Ep 120: Chip Shortage, VGA Glitching, Truly Owning Roku, and Omniballs

Hackaday Podcast · 28 May 2021 · 50m · Episode 120

What this episode covers

Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys discuss a week of hardware hacks, including a Roku TV rooted to drive an Ambilight-style LED setup, a 4-axis 3D-printed camera motion rig using slip rings and ESP32s, and James Bruton’s innovative spherical omniwheel robot. They also cover a VGA-to-composite glitching synth, a scroll saw blade-tracking system using hard drive platters, and a 6-DOF robot arm for non-planar 3D printing. The episode concludes with a community discussion on how the global chip shortage is forcing redesigns and compounding supply chain issues for makers and small businesses.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 09m

    Feed the Mouse

    Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss the ongoing chip shortages, highlighting how part scarcity forces engineers to redesign products or pay exorbitant prices on the gray market. They review the Luna USB analyzer from Great Scott Gadgets, an open-source tool using an Lattice FPGA for debugging USB 2.0, and critique the Illume COVID-19 home test for its unnecessary electronics and environmental waste. The conversation also covers career advice, including the value of debugging skills, the 'embedded resume' project by Aaron Vorce, and the importance of right-to-repair initiatives like the WAS conference.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 17m

    Living Through Chipageddon

    Hosts Chris Gammell and Dave Jones discuss the ongoing semiconductor shortage, dubbed 'Chipageddon,' analyzing its impact on industries like automotive and consumer electronics, and the supply chain dynamics driving it. They then shift to technical tooling, debating the challenges of importing Eagle files into KiCad and best practices for managing hardware version control in Git. Finally, Gammell promotes his new consulting course, 'Hang Your Technical Shingle,' while Jones shares advice on resume building and showcases high-quality PCB renders created with Blender.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 01m

    Two Dads Puzzlin Things Out

    Dave Young of Young Circuit Designs and Blue Stamp Engineering joins Chris Gammell to discuss the persistent challenges of the chip shortage, specifically the inability to source Raspberry Pis and instrumentation amplifiers, and the resulting need to pivot designs or pay scalpers. They analyze the consolidation of the analog semiconductor industry into a duopoly of Texas Instruments and Analog Devices, noting how this reduces supply chain resilience. The conversation also covers the technical complexities of integrating the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4), including the difficulty of hand-soldering 0.4mm pitch connectors and the necessity of controlled impedance for high-speed signals like MIPI DSI. Finally, they explore the implications of Amazon Sidewalk for low-cost IoT connectivity and discuss strategies for fostering engineering education and maker communities in the next generation.

  • 033 - All Over the Place

    Hosts Jen Castillo and Alvaro Prieto discuss their pandemic-era projects, including Alvaro's recreation of his father's 7400-series digital clock, a USB-C power adapter using a Cypress chip, and a t-shirt quilt. Jen details her reverse engineering of a greeting card chip, her exploration of Chinese manufacturing via Alibaba, and her choreography of a remote dance piece. They also cover the cancellation of hardware conferences like Hackaday Supercon and HackRF, and recommend movies such as 'Mood Indigo' and '3 Idiots'.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 03m

    EcoWoke and Going Broke

    Chris Gammell of Contextual Electronics and Dave Jones of EEVblog discuss the new Art of Electronics X Chapters book, the supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus shutdown in China, and the discontinuation of Particle's mesh networking ecosystem. They highlight the Tontek TTP223 touch sensor as the Chip of the Week and critique the 'Last Tissue' Kickstarter for greenwashing. The hosts also announce a return to semi-regular banter and a search for a podcast editor.

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.