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Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast
Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast episodes
- MEP EP#274: The Pinch Load
MEP EP#274: The Pinch Load
- Thermal Management Part two!
- Interesting thermal management designs and devices
- Copper “fingers”
- Thermal Jumpers
- Common DRC Problems
- Annular ring
- Copper to Board Edge
- Tolerances of the checks?
- Why?
- -0.1mil or -0.00254mm
- Record Player Deconstruction
- Tube Amp Schematic
- Possible Fake components?
- From the thermal discussion from last week's podcast
- LM338 or LM317...
- Opamp Stability
- Interesting issue with opamps and comparators with latest design
- Make sure to add extra component pads for analog design prototyping!
55 min - MEP EP#273: Beating the Heat
MEP EP#273: Beating the Heat
- Delta Pag Fan Controller Hack
- Override inverter mod was a success!
- PinoTaur is in PRODUCTION
- Gotta start putting together the website to host the documentation
- Pinotaur.com
- Supply chain issues!
- RGB Lighting connector
- Beating the Heat
- Talking about thermal management
1 hr 7 min - MEP EP#272: The Digital Mattress
MEP EP#272: The Digital Mattress
- Right To Repair
- Ease of opening for repairs
- This sounds great but I have some thoughts
- Reason why phones are hard to open now
- Security screws only keep out people that probably shouldn’t be opening the device anyways
- Ultrasonic welding and potting?
- Access to manuals
- What if repair manuals don't exist for a product?
- Small and medium volume products don’t have the revenue or volume to make this kind of documentation
- Schematics, Circuit Diagrams, and Firmware Accessible
- What if the schematic is the secret sauce?
- Schematics are easily reverse engineered from a PCB assembly.
- What mechanics will be put in place to prevent cloning?
- Hardware Vs Software
- Tesla
- Software unlock to increase motor output by 50HP
- August software update
- License
- Make all contracts clearly identify which elements of the machine are not included in the sale
- Do not allow companies to create contract language (End User License Agreements) that modify or limit support options in the future
- Most of the problems the Right to Repair movement wants to fix could be solved here
- If this was more upfront to customers then they could make a better purchasing decision
- Parts and Tools
- Make service parts and tools available at non-discriminatory pricing to equipment owners and third parties.
- Design
- Integrate Design for Repair principles into eco-design product design practices.
- DFR - Design for Recycle
- Right to Repair VS Right to be Repaired
- It's easy to say we should have a right to repair something but is it OK to force companies to make something repairable?
- NFTs
- WUT?
- Non Fungible Token
1 hr 21 min - MEP EP#271: The Right to Repair
MEP EP#271: The Right to Repair
- Right To Repair Dot Org
- The Right to Repair Electronics refers to government legislation that is intended to allow consumers the ability to repair and modify their own consumer electronic devices, where otherwise the manufacturer of such devices requires the consumer to use only their offered services.
- This already exists for Autos for the most part
- Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act
- Ending the "unfair monopoly" of car manufacturers maintaining control over repair information that could result in independent shops turning away car owners due to lack of information.
- IFIXIT Manifesto
- Movement:
- Major Players
- Apple
- Do you really own your cell phone?
- Withholding repair information
- Requiring that all repairs happen at designated service centers
- ISL9240 charging chip from renesas
- John Deere
- Requiring repairs be done with approved contractors
- Louis Rossmann of Rossmann Repair Group
- Go Fund Me
- 1.55M subscribers
- $317,000
- Direct Ballot Initiative in Mass
- Impact?
- Designers at the companies?
- Who is held liable for not providing the right information?
- Documentation
- How “perfect” does it need to be?
- How much is enough?
- When can manufacturers say no?
- Suppliers
- Does every single part for your product need to be available off the shelf in singles all the time?
- Mouser/Digikey?
1 hr 12 min - MEP EP#270: Radio Frequency Eyeballs
MEP EP#270: Radio Frequency Eyeballs
- Cool XLR connector with a smart method of assembly
- NC3MD-H-BAG
- NC3FD-H-B
- XLR with two parts - one for mounting to the enclosure and the actual connector.
- Assemble separately - allows you to test the electronics on the board
- Insert and turn a small screw and lock the connector to the body
- Keysight scopes are now “dark mode”
- Jeff Keyzer comment on Twitter
- It is like the evolution of PC cases for test equipment
- Chipmakers are hustling to make auto chips--and say it’s not a hustle
- Some resellers have resorted to buying up used chipmaking gear by stalking old factories in the U.S., Japan and Europe and waiting for them to close in hopes of purchasing the gear inside.
