Yo Ho Ho and a Technological Bottle of Rum

April 7, 2017, Episode #62

• If you enjoy listening to MEP, please let others know about us! Tell a coworker, loved one, friend, or share it on “social media”.  We might reward your love for us by sending you a free koozie! Tell others how much you love us, then send us an email to podcast@macrofab.com with the codeword that we’ll mention during the show, plus your mailing address. Each show has a different codeword, so keep an ear out!
• MacroFab and Mouser Electronics have teamed up to create a free monthly meetup in Houston (April 26th) for anyone involved with hardware & electronics engineering or manufacturing. Hosted on the last Wednesday of every month, these meetups are designed to build a community of professionals who want to learn from one another, gain new insights on emerging electronics technologies, and expand their network.
  • Sign up here!
  • What to expect
    •  Networking
    • Fireside chats with Q&A
    • Individual project sharing and discussion
    • Door prizes
    • Refreshments
• Parker has been working on the next step of the RPI3 LVDS project.
  • Pinout the SODIMM connector for the RPI3 Compute Module. See Figure 1.
    • Part number 1473149-4 by TE Connectivity
    • LVDS DS90C365A IC is net listed up
    • Trying to use the PWM function to control the backlight of the LCD.
      • GPIO40 is PWM0 on the RPI3
    • Still to be done
      • Power 1.8V, 3.3V, 12V
      • SD card
      • HDMI
      • USB and a USB Hub
      • Break out all the pins
      • Test points for clk signals and data streams
• Stephen has a challenge for the listeners.
  • Goal: Design for a ring of LEDs that surround a control knob on a synthesizer and light up according to the position of the knob
  • Requirements
    • The circuit must connect to a potentiometer (this can be a dual gang version) example: rv16a01f
    • The ring of LEDs must be centered on a 12mm radius around the potentiometer.
    • Whole circuit must not be larger 1.2” W x 1.2”H x 1.2”D
    • PCB can solder directly to pins on potentiometer
    • Multiple PCBs is acceptable if needed
    • Color of the LEDs does not matter although green or red is preferable
    • Number of LEDs is 16 minimum and 32 maximum
    • LEDs are arranged on a 300 degree arc (potentiometer has 300 degrees of rotation) starting at 240 degrees and ending at -60 degrees
    • The circuit will receive external 5V power so it must have through hole pads for power and gnd
    • CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP! Do this for as cheap as possible
• Rapid Fire Opinion (RFOs)
  • Revealing Capcom’s Custom Silicon Security – Hackaday
    • Capcom developed their arcade boards to die with their secrets through a “suicide” system. System name CPS2
    • Basically all the game code was encrypted and the key was stored in volatile ram kept alive by a battery.
    • Reminds Parker of the reflow oven that MacroFab currently use.
  • NXP chip checks your booze – Electronics Weekly
    • The Tag uses NXP’s NTAG 213 Tag Tamper technology which checks the origin of the bottle, detects if the bottle has been opened, and creates an URL for the bottle.
    • Stick it on, and if someone tries to remove it, the NFC chip will separate from the tag, rendering it unusable.
    • Example Tag that uses the NTAG213
    • Datasheet
  • IoT Startup Bricks Customers Garage Door Intentionally – Hack A Day
    • Garadget remotely bricked an unhappy customer’s WiFi garage door for giving a bad Amazon review and being rude to company reps.
    • “Technically there is no bricking, though,” the rep replied. “No changes are made to the hardware or the firmware of the device, just denied use of company servers.”
    • What happens when this fine firm to go bankrupt? Do all their openers stop working?

Figure 1: RPI3 CM Board Parker is working on.

About the Hosts

  Parker Dillmann

  Stephen Kraig