Hardware Podcasts

Ep068: Picky Feeders, Slaggy Tables, Wheelie Droids, and Janky Batteries

Hackaday Podcast · 22 May 2020 · 58m

What this episode covers

Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams review the week's top hardware hacks, including 3D-printed pick-and-place component feeders by Dining Philosopher and Mark, and a gravity-based battery design by Robert Murray Smith. They also discuss a Star Wars D.O. droid built by Matt Denton, a 1960s SEL 810 computer running Lunar Lander, and a pen plotter utilizing a Geneva drive. The episode concludes with a discussion on planned obsolescence in the automotive industry, citing Jenny List's article on electric vehicle longevity.

Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Systems Engineering Laboratories
Products
D.O.
Chips
Pico, PFS154-S16
Also
Dining Philosopher, Mark, Makerzone, SEL 810, Matt Denton, Robert Murray Smith, Garrett Kozia, Shane Whiten, Adam Haley, Nicholas Roy, Eric Gunnerson, Sven Gregory, Chris Quebecca, Anna O'Kiranin, Tuisco Sarala, Miko Hipponen, Jenny List

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • TRADEOFFS · 40m

    T-26-012 : Founders From The Show Floor - CES 2026

    Chris and Nate interview founders from Eureka Park at CES 2026, including Rajeev Ramanath of Blueberry Technology, Cole Ashman of Pila Energy, and Scott Hickle of Throne. They discuss specific products like the autonomous Blueberry Go airport robot, Pila Energy's modular home batteries, and Throne's toilet health tracker. The episode highlights trade-offs in hardware design, such as Pebble's Eric Migicovsky choosing ODMs for speed over control, and Roam's Aaron Pollack accepting thickness for battery life. Other founders like Niclas Bertelsen of Naya and Michael Churchill of Kombu discuss modular ecosystems and material choices for fermentation.

    Prototyping & iterationDesign for manufacturing & NPI
    14 chapters

  • The Electromaker Show · 23m

    Raspberry Pi 500, Robot Roadies, Huge 3d Printers and Car Hacking!

    Host Ian discusses Christopher Barnett's 'Raspberry Pi 500' build, which repurposes an Atari 500 case for a Raspberry Pi 5, and announces Cooper Rox2 as the winner of the Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense Rev 2 competition. The episode covers Dexterity Robotics' automation of truck loading, the WiSer wireless serial project on Crowd Supply, and Elegoo's massive OrangeStorm Giga 3D printer. Finally, Ian reviews a car CAN bus hacking project using Blues Wireless Note Carrier F and an Adafruit M4 CAN board.

    Prototyping & iterationMicrocontrollers & dev platforms
    1 chapters

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 16m

    3D Printed Shark Jumps - Edifying Edison's Energy

    Chris Gammell returns from Maker Faire to discuss the proliferation of 3D printers, the Intel Edison development board, and low-cost pick-and-place machines. Dave Jones addresses viewer complaints about his YouTube content, analyzes the technical specs of the Intel Edison, and reviews the new Altium cloud-based design tool. The hosts also touch on the challenges of open-source test equipment and the future of hardware kits.

    PCB design & layoutMicrocontrollers & dev platforms
    7 chapters

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 03m

    Three Hundred Down, Three Hundred To Go

    Hosts Chris Gammell of Contextual Electronics and Dave Jones of EEVblog discuss the 300th episode, covering topics from advanced prosthetics by MIT's Dr. Hugh Herr to the operational Monster 6502 computer built by Eric Schlepfer. They analyze the Indiegogo and Arrow partnership for crowdfunding vetting, citing the Peachy Printer scandal as a cautionary tale, and debate the technical and legal hurdles of self-driving cars and automation. The conversation also touches on the utility of mono scooters, the value of supporting open-source hardware communities over proprietary brands, and the historical significance of vintage electrical engineering texts.

    Robotics & autonomyCrowdfunding & preorders
    11 chapters

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 28m

    Headless Units and Baseless Batteries - KiCad Kickoff Kopophobia

    Chris Gammell of Contextual Electronics explains his decision to release his KiCad video course to the public domain, citing the rapid evolution of the open-source EDA tool and a desire to give back to the community. Dave Jones from EEV Blog critiques a Kickstarter campaign for a 'graphene' AA battery, demonstrating through basic physics calculations that its claimed charging speed and capacity are impossible. The hosts also discuss the challenges of hardware accelerators, the technical feasibility of Google's micro-inverter competition, and new tools like an automated part-picking solver.

    EDA & CAD toolsCrowdfunding & preorders
    6 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Hackaday Podcast. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.