# 494: All Tech Is Wearable

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2025-02-07
- Length: 1h 15m
- Episode: 494
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-02-07-494-all-tech-is-wearable
- Listen: https://embedded.fm/episodes/494

## Summary

Debra Ansell, known as GeekMomProjects, discusses her winning entry for the Hackaday Supercon badge add-on contest: a flexible, bendy PCB structure called the 'Bendy SAO' that mimics a wacky waving inflatable tube man. She details the mechanical engineering challenges of creating slip-ring-like connections between eight PCBs using spring contacts and push rivets, and the subsequent crisis of wiring the SAO connector backwards. The episode covers her efforts to make the device programmable via I2C using an ATtiny3224 and a Raspberry Pi Pico, while navigating the complexities of having Supplyframe manufacture the unmanufacturable design in China for RoHS compliance.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-02-07-494-all-tech-is-wearable#t=6) Introduction: Debra Ansell and GeekMomProjects
- [1:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-02-07-494-all-tech-is-wearable#t=111) Lightning Round: XIAO, QT Py, and IMUs
- [11:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-02-07-494-all-tech-is-wearable#t=663) Social Media Evolution and Maker Communities
- [26:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-02-07-494-all-tech-is-wearable#t=1566) The Maker Gift Exchange and Janet Hansen's LED Pillow
- [43:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-02-07-494-all-tech-is-wearable#t=2624) Designing the Bendy SAO: Mechanical Flexibility
- [50:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-02-07-494-all-tech-is-wearable#t=3028) The SAO Connector Crisis and Community Fix
- [53:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-02-07-494-all-tech-is-wearable#t=3235) Manufacturing Challenges: Supplyframe and China
- [57:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-02-07-494-all-tech-is-wearable#t=3446) I2C Implementation and ATtiny3224 Integration
- [1:01:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-02-07-494-all-tech-is-wearable#t=3689) Upcoming Events: Portland Winter Lights and Teardown

## Topics

- [PCB design & layout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pcb-design)
- [Mechanical engineering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/mechanical-engineering)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Maker community & events](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/maker-community)

## Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

## Mentioned

- GeekMomProjects (other)
- Make Magazine (other)
- Seeed Studio XIAO (chip)
- Adafruit QT Py (chip)
- MPU-6050 (chip)
- ATtiny3224 (chip)
- Raspberry Pi Pico (chip)
- Supplyframe (company)
- Maketvee (other)
- Janet Hansen (other)
- Ben Hencke (other)
- Carrie Sundra (other)
- Martin Oehler (other)
- Kevin Cappuccio (other)
- GC (other)
- Memfault (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [069 - Canned Cheese and Onion Rings](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2024-04-17-069-canned-cheese-and-onion-rings) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)
- [Ep047: Prusa Controversy, Bottle Organ Breakdown, PCBs Bending Backwards, and Listen to Your LED](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-12-20-ep047-prusa-controversy-bottle-organ-breakdown-pcbs-bending-backwards-and-listen) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [Eurocircuits PCB Contest Winners, Maker Faire Rome 2022, LattePanda Giveaway!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-electromaker-show/2022-10-21-eurocircuits-pcb-contest-winners-maker-faire-rome-2022-lattepanda-giveaway) (The Electromaker Show)
- [Ep 307: CNC Tattoos, The Big Chill in Space, and PCB Things](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2025-02-07-ep-307-cnc-tattoos-the-big-chill-in-space-and-pcb-things) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [An Interview with MG (Mike Grover)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-08-12-an-interview-with-mg-mike-grover) (The Amp Hour)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-02-07-494-all-tech-is-wearable. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.