Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast

Reverse Biasing Opamps

• Parker 
  • Been learning Python and OpenCV
    • OpenCV is an open source computer vision library
    • PyImageSearch
    • Setup PyCharm
    • Using Requests to use and get information from the MacroFab API
    • Built a 3D printed chassis for holding a 5MP USB camera
    • Taking pictures of PCBs and removing lens distortion
  • RPI3 CM PCB done 
    • Will be testing over the weekend
    • 6 Pack of beer riding on this board!
    • Board does power up correctly.
  • COMPIOT board Opamp blew up :( 
    • Symbol on Schematic unlabeled for the power inputs of the opamp
• Stephen
  • Still Making the three synth modules (two envelops and one filter) 
    • Waiting on the CA3146 transistor IC
    • This is an obsolete part
    • Stephen wants to use it for legacy reasons
  • Making some power supplies for tube mics (the same one that we made for JOSH). 
    • Have to figure out how to make a 6.3V or 12.6V high current rail along with a 200V to 300V low current rail.
    • Stephen is going to use transformers that I have at my shop.
    • One drops 120VAC to 10VAC and the other raises the 10VAC up to 230VAC
    • The 10VAC rectified can potentially give 12.6VDC. If not I can drop it to 6.3VDC.
    • The 230VAC rectified can become 325VDC.
• Pick Of the Week (POW) 
  • 130-in-1 Electronic Playground from SparkFun
    • With the closure of Radio Shack where would you buy one of these intro kits?
    • $50 Is cheaper then Radio Shack even!
• Rapid Fire Opinion (RFO) 
  • Fail of the Week: Museum Buttons - Hack A Day 
    • Industrial buttons are not really kid proof
  • Wood Lichtenberg - Instructables 
    • 12kV 35mA - Neon Sign Transformer PSU
    • Baking soda in water as the conductor for electricity
    • Marinate wood in baking soda water mix
    • 342,857.1428 ohms to pull the entire PSU load
  • Qualcomm fingerprint sensor enables virtual home button - Electronics Weekly
    • Qualcomm has developed an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor which can operate under the glass of a mobile device avoiding the need for a mechanical home button. It also detects heartbeat and blood flow.
    • 800 µm of cover glass and up to 650 µm of aluminum

Joe Grand: The Origin Story

• Joe Grand
  • Also known as Kingpin
  • Computer engineer, hardware hacker, product designer, teacher, advisor, runner, daddy, honorary doctor, TV host, member of legendary hacker group L0pht Heavy Industries
  • Proprietor of Grand Idea Studio.
  • Our first guest to have a Wikipedia page
  • Has been creating, exploring, and manipulating electronic systems since the 1980s.
• Parker and Joe meet each other at the unofficial propeller expo in Sacramento. This what right around the time MacroFab was starting in 2013. 
  • Joe "flew" Ken's brand new quadcopter 
  • IRC channel #tymkrs on afternet
• Joe first discovered the hacker world at 7 years old in 1983.
• First online name was "black ninja" then went to fbi agent, astro zombie, autovahn, the youth, before settling on Kingpin.
• Joe's first hardware hack he remembers was the Ring Busy Device - you can still use the phone, but if someone called, it would give a busy signal. Built with circuit board from Radio Shack kit. Came with switch so he could turn it on and off.
• DEF CON badges - what’s the history? 
  • Joe is friends with the Jeff Moss aka Dark Tangent for a long time through bulletin board systems 
    • Joe had been giving talks for DEF CON for a long time and was approached by Jeff to make an electronics badge
  • Before e-badges they had Laser cut , acrylic one , liquid filled badge
  • First electronic badge ran on a PIC10f202
  • Badge hacking contest - 20 people hacked the first time
  • DEF CON 15-18 were years that Joe tried to challenge and one up himself
  • DEF CON 16 Badge
  • DEF CON 17 Badge
  • DEF CON 18 Badge
• Tooth tunes hack
• The MacroFab Meetup in Houston is next week!

