Circuit Break Podcast #158

Jason Cerundolo of Reclaimer Labs

Related Topics
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Discussion on USB-C, EU chargers, tech, Slack GUI, government regulation, tech innovation and reverse polarity.

This Podcast Intentionally Left Blank

Mandatory USB Type-C for everything? Parker and Stephen discuss the current EU ruling and preparing your PCBA design for contract manufacturing!

Kalashinikaze: The Right to Fly Arms

Parker gives an update on his Prop Dev Stick Type-C and Stephen designs a tonestack based on the LND150.

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February 6, 2019, Episode #158

Jason Cerundolo joins Parker and Stephen to discuss testing and evaluation of the USB Type-C PD spec.
  • Jason Cerundolo
    • An engineer experienced in mechanical, electrical, and firmware engineering
    • Jason has over nine years of experience as a hardware engineer and working on electronic designs in Silicon Valley
    • In his free time, he works on open source projects, such as USB Type-C tools and projects
  • USB Type-C Power Delivery PHY Breakout Board
    • A breakout board for the FUSB302
      • USB-PD PHY for BMC communication used in USB-C connectors
    • Determine plug orientation (normal or reversed)
    • Determine or advertise Type-C power levels (5 V at 0.5, 1.5, or 3.0 A)
    • Use BMC communication to negotiate USB Power Delivery Explicit Contracts up to 20 V and 5 A (100 W of power)
    • Negotiate Alternate Modes to reuse the pins in the Type-C connector for other purposes
  • One of the problems that I always run into with USB designs is the “Am I doing this right?”
    • Testing, debugging, and evaluation
      • What hardware and software should you look at when building a test setup for USB?
      • Low Cost Alternatives for home designers and startups?
  • What is a good place to start if a hardware designer wants to get into USB Type-C?
    • Jason has articles that cover a solid foundation of USB Type-C in his USB-C for Engineers, Part 1
    • Reclaimer Labs
    • Quick hardware layout tips for USB signals
    • Standard high speed signal routing applies
    • For USB 2.0 just keeping them the same length should be enough
    • For Superspeed USB 3.0+ length matching for each pair is more important

MacroFab will be at SXSW. We are teaming up with Particle.io to put together a Hardware Happy Hour. It will take place on Friday March 8th from 4PM until 8PM at the super cool Jester King Brewery. Check the show notes for full details and to RSVP. Join us for lite bites and refreshments, network with fellow Hardware nerds and kick off SXSW.

Visit our Public Slack Channel and join the conversation in between episodes!

Jason cerundolo of reclaimer labs

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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This podcast intentionally left blank

This Podcast Intentionally Left Blank

Mandatory USB Type-C for everything? Parker and Stephen discuss the current EU ruling and preparing your PCBA design for contract manufacturing!

About MacroFab

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Experience the future of EMS manufacturing with our state-of-the-art technology platform and cutting-edge digital supply chain solutions. At MacroFab, we ensure that your electronics are produced faster, more efficiently, and with fewer logistic problems than ever before.

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