Macrofab Engineering Podcast

MEP EP#364: Product of many ImaginationsPrevious Episodes Misha last heard on MEP EP #142: Supply Chain Conspiracy Securities Chris last heard on MEP EP#212: The End of Electronics Manufacturing?! The State of Digital Manufacturing What is digital manufacturing? Is there a definition of digital manufacturing? Other players in this space. Some business models are winning, some models are stuck in neutral. New Round of Investment Why does a manufacturer need investment? The nature of investors Does anyone actually care about this? What does this all mean for new technologies and business models in manufacturing?  Does anyone care?  Or is it just normal sorting of what works from what doesn't? Reshoring Nature of People  Many “Talks the talk but don’t walk the walk” Who currently cares about this? Procurement? Engineering? Maybe just Parker?  MacroFab History Original MacroFab concept Pivots Chris Church’s “Rules for Start Up Names” What is next? New Head Quarters.

MEP EP#363: Breadboarding for SuccessBreadboarding your circuits Why even do it? Time savings Quick check of your ideas Leave breadboard assembled for future pcbs Breadboards do not break physics - all the same rules apply What you put into it you get out Cleanliness matters Plan out your circuits You will likely find that you do not need extra jumpers if you plan the circuit Measure and bend leads - 0.1” pitch Use good components Use the bus strips for power and ground You can get away with high voltage if you plan for isolation Keep connections short. If the components can be the connection that is ideal Feedback and shorts - keep them short Know the limitations - breadboard what you need Breadboards may not be a one stop shop - use them to prove what you need to

MEP EP#362: It is 2023, Why Does Footprint Design Still Suck?First R2R bill passes and it is… NY gov Kathy Hochul signed into law one of the first R2R bills Hochul agreed to sign the bill with some last minute changes Hochul wrote in a memo that the legislation, as it was originally drafted, "included technical issues that could put safety and security at risk, as well as heighten the risk of injury from physical repair projects." Changes Stripping requirement for OEMs to provide to the public any passwords, security codes or materials to override security features bundle "assemblies of parts" instead of just the specific component actually needed for a DIY repair if "the risk of improper installation heightens the risk of injury." Applies to devices built or sold in New York after july 1st the bill's revised language excludes enterprise electronics, such as those that schools, hospitals, universities and data centers rely on Designing new Footprints in the year 2023. Why does this still suck?

MEP EP#361: Cold Welding This Podcast TogetherAdding Cold Welding Function to any Welder Cold spot weld function Most tig welders interface with a 5 pin foot controller 3 pins for potentiometer - analog signal telling how much amperage 2 pin switch for initiating the arc Made a circuit to spoof the footswitch 555 timer to set the duty cycle Monostable mode Capacitively coupled to allow for single button presses Range: 1ms to 100ms

MEP EP#360: Current Conscience ComparatorFramework, Noctua, and other brands add official 3D models to Printables Prusa Research’s “Printables” website added a new section called “Brands” Manufacturers and OEMs can upload verified models for their products CNC Update All of the fasteners arrive this week along with the aluminum extrusions Build weekend Developed a 3d printable cable tie for 4040 t-slots 3d prints with planned bending sections Other than iteration and experience is there a way to design this? Elastic deformation in the area that we want - avoid plastic deformation on stress-strain curve Will be printing along with the spray system from episode 354 The Return of the Cat Feeder Unreminder MAX9019 Comparator Oscillator Low power design considerations Consider every current path for leakage current Super Capacitor Leakage Comparison DSF505Q6R0JBG 5F at 6VDC 40uA leakage HSL0814-3R8106-R 10F at 3.8VDC  2.0-3.0uA leakage Get the timer working  LTC2956-

MEP EP#359: Datasheet LorePicking a part for your design What is your process for selecting a part for your design? What is your preferred method of learning about electronics? How would you make the process of selecting parts for your design easier? The Return of the Cat Feeder Unreminder Experimenting with the AEM10941 User Interface changes? Segmented LCD VI-422DPRCS Driver? Need 3VAC - 6VAC Made an oscillator with a 4049 hex inverter More power reduction? CD4047 oscillator, mxshift from slack says it will pull around 20uA Comparator in a oscillator configuration, metacollin says ~1uA

MEP EP#358: The Social Media NightmarePorsche’s synthetic gasoline factory comes online today in Chile Way back on episode 265 (Feb 2021) we talked about this announcement from Porsche. Production 34,000 gallons (130,000 L) a year 14.5 million gallons (55 million L) a year by 2024 145 million gallons (550 million L) a year by 2026 Wind power to electrolysis water into hydrogen and oxygen The hydrogen is then combined with carbon captured from the air or industrial sources to synthesize methanol Then be converted into longer hydrocarbons to be used as fuel Recycling CO2 in the air Is this the future of current Internal Combustion Engines? Direct drop in for normal gasoline “Carbon Neutral” way to run your classic car Chip manufacturing equipment sales record in 2022 Record fab constructions have driven total semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales to cross the $100 billion mark for a second straight year Chips Act is $280 billion.  China, Taiwan and Korea are projected to re