Fire Sticks

• The next Hardware and Electronics Engineering Meetup page is live and will be on June 28th. Please RSVP if you plan on attending!
• The Stanford ValBal launched again with avionics components from MacroFab! You can see a live video on our Facebook page from earlier today and as always, track it with this site. Also check out episode 64 of the MEP where we have Sasha Maldonado and Paige Brown of the Standford Student Space Initiative!
• Parker 
  • Tested a new serial LED board for the pinball platform 
    • CLP6C-FKB LED
    • WS2801
    • Draws 60mA LED
    • 8mA standby current
    • Laser the V-scored PCBs apart
  • Finishing up writing the last of the EFM8 articles that Parker started last October
• Stephen 
  • Synth works but doesn’t. 
    • Not getting ACF, something isn’t biased just right
    • Stephen will rip out some strip board and create an off board filter
    • Final version will have two envelopes
    • The current envelope works but Stephen doesn’t like it
  • Mutable Instruments Shruthi 1
• Pick Of the Week (POW) 
  • PD Buddy Sink : USB Power Delivery for everyone - Hackaday.io Projects 
    • Built by Clayton Hobbs
    • Smart power jack that plugs into Power Delivery enabled power sources
    • Tell it what voltage and current you need and it talks to the to any USB PD power supply to get you the juice
  • Internet of Fidget Spinners - HackADay 
    • Built by Matthias
    • ESP8285 for communitcation
    • Accelerometer to measure wobble and an optical switch to measure the rotation speed
    • POV - persistence of vision for graphics
    • Project Page

Wrong Variants

• Derrick from The Current Source sent in his stomp box as some "reverse" swag. 
  • Recommend putting an LED in the Bass' eyeball for power notification.
• Parker 
  • Finished and ordered the Raspberry Pi Compute Module LVDS test board.
  • Started researching more about I2S Audio. 
    • Inter-IC Sound
    • Standardized by Philips Semiconductor which is now NXP
    • One way to represent PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) Audio
    • TAS5731
• Stephen 
  • Synthesizer Update 
    • Got the envelope working.
    • Envelope controls the volume and signal amplitude.
    • There was a hardware bug in that the envelope turned on before the frequency changed to the next note. 
      • Stephen fixed it in software by adding a small 10ms delay before opening the envelope.
• Pick Of the Week (POW) 
  • Kinda unusual this week but DRAGONLOCK
    • 3D printer files for dungeons and stuff.
  • MonoPrice is having a sale on 3D printers.
• Rapid Fire Opinion (RFO) 
  • Heads up – WS2812B NeoPixels are about to change! - By Particle.io 
    • 1. “RGB port refresh rate increased from 400Hz to 2000Hz, there’s LOW Frame Frequency and No Flicker appear in HD Video Camera, it improves excellent Large-Screen display effect.”
    • 2. “RGB port current-output reduced from 17.5mA to 16.5mA, it can’t be recognized by naked eyes and won’t affect the mixed OLDs & NEWs. However, it’s recommended to separate these old & new chips if your demand performance-critical.”
    • 3. “Old & New chips go all the way in PINs, application circuits, operating voltage, and PCB drawings, and the software is also fully compatible.”
    • 4. “Old & New chips are exactly the same as in Timing, Data transmission and Data structure. However, the Reset Time increased from >50us to >280us. It won’t cause wrong reset while interruption, and what’s more, it supports the lower frequency and inexpensive MCU. When the “Reset Time<280us”, don’t mixed up and kindly please make necessary amends.”
  • Samsung to recycle millions of recalled Galaxy Note 7 phones - Electronics Weekly
    • 4 million phones have been recalled.
    • All salvageable components, such as semiconductors and camera modules, shall be detached for test sample production purposes.
    • Samsung also plans to join the EU’s R&D and test efforts to develop new eco-friendly processing methods.
  • IBM unveils world’s first 5nm chip - Ars Technica
    • notable for being one of the first to use horizontal gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, and the first real use of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.
    • 2D, 3D, and back to 2D 

Bits Flying In

• Parker 
  • Ordered Compressor IoT Board. Will start on the Software side.
  • Wrote an article about PCB board outlines and what to watch out for. It is waiting for Stephen to look over it and make sure it is not missing anything.
  • Defining planes in DipTrace with board outlines vs Eagle.
  • Parker has Vias that haunt him. Bad pinout designs for ICs can cause unnecessary vias in board layout. The LSM9DS1TR is an example of one.
• Stephen 
  • Synthesizer Update 
    • MIDI code problems and triumphs
    • Audio clip of before tuning and after tuning.
    • Frequency doubles for every ½ volt you put in for the VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator).
    • Zener diode - Zener diodes leak - caused huge calibration issues with synth.
    • The Zener diode was installed to prevent over voltage of the ADC.
    • Lower frequencies were really sharp, higher frequencies were flat. Plot of IV curve now matches with data sheet.
    • Basically Stephen characterized the Zener Diode leakage current!
  • Article series for the synth - on modules and theory of operation. Block diagrams and explain how these work.
• Pick Of the Week (POW) 
  • Doomed Thermostat
    • Honeywell Prestige Thermostat
    • STM32F429 processor ARM9 processor
    • This is starting to be the 1337 version of blinky. Hello Doom?
    • It runs doom!
• Rapid Fire Opinion (RFO) 
  • TI reference design TIDA-01243
    • USB Type-C™ and Power Delivery Minidock With Video and Charging Support Reference Design
    • 20V 3A (60W)
  • Procedural generating random medieval cities - HackADay
    • Great for D&D.
    • Generate a city on the go.
    • Cool color scheme.
    • 3D printing D&D figurines? Stephen goes back on his opinion of 3D printers.
  • Raspberry Pi named a finalist for national engineering award - Electronics Weekly 
    • Raspberry Pi has been named as one of this finalists for this year’s coveted MacRobert Award, the innovation prize awarded each year by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
    • 1% of the Global PC Market

Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro!

