Technologies have never progressed as fast as in the 21st century. With electronic devices playing an important role not only in industrial manufacturing but in everyday life as well, today we are going to take a look at some electronics design trends for 2022.
Trend #1: New Materials in Electronics
Engineers have been using silicone for electronics design for decades. However, the challenges the industry faces and the innovations offered inspire companies to use more efficient or eco-friendly alternatives.
One of the promising silicone alternatives is gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor. With this material, application voltages can be extended from 1 to over 10 thousand volts. Startups also experiment with nanomaterials, SiC, and graphene.
One particularly interesting trend here is experiments with organic electronics that feature a host of advantages over inorganic electronics. Microbial or biodegradable components are more cost-effective, optically transparent, consume less power, and are eco-friendly.
Trend #2: Domination of Artificial Intelligence
AI is everywhere nowadays. The global AI market revenues were estimated at $341.8 billion in 2021. The development of this technology affects electronics design at least in two ways. First off, it stimulates the demand for AI-capable components. Second, AI-powered systems are more often used in the manufacturing process.
Artificial intelligence usually works in tandem with IoT solutions in production lines and performs such functions as predictive maintenance, visual inspection, material sourcing, etc. AI and machine learning are also implemented in the consumer industry: smart cars, voice assistants, machine translation apps, and many more.
Trend #3: IoT Connects the World
Today we have smart phones, smart watches, smart vehicles, and even smart homes. But this wide range of consumer goods that use internet connection to collect and process data is not the only application field for the Internet of Things technology.
IoT systems, capable of collecting and processing data automatically, are used in electronics manufacturing (as well as for the production of many other products). The demand for IoT solutions drives the development of new sensors, integrated circuits, and innovative chips for the emerging 5G infrastructure. So, developing IoT solutions is a common electronics design service nowadays.
Trend #4: Rise of Embedded Systems
The rising demand for IoT solutions, wearables, electric vehicles, mobile devices, and other electronics drives the development of embedded systems. According to BccResearch, by 2025, the global embedded systems market will grow to $267.3 billion. As the world becomes more connected, such systems begin to play a crucial role in deciding the power of devices, as well as their size, speed, and security. ES are required in electronics manufacturing, and developers are now working on improving their performance.
Trend #5: Robots in Everyday Life
Up until recently, robots were mostly used in manufacturing. But today we see more consumer-grade models. The first thing that comes to mind is probably a floor-cleaning robot, but robots are used not only for household assistance but in many other spheres as well, such as medicine, construction, education, security, and transportation. For example, according to Statista, the number of personal assistance robots will rise to 244 million by 2030.
With the world and technologies changing so fast, practically everyone has to adapt quickly – not only companies offering electronics design services or electronics manufacturers but consumers as well.
