(Source: metamorworks/Shutterstock.com)
In early 1985, I arrived in Southern California. Girls, sun, beach. Now, I needed a fast car. I test drove a DeLorean because it had the cool, gull-wing doors; however, I did not buy it. How was I to know that in a few months in the movie Back to the Future (1985), teenager Marty McFly would be accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the eccentric scientist Doc Brown (Figure 1)?. Doc Brown’s DeLorean featured a flux capacitor, required 1.21 gigawatts of power, and needed a speed of at least 142km/h (88mph) to initiate time travel. Alas, I missed my one chance at time travel.
Figure 1: DeLorean Motor Corporation (DMC) DeLorean vehicle. (Source: Gercen/Shutterstock.com)
Well, that was over 30 years ago. I have made it from then to the future, or the year 2021. Both the DeLorean and the car I ended up buying have come and gone. The yet-to-be-settled question is what will the future of transportation look like in our collective future? Although I still do not own a DeLorean time-traveling machine covered secretly in the garage, as a senior technology specialist, I can see a bit of our future driving experience.
In collaboration with Molex, I have looked into the future and explored the challenges, technologies, and solutions associated with connectivity in automotive design and manufacturing. Molex provides superior connection systems for tomorrow’s vehicles. Molex is an automotive solutions partner that develops and enables technology that meets ever-changing customer connectivity needs. Solutions range from standard sealed and unsealed products to power and signal harnesses for the powertrain and in-car entertainment.
In an eBook entitled, From Here to the Future: Connectivity Solutions Enhance the Driving Experience, subject matter experts from Molex and Mouser Electronics, including myself, offer insight on essential topics including 5G, modularity in automotive design, and the use of microminiature components to facilitate advances in connected vehicles.
As automotive manufacturers design and develop the next generation of vehicles, they must implement wired and wireless connectivity solutions to provide consumers’ features. Data and networking are deployed within vehicles to support advanced displays, high-resolution cameras, and LIDAR for entertainment and safety applications. Molex offers several vital solutions for the connected automobile, including USB smart charging modules, connector systems, and powertrain solutions.
From Here to the Future: Connectivity Solutions Enhance the Driving Experience, the new eBook from Mouser and Molex features the analyses, product information, and multimedia resources necessary to reach important design decisions. The eBook also features a link to an in-depth Chalk Talk video that explores design trends for automotive interconnects.
Molex’s range of products, available from Mouser, includes antennas, connectors, sensors, and embedded solutions. The eBook consists of convenient links and ordering information for more than 20 Molex products, including the HSAutoLink II interconnect system, which provides a dependable solution for point-to-point in-vehicle connections. The interconnect system delivers data rates up to 6Gbps to meet increasing bandwidth requirements. Molex’s 2.4/5GHz balanced flex and PCB antennas enable balanced RF transmission for infotainment systems and other connected vehicle applications.
Molex not only provides superior connection systems for tomorrow’s vehicles. Molex is also connecting engineers to technical content to support design and prototype development. Together, Molex and Mouser have produced the Molex Automotive Content Stream. It is your hub for Molex automotive content. By connecting technical information through content hubs and enabling access to technology from point A to point B, Molex is making a connected world possible that transforms the future and improves lives. You are invited to come and explore a range of products and technical insights through videos, eBooks, and articles to help support application development. You can also learn more about it at Mouser Content Hubs for Engineers (Figure2).
Figure 2: Mouser Content Hubs for Engineers is a place that allows engineers to investigate specific content streams that they are interested in. (Source: Khan Pranto/Shutterstock.com)
I wish I had taken the DeLorean up to 142km/h (88mph) in my test drive. Who knows? Maybe I would have been propelled through a time warp and ended up here today in the present. Now when I drive fast, I am more concerned with speeding tickets than time travel. But for you and me, connectivity solutions will continue to enhance the driving experience. From here to the future, we no longer need a DeLorean time machine to make it to our destination. Instead, we will get there together by employing the correct engineering solutions. You can trust Molex to help connect the many points in our journey to 2030.
Paul Golata joined Mouser Electronics in 2011. As a Senior Technology Specialist, Paul contributes to Mouser’s success through driving strategic leadership, tactical execution, and the overall product-line and marketing directions for advanced technology related products. He provides design engineers with the latest information and trends in electrical engineering by delivering unique and valuable technical content that facilitates and enhances Mouser Electronics as the preferred distributor of choice.
Before joining Mouser Electronics, Paul served in various manufacturing, marketing, and sales related roles for Hughes Aircraft Company, Melles Griot, Piper Jaffray, Balzers Optics, JDSU, and Arrow Electronics. He holds a BSEET from the DeVry Institute of Technology (Chicago, IL); an MBA from Pepperdine University (Malibu, CA); an MDiv w/BL from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Fort Worth, TX); and a PhD from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Fort Worth, TX).