Philip McGaw has over a decade of professional electronics experience in EMC, Testing and Research and Development. He lives between Banbury and Daventry in the West Northamptonshire area.
Philip enjoys working within a fast-paced R&D environment, developing innovative solutions to allow for testing complex systems within regulatory framework testing, Hardware in the Loop, or production line testing of prototypes through to final products.
Philip can apply his Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering background and his skills in 3D Printing, rapid prototyping and Embedded Systems to develop and test innovative hardware solutions for Devices under test, recently this has included Electric Vehicles and Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. Previously, this also included hardware supplied for testing by customers.
You can view Philip McGaw’s LinkedIn Profile for more information…
Philip McGaw’s Recent Posts
- Test in a Box: Pico hardware support and a more useful validation bench
Test in a Box is becoming useful on real hardware Since my previous Test in a Box update, the project has moved beyond the original power-supply and relay demonstrations. I have been connecting more of the laboratory instruments that I actually want to use on an engineering validation bench, and fixing the differences between “there is a driver” and “the driver works with the instrument in front of me”. That distinction is important. A Python class existing in a repository is not the same as a device being identified, read correctly, logged, and usable in a repeatable test. Pico TC-08… Read more: Test in a Box: Pico hardware support and a more useful validation bench - TiaB – Test in a Box!
I have been working on a project I have called Test in a Box (TiaB), it is an open-source test automation platform for repeatable hardware testing and validation. The idea is pretty simple: build something that makes it easier to control test equipment, run repeatable sequences, and capture the results without having to reinvent the whole setup every time. A lot of engineering test work ends up being a mixture of scripts, manual steps, instrument settings, and notes, and this project is my attempt to pull that together into something more structured. So far I have got the TTI PSU… Read more: TiaB – Test in a Box! - Potential Divider Calculator
This calculator performs calculations for potential divider circuits, as well as giving you information about the power and current that your potential divider will draw, and the ratio for use in your code if you are using this for working out the voltage via an ADC on a microcontroller. It will also give you suggestions on E24 series resistors to aim for, so you can dial in on values that are commonly available. Voltage Divider Calculator R1 (Ω, kΩ, MΩ): ΩkΩMΩ R2 (Ω, kΩ, MΩ): ΩkΩMΩ Vin (V): Vout (V): Voltage Outputs Vin: — Vout: — Ratio (Vout/Vin): — Multiplier:… Read more: Potential Divider Calculator - Pressure Material Choices
Since my IPCC Track Width Calculator, I have been thinking about how to make an online alternative to Under Pressure. The material choices in Under Pressure are a good starting point for my version. The strength properties of a material are used to predict the pressure (depth) at which material failure will occur. Bearing stresses (average seat stresses) and membrane stresses (axial, hoop and meridional stresses in shells and tangential and radial stresses in plates) are compared to uniaxial strengths of the material to predict failure. Shear stresses are compared to shear strengths of the material to predict failure. Uniaxial… Read more: Pressure Material Choices - IPCC Track Width Calculator
Following on from my two IPC 2221 posts, IPC 2221 standard trace widths and the one where I normalised them for KiCad Traces Net classes, I have built an online calculator that you can use to work out the required track width with different parameters. IPC-2221 PCB Trace Width Calculator Current (Amperes): Allowable Temp Rise (°C): Copper Weight (oz/ft²): 0.5 oz (approx 17.5 µm)1.0 oz (approx 35 µm)2.0 oz (approx 70 µm)3.0 oz (approx 105 µm) Display Units: Millimetres (mm) Mils (thou) External Layer (Outer) — Area: — mil² Internal Layer (Inner) — Area: — mil² Calculations are approximations based… Read more: IPCC Track Width Calculator
Philip McGaw’s previous responsibilities
Projects that Philip McGaw has worked on previously have included:
- Commissioning of the new EMC and electrical test facilities in Banbury, UK.
- Designing EV EVSE test equipment.
- Development of design validation plans (DVP) and procedures for Electric vehicles (EV) components to meet industry standards [ISO 16750, CISPR 25, ECE Regulation 10, ISO 10605, ISO 11452, ISO 7637] and company requirements.
- Performing validation tests for EV components – HV traction inverters, ECU, DC: DC Converters, BMS, ADAS, HMI, etc.
- Performing R&D and functional tests, and fault analysis for new EV component designs.
- Performing tests with the Vector CANalyzer environment and Python.
- Preparation and release of test reports, hardware bug tracking via Atlassian Jira/Confluence
- Webmaster and Technical Support for Freedom Press and their news website, Freedom News. This involved looking after Linux web servers and WordPress.