Hardware Podcasts

Pneumatic Tubes, Straight To The Home

The Amp Hour · 22 Jan 2024 · 1h 14m · Episode 656

What this episode covers

Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss recent tech hype, including debunking viral claims about the 'Water Cube' dehumidifier and beta-voltaic 'nuclear diamond' batteries. They cover the merger of Evil Mad Scientist and Bantam Tools, a side-channel security vulnerability affecting ESP32 microcontrollers, and the acquisition of a used TVM pick-and-place machine. The conversation also touches on power grid issues, CAD software choices like Fusion 360 and Onshape, and the failure of solar roadways.

Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Evil Mad Scientist, Bantam Tools, Genesis Systems, City Labs, Beehive Beta Vault, MakerBot, Other Mill, QHSMT
Products
TVM 920, Water Cube, TVM
Chips
ESP32
Tools
Fusion 360, Onshape, OpenPNP, FreeCAD, KiCad
Also
Trevor Blackwell, Lenore, Wendell

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Hackaday Podcast · 1h 08m

    Ep 312: Heart Attacks, the Speed of Light, and Self-balancing

    Hosts Elliot Williams and Al Williams discuss a critical flaw in the ESP32 Bluetooth stack, Renault's open-source battery fire suppression system, and the self-balancing robot projects by Mir MK and others. They analyze satellite imagery data from Satologic, the history of the Xbox Kinect, and a physics video explaining relativity via 'Float Head Physics'. The episode also covers IGBT datasheet misinterpretations, a 1957 movie prop computer, and the FDA approval of the Pixel Watch 3's loss of pulse detection algorithm.

    Microcontrollers & dev platformsDebugging & failure analysis
    12 chapters

  • Hackaday Podcast · 55m

    Ep023: Everything Breaks... Raspberry Pi, ADS-B, Hackaday Website, and Automotive Airbags

    Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams discuss the closure of Maker Media, a GPS hardware failure grounding flights, and a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ power management chip vulnerability. They also review community hacks including a vintage speech synthesizer, an SOIC test clip debug connector, and a mechanical drum machine, before analyzing the Takata airbag scandal.

    Debugging & failure analysisMicrocontrollers & dev platforms
    7 chapters

  • Hackaday Podcast · 48m

    Ep 364: Clocks, Cameras, and Free Will

    Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos review recent community hacks, including Mirko Pavlesky's PVC enclosures, Utani's Saturnix camera, and Andy Isaacson's mathematical clock. They also discuss Signal Snowboards' cardboard guitar, John's SMT tape counter, and the rapid adoption of solar balconies in Germany. The episode concludes with a critique of Microsoft Copilot's 'entertainment only' terms of service and a review of the Artemis moon launch coverage.

    Industrial & consumer product designPCB design & layout
    7 chapters

  • Hackaday Podcast · 50m

    Ep034: 15 Years of Hackaday, ESP Hacked, Hydrogen Sipping Cars, Giant Drawbot, Really Remote RC Cars

    Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams celebrate the publication's 15th anniversary, noting over 34,000 articles and nearly 1 million comments. They discuss security vulnerabilities in the ESP8266 and ESP32 Wi-Fi stacks discovered by Mateus Eduardo Garbellini, which Espressif has patched in the official SDK. The hosts also review several community projects, including a custom USB cable build by Joseph Adamchick, a giant SCARA drawbot by Alex Weber, and remote-controlled RC cars modified with ESP8266 modules by surrogate.tv.

    Security & privacyMicrocontrollers & dev platforms
    7 chapters

  • Hackaday Podcast · 55m

    Ep 313: Capacitor Plague, Wireless Power, and Tiny Everything

    Hosts Elliot Williams and Jenny List recap Hackaday Europe, detailing the logistical chaos of the SAO badge production, including customs delays and the heroic work of Voyer Antonich in programming PIC microcontrollers. They discuss a retrospective on the early 2000s capacitor plague, analyzing Asianometry’s theory that thermal design failures, rather than industrial espionage, caused the systemic component failures. The episode highlights several hardware hacks, including a thermal microscope using germanium lenses, inefficient but large-scale wireless power transfer experiments, and the use of PCB spring connectors in passive resistance boxes. Finally, they examine the trend of extreme miniaturization, featuring Mike Roller’s tiny PCB blinky and Texas Instruments’ new ultra-small microcontroller, while noting the potential for extracting rare earth elements from coal fly ash.

    PCB design & layoutMicrocontrollers & dev platforms
    7 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Amp Hour. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.