- Chips used in braking and engine systems are typically made using older tech that is sufficient to meet automaker reliability requirements, while newer infotainment and assisted driving technologies require modern chips made in cutting-edge chip factories.
- New American Chip Fabs
- Intel
- Will build two new 7nm fabs in Arizona (per March 23, 2021 announcement)
- TSMC
- Will build a new 5nm fab in Arizona (per 2020 annoucements)
- Rumors of up to 6 fabs might be built
- Samsung
- Wants to build a 3nm fab in either Texas / Arizona / New York (per 2021 announcements)
- A few weeks ago, it was reported that Samsung / Infineon / NXP fabs in Texas had not been restarted after their fabs were shutdown during the historic state-wide power loss in February
- Fabs still offline since Texas freeze
- How much water they take.
- TSMC stated they use 156,000 tons of water a day
- 37,454,981 gallons/day
- Are they able to recycle water use?
- Water Management report from TSMC
38 min - MEP EP#269: Illuminati Moment
MEP EP#269: Illuminati Moment
- Fan controller for Jeep
- MCU
- P/N: G80F960AP
- 8051 core Chinese Generic MCU
- Override signal passes through a diode then pulled up with a 10K to 5.0V
- Diode to prevent back feeding voltage if you slap 12V onto it
- Mosfet inverter as the fix!
- PinoTaur REV 4 has Arrived!
- Goes into final testing for production certification!
- RGB LED boards testing
- Mind the details - Cross talk
- Actually ran into this as a unique problem
- Those values in datasheets can creep up
- Beat head on table trying to figure it out
- How long is it reasonable for a project owner to support their open source design?
- 10 years?
- More Automotive Woes
- 2/3rds of the facility was dedicated to automotive parts
- Toyota and Tesla affected
56 min - MEP EP#268: Avoid The Extremes
MEP EP#268: Avoid The Extremes
- Fan controller for Jeep
- Brushless fan temperature controller
- Nothing fancy but the “override” signal is ground triggered!
- Will have to invert the A/C compressor signal with a relay
- Controlling PCB cost
- What are the knobs that can be turned to adjust the cost of the PCB itself?
- The easy ones
- Size (not necessarily rectangle)
- Panelization
- Base material
- TG ratings - The glass transition temperature
- FR4
- Trace/Space
- Minimum hole size
- Mask Color
- Surface finish
- Copper weight
- Not as easy ones
- Vias
- Tented
- Plugged
- Blind
- Buried
- Digikey’s Latest Innovation
- Information printed on the backside of cut tape
- 8mm tape
1 hr 4 min - MEP EP#267: Honey, I Shrunk The Parts
MEP EP#267: Honey, I Shrunk The Parts
- Tradeoffs on component sizes
- "World's Smallest" Claims Can Come With Trade-Offs
- Design and Production considerations when going small
- Different PCB Design Rule Checks
- PCB pricing
- Via in Pad
- Escaping Components
- Silkscreen
- Part placements
- Assembly documents
- Tooling
- Paste Jetter
- Stencil coatings
- STICKERS/Labels for products
- Find out what label printers your CM is using
- Consumable items
- Label Material
- Location! Location! Location!
- Printing Instructions and Information
- Databases
- Low frequency Network analyzer
- Perhaps I am looking for the wrong thing but I can’t seem to find what I want
- 1hz to 100khz range
- Can always do it manually but damn is it slow
- Tsunami - this is *almost* what I want but not really good enough
- I want to design one but no…..
56 min - MEP EP#266: The Expert
MEP EP#266: The Expert
- Design for Manufacturing – Beyond the Digital Domain
- Webinar that Chris Church (Co-Founder of MacroFab) will be co-hosting with Edwin Robledo of AutoDesk.
- Building a Program and Testing procedure for your first production run
- Take lots of pictures
- Keep it up to date and version controlled
- Hand off the procedure to a colleague and have them run through it
- Work with your CM
- MacroFab works closely to help flesh out procedures and fixture designs
- What is you acceptable fall out from production
- This is where scaling up production runs can help iron out QA procedures for your product
- Find tolerancing issues with components
- Keep in mind your target pricing
- Elements of a good test procedure - THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
- It is almost impossible to have too much information in your test procedure - within reason.
- Remember - Your CM can always distill your information down to something less than what you provide
- Typically they have one “expert” who knows everything and multiple operators who execute the tasks.