Tags: Board Outline, Compressor IoT, D&D, Doomed Thermostat, Hello Doom, LSM9DS1, MacroFab, macrofab engineering podcast, MEP, MIDI, Podcast, Raspberry Pi, STM32F429, Synth, Synthesizer, TIDA-01243, VCO

Incognito Mode

• HyR0n 
  • Mathematician, Computer Scientist, & Systems Engineer making the world a better place with homebrew booze and electronic bling.
• Zapp 
  • Has been writing software since age 8. Eventually making a career in developing for Java systems. He has since been promoted away from they keyboard and his life is now MS Office and meetings.
  • Didn’t know how to solder before DC23 .
  • Arduino was his gateway drug - all 15 projects of the starter kit in a few days.
• Defcon Badges 
  • Official badge has a deep puzzle - other badges filled with goo and mechanical.
  • Becomes part of the culture.
  • And!xor - is unique - most people are hacking badges. Way more to their badges. Ways to hack between badges. 
• Taco Town
• Defcon Event 
  • Hack everything from cryptography, cars, voting machines, bluetooth, lock picking villages, people will teach you if you’re willing to learn. Social engineering is a big village
  • Villages - way bigger than booths 2k sf each, have their own badges, demos, hands on events, IoT village
  • 20K - 30K
  • Defcon for newbies - don’t bring a phone, no wireless, bluetooth, no photos. Just go, have fun and learn. Cash only.
• New Defcon Badge 
  • HackADay.io Page
  • KickStarter Page
  • Specs 
    • Rigado BMD-300 SoC
      • Based on the Nordic NRF52 BLE SoC
      • ARM Cortex M4F
      • 512kb flash
      • 64kb rom
    • 15 x WS2812B LEDs
    • 5 buttons
    • Tilt switch
    • LED used for ambient light sensing
    • Standard SWD 10-pin mini header
    • Exposed GPIO
    • MicroSD w/ 2GB card included
    • 128x128 16-bit color display (ST7735)
  • SECRET COMPONENT
  • Has a Chip-8 emulator
  • Can run Tclish scripting code
  • Has built in games like Ski Free where Man Bear Pig chases you
  • BOM and Gerbers might be open after Defcon.
• Bender has a 6502 as a brain/cpu
• Hack defcon with beer - bring your own bottled corona, so you don’t have to spend $9 / bottle 
  • Hacking aka counterfeiting?

Sonic Massage

• Parker 
  • IoT Compressor Update with part list!
    • LSM9DS1
      • IMU for vibration sensing
      • iNEMO inertial module: 3D accelerometer, 3D gyroscope, 3D magnetometer
      • 3.3V, I2C
    • SPU0410HR5H-PB
      • MEMS Microphone
      • 3.3V
      • Analog signal, will be boosted with an opamp
    • TMP102
      • Board Mount Temperature Sensors Low Power Digital Temp Sensor
      • 3.3V, I2C
    •  PX3AN2BS250PAAAX
      • Pressure Transducer
      • 1/8" NPT Male fitting
      • 5.0V
      • Analog output 0.5V - 4.5V over pressure range
    • 6225AXXSZS-DC3 
      • SSR to control the compressor switch
      • 3VDC to 32VDC control signal
      • Place 10ohm in series from pin from particle photon for protection.
• Stephen 
  • Voltage Standard Calibrated complete! 
    • Used the Keithley DMM7510 to dial in the voltage standard.
  • Synth Update: Now with sound effects!   
    • Stephen played a bunch of warbles
    • Only one section is working at the moment - VCO - voltage controlled oscillator
  • Space Echo is now working 
    • Mechanical adjustments are calibration to!
    • Break the tape in to let it run, the sound gets better.
• Pick Of the Week (POW) 
  • OPA549
    • High-Voltage, High-Current Op Amp, Excellent Output Swing
    • 8A Continuous 60V
    • $23.44
    • Could be used for the SSPS
• Rapid Fire Opinion 
  • JuiceZero by SparkFun
    • DIY version of the Juicero press made out of artisan cardboard and using Capri sun
  • Google Lens will let smartphone cameras understand what they see and take action by TechCrunch
    • google.io conference Google AI or AI technology.
    • Evolution of Google Glass with better human interaction.
  • Robot Lives in Your Garden and Eats the Weeds found on HackADay
    • Franklin Robotics was started by former iRobot employees.

