Hardware Podcasts

Altium File Parsing, AI Design Reviews & PCB Viz Tools

OnTrack · 21 Apr 2026 · 49m · Episode 339

AI in practice: 3 real uses of AI described

What this episode covers

Eli Hughes, principal at Wavenumber LLC, demonstrates his open-source 'Altium Cruncher' toolset, which parses Altium project files to generate BOMs, net lists, and 3D HTML viewers without opening the CAD software. He explains how he feeds these parsed net lists into AI models like Claude and Codex for automated design reviews, power tree analysis, and Zephyr device tree generation, drastically reducing manual effort. Hughes outlines his vision for a next-generation, AI-queryable knowledge store that ingests decades of schematic history and reference designs from companies like TI and NXP to facilitate design reuse and supply chain validation.

AI in practice

Where this conversation describes AI being used to build or deliver a product. Part of the AI in practice tracker.

Engineering & simulationClaude2 or 3 minutes

The speaker used Claude to analyze a parsed net list and automatically generate a Zephyr device tree for a custom board, reducing a task that typically takes a day to just a few minutes.

“I can literally, in 2 minutes, tell Claude, hey, use out Tim Cruncher, grab the net list. … it created this board file. … Now it, like, when I say it's like 2 or 3 minutes, it's 2 or 3 minutes, Anne Claude knows how to build it, it is ready to go.”

Speaker 2 · Hear it at 26:11

Engineering & simulationClaude

The speaker used Claude to build a power tree diagram by analyzing semantic information from data sheets and the parsed net list, identifying correct power connections.

“I can say, hey, from what you can read in the data sheet, build me the power tree because now it has all the, it has all of the semantic information about, you know, the pins, the functions, um, and everything. And it's scary good to tell you saying, 0 yeah, you've got your VDD core going here…”

Speaker 2 · Hear it at 26:11

Engineering & simulationCodex

The speaker feeds parsed net lists into Codex for AI-assisted design reviews and power tree analysis, leveraging the JSON format to avoid errors associated with image-based parsing.

“I literally open Code Extra Clawed, I say, run out Theme Cruncher Netlist. Uh, we have all the data sheets, but then I can say, hey, from what you can read in the data sheet, build me the power tree…”

Speaker 2 · Hear it at 26:11

Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Altium, Wavenumber LLC, NXP, TI, Octopart, Cadence, Digi-Key
Products
Super Monkey Board
Tools
Altium Cruncher, Mega Maid, Claude, Codex, Zephyr, KiCad, OrCAD

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