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52 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2019 • Straddle analog to digital converters along the border of the two territories • Use a single, solid ground plane • If you have to route a signal trace from one area to the other, place it entirely over the PCB's ground plane Second, keep the power ground and control ground separate for each power supply stage. Also, to keep your digital and analog grounds separate, build in a small impedance path. This will limit power circuit interference and help protect your control signals. Finally, pay attention to routing. For example, you want your analog grounds crossed only by analog lines. This will reduce capacitive cou- pling on a large ground plane with lines routed above and under it. Prevention Begins With Awareness Knowing what the error checker will and will not catch regarding connections to split planes is the first and most important step to prevent- ing exploding PCBs. We believe that the best method for dealing with complex power plane schemes is one that can rely on automated error checking. DESIGN007 Bob Tise and Dave Baker are engineers at Sunstone Circuits. To read past columns or contact Tise and Baker, click here. For collaboration on the shop floor, the machine rec- ognizes human gestures, faces, and postures when a person enters the robot's work zone. This data serves to make the teamwork safe and control the robot. Humans can gesture, using hands and arms to instruct the mecha- nized coworker to perform a task. The robot can interpret even complex movements. The robot not only tracks hands but also scans faces. For example, if the human glances sideways or rearward to talk to another coworker, the machine knows to ignore gestures meant for others. Humans and the robot can work together directly and even pass parts and tools back and forth. The robot sees when a hand is too close to the worker's face and waits for it to be extended out of the danger zone before handing the object over. This human-robot interaction comes courtesy of smart algorithms and 3D cameras that lend the robot the power of sight. (Source: Fraunhofer Institute) The Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU has developed an unprecedented tech- nology to make human-machine teamwork more efficient, benefiting the entire manufacturing workflow. "We have added effective, secure, and flexible interac- tion to legacy technology. This is the first time humans can communicate and collaborate directly with heavy- duty robots based on hand gesture in the industry," says Dr.-Ing. Mohamad Bdiwi, head of the department for robot- ics at Fraunhofer IWU. Fraunhofer and Forming Technology IWU Develop Interactive Control for Industrial Robots Bob Tise Dave Baker