

 2 000 W

Stationary machines
Jointer

1 250 W

Planer

1 500 W

Compound mitre saw

2 000 W

Table saw

1 400 W

Band saw

750 W

Drill press

500 W

Sander

500 W

Bench grinder

400 W

Portable tools
HVLP spray gun  600 W
Jig saw

800 W

Bayonet saw

1 000 W

Plunge (Track) saw

1 400 W

Router

1 400 W

Power drill

500 W

Angle grinder

800 W

 

Load

Because only one (perhaps two) power tools are being used at any one time, the workshop’s maximum load is 6 250 W. The worst tool to use is the compound mitre saw (2 000 W). In addition, there is a need for lighting (100 W), computing (100 W), workshop air cleaner (200 W), dust extractor (1 100 W). At times a compressor is in use (750 W), and in winter, a heater may be turned on (2 000 W).

Three-phase power is supplied to the workshop at 230 V and 16 A with three load lines (L1, L2 and L3) coming in. These load lines are paired up to make 3 single-phase circuits. The total power coming into the workshop is 6370 Watts.

 

Several illustrations for this blog post have been borrowed from: http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws, which is the place to go for electronics tutorials.