# Garbage Ninjas

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2023-08-28
- Length: 1h 02m
- Episode: 644
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2023-08-28-garbage-ninjas
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/644-garbage-ninjas/

## Summary

Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss the engineering and marketing behind fitness trackers like the Fitbit Inspire 3, analyzing its sensors, Kalman filters, and the history of the 10,000-step metric. They review teardowns of the Fitbit and a 1980s boom box, highlighting component choices from STMicro and Maxim, and discuss the business of selling teardown reports via Yole Group. The conversation shifts to supply chain realities, including Chris Gammell's experience with Macrofab's DFM reports and the collapse of Tempo Automation, before touching on a compact RISC-V core implementation in Verilog.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2023-08-28-garbage-ninjas#t=0) Introduction and Fitness Tracker Tech
- [8:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2023-08-28-garbage-ninjas#t=522) Fitbit Inspire 3 Teardown and Components
- [13:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2023-08-28-garbage-ninjas#t=816) Zephyr OS and Nordic Semiconductor Strategy
- [23:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2023-08-28-garbage-ninjas#t=1398) 1980s Boom Box Teardown and Joe Grand's PCB Boom Box
- [31:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2023-08-28-garbage-ninjas#t=1906) eBay, Gumtree, and Secondhand Market Dynamics
- [47:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2023-08-28-garbage-ninjas#t=2820) DFM Challenges with Macrofab and Tempo Automation Collapse
- [53:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2023-08-28-garbage-ninjas#t=3203) RISC-V Core in Verilog and RISC-V Microcontrollers

## Topics

- [PCB design & layout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pcb-design)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Sustainability & circular products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sustainability-and-circularity)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Fitbit Inspire 3 (product)
- STMicro (company)
- Maxim (company)
- Nordic Semiconductor (company)
- Zephyr (tool)
- Macrofab (company)
- Tempo Automation (company)
- Yole Group (company)
- Joe Grand (other)
- CH32V003 (chip)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Fitbit: James Park](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-27-fitbit-james-park) (How I Built This)
- [39: I Blame Space](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-02-19-39-i-blame-space) (Embedded.fm)
- [430: Broken Toys All Around Me](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-10-13-430-broken-toys-all-around-me) (Embedded.fm)
- [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)
- [27: You Are Blowing My Mind](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2013-11-13-27-you-are-blowing-my-mind) (Embedded.fm)

## 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/2023-08-28-garbage-ninjas. 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.