MEP EP#357: Seventh Annual MacroFab Star Wars Christmas Special – We're the Rebel Codebreakers!Spoilers for recent Star Wars shows like Andor included for free! This Year's Guests Josh Rozier A business intelligence and data analytics professional for a large, east-coast insurance monolith. In his spare time, Roz spends his time building and tweaking guitar amplifiers and pedals. Co-owner of Empire Engineering with Stephen. Chris Kraft A tinkerer currently working as a software engineer in the financial services industry. Extensive background in 3d printing and building anything that seems interesting. Hyr0n A systems engineer. Hardware hacker of AND!XOR, a group that builds electronic badges for conferences and designs embedded system puzzles. Topics Latest in Star Wars Media What has been released since last year’s Star Wars podcast episode 307? The Book of Boba Fett Obi-wan Kenobi Andor The High Republic Stephen's Topic A hammerhead corvette was able to move an en

MEP EP#356: Don't Let AI Brew Your BeerPDA - Parkers Death Amp Going to do a restoration on it and a recover Need to get rid of the death parts Some scary stuff after looking at the schematic Chat GPT-3 AI computer model for conversations / text generation People have been putting assembly into and and asking for notes on what the code does The AI sounds very sure of itself when giving completely wrong answers Suggested as a replacement for general internet searching How do you know what data it is pulling from or if it is even correct? Could push us further down the slope on the reduction of critical thinking in our society Reduction of solid researching skills “What connector should I use for my power distribution module” CNC update: Anodized parts for the brackets are completed Extruded aluminum for the strand is on order Going to be a while till another update

MEP EP#355: The One They Talk About Football Fields For a Long TimeEnd of 2022 Engineering Questions? What trends in the past few years have changed PCBAs the most in the last few years? Weird SMT packages are starting to become more normal PCBs themselves are being used more as a structural part of the overall product What do you think will be the next “big” thing that will change the way EEs design PCBs? Rigid Flex changed the way compact consumer devices where designed Advancements in mosfet technologies and materials increased power densities PDM Listener Questions During the project do you plan on hosting it so it’s accessible somewhere like GitHub? Why plan for peak currents on constant current rating on the pins? What are the plans for customer connections?  StarWars Christmas Special will be December 13th Returning Cast! Roz, Chris Kraft, and HyR0n!

MEP EP#354: A Consumable For Your WalletLouis Rossmann’s fresh start in Austin, Tx Moved his business from New York to Austin, Texas Learn how to open and fix things Classes will be free Mercedes Makes Better Performance a $1,200 Subscription in Its EVs Subscription to make your car vroom vroom faster Acceleration from 0-60 mph is said to improve by 0.8-1.0 seconds and the overall characteristics of the electric motors are supposed to change as well Microjet Spray System Started 3d modeling the idea Amazon link Venturi Mist system with separate air and alcohol controls Multiple ball joint nozzles that are individually adjustable StarWars Christmas Special  December 13th?

MEP EP#353: The Name Will ArriveJeep Prop Fan Thingy Jeep Prop Fan thingy Spec Sheet Connectors The Quest for 25 Amps TE Connectivity 1-1418362-3 Pg 63 of this catalog Haltech released a new PDM 10 8A 4 25A 2 Push Pull Arduino Opta Arduino's First Micro PLC supporting standard languages including LD (Ladder Logic Diagram) and FBD (Function Block Diagram) STMicro STM32H747XI dual-core microcontroller Opta Lite, Opta RS485, Opta WiFi High-power relay switching (4 x 2.3 kW) Manim Episode 340 Necrobiotic Synthesizers Finally got it installed and playing Looking into circuit animation

MEP EP#352: CNC CraftingNovember 5, 2022 - Extra Life Recap Improvements to the script Thank you to everyone that hung out, supported, and donated! What is next for CNC Parametric cnc model in fusion Model by Ed Frazier https://grabcad.com/library/parametric-cnc-router-1 Changed to a 5x5 cutting surface All 8020 construction with good bit of milled aluminum Added a 40 series table ATP-5 aluminum by vista metals https://www.vistametals.com/assets/pdfs/products/atp-5-precision-tooling-plate.pdf Precision tooling plate Cast aluminum 5000 series Can be welded and about 5% lighter Excellent corrosion resistance RMS value of 15 to 20 Thickness tolerance of +/-0.005 Good flatness tolerance  Building up Z axis after the pod Next steps:  Finish drilling and tapping all the holes Buff all of the surfaces with scotch brite wheels Anodize

MEP EP#351: Signal Switching for Maximum OffnessPython Demo for Extra Life API Stream Date: November 5th, 2022 Python to OBS functioning! Websockets. What are they? HTTP is unidirectional where the client sends the request and the server sends the response Websocket data is continuously pushed/transmitted into the same connection OBS has a built in local server that you can establish a websocket with another application Python module obswebsocket Provides a wrapper for all the OBS websocket functions Can basically control anything in OBS it seems Documentation is a bit lacking and module is out of date Build animations and transitions in OBS and modify them with the python connection Building a donation progress tracker?  Signal switching tips Maneuvering signals around your design Methods of switching on and off portions of your circuit Series Shunt Series-shunt Relays DG series of analog switches Virtually every configuration single, dual, quad SPSTs and SPDTs, 4:1 and

