Hungry Hungry Op Amps Parker PinHeck Update The Pinotaur? Is that a good name? Draw up what you think a Pinotaur will look like! Raspberry Pi 3 Compute module works well PinHeck EOTL (End Of The Line) REV 8 will be ready for its first prototype in 2 weeks Jeep Electronics Update Satellite RockBLOCK Module GPS Temperature Various sensor data Stephen Synth is done TriTrix Speakers from Parts Express NuTube Amp New Production vacuum tube Design is done, just need to order parts and assemble Ultimat...
Sep 07, 2017•33 min•Ep. 84
The One Man Entertainment Machine We 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, USA Previous early employee at Twitter One man entertainment machine IoT Security Software Updates. Force users to update? Change default passwords! A devi...
Sep 01, 2017•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 83
Make electrons flow right? August Hardware & Electronics Engineering Meetup by MacroFab & Mouser Electronics event is live! Wednesday August 30th in Houston, Texas This month's topic is Lean Manufacturing and Product Design Stephen 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 well We did a podcast with them a couple weeks ago on MEP EP#77 Come grab some food, beer, and soci...
Aug 25, 2017•30 min•Ep. 82
Eddie Samuels and Comma.ai August 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 grad The first thing he built was a simple 7805 mp3 battery charger, guided by one of the original hackaday.com projects Went on to get his EE degree at the University of Rochester and work for a year in the defense industry before movin...
Aug 18, 2017•46 min•Ep. 81
The Brick That Shall Not Be Named: A Joe Broms Story August 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 Science He has worked in numerous industries including, medical device, security, professional audio, broadcast, and education One central theme to Joe’s career is successfully turning ideas ...
Aug 11, 2017•55 min•Ep. 80
Dueling OpAmp Inputs Parker 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 i...
Aug 04, 2017•53 min•Ep. 79
No Guru Here Parker Gave a presentation at the MacroFab Engineering meetup about how to turn on your Electronics Project. Removal of power source Physical Power Switch Soft Power Switch Details about MCU sleep modes Will 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. Th...
Jul 28, 2017•52 min•Ep. 78
The IdeaFab Podcast July 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 transit Scooterfy is a way to convert electric skateboards to a scooter so it takes less skill to ride Casey Neistat makes riding electric skateboards look easy What about a scooter cooler...
Jul 21, 2017•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 77
The Greek Tragedy of ADCs Parker With the success of the Raspberry Pi Compute Module LVDS test board. I started putting together the PinHeck REV8 board More Python and OpenCV work (fun!) Have the webcam taking pictures Auto Crops and records all the images of parts Looking into a higher resolution camera, more info on that later Stephen Parts for the filter finally shipped! Started putting together the boards Like the multi colored jumpers Veroboard - Strip Board Mouser Part Number 854-ST2 80 x ...
Jul 14, 2017•47 min•Ep. 76
Does the Simulation Match the Reality? Ben Heckendorn Runs "The Ben Heck Show" Programs, designs, directs, and imagines at Spooky Pinball Is the Castlevania expert Chris Kraft Color Destruction Algorithm Program to convert HiRez images to LowRez for pinball displays Built his first 3D printer from scratch in 2009 Was a pioneer in the DIY 3D printer space...
Jul 07, 2017•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 75
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 p...
Jun 30, 2017•32 min•Ep. 74
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 Mac...
Jun 23, 2017•58 min•Ep. 73
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 pinba...
Jun 16, 2017•35 min•Ep. 72
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 an...
Jun 09, 2017•44 min•Ep. 71
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 ...
Jun 02, 2017•47 min•Ep. 70
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...
May 26, 2017•53 min•Ep. 69
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...
May 19, 2017•39 min•Ep. 68
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 OH...
May 12, 2017•59 min•Ep. 67
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...
May 05, 2017•45 min•Ep. 66
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...
Apr 28, 2017•55 min•Ep. 65
Podcast Notes Our guests this week are Sasha Maldonado and Paige Brown of the Stanford Student Space Initiative. Sasha Maldonado Stanford junior majoring in Electrical Engineering. Now retired avionics lead on the ValBal project, and has been with the project since its inception. Co-presidents of the Student Space Initiative, also known as SSI, , and is working on electronics for an SSI-built satellite payload. Paige Brown Stanford freshman majoring in Chemical Engineering The mechanical enginee...
Apr 21, 2017•44 min•Ep. 64
Podcast Notes Our guest this week is Dave Rollinson from Hebi Robotics . Dave is a robotics engineer with a PhD in Robotics and a B.S. in M.E. from Carnegie Mellon University. His thesis research advanced the control and design of articulated, modular, snake-like robots with a focus towards real-world applications like urban search and rescue and industrial inspection. Hebi designs and manufactures industrial motorized actuator building blocks . Hebi takes the hard part out of designing automate...
Apr 14, 2017•40 min•Ep. 63
Podcast Notes If you enjoy listening to MEP, please let others know about us! Tell a coworker, loved one, friend, or share it on " social media ". We might reward your love for us by sending you a free koozie! Tell others how much you love us, then send us an email to podcast@macrofab.com with the codeword that we’ll mention during the show. Each show has a different codeword, so keep an ear out. MacroFab and Mouser Electronics have teamed up to create a free monthly meetup in Houston (April 26t...
Apr 06, 2017•41 min•Ep. 62
Podcast Notes We would love to hear from our listeners. Tell us what you think, your current projects, any topics you would like us to cover, or just say “hello”. To reach us follow us on Twitter @MacroFab or send us an email at podcast@macrofab.com. MacroFab and Mouser Electronics have teamed up to create a free monthly meetup in Houston for anyone involved with hardware & electronics engineering or manufacturing. Hosted on the last Wednesday of every month, these meetups are designed to bu...
Mar 31, 2017•27 min•Ep. 61
Podcast Notes JOSH is our guest this week Owner of Abbadad Productions Owner of Castle Bravo Studios Founder of V33R Technologies Owner of the Space Echo RE-201 Audio Engineer behind the recording of the MacroFab Engineering Podcast V33R technologies creates virtual reality environments for viewing real estate Created intuitive methods for navigating a 3d virtual space Podcast is recorded in Castle Bravo Studios Located in the old post office bomb shelter Rig Astley - A fully functional recordin...
Mar 24, 2017•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 60
Podcast Notes MacroFab and Mouser Electronics have teamed up to create a free monthly meetup in Houston for anyone involved with hardware & electronics engineering or manufacturing. Hosted on the last Wednesday of every month, these meetups are designed to build a community of professionals who want to learn from one another, gain new insights on emerging electronics technologies, and expand their network. Sign up here! What to expect Networking Fireside chats with Q&A Individual project...
Mar 17, 2017•55 min•Ep. 59
Podcast Notes Patrick Renner and Kelly O'Brien are our guests this week. Flying Carpet Creative Instagram Facebook Vimeo Public sculpture group dedicated to dynamic place making Excited about the opportunity to make Have installations in downtown Houston, East side of Austin, Montrose, Houston Houston Museum of Natural Science Project for the new Energy Section of the museum Different set of challenges then previous projects Has to last over a decade with no maintenance Special thanks to whixr o...
Mar 10, 2017•56 min•Ep. 58
Podcast Notes Al Williams is our guest this week. Embedded System Designer Blogger for Hackaday Author of many books Ham Radio Operator Hackaday is a very diverse set of writers. Each writer each has their own specialty that they write about. Al never lets the negative comments get to him. "If no one tells you you suck then you are probably not being read." The writers for Hackaday are able to pick out what is relevant and what projects are good. Hackaday Seal of Approval. Al Williams received h...
Mar 03, 2017•41 min•Ep. 57
Podcast Notes We would love to hear from our listeners. Tell us what you think, your current projects, any topics you would like us to cover, or just say “hello”. To reach us follow us on Twitter @MacroFab or send us an email at podcast@macrofab.com . Scott Vail wrote in earlier in the week. Gives the podcast two thumbs up. Stephen talks about how he got started in Audio Amplifiers and how it led to him becoming an electrical engineer. Built his first Tube Amplifier 12 years ago and it still wor...
Feb 24, 2017•37 min•Ep. 56
Podcast Notes We would love to hear from our listeners. Tell us what you think, your current projects, any topics you would like us to cover, or just say “hello”. To reach us follow us on Twitter @MacroFab or send us an email at podcast@macrofab.com . Derek long time listenersent us an email! Twitter handle @TCurrentSource Emailed us last week that he picked up a 1200V SCR Thyristor. Parker Wrote a capacitor article about polarity and silkscreen markings. Started working on a new Pinball Control...
Feb 17, 2017•37 min•Ep. 55
