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Brandon Satrom and the LANoT
Parker talks with Brandon Satrom of Particle about the future of IoT and then design and prototype an IoT device.
The Internet of Mothers
Agustin Pelaez and Cameron Klotz of Ubidots talk about what is IoT and how to start an IoT Project.
The One Man Entertainment Machine
John Adams joins Parker and Stephen to discuss IoT Security, Crappy IoT Devices, and WS2812B LEDs.
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March 31, 2017, Episode #61
- We would love to hear from our listeners. Tell us what you think, your current projects, any topics you would like us to cover, or just say “hello”. To reach us follow us on Twitter or send us an email at podcast@macrofab.com.
- MacroFab and Mouser Electronics have teamed up to create a free monthly meetup in Houston (April 26th) for anyone involved with hardware & electronics engineering or manufacturing. Hosted on the last Wednesday of every month, these meetups are designed to build a community of professionals who want to learn from one another, gain new insights on emerging electronics technologies, and expand their network.
- Sign up here!
- What to expect
- Networking
- Fireside chats with Q&A
- Individual project sharing and discussion
- Door prizes
- Refreshments
- Parker
- Spooky Pinball LVDS controller for the Raspberry Pi 3
- As mentioned it uses DS90C365A LVDS converter
- Current 5V regulator was a bit weak on power so Parker is upgrading to a LM1085ISX-5.0/NOPB which can handle 3A.
- LCD is a LP156WH4-TLN2-LG. Single Channel LVDS 1366×786 resolution.
- See Figure 1.
- Started work on a RPI Compute Module board with the LVDS on board.
- If anyone is interested, Parker is thinking of doing a kickstarter for it.
- Spooky Pinball LVDS controller for the Raspberry Pi 3
- Stephen
- Science museum project is underway. Full test to be running after the podcast.
- Synth is coming along. 50% complete! See Figure 2.
- Rapid Fire Opinion
- Cuddle Cub
- IoT Teddy Bear? Internet of Teddies.
- Tracks kids movement and helps get your kids to bed?
- “Not only is Cuddle Cub great for kids, but great for parents as well! Be in control and in the loop for every night’s bedtime adventure, giving you the extra time you deserve!”
- Google Patent for Creepy Teddy Bear
- SpaceX is breaking space flight history as we record
- First orbital class rocket to be relaunched a second time
- Tooth Tunes by Joe Grand
- Replaces the original Tooth Tunes electronics with a custom audio player circuit, empowering the user to play any song of their choosing.
- Video of it in action.
- Cuddle Cub

Figure 1: Parker’s LVDS converter board for the Raspberry Pi 3 in action!

Figure 2: Front panel for the Synth.
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

Bits Flying In
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The One Man Entertainment Machine
John Adams joins Parker and Stephen to discuss IoT Security, Crappy IoT Devices, and WS2812B LEDs.

Brandon Satrom and the LANoT
Parker talks with Brandon Satrom of Particle about the future of IoT and then design and prototype an IoT device.

The Greek Tragedy of ADCs
Battery less Cellphones, Raspberry Pi Compute Modules, ENOBs, and a 100W USB Type C eval board!

Wrong Variants
Stephen gets his Synth's envelope working and Parker starts looking into Class D Amplifiers.

The Internet of Mothers
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