Don't get Analyticized

• Parker 
  • Space Echo Facebook live Calibration. Tuesday at 4PM CST.
  • Particle Photon IoT work.
  • There needs to be an IoT for Hardware Engineers. If anyone has suggestions send us a tip!
• Stephen
  • Pat Hensley who is the Mainstream Sales Manager over at Tektronics/Keithley and a listener of the podcast has let us borrow a  Keithley DMM7510 multimeter.  
  • DMM7510 multimeter Specs: 
    • Voltage Sensitivity: 7.5 digit sampling (10nV min)
    • Current Sensitivity: 1pA
    • Resistance sensitivity: 0.1u OHM
    • 14 ppm 1-year DC volt accuracy
    • 60 ppm 1-year DC current acccuracy
    • 24 ppm 1-year resistance accuracy
    • Calibration of the Electronic Development Corporation (now Krohn-Hite)
  •  501J DC voltage standard:  
    • Repair: Bought the unit dead and found two bad power supply regulators
    • Raytheon RC4194TK
    • ST Micro  L7806C-T
• Rapid Fire Opinion (RFO) 
  •  Reverse Engineering Space Invaders Sound Chip - HackADay 
    •  Ken Shirriff
    • 76477 Complex Sound Generation chip 
  •  SiFive raises $8.5 million for licensable custom microprocessors - venturebeat 
    • RISC-V, a free and open instruction set architecture for modern microprocessors.
    • They monetize it through customization and support, much like Linux companies do with their open source operating systems.
    • HiFive1 development board sells for $59. Arduino format.
  • Crashed Advertising sign reveals facial recognition command line logs - Twitter 
    • Anonymous Video Analytics (AVA) by Karios.
    • In-Store Analytics, Live Heat Map of your store, VIP treatment for customers Intelligent Digital Signag.
    • Analyze metrics like gender, age or mood to target ads relevant to specific demographics. Change displays in real time to fit different customers' needs.

Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro!

Podcast Notes

• Parker 
  • We are excited to announce that our first meetup was a great success! We hosted over 90 guests last Wednesday (April 26 2017) . Some of them shared projects they are working on and everyone had a good time.
  • Thank you to our guest speakers! 
    • Damien Garza – President at ESU, Inc. & President at Greater Houston Manufacturers Association
    • Rick Pettys – Owner and Engineer at SparX Engineering
    • Ray Simar – Professor at Rice Electrical & Computer Engineering Dept., IEEE Fellow
  • Next meet up is this month on  May 31. Topic is “Innovating the Energy Industry”!
• Stephen 
  • Design Challenge! Click names to see the submissions! 
    • Thomas Ives from Salem, OR 
      • LM3914 - Dot Bar Display Driver
    • Brett Smith
      • DM74ALS163BM - Counter
      • CD4514BM96 - Demux
    • Dave Sandl
      • CoolRunner II CPLD
      • ADC over I2C
    • Shawn Swift
      • ATTINY88 driving LEDs:
      • Drive LEDs directly with the 28 IO pins
      • Multiplex them and drive 144 LEDs
• RFO 
  • IuT ! IoT - HackADay 
    • Internet of USEFUL Things, not just the Internet of Things.
    • Hack A Day is looking for the best ideas we can find for useful connected devices.
  •  Here’s Why Juicero’s Press is So Expensive - Bolt.io 
    • Tear down of the expensive and controversial Juicero juice press.
    • People are calling it a beautifully engineered device. WRONG!
    • Best comment.  “I’ve been hacking Capri Suns since I was 5. I am a hacker.”
  •  Amazon’s new Echo Look has a built-in camera for style selfies - TechCrunch 
    • AI will decide what is appropriate for millennials to wear.
    • Pave way for Augmented reality dressing rooms?

Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro!

Podcast Notes

• Our Guests this week is Josh Hartung of PolySync. 
  • Josh is the CEO and Co-Founder of PolySync; a startup that is changing the way that companies develop self-driving car technology.
• PolySync has two products. 
  • PolySync Core 
    • Provides a runtime infrastructure and development framework that turns algorithms, sensors, and actuators into plug-and-play apps.
    • Creates and abstract layer that enables car designers  to essentially make a software defined car.
  • OSCC (Open Source Car Control) 
    • A by-wire control kit for autonomous vehicle development.
    • Using preexisting drive by wire cars and the OSCC designers and engineers can quickly develop and implement their self driving cars.
• PolySync Links of interest!
  • Twitter
  • PolySync Main Website
  • OSCC.io
  • GitHub for the OSCC

Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro!