Ridiculously blinking led

Circuit Break Podcast #15

Ridiculously Blinking LED

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May 13, 2016, Episode #15

Stephen is now almost done with the FX Development Board's final layout and enclosure design.
  • Stephen is now almost done with the FX Development Board’s final layout and enclosure design. He is also working on a new version of his drop in replacement for opamps that will use a dual stacked PCB.
  • Parker finished the test panel for the SSPS. See Figure 1. Has all the critical spacing and parts on the board for testing. Parker wants to make sure everything fits before running the full sized version.
  • A listener recommended we change the name to the Super Sophisticated Power Supply. Stephen thinks the Super Superfluous Power Supply sounds awesome.
  • The TPS65982-EVMs are working great. Parker is doing loads of research into USB Type-C. He is currently waiting to hear back from Texas Instruments on getting a “USB2MANY” adapter board. Which is mentioned in the TPS6598x Utilities Tool User Guide. See Figure 2. Parker is using his Re:load Pro to test power transfer over the connection.
  • Parker and Stephen want to build a cheap data logger for just voltage and current. These devices exist but it will be a good practice in cost reduction and layout design. Called the Data Acquisition Dongle or D.A.D.
  • Fairchild makes a $16 “flexible and compact solution for a blinking or breathing LED indicator”. Part number FAN5646S701X. Parker and Stephen think its a bit ridiculous to have a part this expensive and all it does it blink a LED in a fancy way.
  • Octavo Systems has introduced a new “System-in-Package” which is basically multiple ICs into a single package. The OSD3358-512M-BAS is basically a Beagle Bone Black in one IC package. With this new IC Jason Kridner is working on the PocketBone which is a 2-Layer PCB that is only 2.17″ by 1.38″ that is a full fledge 1GHz Linux computer.
Figure 1: SSPS front panel test layout. Miniature version of the real front panel to test physical placement and new parts.

Figure 1: SSPS front panel test layout. Miniature version of the real front panel to test physical placement and new parts.

Figure 2: Two TPS65982-EVM booster packs. One is powering the other over USB Type-C. Parker was able to pull 20V @ 3.2A before his Re:load Pro overheated.

Figure 2: Two TPS65982-EVM booster packs. One is powering the other over USB Type-C. Parker was able to pull 20V @ 3.2A before his Re:load Pro overheated.

About the Hosts

Parker Dillmann
  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

Stephen Kraig is a component engineer working in the aerospace industry. He has applied his electrical engineering knowledge in a variety of contexts previously, including oil and gas, contract manufacturing, audio electronic repair, and synthesizer design. A graduate of Texas A&M, Stephen has lived his adult life in the Houston, TX, and Denver, CO, areas.

Stephen has never said no to a project. From building guitar amps (starting when he was 17) to designing and building his own CNC table to fine-tuning the mineral composition of the water he uses to brew beer, he thrives on testing, experimentation, and problem-solving. Tune into the podcast to learn more about the wacky stuff Stephen gets up to.

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

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