
Related Topics
The Simplest SMT Component… In The World
Stephen’s CNC steps closer to being completed! Parker receives a newsletter that has the simplest SMT component in the world.
Laser Cutting Tolerancing
They may be known for being electrical engineers but on this episode, Parker and Stephen dig into the more mechanical aspects of their current projects
Current Conscience Comparator
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November 16, 2022, Episode #352
November 5, 2022 – Extra Life Recap
- Improvements to the script
- Thank you to everyone that hung out, supported, and donated!
What is next for CNC
- Parametric cnc model in fusion
- Changed to a 5×5 cutting surface
- All 8020 construction with good bit of milled aluminum
- Added a 40 series table
- ATP-5 aluminum by vista metals
- https://www.vistametals.com/assets/pdfs/products/atp-5-precision-tooling-plate.pdf
- Precision tooling plate
- Cast aluminum 5000 series
- Can be welded and about 5% lighter
- Excellent corrosion resistance
- RMS value of 15 to 20
- Thickness tolerance of +/-0.005
- Good flatness tolerance
- Building up Z axis after the pod
- Next steps:
- Finish drilling and tapping all the holes
- Buff all of the surfaces with scotch brite wheels
- Anodize
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

Calibrating CNCs with PCB Rulers
Stephen has successfully resurrected his CNC machine. How good could a chain drive driven, wood based CNC actually be? Tune in to find out!

Laser Cutting Tolerancing
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The Simplest SMT Component… In The World
Stephen’s CNC steps closer to being completed! Parker receives a newsletter that has the simplest SMT component in the world.

Current Conscience Comparator
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Don’t Let AI Brew Your Beer
Parker and Stephen discuss Chat GPT-3, a language processing AI system, and what it can mean for engineers and society.

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.