- You don’t know when your documentation is needed so be thorough
- Things to include in the documentation - preferably at the top
- Product/assembly name
- Test procedure Rev
- List of board revisions that this procedure applies to
- Map or image of terms or items
- List of ALL software required
- Do not assume that your CM has anything
- If software version is important make sure this is called out
- List of ALL files required
- Be explicit with the names
- Do not be shy with file structure
- Be consistent
- If you call a board X then always call it X
- Test procedure Meat and potatoes
- List of required equipment
- What can be expected of a CM to have?
- Be granular here. All the way down to cables
- Do not be afraid to call out amazon links to required items
- Avoid parallel anything - Sequential steps are the best
- Always have criteria and be reasonable!
- consider how the operator will approach your target and adjust accordingly!
- Failures - Let the operator know what to do with a failure
- If anything is to be marked or saved be explicit how and where to do it. If there is a sticker or label to be applied show a picture where you want it to go.
55 min - MEP EP#265: NuFuel and Gas Classic
MEP EP#265: NuFuel and Gas Classic
- Resealing 12oz cans?
- FAIL!
- Worked till can shaken a bunch
- Improvements
- Working on finding a softer sealing surface
- Currently using a Shore 55A neoprene rubber sheet
- Increase seal pressure on can
- Carmakers wake up to new pecking order as chip crunch intensifies
- Follow up from last week's discussion on Auto industry shutting down production due to lack of electrical components.
- Both automakers and chip manufactures are pointing fingers
- Chip makers point at the auto industry in that they are quick to cut production and cancel orders when car sales slump
- Auto industry where used to being the center of attention for chip and electrical component manufacturers
- The industry spends around $40 billion dollars a year on chips
- By Comparison, Apple spends more on chips just to make iPhones!
- Chips used in Auto tend to be more basic products and older micro controllers, Something that chip fabs do not really want to invest more production into
- Chip Fabs are prioritizing higher margin, leading edge components
- OnSemi plans to be back on schedule by 3rd Quarter
- Eagle EDA Tool Designing parts from the bottom!
- Starting a small business to sell hardware?
- Tips for Parker?
- This will be covered next week
- DipTrace - PCB teardrops
- Benefits
- Stronger pad adhesion making for better reworkability
- Prevents acid traps at sharp corners where traces meet a pad
- This really is not an issue anymore
- Inspect your board and run your DRC
- Potentially make shorted pins appear worse
- Interesting tombstone issue
- Coolio opamp - TLV915x
- Pricing
- TLV9152 $0.354 in qty
- TLV9154 $0.525 in qty
- Offset
- 125uV typ
- 780uV max across temp
- Input bias and input offset 10pA
- 20V power
- 750uA max across temperature supply current per channel
- Rail to rail
- 2k load 250mV from rail with 16V power
- Drops to a fe mV with lower power
- Cyberpunk is Real!
- Porsche's e-fuel is like a real life CHOOH2
1 hr 13 min
About Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast
From the publisher's feed
Dive into the electrifying world of electrical engineering with Circuit Break, a MacroFab podcast hosted by Parker Dillmann and Stephen Kraig. This dynamic duo, armed with practical experience and a palpable passion for tech, explores the latest innovations, industry news, and practical challenges in the field. From DIY project hurdles to deep dives with industry experts, Parker and Stephen's real-world insights provide an engaging learning experience that bridges theory and practice for engineers at any stage of their career.
Whether you're a student eager to grasp what the job market seeks, or an engineer keen to stay ahead in the fast-paced tech world, Circuit Break is your go-to. The hosts, alongside a vibrant community of engineers, makers, and leaders, dissect product evolutions, demystify the journey of tech from lab to market, and reverse engineer the processes behind groundbreaking advancements. Their candid discussions not only enlighten but also inspire listeners to explore the limitless possibilities within electrical engineering.
Presented by MacroFab, a leader in electronics manufacturing services, Circuit Break connects listeners directly to the forefront of PCB design, assembly, and innovation. MacroFab's platform exemplifies the seamless integration of design and manufacturing, catering to a broad audience from hobbyists to professionals.
About the hosts: Parker, an expert in Embedded System Design and DSP, and Stephen, an aficionado of audio electronics and brewing tech, bring a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the show. Their backgrounds in engineering and hands-on projects make each episode a blend of expertise, enthusiasm, and practical advice.
Join the conversation and community at our online engineering forum, where we delve deeper into each episode's content, gather your feedback, and explore the topics you're curious about. Subscribe to Circuit Break on your favorite podcast platform and become part of our journey through the fascinating world of electrical engineering.
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