Wow! It's already 2010!

My last blog entry spoke of time balance.  Well, I'm afraid I'm still working on that - which means I haven't quite solved the time issue yet.  However, I feel progress is positive.

This means the Chassis Juicer progress is currently on hold, as is most other Hot Juice Electric projects.  The current status of the Chassis Juicer is that all sections of its circuitry have been proven, but it is still waiting for everything to be mated together into a complete prototype.  Just a matter of time...

 

It only seems natural that 2010 will be a historically monumental year!  It seems we have missed Arthur C. Clarke’s vision for 2010, so we really got some catching up to do!

 

Okay, back to work!

 

Ken

A lot of changes have taken place during the last several months. 

My wife, Heidi, and I attended the Wayland Invitational in Portland Oregon.  This event exceeded expectations in so many ways and helped me gain a better perspective regarding Hot Juice Electric, the day job and life. 

 

The Zilla is now back in production!  EV Components will be producing the Zilla controller, under Otmar Ebenhoech’s supervision.  Otmar is the designer of the Zilla and has been producing it through his Café Electric business.  This is very good news for Hot Juice Electric!  The Zilla is, by far, the most powerful, versatile and reliable DC controller on the planet.  The loss of Zilla production would be devastating to progress of electric vehicle advancement.  That is why the return of Zilla production is such good news for Hot Juice Electric!

 

Hot Juice Electric, LLC is now focusing full attention to the Chassis Juicer instead of trying to spread limited time and resources across numerous projects.  This is even more important since Hot Juice Electric is also developing unique tools for testing.  These tools will enhance our research capabilities ensuring rock solid reliability of first run products.  Now, more than ever, the Hot Juice Electric endeavor is to push reliability and durability beyond practical limits.  “Beyond practical limits” means expensive products with very little profit.  That’s why the day job is necessary.  Yes, an over the top, ultra high quality business format may not sound very sustainable, but it hasn’t seemed to hurt Rolls Royce very much.

 

Chassis Juicer progress:

The Chassis Juicer is now in a state of redesign.  This is due to discovering that a chip (integrated circuit) used in the design has been listed as obsolete by the manufacture.  Since the obsolescence rate of chips far outweighs that of discrete components, many of the chips used in the Chassis Juicer design is being eliminated and redesigned using discrete components.  Another benefit to designing with discrete components is the designer has far greater control of the design.  The purpose of chips is to modularize the design process.  While this is very attractive to design engineers, because much of the work is done for them, the cost is control of the circuit design.  Designing with discrete components increase circuit density, makes circuit board layout more difficult and increases cost.  However, none of these are issues regarding Hot Juice Electric’s goal.

 

Maximizing anything is a matter of balancing it with the things that support it.  Balance means that each element supports the other.

 

I would like to thank John Wayland, Jim Husted, Otmar Ebenhoech, Mike Willmon and everyone who attended the Wayland Invitational 2009 for illuminating the necessity of balance.

 

Ken

 

As some of you may know, Hot Juice Electric, LLC is a part time business that is supported by "day job" income. Design and development activities require considerable up-front money that is not returned until quite a lot of products are sold.

The current economic downturn resulted in the loss of "day job" income so HJE Power was established as an emergency income provider. Unfortunately, operating HJE Power robbed Hot Juice Electric of even more precious development time.

Good News! A new "day job" has been acquired. This means HJE Power has been shelved, and Hot Juice Electric is back on track!

In so many cases, including this one, a positive result occurs from a tragic event. I am very happy to announce my new "day job" is with the Technology Kitchen. The Technology Kitchen is an electronics design and development company that shares the same passion, quality and ethical standards that I hold Hot Juice Electric to.

"Speed bumps" are a simple fact of life, but the good news is that they often bump you onto a much better path.

Ken

As mentioned in previous posts, Silicone Carbide is the new technology on the horizon of development.  This technology promises major advances in power electronics.
 
SemiSouth Laboratories is a leader in developing Silicone Carbide (SiC) technology.  As stated on the SemiSouth website: “Typical applications range from power conversion, such as in computing and network power supplies, to variable-speed drives for industrial motors and hybrid electric vehicles, to high-power, harsh-environment military and aerospace applications”.
 
The big news is that Hot Juice Electric, LLC has just received a set of Electrical Characterization Engineering samples of SiC Vertical Junction Field Effect Transistors (VJFET) from SemiSouth Laboratories.  These devices are still in R&D, however SemiSouth is now shipping samples to companies like Hot Juice Electric, LLC to research application into real world power electronics.
 
The performance of these devices are so promising that we have decided to base the Chassis Juicer and Motor Juicer on SiC technology.  While this will certainally add to the Juicer's development timetable, we feel it is well worth the wait and effort. 
 
Carbide Juicers...  Now that’s exciting! 
 
Ken 

The current economic down turn is having many effects.  It would appear that a shift from huge corporations to small businesses may be in our future.  Perhaps... even if only slightly.

In any event, Hot Juice Electric, LLC has expanded!  We have added a service division called HJE Power.  Check it out at www.hjepower.com

Ken