
Related Topics
Current Conscience Comparator
How low can the power consumption of the Cat Feeder Unreminder go? Parker and Stephen discuss leakage current on this episode of the podcast!
Color Clashing Chip Consolidation
What is the worst thing about the Analog Devices and Linear Technologies merger? The incompatible color schemes of course.
The Heartbeat of Cats and LEDs
How do you know if an electrical component is inexpensive? When it says "Cost Effective" as a main bullet point on the datasheet!
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July 22, 2020, Episode #234
Parker
- Didn’t get to work on the Cat Feeder Unreminder but there are lots of interest and ideas in our slack channel!
- TheStumbler
- Found a 12hr egg timer. Defeats the purpose of building and learning a new embedded skill.
- Eric McFall
- E-Ink for the persistent display.
- This is a great idea. I will look through my parts bins for a e-ink. Might have one.
- Derek
- Does it count as feature creep if the project is still doing the same thing but is way more complicated?
- Tony W
- Jack in the box
- DJ
- Has been working with Flip Dot displays. Kinda power hungry in short bursts. 4A for only 5ms.
- Bombledmonk
- Go solar
- Sanyo / Panasonic has panels for indoor lighting
- TheStumbler
Stephen
- Snap dome buttons
- Interesting requirements for footprints. Not sure how to do it.
- Snaptron BL-series
- 0.07 or 0.01” hole for LED – not a whole lot…
- One week product
About the Hosts

Parker Dillmann
Parker is an Electrical Engineer with backgrounds in Embedded System Design and Digital Signal Processing. He got his start in 2005 by hacking Nintendo consoles into portable gaming units. The following year he designed and produced an Atari 2600 video mod to allow the Atari to display a crisp, RF fuzz free picture on newer TVs. Over a thousand Atari video mods where produced by Parker from 2006 to 2011 and the mod is still made by other enthusiasts in the Atari community.
In 2006, Parker enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin as a Petroleum Engineer. After realizing electronics was his passion he switched majors in 2007 to Electrical and Computer Engineering. Following his previous background in making the Atari 2600 video mod, Parker decided to take more board layout classes and circuit design classes. Other areas of study include robotics, microcontroller theory and design, FPGA development with VHDL and Verilog, and image and signal processing with DSPs. In 2010, Parker won a Ti sponsored Launchpad programming and design contest that was held by the IEEE CS chapter at the University. Parker graduated with a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Spring of 2012.
In the Summer of 2012, Parker was hired on as an Electrical Engineer at Dynamic Perception to design and prototype new electronic products. Here, Parker learned about full product development cycles and honed his board layout skills. Seeing the difficulties in managing operations and FCC/CE compliance testing, Parker thought there had to be a better way for small electronic companies to get their product out in customer's hands.
Parker also runs the blog, longhornengineer.com, where he posts his personal projects, technical guides, and appnotes about board layout design and components.

Stephen Kraig
Stephen Kraig began his electronics career by building musical oriented circuits in 2003. Stephen is an avid guitar player and, in his down time, manufactures audio electronics including guitar amplifiers, pedals, and pro audio gear. Stephen graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University.
Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro!
Related Podcasts

Current Conscience Comparator
How low can the power consumption of the Cat Feeder Unreminder go? Parker and Stephen discuss leakage current on this episode of the podcast!

Ice Cream Solder Paste Equipotential
High voltage and low current measuring got you down? Stephen looks into how he is going to measure the specifications for his tubes.

Excited Electrons
Is lead forming components a lost art? What specifications of a solar panel is important for an embedded system? Find out more on this weeks episode!

Color Clashing Chip Consolidation
What is the worst thing about the Analog Devices and Linear Technologies merger? The incompatible color schemes of course.

The Heartbeat of Cats and LEDs
How do you know if an electrical component is inexpensive? When it says "Cost Effective" as a main bullet point on the datasheet!

Solar Freaking Cat Feeders
Parker's Cat Feeder Unreminder now has a parts list! Listen as Parker explains his electrical component choices and Stephen discusses CNC upgrades.