MEP EP#350: Estimating EffortPython Demo for Extra Life API Stream Date: November 5th, 2022 Functionality so far Check Extralife API for donations This is done with the requests module This endpoint seems to return old and new donations There isn't a “new donation” end point it seems Get the donation IDs and compare them to a local file Local file is made with the pickle module Pickle allows you to take any data structure in python and “package it” into a binary file for storage.  If there is a new donation ID that isn’t in the local file Queue up a random audio clip Record the donation ID to the local file Audio is placed through the playsound module Weird “bug” that short audio clips get cut off Add a little sleep after the call to get around it Auto parses the audio folder for the files Looks into audio file Gets all the file names Adding a new audio clip is as simple as dropping it into the folder Preventing truly random files Made a rotating buffer Used the

MEP EP#349: Connector CatalogsNovember 5, 2022 - Extra Life Haven't had a chance to work on this yet Going to stream working on it? Adventures in injection molding PINNACLE 5112C3 8% haze - this is pretty low. Any lower and it would be considered “clear” Low melt flow, excellent processability - Voids Two ways to create diffusion Haze Surface Texture Jeep Prop Fan  Half bridges for each output Current sensing INA219 Inputs Found a product that will do the thermocouples on canbus Instead of that crazy LTC2986 chip Just expose an ADC 0-5V  Connectors are the hardest part of this project so far Dictate the entire specifications RFAB2 Lab - an expansion of the RFAB1 Lab Sept. 29, TI announcedt began initial chip production at RFAB2, a new 300-mm analog wafer lab in Richardson, TX 300 analog fab digital isolator Ethernet transceiver brushless DC motor driver digital-to-analog converter 100M units/day within a few years  

MEP EP#348: AVRDUDE All The Way DownNovember 5, 2022 - Extra Life Content for the stream API for Extralife Custom plugin that goes to a Duke Nukem Sound Board Trying to get it to play gifs  Working with Open Broadcast Software now Live podcast Nov 22 in Houston Microchip woes? Microchip has got back to us about the firmware - no issues on their end Suggested using the command line interface Originally thought pullups on the reset line but they are not needed Tried them with no luck Jeep Prop Fan  Recently talked about designing a PCM (Power Control Module) Essentially control all the none engine related functions in a car Need a new name since it's not for the Jeep nor uses the Parallax Propeller Raspberry pi pico Do we do Arduino style C or Micro Python? Micro Python will be cool to try out! PIO will be used for controlling reactionary lights Turn signals Headlights Solid State Relays are EXPENSIVE Mosfets for sure H-Bridge for bi-directional motors Combine with

MEP EP#347: Out Of Bounds EngineeringNovember 5, 2022 - Extra Life I play games for children's hospitals Raised $5,169.42 last year Was the number one raiser for the Texas Children's Hospital What game for this year? What should I make for the stream? API for Extralife Duke Nukem Forever and Aliens Colonial Marines  Custom Stream plugin for the games Live podcast Nov 22 in Houston Hacking FR4 for light transmission Using FR4 as a light diffuser Things to consider FR4 material Yellow Blue Green Gray Distance LED Angle LED brightness Light Bleed Pipes Dividers   PCB Ruler Redux James Pleger from slack channel “Credit card” style Different stackups of material  

MEP EP#346: Calibrating CNCs with PCB RulersNovember 5, 2022 - Extra Life I play games for children's hospitals Raised $5,169.42 last year Was the number one raiser for the Texas Children's Hospital What game for this year? CNC Calibration 90 Dust Collection 2/4/5/6 in pipe Thinking I will do an overhead PVC solution Have to design a skirt capable of interfacing with a 4 in hose Battleship Texas Going to try to get someone on to talk about the restoration  PCB Ruler Redux What do people want to see on them? What makes it actually useful?  Live podcast Nov 22 in Houston?

MEP EP#345: The Hot List of Tasty Chip FabsPool Shark Update! Wolfspeed fab for NC is latest on CHIPS Act list 668,000 domestic manufacturing jobs Global Unemployment. Do we have enough people for this? What technology are they aiming for? Here’s the latest hot list of cool chip fabs coming to the US GlobalFoundries 180nm down to 12nm Intel Ohio New Mexico Arizona Micron Memory Chips Samsung High end computing Texas Instruments 45nm+ analog, embedded electronics Articles say it will complement other factories already in Texas TSMC 5nm Wolfspeed Worlds largest silicon carbide manufacturing facility Much higher power devices with higher voltage capabilities due to large band gap Failure Friday - Break something at the office this week? We want to hear about it! Billed the wrong phase of a project Dry air means static buildup, I don't think my 3v test circuit appreciated being a path to ground :'-( I ran over a 3D printer with a forklift Saw a customer su