Many integrated circuits have undocumented features or abilities. This is one of them. The TLC555 output (pin 3) can sink a 100mA load to 1.28V. The open ...

Relay driver switches from full-wave to half-wave rectification after relay pulls in in order to save power.

[Glitch] got his hands on a slew of relays which are meant for use in industrial equipment. They are designed to operate at 24V. He wanted to use these with common microcontrollers and instead of b… ...

Relays have been around for a long time and though often now replaced with solid state switches, they have unique properties that make them more robust than solid-state devices and are not going away.

An RC circuit in series with the coil allows full-current turn-on for reliable relay operation, then reduces the current to save power. Fellow engineer Sanjay R. Chendvankar of Mumbai, India ...

The relay itself can be triggered by a 9V battery via the transistor in the control circuit. Notice the protoboard in the image above.

Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation releases a new MOSFET that adopts an active-clamp structure for relay drivers.