The simple act of pressing a car’s power-window button and having the window roll up brings quite a few components into play. If the window does not roll up, it likely means there’s a problem with one ...

The intercom goes ultra-high-tech with this snazzy switch system from Wink. A smart thermostat? Smart light switches? Amateur hour. If you really want to up your smart-home game, it’s time to get ...

This mini-series of articles describes how to build a computer’s CPU (central processing unit) out of relays. “Y” in English sounds like “guay” in Spanish (my mother tongue), a colloquial expression ...

The reed relay was invented in 1936 by Bell Telephone Laboratories. Since that time, it has gradually evolved from very large, relatively crude parts to the small, ultra-reliable parts we have today.

Relays are electromechanical devices that use a magnetic solenoid to actual a switch. When current is passed through the solenoid coil, it produces a magnetic field. The magnetic field is strengthened ...