# An Interview with Bart Dring

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2019-04-15
- Length: 1h 32m
- Episode: 438
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-04-15-an-interview-with-bart-dring
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/438-an-interview-with-bart-dring/

## Summary

Bart Dring, founder of BuildLog.net and former Director of Product at Inventables, discusses his journey from designing pinball machines at Williams Electronics to building custom CNC robots and motion control systems. He details the evolution of his open-source laser cutter kits and the Maker Slide linear extrusion, explaining how he managed early Kickstarter success and partnered with Inventables to support products like the X-Carve and Shapeoko. Dring then explains his recent work porting the Gerbil motion planner firmware to the ESP32, enabling low-cost, wireless, standalone controllers for small-scale robots like the NickelBot and Stringbot.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-04-15-an-interview-with-bart-dring#t=0) Introduction: Bart Dring and BuildLog.net
- [2:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-04-15-an-interview-with-bart-dring#t=152) Williams Electronics and Pinball Machine Design
- [6:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-04-15-an-interview-with-bart-dring#t=385) High Power Microwave Transmitters and Satellite Comms
- [16:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-04-15-an-interview-with-bart-dring#t=967) Open Source Laser Cutters and Maker Slide Kickstarter
- [29:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-04-15-an-interview-with-bart-dring#t=1765) Inventables, X-Carve, and Shapeoko
- [36:56](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-04-15-an-interview-with-bart-dring#t=2216) Gerbil Firmware and Motion Planning on Arduino
- [46:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-04-15-an-interview-with-bart-dring#t=2806) Porting Gerbil to ESP32 and Wireless Control
- [1:06:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-04-15-an-interview-with-bart-dring#t=4000) Custom Robots: NickelBot, Coaster Bots, and Stringbot

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)
- [Design for manufacturing & NPI](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/design-for-manufacturing)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- BuildLog.net (other)
- Williams Electronics (company)
- Inventables (company)
- Maker Slide (product)
- X-Carve (product)
- Shapeoko (product)
- Carvey (product)
- Gerbil (other)
- ESP32 (chip)
- Arduino (other)
- PSoC (chip)
- NickelBot (product)
- Stringbot (product)
- Easel (product)
- Mach 3 (other)
- Linux CNC (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Ep. 33 - Guest: Bar Smith of Maslow CNC](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/open-hardware-manufacturing-podcast/2024-11-21-ep-33-guest-bar-smith-of-maslow-cnc) (Open Hardware Manufacturing Podcast)
- [Ep 202: CNC Monks, Acrobot, Bootleg Merch, and the Rise and Fall of Megahex](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2023-01-20-ep-202-cnc-monks-acrobot-bootleg-merch-and-the-rise-and-fall-of-megahex) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [Episode 109: Building robots at home - Dan Nicholson](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-02-14-episode-109-building-robots-at-home-dan-nicholson) (Robot Talk)
- [Ep071: Measuring Micrometers, the Goldilocks Fit, Little Linear Motors, and 8-bit Games on ESP32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2020-06-11-ep071-measuring-micrometers-the-goldilocks-fit-little-linear-motors-and-8-bit-ga) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [Ep 357: BreezyBox, Antique Tech, and Defusing Killer Robots](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2026-02-13-ep-357-breezybox-antique-tech-and-defusing-killer-robots) (Hackaday Podcast)

## 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/2019-04-15-an-interview-with-bart-dring. 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.