Last Minute Decisions - Obdurate Onepercenter Obstacles

The Amp Hour · 17 Sept 2014 · 1h 13m · Episode 216

What this episode covers

Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss Altium's new Maker PCB package, criticizing its mandatory cloud storage as a potential dealbreaker for engineers who need offline access. Gammell introduces his new component search engine project, parts.io, designed to help engineers find and compare op-amps and other components more effectively. The hosts also analyze a teardown of a Tesla battery pack, discussing the use of 18650 cells, fusing strategies, and current shunts, while noting that former guest Vincent Himpey has joined Tesla as head PCB designer.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • OnTrack · 14m

    PCB Design Tools for Every Team Size: Altium's New Approach

    Justin Sears, Head of Product Marketing for SaaS at Altium, explains the company's new product strategy announced at PCB West 2025. He details the split between Altium Develop for small teams and Altium Agile for larger organizations, focusing on how this shift removes friction for cross-disciplinary collaboration. Sears highlights the removal of per-seat fees for external collaborators and the move toward an end-to-end product development suite.

  • OnTrack · 46m

    Altium API Deep Dive: Opening PCB Data to Developers

    Rob Barton, Head of Platform API at Altium, explains the evolution of Altium's programmatic access from disconnected SDKs to the new Platform API, a federated GraphQL schema exposing design data, supply chain intelligence, and manufacturing services. He demonstrates live queries for Octopart supply data (pricing, availability, RoHS compliance) and deep PCB design data (layers, nets, track coordinates) via the Altium 365 infrastructure. Barton discusses the strategic shift toward an API-first philosophy to support enterprise customization and AI agents interacting via MCP servers, noting the upcoming Altium Developer Center.

  • Hackaday Podcast · 1h 00m

    Ep047: Prusa Controversy, Bottle Organ Breakdown, PCBs Bending Backwards, and Listen to Your LED

    Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams discuss the Prusa 'Buddy' board controversy, where Prusa Research locks firmware flashing behind a physical 'appendix' trace to prevent safety hazards, sparking debate in the maker community. They also cover Paul Bryson’s technique of using flexible PCBs for complex board rework, Nick Poole’s tips on building enclosures from PCB material, and the world's largest grid-scale battery backup at the Hornsdale Power Reserve.

  • OnTrack · 37m

    Altium Is Coming Home to the Designer | Lawrence Romine on OnTrack

    Lawrence Romine, senior director of marketing at Altium, explains the company's strategic pivot from a single-product model to three distinct offerings: Altium Develop, Teams, and Enterprise. He details how Altium Develop targets individual designers and small teams with a PCB-centric, lower-cost solution that excludes enterprise features like single sign-on, while Enterprise serves regulated industries with governance. Romine also addresses user concerns about being left behind during the shift to cloud collaboration, confirming a return to frequent, feature-rich core PCB design releases similar to the 2015–2020 era.

  • Hackaday Podcast · 1h 12m

    Ep 290: iPhone's Electric Glue, Winamp's Source Code, and Sonya's Beautiful Instructions

    Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi discuss the release of an electrically activated adhesive by Tesa used in the new iPhone, which allows for non-thermal disassembly. They also cover the source code release of Winamp under a restrictive license, a hack by Beamster to add Apple Find My support to power tool batteries using the OpenHaystack library, and a 14-year-old's autonomous stratospheric glider project called Stratosaur. The episode concludes with a deep dive into Sonya Vasquez's documentation practices for the Jubilee 3D printer and Arya Voronova's bodge-job fix for a noisy switching regulator.

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