Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast

MEP EP#196: Foamy Power Factors - Electrolytic Capacitors with KEMETEpisode 200 is Coming Up! Question / Answer setup like Episode 100 Send them via Audio Format to podcast@macrofab.com Ivan Quiroz Over 19 years of electronic design and development experience in different industries ranging from aviation to industrial automation His technical expertise surrounds the intrinsic requirements and detailed development of circuits In his down time, he likes to develop escape room puzzles, sensors, and anything he can 3D print Suzana Jankuloska Is an electrical engineer from Macedonia Has been with KEMET for 7 years and as a Product Manager of Electrolytic Capacitors for 3 years Loves solving problems and sudoku and is a fan of martial arts and the movie Ip Man Electrolytic Capacitors Discuss ESR, ESL, Dissipation factor, Tan Delta, Ripple current, and life span How to read the datasheet for an electrolytic capacitor beyond the value/voltage/dimensions impedance at a known switching frequency Brief introduction to a new type of electrolytic capacitor (polymer) Link the electrolytic capacitor to the need for a bank capacitors Signals through electrolytics Leave on forever vs. multiple inrush cycles preferred for lifetime? What drifts out of spec first? The wear-out failure mode is loss of electrolyte It is possible to measure this by weighing the capacitor before and after operating it at elevated temperature When the capacitor loses a certain amount of weight, it is likely to fail In the old days, the rule of thumb was to predict failure at 50% of the initial weight What's the point of those orange SMD tantalum capacitors? On large screw terminal caps, are the screws themselves typically intended to carry current, or just to mechanically tie the cap to the mounting surface (bus bar, PCB, etc.)? Is it important to use aluminum screws to match materials to avoid corrosion from dissimilar metals in high current applications?

30 Okt 20191h 19min

MEP EP#195: Mach 5 Sandpaper - MIT Rocket TeamEpisode 200 is Coming Up! Question / Answer setup like Episode 100 Send them via Audio Format to podcast@macrofab.com Charlie Garcia Attended space camp as a kid every year he could and became one of the counselors Enjoys sharing his love of space exploration with people of all ages and walks of life through various mediums In 2018 he lead the MIT Rocket Team as President to launch Project Hermes to 32,400 f Now, as the Publicity Chair of the MIT Rocket Team, Charlie hopes to inspire others to explore the heavens When Charlie isn’t building rockets, he is using his telescope, tinkering with his 3D printer, or enjoying a fantasy novel Luka Govedič Is a 20y old sophomore from Slovenia Majoring in Electrical engineering and Computer science Joined the MIT Rocket Team last fall Currently the leader of the avionics subteam Also part of the MIT varsity soccer team Likes to play frisbee, drums, and compose music What is the MIT Rocket Team? History Goals Current Projects Rocket Design Staging Important things to remember Testing Approvals? Who do you let know that you are launching a rocket? Accidents? What kind of electronic hardware do you run? Design considerations Microcontrollers Power? Batteries? YouTube Channel Twitter Account

23 Okt 201942min

MEP EP#194: Adult supervision not required - Tilt 5 with JeriEpisode 200 is Coming Up! Question / Answer setup like Episode 100 Send them via Audio Format to podcast@macrofab.com Jeri Ellsworth Self-taught electrical engineer and entrepreneur with over 20 plus years experience designing and building mass market consumer electronics Assembled the initial hardware R&D team for the Valve Software and was a key contributor to the technology used in the popular HTC Vive While at Valve, she began work on the AR technology that would later become the basis for the technology behind Tilt Five, where Jeri serves as CEO and Co-Founder Topics What is Tilt Five? Kickstarter Campaign How does it function? The Industrial design behind the project? How important was getting the weight to < 90 grams? How did you do it? You have brought lots of products to consumer markets: Prototyping your “finalized” product or first article Parts with High NRE fees like Injection molding Electronics Selecting and sourcing the projectors? Retro reflective material for the game mat How long is the typical timeline for development? What is something people don’t think about when they start designing a product? War Stories

16 Okt 20191h 24min

MEP EP#193: Robots Have Fall DamageEpisode 200 is Coming Up! Question / Answer setup like Episode 100 Send them via Audio Format to podcast@macrofab.com Matthew Prater Started out as a radiochemist making diagnostic Positron Emission Tomography agents for 15 years Went to teach chemistry and research classes in public schools for 5 years Now teaching at the University of Advanced Technology in Tempe, AZ as a professor of robotics and embedded systems Topics What did you do as a radiochemist? Antimatter? Your roll at UAT? Research Robotics and embedded systems degree? Student Innovation Projects and Performance studio projects What are they? What is your contribution? Are they assigned or do students pick them?

9 Okt 201943min

MEP EP#192: The Fourth Rule of RoboticsEpisode 200 is Coming Up! Question / Answer setup like Episode 100 Send them via Audio Format to podcast@macrofab.com Parker Hayward Tigershark Hasn’t electrocuted anyone yet! Ordered PinoTaur REV 2 Slight layout tweaks Fixed the Relay problem Silkscreen labeling changes Air Raid Siren Stephen Eepartpicker Thinking of what comes first Probably a resistor Would like to see opamps Template? Fermentation controller Moar parts arriving Level Shifter for the screen? R.F.O. Analog engineer's calculator Filter calculations Amplifier calculations Parasitics A/D noise calculations Inspect AR Workbench of the future The Little Robot that Lived at the Library The Illusion of a Personality

2 Okt 201949min

MEP EP#191: Fork Lift Adventures Narrated by Daniel HienzschDaniel Hienzsch Founder of Rheingold Heavy and Manufacturing Reports Is passionate about education, and works every day to demystify technology and teach how to measure the world around you Rheingold Heavy and Manufacturing Reports is Dan’s effort to provide the community materials he wished he had when he was first getting started in electronics and technology Also drove a forklift for a living and suggests you should give it a try PCB Manufacturer Reviews What is Manufacturing Reports? Brief overview. What is Rheingold Heavy and how did that evolve to form Manufacturing Reports PCB Manufacturers Reviews What Criteria do you look at? Things like “How good does it look” are subjective. How do you eliminate this? Is there a test PCB? Has a PCB manufacturer come back about all the “interesting” features What things are on the test pcb? Why HASL? One criteria I would like to see is resistance to reworking Board house modification Did you notice any of the board houses making changes to your pcbs? What is one of the worst PCBs you have ever seen What is next?

25 Sep 20191h 23min

MEP EP#190: Sealed TigersharksRecap of the Design Contest 29 entries Judge List Charlyn Gonda Joe Grand Sophi Kravitz Whitney Merrill Winner List 1st : Parker Newman with the Room Temperature Cup Holder 2nd : Dillon with the Clap-Activated Applause Machine Third : SirDan with the Unpluginator Podcast Fav: Jeffrey Bernath with the Mouse Controlled Mouse Controller Parker Fixing Hayward Tigershark One motor not working Motor is a “sealed” unit MC33887PEK UHE1H222MHD6 Winter Project Upgrading a golf cart to 48V EZ-GO TFT Gotta go fast! Stephen Fermentation controller Got enclosure in Screen still not fully working Kingst LA2016 16 channel @ 200MHz Can decode 8080 parallel Rapid Fire Opinion (Or something...) Discrete Pong! We talked about this way back in episode 108 Was a bunch of posts on the EEVblog forum Now there is a good website with a bunch of good info and schematics Discrete op amps! Field guide to transistors Spark fun released a wall poster for BJT transistors. Cool graphics to demonstrate the functionality of transistors Manufacturing Reports Dan Hienzsch Unbiased reviews of PCB Manufacturers WAGO Wire Level Nuts Been using these on my automotive applications Amazon link to get erm

18 Sep 20191h 4min

MEP EP#189: Not Even My Final Form - Jeff Garoon on Industrial Product DesignJeff Garoon Y-Combinator alumni from the Winter 2016 batch Currently serves as COO of FlowCommand At FlowCommand, Jeff is responsible for all hardware design, firmware development, and operations Spent his early career as a Production Engineer and Lead Completion Engineer at Oxy USA Has been on Y-Combinator’s alumni application review committee for the last 3 cohorts, has raised three rounds of financing, and manages a staff of 17 engineers Member of Incubate USC, where he has assisted in writing undergraduate coursework on accelerators and incubators Industrial product design and testing What makes a product an industrial device? Prototyping Industrial Hardware Arduino and development boards -> First Article What kind of regulations and certifications do you have to work with? How to make it work when you are bootstrapping Class 1 Div 1/2 Testing/validation/documentation Explosion Proof Devices and Construction Intrinsically Safe Barriers Visit our Public Slack Channel and join the conversation in between episodes!

11 Sep 201955min