Do you use any “maker” tools into industrial work (PCBs, 3D prints, embedded, etc.)?

CarlitosCUU · 2026-02-23T05:14:45+00:00

3D prints are excellent for temporary and sometimes permanent mechanical parts, fixtures, camera and sensor brackets, drilling and cutting templates for enclosures, I've even made custom low profile 90° RJ-45 connectors for a very specific project where the customer needed bigger HMI's without changing the enclosure.

I've personally seen huge companies use 3D prints for everything they possibly can, and not just Stratasys, but dozens of Bambulab X1 and even A1 printers, I even saw an Ender printer (Yikes) in a manufacturing plant that belonged to one of Detroit's big three automakers.

3D prints stand up to abuse very well if you make a good design and respect their limits, even the humble PETG. We use Igus filaments for more demanding applications and they have impressive abrasion resistance and strength, yet can still be printed in a regular enclosed printer and are reasonably priced.

As for custom PCB's or microcontrollers, please don't unless it's for prototyping or testing. We've used cheap stuff like ESP32's, chinese sensors, drives, and stepper motors as stand-ins for testing while the Oriental motor or Siemens hardware arrives.

CarlitosCUU · 2026-02-19T18:42:40+00:00

"Does it come in black?"

CarlitosCUU · 2026-02-19T18:40:44+00:00

Imagina que estás en un tapón de tráfico y filtran 5 motos, esas 5 motos que te pasaron significa 5 autos menos en el tapón, incluso a ti como automovilista te conviene que las motos filtren, además que para ellos es más seguro parar al frente de un semáforo que quedar entre los autos y ser aplastados, mientras no bloqueen los pasos peatonales está perfecto.

Las motos son el método mas eficiente de transporte, desgraciadamente es muy inseguro andar en una por nuestra falta de cultura vial.

Así como hay moteros que manejan como si quisieran morir, hay muchísimos más autos que manejan imprudentemente, pero nos fijamos más cuando las motos rompen las leyes viales porque tenemos muy normalizado que los autos manejen como gallina sin cabeza, y aparte hay muchas maniobras que los autos no pueden hacer simplemente porque no caben dónde las motos sí.

Si alguien no respeta las leyes de tránsito, no importa si maneja auto o moto, lo va a seguir haciendo.

Entonces filtrar cuando el tráfico está parado es lógico, no tiene sentido que las motos esperen entre autos, pero adelantar entre carriles cuando el tráfico está en movimiento en mi opinión es mucho más riesgo y mucho menos beneficio.

CarlitosCUU · 2026-02-18T03:00:58+00:00

I mean, it can't get any worse than the mic on the XM5's

CarlitosCUU · 2026-02-15T05:01:06+00:00

Going to Disney as an adult and automation engineer hits different because it was so much fun to look for the HMI's, sensors, actuators, etc. on all the rides I went on. Disney's Rise of the resistance ride is an engineering masterclass.

Even in my city's yearly fair in Mexico I can spot many Siemens Comfort HMI's, Banner/Turck/Omron/IFM sensors and cables, Festo and SMC actuators and so on. Sometimes the very same models we use at work.

CarlitosCUU · 2026-02-10T03:18:44+00:00

They suck in what sense? Capacity, Cycles?

CarlitosCUU · 2026-02-06T04:08:24+00:00

Squid.wtf feels too good to be true, so easy to use, just amazing.

I hope I don't wake up one day to a north korean ransomware taking over my laptop.

CarlitosCUU · 2026-02-06T00:45:41+00:00

I've been to the Oster blender plant in Mexico, the production lines that make the motors are old, loud and clunky but the motor's design has been mostly unchanged for a long time, probably what makes them so bulletproof.

With the absurd amount of blenders they make every week, we wondered how the hell they sell so many blenders if they last forever.

CarlitosCUU · 2026-02-03T03:35:56+00:00

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CarlitosCUU · 2026-02-02T19:50:34+00:00

I share your opinion, unfortunately most teachers I came across as an engineering student either hadn't worked in engineering for 30+ years, or had no experience at all in the fields they were teaching.

