Knowing which PCB specification changes require new tooling and which do not can help designers and buyers reduce nonrecurring engineering costs while avoiding unnecessary delays.

NRE (nonrecurring engineering) is a one-time fee charged by the fabricator for each revision of a design for a particular printed circuit board.

Despite rapid advances in artificial intelligence, humanoid robots still face major hurdles in mobility, communication and energy efficiency.

With all the attention, headlines, discussion, expectations, hopes, fears and, yes, hype surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), there is one area that appears far from ready for prime time: humanoid robotics.

As the PCB industry absorbs AI’s impact on nearly every aspect of business, the latest humanoid robots are showing how the technology can multiply our ability to imagine.

AI is one of my favorite subjects, as you may have noticed, and I make no apology. It’s already transforming our lives, and this will continue for years to come. Fixating on those two letters is easy, as they are currently evoking many emotions, including both excitement and fear. In the PCB industry, we are seeing how AI server demand is drastically reshaping the board market and the supply chain for substrate materials. So much so that, within Ventec, we feel the market will never be the same again.

PCB engineers need more flexibility than all-or-nothing keepout rules.

Modern PCB layouts demand precise routing control. As board designs become denser and constraints become more difficult to manage, PCB engineers need more flexibility than all-or-nothing keepout rules.