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July 7, 2021, Episode #284
- When to Schedule Python for Engineers Intro Stream?
- This Saturday July 10 at 6PM central
- Twitch URL for the stream
- Overview of the Topics
- Setting up a python environment on Windows PC
- Python script talking to an embedded device over serial communication
- Not a how to write python/code stream
- Might get into Tkinter for GUI stuff
- Embedded Device will be Arduino
- SCPI to handle the coms
- List of items
- Arduino
- Windows PC
- PyCharm
- PinoTaur Production Update
- Production is going well, boards are slated to be completed soon
- The Future of the Supply Chain
- Finding part alts that work for you
- Finding different temperature ranges, packages, and even packaging
- Adventures in Plastic Injection Molding
- We have reached 1 Mega presses
- First analysis – Images below
- All “failures” were due to test bed
- Could probably go more than 1 million presses
- Will repeat 3 or 4 more times
- New batch of actuators due any day now
- Finally Real Engineering
- Ran into my very first honest to god Differential Equation…
- Got around it with excel
- To all college students – Do well but….
- What is the most computational intensive work you have had to do on the job?
About the Hosts

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.

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.
Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro!
Related Podcasts

Kathy Joseph and The Lightning Tamers
A physicist and electrical engineering historian, tells human stories behind electricity's evolution. Learn from experiments and eccentric scientists.

Derivative Learning or Mathematical Consequences
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From Zero to Hero in Python
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Why is estimating a projects completion time feel like it takes more work then the actual project? Estimating Project Time, the quest of management.

Signal Switching for Maximum Offness
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Necrobiotic Synthesizers
Our Spider-sense is tingling... OH that is actually a man-made zombie spider crawling up my leg. Who thought that would be a good idea? WHO!?!