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NOVEMBER 2019 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 75 mils of copper into the holes for normal Class 2 designs. This gives the circuitry the current- carrying capacity needed and makes the plat- ed through-holes robust enough to withstand thermal expansion during operation and main- tain an electrical connection to all of the neces- sary internal layers. Whew! I'm out of breath now. Pass me back that beer! Counting the Ways to Love Copper We lean on copper for a lot of reasons. Along with great conductivity, it is very tolerant of heat (aka "thermal stress"). This is increasing- ly important as more boards use exotic materi- als like ceramic, Teflon, or next-gen laminates that are often part of devices that need to func- tion to their full potential in high temperatures. Last, but not least, we should recognize cop- per's other big selling points. It's plentiful and relatively inexpensive. Over the past year at Sunstone, we have dedicated a fair amount to assessing the cost of quality. With supply chains in so much flux with respect to cost and availability, copper's reliability and usability make standard PCB use that much more com- pelling for designers, engineers, and entrepre- neurs. Copper is pretty cool. DESIGN007 Bob Tise is an engineer at Sunstone Circuits. To read past columns or contact, click here. Autonomous driving holds great promises for increas- ing road safety and efficiency, as well as for decreas- ing future travel cost. Many companies have already been operating testing fleets on public roads and have an- nounced plans to commercialize robotaxi services in the next 2–3 years. How will autonomous driving shape the future of the automotive sector? IDTechEx has re- cently published its latest report on autonomous mobil- ity titled "Autonomous Cars and Robotaxis 2020-2040." According to IDTechEx's forecasts, global autonomous car and robotaxi services will become a $2.5 trillion market by 2040. The autonomous driving ecosystem requires a different approach to traditional automotive de- velopment, in that it focuses on the full technol- ogy stack of hardware such as sensors, comput- ing platforms, and non-hardware components, including AI software and HD maps. The report of- fers an in-depth analysis of key enabling technol- ogies, including lidars, radars, cameras, AI soft- ware, HD maps, teleoperation, cybersecurity, and 5G and V2X. Key players with their latest technol- ogies and product commercialization plans are presented as the case studies of this report. Autonomous driving technologies will accelerate the shift of private car ownership towards shared mobility or mobility-as-a-service (MaaS). Mobility services enabled by autonomous driving technology, which allows fleet operators to get rid of the biggest operation cost—the human driver—will offer a cheaper alternative to pur- chasing and owning a private car. IDTechEx forecasts that in a moderate scenario, 30% of the total travel demand will be provided by MaaS by 2040 and global passenger car sales are expected to peak in 2031. (Source: IDTechEx) IDTechEx Latest Research on Autonomous Cars and Robotaxis 2020–2040