Shocking Technologies has been quietly working on what may turn out to be a revolutionary approach to electronic design. It’s not in the mainstream of where other Wired Island clients are with design tools and IP. Instead, its value is further downstream, where products become reality in manufacturing labs and assembly lines.
And, it may not be such a secret anymore, if the cover of the recent issue of Electronics Protection Magazine is any indication.
Shocking has invented a material that, when applied to electronic components — chips and printed ciruit boards — protects the device against the harmful effects of electro-static discharge (ESD). ESD is the annoying little phenomenon you experience when you get a small shock from something metallic or electronic, like when you shuffle across the carpet.
But, it’s not that small of an issue (for one, ESD was the cause of the Hidenburgh disaster!). ESD-related failures costs the electronics industry – and ultimately consumers – billions of dollars every year. Part of the problem is that existing methods of protecting products from ESD cover only small fraction of the vulnerable parts of the product – maybe 3% in most cases.
ESD a small problem? Hardly.
Shocking changed the rules of the game by not taking a component-centric approach to ESD. Instead, its approach uses a polymer material called Voltage Switchable Dielectric (VSD) – they cleverly have branded it XStatic – to provide 100% coverage. It’s a ‘goop’-like material that gets applied to the device, which we then tech up by calling it an embedded protection method. VSD material eliminates the need for costly surge suppressor chips that also take up a lot of space. That’s huge for makers of portable device like cell phones and other consumer products, where every inch of space and penny saved on bill of materials are critical. Using Shocking’s product also reduces development time, another biggy in consumer electronics.
File this company in the “One to Watch” category and be prepared for some shocking results.
