Stuff you didn't know and probably don't care about

[Red Squirrel]

Sadly it was inevitable, even autorouting has been a thing for a while so AI will just improve it.

I can see it where AI will be able to just spit out gerber files based on a described circuit. Although for very large complex projects I don't know how much time that would REALLY save. I think it's going to be like AI coding where it's an aid but won't replace a job completely.

Just for fun I asked grok to generate a gerber file for a 555 timer breakout board, without giving much detail, it generated this, although I couldn't open it very well in kicad, got lot of errors, but it did do something resembling a breakout board. I could see this being useful for very small "boiler plate" circuits and such once it's more refined.

%FSLAX24Y24*%  ; Format statement: Leading zeros omitted, 2.4 decimal precision
%MOMM*%        ; Units in millimeters
%ADD10C,0.254*% ; Define aperture D10 as a 0.254mm (10 mil) circular trace

G01*           ; Linear interpolation mode
X000000Y000000D02*  ; Move to origin (bottom-left corner)
X025400Y000000D01*  ; Draw board outline (bottom edge, 25.4mm right)
X025400Y025400D01*  ; Top-right corner
X000000Y025400D01*  ; Top-left corner
X000000Y000000D01*  ; Back to origin

; IC centered at (12.7mm, 12.7mm), DIP-8 pins at 2.54mm pitch
; Pin 1 (GND) at (11.43, 10.16), Pin 8 (VCC) at (14.97, 15.24)
; Header row along bottom edge, starting at (5.08, 2.54)

; Trace from Pin 1 (GND) to Header 1 (5.08, 2.54)
X011430Y010160D02*  ; Move to Pin 1
X005080Y002540D01*  ; Draw to Header 1

; Trace from Pin 2 (TRIG) to Header 2 (7.62, 2.54)
X011430Y012700D02*  ; Move to Pin 2
X007620Y002540D01*  ; Draw to Header 2

; Trace from Pin 3 (OUT) to Header 3 (10.16, 2.54)
X011430Y015240D02*  ; Move to Pin 3
X010160Y002540D01*  ; Draw to Header 3

; Trace from Pin 4 (RESET) to Header 4 (12.70, 2.54)
X011430Y017780D02*  ; Move to Pin 4
X012700Y002540D01*  ; Draw to Header 4

; Trace from Pin 5 (CTRL) to Header 5 (15.24, 2.54)
X014970Y017780D02*  ; Move to Pin 5
X015240Y002540D01*  ; Draw to Header 5

; Trace from Pin 6 (THR) to Header 6 (17.78, 2.54)
X014970Y015240D02*  ; Move to Pin 6
X017780Y002540D01*  ; Draw to Header 6

; Trace from Pin 7 (DISCH) to Header 7 (20.32, 2.54)
X014970Y012700D02*  ; Move to Pin 7
X020320Y002540D01*  ; Draw to Header 7

; Trace from Pin 8 (VCC) to Header 8 (22.86, 2.54)
X014970Y010160D02*  ; Move to Pin 8
X022860Y002540D01*  ; Draw to Header 8

M02*           ; End of file

 

[Kaido]

 

[IronWing]

^ legit

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...p/uploads/2019/09/Person_in_WiFi_ICCV2019.pdf

It appears to be a 2019 paper so the technique is probably already in use.

 

[Kaido]

^ legit

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...p/uploads/2019/09/Person_in_WiFi_ICCV2019.pdf

It appears to be a 2019 paper so the technique is probably already in use.

View attachment 121475

I KNEW all those new mesh systems were cheap for a reason!! Not even air-gapped computers are safe!

Computer speakers can easily produce sound at levels inaudible to human hearing (18-24hz) that can be decoded by a cellphone up to 25 feet away. No speakers on the air-gapped computer? Microphones can also work as speakers. No speakers or microphones? The hard drive actuator arm can be clacked to send audio signals, as well. Solid state drives with no moving parts? Then the fans on the computer also produce noise and can be altered by malware to transmit information.

 

[William Gaatjes]

AI PCB design:

A Better Way to Build PCBs | Flux

Go 10x faster from idea to PCB by reducing busy work, never starting from scratch, and keeping your team in sync. Now with the help of Flux Copilot.

www.flux.ai

CAD AI:

AdamCAD: AI Powered CAD

AdamCAD is a Text-to-CAD tool enabling hardware teams to make prototypes faster than ever

www.adamcad.com

Now that i think of it, that adam cad program can be handy to create 3D step files quickly. PCB programs can use step files to add a 3D model based on the electronic component.
Some electronic manufacturers have 3d files available together with the pcb footprint and schematic symbol. But not all manufacturers. So the electronic design engineers has to create these footprint files, schematic symbols and 3D step files them selves.

