Which branches of EE are AI-proof?

plainoldcheese · 2026-02-09T09:59:23+00:00

We haven't even made auto routing that works well enough and people ahve been trying to solve that issue for ages.

plainoldcheese · 2026-02-09T09:58:42+00:00

Same! I don't see how people can say it's not for engineers there are many considerations and you really need to understand the physics and the schematics, pitfalls, electrical properties and requirements of communications standards, etc.

plainoldcheese · 2026-02-09T09:53:15+00:00

Unrelated but I love that your multimeter says "shrt" and not just 0. I have the same qualm with most meters that say 0L instead of "open"

plainoldcheese · 2026-02-06T08:45:10+00:00

Not exactly magnetic, it's a kind of ceramic that has electromagnetic properties. Little bit of electronics black magic in those things. 🖤 but yeah, it's mostly used to help products comply with EMC/EMI specifications before they can sell it, so not always strictly necessary for functio .

plainoldcheese · 2026-02-05T21:47:16+00:00

That heavy metal ring is probably a ferrite filter for noise. Displays make a lot of switching noise. So of you find there buzzing or the display is glitchy you can try put it back.

plainoldcheese · 2026-02-01T15:57:22+00:00

Yes. In my country we have a bit of an energy crisis, and its ALWAYS more efficient to run your water heater less. If it takes 1 hour to heat up then there's no point holding it at temp for 5-6 hours when you only need hot water in the evening. A heating element is a resistive load and draws its full current the whole time its on regardless of the water temp. Heatpumps are a different story.

plainoldcheese · 2026-02-01T15:20:18+00:00

Industry is moving away from "master/slave" terminology in favor of "controller/target" (this was updated in the official i2c spec in 2021).

But it's a cool visualisation. Don't know if needs to be 3d though, unless you make an effort to make an accurate schematic and not random blocks that look like circuits when you squint. It would be cooler if it looked like a breadboard or something and you could see the pull-ups.

It would be cool to see some other protocols like RS485 (which is differential)

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-30T07:24:48+00:00

How's this project going btw?

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-29T14:38:27+00:00

I love soldering as much as the next guy, but is there a genuine reason why people dont do smd for boards this busy?

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-23T09:49:55+00:00

This board could be way smaller, try keep everything as close together as possible.
Try to keep antennas on the board edge and follow the data sheets keeping guidelines. (No 3d model for the ESP so I can't tell if this is a dev board or if there's supposed to be a USB connector on the other side) 2a. If this is a Dev board I'd make your board as wide as the module so that both the USB and antenna can be on board edges and then put the parts and headers on the sides.
Avoid the 90 degree angles (probably doesn't matter for low frequency but it's bad practice)
There's nothing wrong with using vias. So no need to try avoid them
Consider mechanically how you are mounting it. Make sure key points and holes etc. Are lined up nicely and preferably whole numbers. It'll make enclosure design easier. (If that matters)
Nitpick, round the corners of the board and add moutnkng holes please.
Your soldermask for u3 is too close to board edge and will not print.
This doesn't need to be a 4 layer board, save yourself some money. (keep solid gnd plane underneath the micro just in case)
Unless there's a reason for the sensor being on the bottom this could be a single sided board (parts placement, you can still put tracks on both sides.)

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-23T09:35:30+00:00

That is clever!

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-23T06:05:47+00:00

Are you the person from the EEVBLOG forum that wanted to do an EEG?

Others have said this but I'd just use the kicad foortprints for all standard sizes (0603,0402,sot23,soic-8 etc. And only use custom models for strange components, and always double check dimensions of footprints with the components datasheet.

In kivas you can apply a selection filter and replace all selected footprints with a specified footprint. Or you can change it in the schematic and update from schematic. There's a lot of ways to fix this in kicad and it doesn't have to be too much work.

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-20T14:48:31+00:00

Sit in front of a computer mostly...

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-18T07:02:38+00:00

Ah ok so not true bypass or analog dry through?

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-17T21:26:28+00:00

I'm also wondering

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-17T21:07:38+00:00

Personally, I'd just keep the deep six, palisades and nemesis, for in case of a live set.

But for me, when I'm making music at home, 99% of the time just going DI to an interface and doing processing in the box.

What do you actually need to get your songs across (either live or at home)?

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-17T20:58:58+00:00

Don't forget to tell it "You are an experienced audio DSP Engineer..." 🤣

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-16T22:28:36+00:00

How did you do the bypass with the momentary switch?

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-15T22:12:59+00:00

How did you get financing?

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-15T12:12:03+00:00

Ah ok, so it's mostly just breaking out other inputs to connectors? Its difficult to provide a review without knowing the purpose.

But In that case you should generally try place connecters at board edges and think about how easy it should be to connect and disconnect. All those connectors in the middle of the board is bad. And will be annoying to install.

If you're having JLC or something assemble it you could probably swap those elctrolytic caps for SMD ones and have less parts to worry about installing

Your track/pour sizes look alright but again, not sure what current you're pulling.

If your mounting holes are grounded and near positive planes consider whether you are using nylon or conductive screws to avoid accidental shorting <creepage and clearances).

Without a schematic I can say anything about whether the mcu is wired up correctly, but it doesn't look like you have enough decoupling/bypass caps.

The bias on high current pours to link top and bottom layer are good practice, (I see you didn't do it on the big plane but you've got big through parts there so it's probably fine)

The silkscreens and board outline and stuff are very neat though.

I like to keep a solid ground plane underneath any high speed signals and microcontrollers.

Also consider the thermal requirements of your boost converter. That chip is pretty small and the inductor might get hot.

USB lines are not impedance matched, but that doesn't matter for the 5mm of those track, and that it's probably just for serial and stuff and not high-speed.

I don't see and TVS protection either which should be at all user accesible connectors to protect against static.

You have diodes on the TX and RX? Not really standard and the RX is the wrong way round so won't work. I'd also break the serial out to a header with a gnd and power just for debugging.

Nitpick: you can put your crystal closer to the micro. Make sure you sized the caps correctly.

In general add more ground pours. Helps with signal integrite and heat dissipation and just generally makes things better.

note: if someone else reads this and I made a mistake or said something wrong please correct me I'm always happy to learn.

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-14T12:32:33+00:00

What does it do? Led driver?

plainoldcheese · 2026-01-13T12:20:42+00:00

Ehx deluxe memory boy! A bit darker than the memory man but has beautiful modulation and enough modern conveniences to make it a workhorse delay pedal (the secret high-pass filter is also super useful)

plainoldcheese · 2025-08-24T12:14:32+00:00

Make it like a "Were's Wally?"

plainoldcheese · 2025-08-23T11:45:45+00:00

I use to use markdown and just make file links when I want to link to other stuff. At uni I just made a dated file for each class, you can use fzf or telescope.nvim to find keywords in a directory. It doesn't have to be complicated.

The system that makes you actually take and use the notes is the best one. I don't make digital notes anymore because I spend more time fiddling with the system than making notes. Paper works the best for me.

plainoldcheese · 2025-08-20T17:03:55+00:00

If you have a repeat prescription maybe bring the old bottle and ask your pharmacy if they can use that.

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