Podcast Notes

• Stephen and Parker do a live discussion on how the digital and analog side of the Super Simple Power Supply will interface with each other. MultiSim has been a huge part in simulating the power supply design.
• Stephen has a new blog post about the Super Simple Power Supply.
• Parker has the 3D layout of the Super Simple Power Supply and the FX Dev board enclosure done. He still needs to draw up the mechanical drawing to send off to the machine shop. See Figure 1 for the 3D layout.
• Stephen built a discrete opamp built into a standard DIP-8 package. The opamp is designed for audio applications and Stephen wants to build a guitar effect pedal with them. See Figure 2 for the board.
• Parker wants to try to build a discrete 555 timer inspired from Stephen's opamp. Smallest BJT Parker can find is the 2SCR523V1T2L which is a DFN style package with a physical size is 0.8mm x 0.6mm x 0.35mm.
• Microchip publishes USB Mass Storage Loader that allows programing PICs by dropping the .HEX file into a "thumb drive" style drive. Uses 2 MCUs. One is the bridge and programs the second MCU.
• Microchip changed the MPLAB logo again.
• Researchers at the Center for Neuroprosthetics at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Parker couldn't pronounce this) developed a partially solid and partially liquid alloy made from gallium and gold. This material is flexable and bonds to silicon. This allows super flexible circuits. Blinky party balloons are the way for the future!
• Parker's mother owns a Lumee. It is a LED "selfie" cellphone case. Has blinky leds gone to far?
• There is an internet poll to vote on the new name of a $288M Arctic research vessel. Current winner of the poll is "RRS Boaty McBoatface". Never let the internet name anything.
• Speaking of the internet ruining things, Microsoft created a new AI called TayTweets to help improve their automated call responses. The internet turned it from an innocent teenage to a something a little more obscene in 24 hours. AI testing or social experiment?

For more info and pictures go to our blog!