Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast

Hungry Hungry Op AmpsParker PinHeck UpdateThe Pinotaur? Is that a good name? Draw up what you think a Pinotaur will look like!Raspberry Pi 3 Compute module works wellPinHeck EOTL (End Of The Line) REV 8 will be ready for its first prototype in 2 weeksJeep Electronics Update Satellite RockBLOCK ModuleGPSTemperatureVarious sensor dataStephen Synth is doneTriTrix Speakers from Parts ExpressNuTube Amp New Production vacuum tubeDesign is done, just need to order parts and assembleUltimate hipster wank Cellphone case, like otterboxNuTube tube in itTube powered headphone amp with your phonePurest of toneTrü DC powered signalSSPS (Super Simple Power Supple) Get another board spin, and fix it within the next 3-36 monthsLED Clock One prototype segment compelteNeed to design a control boardResistor Resistor PCB arrivedWill take 4 hours of continuous run time on our My200 PNPCan the pick and place handle 40,000 line items?Parker wrote custom Eagle Scripts Check them out here on github!Eagle Bomb.... like a zip bombNEW SLACK CHANNEL

7 Sep 201733min

The One Man Entertainment MachineWe would like to thank everyone that emailed us here at MacroFab with your concerns over our safety as we faced Hurricane Harvey. We are happy and grateful to report that our team members are safe, and MacroFab is safe and dry.John Adams Security researcher, investor, and technologist from San Francisco, CA, USAPrevious early employee at TwitterOne man entertainment machineIoT SecuritySoftware Updates. Force users to update?Change default passwords!A device will only be as secure as the default settingsBad IoT Devices Internet of ShitYou should not be running Linux on your faucetGarden HoseThe Ides of DEFCON John learned a lot of his first large hardware projectMicrocontrollers can be precariouWS2812B can't handle lead free reflow processStephens Game - IoT device that you would actually like John: Fix automation. Make a device that can interconnect all the other protocols. IoT Glue.Stephen: Beer can with sensors. Can notify waitress or bartender you are running out of beer!Parker: IoT power tools for battery data.

1 Sep 20171h 10min

Make electrons flow right?August Hardware & Electronics Engineering Meetup by MacroFab & Mouser Electronics event is live! Wednesday August 30th in Houston, TexasThis month's topic is Lean Manufacturing and Product DesignStephen will be giving a talk on "How to Design Electronics with Lean Manufacturing in Mind"Guests Scott Hansen and Eric Benzenhoefer of The Idea Tank will be there as wellWe did a podcast with them a couple weeks ago on MEP EP#77 Come grab some food, beer, and socializing if you’re in the Houston areaParkerNew EFM8 Article Covers Simplicity Studio and how to get a blinking LED to work!Will be out on August 30thStephen Synth Red Letter Day! First MEP project completeParker made the enclosure out of curly mapleMullet Synth: Business in front, Party in the backRamp pulse, linear wave, needs to be super fast, super accurateStephen just dead bugged itOther MEP episodes that feature the Synth #68 - Sonic Massage #70 - Bits Flying In#71 - Wrong Variants#72 - Fire SticksBeen with MacroFab for two years now!Resources for Synth design YunsynthShruthiMusic From Outer SpacePOW Project 54/74Seeks to document 54xx/74xx-series logic chips and subfamilies by imaging and annotating their dies and tracing out their schematicsRFO Hurricane Harvey coming to TexasHow does an electronic engineer or maker survive the apocalypse of no power?

25 Aug 201730min

Eddie Samuels and Comma.aiAugust Hardware & Electronics Engineering Meetup by MacroFab & Mouser Electronics event is live! Come grab some food, beer, and socializing if you’re in the Houston area.Eddie Samuels Been soldering and dremeling since the 7th gradThe first thing he built was a simple 7805 mp3 battery charger, guided by one of the original hackaday.com projectsWent on to get his EE degree at the University of Rochester and work for a year in the defense industry before moving to San Francisco to work at comma.aiUnderwater Rover ProjectProject while in collegeSealing the unit was the hardest partMoisture sensor built with strips of aluminum tapeEV Jetta Built while in high schoolNeed a custom coupler between engine and transmissionWho Killed the Electric Car?Revenge of the Electric CarComma.aiOpen source self driving carsPanda The nicest universal car interface everARM M4 - STM32F413ESP8266 WiFiTransceivers for CAN BUS, LIN BUS, and GM LANCan listen without the car modules knowingCan interface with OpenPilot to develop a self driving carGithub LinkCar bountiesEarn $5 to $10k by porting the code to other vehiclesCabana - DemoOrder a panda  here! Use it with cabana  here!Stephens Game - How would you get a ball out of a tube? Leave your answer in the comments below!Eddie - use a laser cutterStephen - potato cannon, making his own gun powderParker - squeezes the tube like toothpasteSpecial thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro!Tags: 3d printing enclosures, autonomous vehicles, CAD, Comma.ai, Eddie Samuels, ESP8266, MacroFab, macrofab engineering podcast, MEP, PCB Design, Podcast, Self Driving Cars, STM32F413, Transceivers

18 Aug 201746min

The Brick That Shall Not Be Named: A Joe Broms StoryAugust Hardware & Electronics Engineering Meetup by MacroFab & Mouser Electronics event is live! Come grab some food, beer, and socializing if you’re in the Houston area.Joseph Broms Joe received his B.S. at the University of Illinois in Computer ScienceHe has worked in numerous industries including, medical device, security, professional audio, broadcast, and educationOne central theme to Joe’s career is successfully turning ideas into sellable productsHas worked on many projects ranging from a FDA approved cardiac simulator to a critically acclaimed instrument tuner, APTunerJoseph is about to release a product called ProtoBricks on Indiegogo Protobricks are LEGO compatible building blocks to lower the entry level of how electronics work Purpose is to remove how much ancillary gunk is needed to understand how it worksIt has been Joesph's hobby for the past seven years with many different revisionsMold design and plastics LEGO stud pitch is 7.986mm, 2.54mm on solderless breadboard = exact factor of pi differenceUsed modified LEGO bricks as initial tests3D printing has gotten good enough to prototype injection moldingElectrical Contacts Copper tape and sheets pressed into the plastic did not workSpring loaded pogo pins everywhere!QUANTITY DICTATES EVERYTHINGStephens Game - Room for of balloons. How do you get rid of them. Joseph - BlowtorchStephen - Pull a vacuum on the roomParker - Throw cats into the roomCombination - Flamethrower vacuum catSpecial thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro!Tags: 3D Printing, educational electronics, EFM32 Gecko, EFM32 Gecko Silicon Labs, Indiegogo, injection molding, LED, LED driver chip, lego compatible, MacroFab, macrofab engineering podcast, MEP, multiplexors, pi, Podcast, protobrick, shapeways, Silicon Labs, sketchup, solderless breadboard

11 Aug 201755min

Dueling OpAmp InputsParker Article is lagging behind. Will be done on Friday, promise!Rewiring the Jeep Turn signals. The old wiring was interesting. The side marker bulb socket is isolated from ground. One bulb lead goes to the front marker parking lamp positive circuit. The other lead of the side marker is tied into the front marker turn signal positive circuit.When the parking lights are on and the turn signal off, the side marker grounds through the front marker turn signal filament and illuminates the marker lamp.When the turn signal flashes, it interrupts the ground and the marker will flash by dimming. The front marker gets brighter. So they alternate.When the parking lights are off, the filament which the side marker grounds through is reversed. Thus they blink at the same time.This works cause the wattage difference in the side marker and front marker. 4W for the side marker and 24W for the front. High wattage filament looks like a low resistance path to ground and the side marker doesn’t send enough current to turn them on.Problem when you convert to LED. The system works great with LEDs as is. But because LEDs great have a voltage drop they create a little voltage on the turn signal line. This voltage isnt enough to turn on the turn signal markers up front but it does turn on the indicators on the dash. ANNOYING!Daniel Stern LightningParker also experiences diode problem with voltage offset from ground. Punk-a$$ Diodes!Stephen Peristaltic pump design - looking into potentially adding this to my brew rig Homebrew pump controlled in loop with proportional valves and flow meterControl flow rate and through putSkateboard ball bearings. An actual useful fancy fidget spinnerCraft Beer PiGoing to get a Raspberry Pi programmed up this weekendUse the pump with their interfaceDS18B20 temp sensor - Have 5 coming in tomorrowPower, ground, and 1 wire signal9-12 bits-10 +85 CelsiusPlugs directly into raspberry pi without anything in between. Craft Beer Pi already has support!Amazon LinkPick Of the Week (POW) Measuring Op Amp Input ImpedanceHow to measure various op amps input impedance from DC to a couple of kHz input frequencyWhat about making sure both inputs are equal regardless of the actual value?Opa-129 unbelievable op-amp. Max of 100 phemtoamps - how do you measure that??IoT of happiness? Raspberry Pi Tracks Office Happiness - HackADayRapid Fire Opinion (RFO) Should Stephen and Parker build an IoT of happiness for MacroFab?StarWars Xmas Special Part II? Link to the first Special.

4 Aug 201753min

No Guru HereParker Gave a presentation at the MacroFab Engineering meetup about how to turn on your Electronics Project.Removal of power sourcePhysical Power SwitchSoft Power SwitchDetails about MCU sleep modesWill be an article soon.Stephen Science Museum project part 2 - Logger project will be *done* tonight and delivered tomorrow.Sure Step stepper motor driver STP-DRV-80100. RJ11 port for programming the driver. The RS-232 to USB converter Stephen bought from Fry's was counterfeit.The matched transistor IC ladder filter chips FINALLY arrived. Shipped from Germany.Pick Of the Week (POW) ElectroCardDesigned by Michael TeeuwOLED business cardUsed a ATTiny84 but used a SOIC-8 footprint instead of a SOIC-8 WideRapid Fire Opinion (RFO) Roomba’s Next Big Thing - Selling your house layout to the highest bidder - Gizmodo Data mining your house.Cute robot is now a sinister spy machineFurniture positioning/Home automationThe End of Arduino 101: Intel Leaves Maker Market - Hack A Day Whats an Arduino 101?Supposedly had bad documentation.Did Intel have any availability guarantee?Intel is now number 2 - electronics weekly In silicon chip manufacturingAfter 24 years as the No.1 chip company, Intel slipped below Samsung in Q2 with revenues of $14.8 billion.Inflated memory prices push SamsungTi currently holds the longest hold as No 1 semiconductor manufacture (1959-1984)

28 Juli 201751min

The IdeaFab PodcastJuly Hardware & Electronics Engineering Meetup by MacroFab & Mouser Electronics event is live! Come grab some food, beer, and socializing if you’re in the Houston area.Everyone gets Zimas!Idea Tank Idea's Scooterfy Last mile transportation is the hardest problem to solve for mass transitScooterfy is a way to convert electric skateboards to a scooter so it takes less skill to rideCasey Neistat makes riding electric skateboards look easyWhat about a scooter cooler but with a brief case? It would be the business trim packagePatent of the inflatable motorcycle helmetMEP Idea's Stephen wants to be the first actual Space Pirate....Radio ShowWent as far as testing out solid rocket fuelHardest part is getting a satellite in orbit without anyone knowingSealand: Bates seized it from a group of pirate radio broadcasters in 1967 with the intention of setting up his own station at the site Maybe they are interested in becoming space pirate radio operators?Space Elevator? What about a Space Escalator!Parker has a series of silly ideas Urn This: Payment plan to cremate your loved ones - Costs and Arm and a LegeverKittens: GMO cats that never grow past being kittensBelt Buckle Badges for conferences and DEFCONRapid package delivery using cruise misslesUber for cablesRapid pizza coolerR.F.O. (Rapid Fire Opinions)Security guard robot ends it all by throwing itself into a watery grave - Arstechnica Knightscope K5 security bot shows your job is probably safe from automation. For now.Robot can't make arrests, taser a criminal, or wade into a burning building, but it can phone the cops or fire off a loud siren.Idea behind it is if you’re shopping center or office complex had five patrolling security guards, you can replace four of them with robots and leave the fifth in a central office that can respond to any issues.Google Glass 2.0 Is a Startling Second Act - WiredAugmented Reality for industryKickstarter Court Fight Stress & End Teeth Grinding Disorder w/ Smart Wearable

21 Juli 20171h 9min