# Our first in-person show

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2017-04-10
- Length: 1h 13m
- Episode: 342
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-04-10-our-first-in-person-show
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/342-our-first-in-person-show/

## Summary

Dave Jones of EEVBlog and Chris Gammell of Contextual Electronics record The Amp Hour's first in-person episode in Sydney, discussing the logistics of their upcoming hardware meetup and the challenges of building community. They analyze the shifting landscape of robotics and LiDAR, noting how costs are dropping to make autonomous systems more accessible, while also debating the practicality of long-term space missions and the need for technologies like chip printers. The conversation extends to the complexities of hardware development, contrasting software-style continuous integration with the physical realities of manufacturing, and highlighting the importance of maintaining engineering skills through practice and community engagement.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-04-10-our-first-in-person-show#t=0) Introduction: In-person recording and Sydney meetup details
- [17:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-04-10-our-first-in-person-show#t=1049) Robotics, LiDAR costs, and the IoT landscape
- [21:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-04-10-our-first-in-person-show#t=1301) Space exploration challenges and chip printers
- [24:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-04-10-our-first-in-person-show#t=1484) Historical computing: 1974 pizza ordering and speech synthesis chips
- [33:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-04-10-our-first-in-person-show#t=2001) Hardware development: Continuous integration vs. physical manufacturing
- [46:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-04-10-our-first-in-person-show#t=2776) Supply chain issues, Amazon sales, and dumpster finds
- [50:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-04-10-our-first-in-person-show#t=3000) AWS FPGA instances and cloud computing applications
- [58:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-04-10-our-first-in-person-show#t=3532) Learning FPGA and maintaining engineering skills

## Topics

- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Design for manufacturing & NPI](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/design-for-manufacturing)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- EEVBlog (company)
- Contextual Electronics (company)
- Blue Chili Group (company)
- Lemnos Labs (company)
- Boston Dynamics (company)
- Kiva Systems (company)
- ESP8266 (chip)
- LiDAR (other)
- SP256AL2 (chip)
- TMC0280 (chip)
- BeagleBone (product)
- Octavo Systems (company)
- Potato Semiconductor (company)
- Sand Squid (other)
- Amazon (company)
- AWS (company)
- Xilinx (company)
- Digilent (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Episode 100: Live From Boston!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2016-12-09-episode-100-live-from-boston) (Making It)
- [Episode 143: ROBOTS!!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2017-11-10-episode-143-robots) (Making It)
- [Episode 173: Concrete Bandsaw](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2018-06-29-episode-173-concrete-bandsaw) (Making It)
- [81: Two of Those People Can't Be Ducks](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-12-17-81-two-of-those-people-cant-be-ducks) (Embedded.fm)
- [T-26-012 : Founders From The Show Floor - CES 2026](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-02-04-t-26-012-founders-from-the-show-floor-ces-2026) (TRADEOFFS)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-04-10-our-first-in-person-show. 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 The Amp Hour.