Brock Robinson 🇺🇸

Electronic Design Engineer
Specializing in resource-constrained edge computing. Interests: AI, Altium, uCs, PCB layout, Drones, Robotics. Reindustrialize 🇺🇸

[Brock Robinson 🇺🇸 @Brock_Robinson1]

@nahitafu It’s already here. Not exactly 2021 but it rhymes.

[なひたふ/技術士(電気電子) @nahitafu]

DigikeyからもMouserからもArrowからも、FPGAやADCがどんどん無くなっている。値段もどんどん高くなっている。2027年に向けてプチ半導体不足到来か？今後1年分くらいに必要そうで、枯渇しそうな半導体を急いで買ったけど100万円くらいになった。きついな。

[Normal @normalfactoryco]

We gave AI one week to build a giant drone

It helped design it, order the parts, and do final assembly

Then we delivered its first payload to @jimbelosic

[Brock Robinson 🇺🇸 @Brock_Robinson1]

@dhh Well of course the guy that sells hardware wants to make software free.

"Commoditize your complement."

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

About 4 hours to Flight 15

[Brock Robinson 🇺🇸 @Brock_Robinson1]

@Kyrannio @AndrewCurran_ @mattbroadstreet Just a huangcidence.

[Brock Robinson 🇺🇸 @Brock_Robinson1]

@i2cjak It's funny, I didn't see this one coming. Not because I didn't think AI could do it, I just didn't understand the massive interest people had in making their own boards. I assumed only people who already laid out boards would be interested. But this huge push is from newcomers.

[A. I. (Macro Photography)🔬 @MacroWorld21]

Mother of goodness.. This looks like a brick 😄
"PCB transformer"

[Brock Robinson 🇺🇸 @Brock_Robinson1]

@electrotelecast I like the option. Of course it's not as good as gold, but not every board needs precious metals. Better than HASL for QFN's. And 1 less process.

There IS a coating on it. Organic & water based so it burns off. Just doesn't last for years. But HASL will oxidize after a yr too.

[Brock Robinson 🇺🇸 @Brock_Robinson1]

@alwayspriyesh > Please go ahead, He's no good.

Funny, but with a capitalization or punctuation error I doubt that was Fable.

[Tesla Semi @tesla_semi]

Hello Windy City

Chicago’s first 50 Semis en route for delivery

[Nirav Patel @cmonkey]

A better example with these instructions from the start. This looks pretty close to what I would have placed and routed by hand (though it is a simple board).

[Brock Robinson 🇺🇸 @Brock_Robinson1]

@FPGAX_ This happened during the 2021 shortage with TI's power supply regulators. Then Chinese companies just started copying them outright, pin compatible. You could even buy them on Digikey.

IDK why TI has shortages. They have their own US fabs (and they brought more online after).

[FPGAX Electronics @FPGAX_]

I recommend that all companies using Texas Instruments (TI) chips, especially automotive-grade parts, stock up now.

Huaqiangbei traders are buying up large quantities of spot inventory, and speculation has already begun. A small number of part numbers have already skyrocketed from just over $1 to more than $200 an outrageous increase.

Based on the information I’ve received, the market for TI’s automotive-grade parts is set to explode in Q1 next year.

[Rina @irinatoxi]

Fable 5.2 wrote a CPU. Real FPGA tools clock it at up to 34 MHz.

To get it off the screen and onto a board, Fable wrote a wrapper around it: memory, a serial port and LEDs.

Yosys turned it into real FPGA cells for a Lattice ECP5: 2,379 logic cells, 104 flip-flops and 3 blocks of RAM.

Then nextpnr gave every cell a real spot on the chip and routed every connection. The whole CPU takes 10% of the chip.

Timing analysis traced the slowest path: 14.5 ns out of 20 allowed. It passes at 25 MHz with room to spare.

The exact netlist that goes into the bitstream then booted in simulation, printed text through its serial pin and ran Game of Life from its own RAM. 420,000 clock cycles, zero mismatches.

The bitstream is ready. It just hasn’t been flashed to a physical board yet.

[Palmer Luckey @PalmerLuckey]

Yes! Finally! The four-wheel-drive Toyota KEI-01 is going to be built in Gibson County, Indiana.

https://t.co/b1Pk8kNzmq

[Brock Robinson 🇺🇸 @Brock_Robinson1]

@NickParkerPrint @icanc4 Are you going to open source it?

[Counter Unmanned Systems @CUAS_NEWS]

Directed Energy Division

🇺🇸 Allen Control Systems (ACS)(@allencontrol) has established a Directed Energy Division and appointed Amanda Clark as Vice President, Directed Energy and John Mason as Program Director, High Energy Laser to lead the division.

According to ACS, Clark and Mason join the company from U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC).

"The defense industry has invested heavily in directed energy, but generating a powerful beam is only part of the challenge. You still have to find a fast-moving threat, stay on target, and engage it with precision. ACS has already demonstrated those capabilities with our Bullfrog autonomous weapon station, and applying that expertise to directed energy is a powerful combination" - Joe Bingold, President and CEO, ACS

Learn more >> https://t.co/gznuYAJrcS

[Brock Robinson 🇺🇸 @Brock_Robinson1]

@TheSalesBull1 It’s a shame too, because those used to be examples of an advanced writing style, until they were way overused.

[The Sales Bull @TheSalesBull1]

Learning this ruined Twitter for me because you just see this shit everywhere