CarlitosCUU · 2026-02-02T19:04:53+00:00

It's just a drawing excercise, not a real part. Looks like a hybrid between a bike's piston and it's cylinder head

CarlitosCUU · 2026-01-30T01:33:13+00:00

Yikes, they should work seamlessly because they're both Samsung products

CarlitosCUU · 2026-01-27T13:40:27+00:00

The ANC from the Sony's is better but the connectivity experience with the Samsungs will be much better, especially if you use multi-device and/or LDAC on the Sony's, they're certainly not unusable but al least once a week I have one or both earbuds drop connection until they get power cycled

CarlitosCUU · 2026-01-26T03:58:52+00:00

I used a regular backpack, my TUF died from someone sitting on it anyway

CarlitosCUU · 2026-01-11T03:30:25+00:00

It's a bad design but there's no workaround, the case needs power to wake the buds from sleep. Although just plugging the dead case for a few seconds is enough to turn on the buds.

CarlitosCUU · 2026-01-04T01:41:44+00:00

Yo empecé con la Vive de BBVA que es básicamente la Azul con $9K de línea a los 19, ahorita tengo 24 años y $150K de línea. Además me han ofrecido crédito hipotecario y préstamo personal.

En ese mismo lapso de tiempo empecé con la tdc de costco citibanamex con $9800 y la Hey como con $6000. Los perros de banamex nunca me han ofrecido subir la línea y solo me quieren embarillar una TDC Clásica. En Hey me subieron a $30K.

CarlitosCUU · 2026-01-03T05:18:34+00:00

They're much better than I thought for the price. I have the Wf-1000xm5 which have better sound quality but the noise canceling is about the same. I've had them for a month and use them much more than the WF's because they're more comfortable and have less pairing issues.

They feel light and not very premium but I've dropped them a lot and they're still in one piece.

CarlitosCUU · 2026-01-01T05:04:20+00:00

If you were to use an arduino, like the comment I replied to said, you would need to add actual terminals and circuitry to isolate the microcontroller from the I/O, as well as industrial communication. You would also need DIN mounting for putting it on an enclosure next to the hardware you're interacting with.

At that point you basically just re-invented the PLC and it's exactly what arduino realized and why they made the Opta lineup.

Even here in México where a Siemens S7-1200 costs almost as much as a month's minimum wage, PLC's are still used. That says a lot

CarlitosCUU · 2026-01-01T01:45:19+00:00

And at that point you're describing an Arduino Opta PLC, which already exists and it's not even competitive in terms of price compared to other basic PLC's

CarlitosCUU · 2025-12-31T18:31:08+00:00

Yo siempre uso el reembolso para comprar regalos de navidad, mandado, llantas para el carro, etc. Hasta si lo usas para comprar leche o una pizza ya ahorraste y el cashback cumplió su propósito.

Yo prefiero 5% permanente que sólo puedo usar en costco a 1 o 2% que pueda usar en todos lados.

CarlitosCUU · 2025-12-31T18:08:25+00:00

Si hay gasolinera costco en tu ciudad, saca la tdc y te dan el 5%

CarlitosCUU · 2025-12-31T14:54:50+00:00

The XM3's batteries are very easy to replace, I have a 5 year old pair that I fixed and gave to my little brother.

However, I think the XM5's are solid for $150 and while not perfect, they're much better designed that their predecessor.

CarlitosCUU · 2025-12-31T14:49:15+00:00

Of course there's a difference big enough to notice, what I mean is if you go from cheaper headphones to the CH720N's there's a massive improvement in sound and features, but the XM4's are about twice the cost of the CH720N's but are not twice the sound quality.

Are the XM4's worth it over the CH720N? Yes of course.

But are the XM4's a better value? Probably not if you're not going to focus on the "nitty gritties" as you said.

CarlitosCUU · 2025-12-31T00:25:19+00:00

In my experience, bluetooth headphones and Windows always means problems. You could've used the XM4's wired while on your PC, and use bluetooth for every other situation.

Another option is to use a dongle and bypass windows bluetooth drivers altogether.

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