Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast

MEP EP#284: Real Engineering for a Real EngineerWhen to Schedule Python for Engineers Intro Stream? This Saturday July 10 at 6PM central Twitch URL for the stream Overview of the Topics Setting up a python environment on Windows PC Python script talking to an embedded device over serial communication Not a how to write python/code stream Might get into Tkinter for GUI stuff Embedded Device will be Arduino SCPI to handle the coms List of items Arduino Windows PC PyCharm PinoTaur Production Update Production is going well, boards are slated to be completed soon The Future of the Supply Chain Finding part alts that work for you Finding different temperature ranges, packages, and even packaging Adventures in Plastic Injection Molding We have reached 1 Mega presses First analysis - Images below All “failures” were due to test bed Could probably go more than 1 million presses Will repeat 3 or 4 more times New batch of actuators due any day now Finally Real Engineering Ran into my very first honest to god Differential Equation… Got around it with excel To all college students - Do well but…. What is the most computational intensive work you have had to do on the job?

7 Juli 202151min

MEP EP#283: You Adapt. You Overcome. You Put in a Pull Request.Custom DIY Multimeter? Fun article about meter design Specs DC Voltage Range 1000V Accuracy Resolution Autorange? AC Voltage True RMS? DC/AC Current? Range 10A Resistance measurement 4 wire kelvin Communication USB 2x 16 Character Display for Status Powering the meter Isolated DC-DC converter Enclosure 19” rack 1U Isolated mounting holes Safety HY3131 Digilent has an arduino shield based on this Chip When to schedule python for engineers intro stream? Slack channel for poll and discussion

30 Juni 20211h 3min

MEP EP#282: When Print(); Just WorksSMT Connector Considerations Switching from Though Hole connectors to Surface Mount connectors Price difference How many insertions? Via Stitching pads Plastic actuator update 420,000 presses and going strong 300 PPM Damn arduino Serial.println() Do Not Use Print For Debugging In Python Anymore Automatic verbose print statements for python! Easy disable Bipolar load switch with multiple enables Would rather not do this in discrete but probably going to have to +/-12V in with a time delay on switching in the load Second time delay that enables regulators after Preferably one control signal (capacitors charging) Considering SSR solution Tasty Chips segment Keystone 9081 Plastic standoffs that have double sided sticky foam Keystone 7693 Screw Terminal PTH 6-32 Thread Banana Jack Install Tool? No one makes a socket driven one? ¼” drive? Question for the future. What would it take to design your own Multimeter?

23 Juni 20211h

MEP EP#281: Through Hole ManufacturingThrough Hole Manufacturing Processes Hand Soldering Soldering “robot” Wave soldering Design Criteria Pallets Selective soldering Design Criteria Keepouts Lead Forming Pre purchase? Forming with a die? Using hand tools? PCB design Holes Non circular? Annular rings IPC stuff IPC-2221 Generic Standard on Printed Board Design IPC-2222 Sectional Design Standard for Rigid Organic Printed Boards IPC-2223 Sectional Design Standard for Flexible/Rigid-Flexible Printed Boards IPC-7351 Generic Requirements for Surface Mount Design and Land Pattern Standard Performance Classification (1,2,3) Producibility Levels (A,B,C) Land Pattern Determination (Density level A,B,C)

17 Juni 202158min

MEP EP#280: Don't Worry About ItAdventures in plastic injection molding Beating the bubble Finding a new method of shooting the material to adjust for issues Change ejector pin depth Change material Light bleed Texturing Right to Repair is going global NPR business National Farmers Union Nebraska Legislature Bill 543 Getting a pro right to repair guest on the podcast? Louis Rossmann update Uncle's Brewery Update Setup the boxes Boiled water and got all the hoses cut Next Steps Mock brew day with lye Brew a batch! PCBs for 30W Power Amp Stephen opens up fresh PCBs for his recent power amplifier project Resin Printer Update Liqcreate Strong-X Resin Strength is amazing Post processing is a bit more involved Going to try “chroming” next Electroless Copper Caswell kit This is the process PCB manufacturers use to plate the inside of PCB vias Copper plating Thicken up the thin electroless copper layer Nickel plating For corrosion resistance and strengthen the plating Copy Chrome