As an example :
Would be nice if i can just write there : Give me an enclosure of length = 3.5mm , width = 2.65mm , height = 0.98mm. Make hole , diameter = 1mm, at 1mm from upper left side and 0,85mm down from top side.

PCB programs have had autorouters for years. But the pcb engineer always has to do a lot of touch up or start all over again.
And a copilot is not really needed if one can read datasheets. As a schematic engineer or pcb engineer , you still have to verify everything. That is why on average the salary is so good.

 

[William Gaatjes]

^ legit

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...p/uploads/2019/09/Person_in_WiFi_ICCV2019.pdf

It appears to be a 2019 paper so the technique is probably already in use.

View attachment 121475

I read about this before a few years ago. If i am not mistaken, a group of students from Israël developed a similair system. Being able to look through walls by using existing wifi signals and estimating where the perpetrators are. This system was presented as perpetrator catcher. You know, hiding behind a wall or in a another room with a gun in the hand .
Good for the police or anti terrorism units.

But it makes sense that AI processes sensor data, in the end star trek style. How else are we going to be able to navigate in space and see hazardous events way before the ship is affected ?

 

[William Gaatjes]

AI PCB design:

A Better Way to Build PCBs | Flux

Go 10x faster from idea to PCB by reducing busy work, never starting from scratch, and keeping your team in sync. Now with the help of Flux Copilot.

www.flux.ai

CAD AI:

AdamCAD: AI Powered CAD

AdamCAD is a Text-to-CAD tool enabling hardware teams to make prototypes faster than ever

www.adamcad.com

I do not know why, but the adamcad website is blocked by email spamfilters from my provider. As soon as i type that site in the email and send it, i get an undeliverable message , because of flagged as spam.

 

[Red Squirrel]

El Savador prisons have actually gotten a huge overhaul ever since they got a new president and they are setup so that the inmates can learn stuff as well as do productive work for the government, which means less burden on the tax payers. They produce clothes, desks, etc and also do farming for the prison itself. The inmates learn new skills in the process and are better off when they leave. I think this is actually a pretty great system and North America should adopt it.

 

[IronWing]

El Savador prisons have actually gotten a huge overhaul ever since they got a new president and they are setup so that the inmates can learn stuff as well as do productive work for the government, which means less burden on the tax payers. They produce clothes, desks, etc and also do farming for the prison itself. The inmates learn new skills in the process and are better off when they leave. I think this is actually a pretty great system and North America should adopt it.

Prisoners could learn the stone trade at Mauthausen. Mittelbau-Dora was Space Camp for prisoners. Auschwitz also offered labor opportunities. What a great system!

 

[Kaido]

El Savador prisons have actually gotten a huge overhaul ever since they got a new president and they are setup so that the inmates can learn stuff as well as do productive work for the government, which means less burden on the tax payers. They produce clothes, desks, etc and also do farming for the prison itself. The inmates learn new skills in the process and are better off when they leave. I think this is actually a pretty great system and North America should adopt it.

El Salvador went from the most unsafe country in the world to safer than America??

 

[IronWing]

 

[skyking]

This is a 4 barge river tow:

“The rivers can move more volume at once, with greater fuel efficiency,” he wrote. “One barge can carry the same amount of wheat as 35 rail cars or 134 trucks. A barge tow can carry more than one 100-unit train or 538 trucks. And one barge can move a ton of wheat 647 miles per gallon while a truck can only move a ton of wheat 145 miles per gallon.”

Source

 

[skyking]

Folks are clamoring to remove the dams from the lower Snake River, and that would break that highway. It won't happen for several reasons. The power is not the big deal, IMO.
Contrast that to the Klamath river dam removals.
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/10/02/klamath-river-dams-fully-removed-ahead-of-schedule/

The whole Klamath dam system produced a peak of 169 MW.
Each one of the 4 Snake River dams produce between 600 and 800 MW.
The Klamath had 1/3rd of the historical salmon runs in the state of California prior to the dams; The project has restored 400 miles of wild river.

 

[skyking]

One of those 4 barge tows today, heading up river empty going past Celilo Park on the Oregon side.

 

[Kaido]

One of those 4 barge tows today, heading up river empty going past Celilo Park on the Oregon side.
View attachment 122192

Remember that one time a stuck boat hogged up $10 billion of goods?

 

[Red Squirrel]

That whole incident showed how ridiculously fragile our shipping infrastructure is, and don't think anything has been done to fix it either. If we actually produced more stuff in-house it would be less of an issue.

 

[Kaido]

That whole incident showed how ridiculously fragile our shipping infrastructure is, and don't think anything has been done to fix it either. If we actually produced more stuff in-house it would be less of an issue.