9 Juni 20211h 2min

MEP EP#279: Avoiding The HR Pit of Doom, Resume and Interview Tricks for EngineersEngineering Resumes The main goal: To start a conversation The resume is intended to give a snapshot of you not to be your autobiography The person doing the interview probably has other tasks that they have to accomplish Your interview is important but it is likely not their main focus, keep this in mind Too much information is a bad thing - remember people hiring have to read lots of resumes The 1 page rule The HR pit of doom There is a high likelihood that your resume will not go to an engineer when you apply via any portal/service/online app Grammar/spelling/design/layout You may be the best engineer out there but if you can’t get that across to a non-engineer then you are in trouble Humble Bragging You are not Engineering Jesus Use tangible wording and describe cornerstones of your career Example - I did X task and productivity increased Y% Do not obfuscate your work with unclear words. Be clear about your involvement in your tasks Avoid the following “Responsibilities included” Collaborated Think outside the box Go-to person Value add Team player Use Verbs to describe your work Improved Managed Created Designed Do not Pad your resume Shorter and clearer are much better than essays Remember the HR pit and the person reading your resume Control the white space on your page - This can be more powerful than writing a ton of fluff Get to the point Be proud and confident in what you have done and highlight it concisely Use Technical Writing Graduate resumes Probably does not include much other than your schoolwork Absolutely put anything other than school Internships should be front and center Anything that shows your passion for your degree If you don’t have anything like this get on it Describe how you used your degree to do something Only put classwork that is relevant to the job you are interviewing for Remember - everyone in your degree had to do the same thing, it doesn’t make you special Objective statement - I can take it or leave it Dont just put - looking for a job See if you can make it interesting to read Better to write a cover letter if you have something to say in an Objective Statement How to describe things you can’t describe in detail on your resume? Engineering Interviews: Research Research Research The more you know the more you can be prepared Remember that if you get this job you could spend 1/3rd of your life there You are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you Dress appropriately Under dressed is not helpful - Avoid if possible Come prepared - No place is going to fault you for bringing things in Bring multiple copies of your resumes Bring your work Personality Tests How to prep for these kind of questions? "What is your greatest weakness?"

2 Juni 20211h 21min

MEP EP#278: Design With Manufacturing - Altium and MacroFabTed Pawela Altium's Chief Ecosystem Officer Head of Nexar, Altium's cloud business unit Holds a M.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Michigan State University, a B.S in. Oceanographic Technology from Florida Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from IE Business School, Madrid, Spain Chris Church Is a founder and the Chief Product Officer at MacroFab Has been working in the software industry for over twenty years, with a focus on robotics and electronics over the last decade Prior to MacroFab, he founded Dynamic Perception and Alert Logic Recent fundraising press release Altium's goals around connecting design engineers to manufacturing data Perspective on the role and level of control engineers have in manufacturing? Will engineers take on a much bigger role with electronics production? What about engineers being equally important to the supply chain and procurement process? What are you hearing from the engineers themselves? Are they pushing Altium to do more to enable manufacturing? What exactly is Nexar? How do you envision these services evolving? How MacroFab and Altium will work together to improve the design to manufacturing experience What are y’all looking forward to the most with this collaboration?

26 Maj 20211h 18min

MEP EP#277: Bunch of NibblesTasty Chips segment Harwin EZ-Cable Clips Mac-Eight CZ series Update - E-Z Hook Insulation Piercing Wire Clamp - 8507 Built a housing to isolate the wire clamps COM port snooper / sniffer? Ended up using 'Free Serial Analyzer' Automating Testing Clock Drift Using an oscilloscope? SCPI or some other method? 115 pages of commands What is inside a scope probe? 10X? Rotary switch pcb - interesting bug? Pcb is 99% done - currently reviewing MF platform experience https://github.com/analogeng 49 unique resistor values 92 total resistors List of most used resistors Potentially bad bug in Diptrace Causes lots of headaches Injection Molded Actuators They work great Shrinkage - Identifying and dealing with it Voids - problematic for light passage

19 Maj 202157min