Remember the COVID supply chain issues? The whole workflow is so, so fragile:

Why potato farmers are stuck with billions of pounds of potatoes

Potato farmers in Idaho and Montana are destroying millions of potatoes due to a COVID-19-caused glut in the supply chain.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[skyking]

that was an interesting accident. The captain was having some issues and he increased speed. When fighting winds and control issues, adding some more speed will help steerage. In this case it did the opposite. The added speed was additive to the oscillations and oops.
That tow in my picture has great steerage going upriver against the current.
On the downstream run, they have to go a minimum speed to maintain control.
I was at my friend's place near Stella on the river and observed that. The freighters haul ass downriver and the channel is close to shore at his house.

 

[William Gaatjes]

Remember the COVID supply chain issues? The whole workflow is so, so fragile:

Why potato farmers are stuck with billions of pounds of potatoes

Potato farmers in Idaho and Montana are destroying millions of potatoes due to a COVID-19-caused glut in the supply chain.

www.businessinsider.com

Where is the government helping out ?
Help these farmers and get those potatoes to parts of the country or even other countries where poverty is highest and foodstamps are more common.
At least then there is food for the poor. And the farmers are not going bankrupt.

This is so weird. A farmer receives 12 dollars for 100 pounds of potatoes. That is a lot of potatoes.
I can of course not really compare prices from different countries but if i just blindly would : If i would compare that to prices in the Netherlands, imagine that 2 pounds of potatoes costs about 1.80 dollars( I converted euros to dollars) in the Netherlands. 50*1.80 = 90 dollars. That is a good profit for the supermarket.

 

[Kaido]

Where is the government helping out ?

Man I have some bad news for you...

Trump administration cancels program that paid Wisconsin farmers to grow for food pantries

Nearly 300 Wisconsin farms participated in the program last year, providing fresh food to pantries and hunger relief organizations.

www.usatoday.com

Trump's USDA Cancels $3 Billion Climate Program for Farmers

The top rated website for carbon credits, carbon markets, carbon offsets, carbon pricing, carbon news, esg investing, netzero and more.

carboncredits.com

Tariffs, economy threaten to force struggling Arkansas farmers out of business

Increasing back-and-forth tariffs between the U.S. and countries like China amid the Trump administration's trade war might be the straw that broke the camel's

katv.com

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/im-not-even-sure-legal-010000861.html

What’s Working: Trump told farmers and ranchers to “have fun” with his cuts and tariffs. They aren’t.

Canceled grants hurt Colorado’s climate-smart farming. Plus: State lost jobs in March as jobless rate grew to 4.8%, King Soopers union sues, Denver permits speed up

coloradosun.com

 

[William Gaatjes]

Man I have some bad news for you...

Trump administration cancels program that paid Wisconsin farmers to grow for food pantries

Nearly 300 Wisconsin farms participated in the program last year, providing fresh food to pantries and hunger relief organizations.

www.usatoday.com

Trump's USDA Cancels $3 Billion Climate Program for Farmers

The top rated website for carbon credits, carbon markets, carbon offsets, carbon pricing, carbon news, esg investing, netzero and more.

carboncredits.com

Tariffs, economy threaten to force struggling Arkansas farmers out of business

Increasing back-and-forth tariffs between the U.S. and countries like China amid the Trump administration's trade war might be the straw that broke the camel's

katv.com

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/im-not-even-sure-legal-010000861.html

What’s Working: Trump told farmers and ranchers to “have fun” with his cuts and tariffs. They aren’t.

Canceled grants hurt Colorado’s climate-smart farming. Plus: State lost jobs in March as jobless rate grew to 4.8%, King Soopers union sues, Denver permits speed up

coloradosun.com

Maybe Monsanto will gladly help out with patented and manipulated seeds. Blind unguided free market right there, or is it Government controlled by big Corp. DTrump being DTrump.

 

[William Gaatjes]

Teen with very advanced bionic hands. The detachable hands can even move separated but remote controlled, on their own.

 

[lxskllr]

 

[William Gaatjes]

Watching the ILM documentary.
It is so funny that the sound of the laserweapons, the laserweapons fire sounds are actually created by tapping and sliding against a tensioned steel cable. This while recording the sound.

 

[skyking]

That sound I will not forget. I was young lad working as a rigger/pilebuck around a mobile crane. Our task that day was to simply move the crane 50' to get out of another contractor's way.
I was in the cab of the lower and the boss was in the crane. I raised the outriggers and waited for the signal, he boomed up out of the hole, then unfortunately did not set the swing brake. Gravity took the crane around and I heard that noise as the boom hit the first high voltage overhead line. I looked up and back in time to see it hit the second line and temporarily blind me with the fireball as it snipped that off. Those are probably 115Kv lines, medium haul.

That drrrt mechanical noise of tapping a tensioned cable = shudder.