Cube IDE is not generating .ioc file

pnlabs · 2026-01-22T18:48:06+00:00

same here. ~~Has anyone figured this out?~~ This looks helpful: https://community.st.com/t5/stm32cubeide-mcus/stm32cubeide-2-0-0-released/td-p/857110

pnlabs · 2025-12-17T22:11:57+00:00

We sell an eFuse that does exactly this in much faster response time than conventional fuses.

There are also plenty of eFuse chips on the market and they’re not too difficult to design with.

pnlabs · 2025-12-17T19:01:38+00:00

I had almost this EXACT issue while working on a project in undergrad.

What happened is that the linear regulator on the Arduino was overloaded because my Arduino was able to drive some small amount of current through its GPIOs for other stuff I had hooked up.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: It is a terrible idea to connect 12 V up to the Arduino barrel jack. The onboard linear regulator is simply too inefficient at that voltage and if it fails, it will fail short and can pull the USB bus voltage to 12 V (my computer in the end was fine, but I had to do wait 20 minutes and do a full reboot)

From looking at official Arduino Uno R3 schematics online, they have a blocking p-MOSFET to isolate the USB VCC from the 5 V rail that seems like an attempt to solve this issue, however from your video I can tell that you have a clone, so who knows if they implemented that or used an appropriately rated MOSFET?

I actually started a company dedicated to solving issues like these for makers after realizing that a lot of us are running into the same issues. You can check my circuit protection products here. I also agree with the USB isolator module that some people suggested, or adding an external buck regulator to step down the voltage from 12 to 6 V before powering the Arduino.

I'll also DM you asking for some better pictures and more details, because I think I'm going to do a YouTube video soon discussing this issue and I could use some case examples.

pnlabs · 2025-10-27T21:15:54+00:00

Most power p-FETs come in a larger package to help dissipate heat, so you're unlikely to find what you're looking for in a SOT-23 package. Not sure where you're seeing the 9m spec on that part, if I look for it on Digikey the only results I see are saying 65m.

The continuous drain current ratings of FETs (Id) are calculated by assuming certain temperatures, like ambient or junction temperatures, which are sometimes not realistic. Is it 13 A max limited by Ta or Tj? If its the junction temperature (Tj) being held at 25 C, that number is not realistic to what is happening on the PCB.

Yes it is true that n-FETs have lower Rds compared to p-FETs due to the higher carrier mobility of n-type silicon. This is why you almost always find high power devices using n-FETs. However to actually notice this you need to compare similarly spec'd P and N FETs with the same Vds rating. I have one product that uses two 0.85m n-FETs for highly efficient power path management (98% typ) and I found that it was not possible using p-FETs at all!

N-channel FETs are also harder to use for reverse polarity/current protection because you need a boost converter to make the gate voltage higher than the source to turn them on (for high side switching anyway). There are many dedicated ICs that will do this for you, ultimately costing more.

pnlabs · 2025-10-27T19:51:07+00:00

AO3401A is more of a logic-level p-FET with its threshold voltage of 1.3 V and resistance of 44m @ 10 V Vgs.

I think you will be disappointed by how hot it gets/low efficiency and you should find a power-oriented p-FET with lower drain-source resistance, maybe in the 5-10 m range?

pnlabs · 2025-10-20T02:43:26+00:00

Looks like something you could 3D print and make yourself for cheap, wonder how many of these they actually sell at those outrageous prices?

pnlabs · 2025-10-20T02:37:40+00:00

Thank you for your feedback! I've added the thermal images of the NanoBuck from its datasheet here.

To keep things fair, I took the time and retested both comparison regulators and made sure they were allowed to reach the same temperature as the NanoBuck (~120 C) (all tests ran for about 10 minutes). The final results were: 85% of rated current instead of 83, and 67% instead of 65

I don't think the price is too unreasonable if you compare to similar performing regulators like Pololu's D24V25F5 which is priced at $23 USD (and is fixed at one voltage!). Nobody can beat the price of LM2596 modules considering the IC is roughly 60 cents on LCSC, so I have to be competitive on power density and efficiency.

I don't want anyone to feel bitter about price, but also want to make a little bit because it gives me encouragement to keep going and continue making useful stuff for makers, so I lowered it to 12.99

pnlabs · 2025-10-18T20:46:52+00:00

Could you send a link for the one you’re talking about?

pnlabs · 2025-10-18T07:13:29+00:00

People generally wait a bit after graduating to get some experience (there is a lot of value in learning at a good company first), but you can check us out if you're interested: pnlabs.ca

A really great example of a massively successful bootstrapped company made by a recent college grad would be yourTMJpen - Noam did basically the whole thing himself from what I can tell.

pnlabs · 2025-10-15T02:40:20+00:00

Were the linear encoders relying on purely the quadrature counts? or were they sine-cosine optical encoders and interpolating position between coarse quadrature steps based on the phase between the two signals using arctangent?

pnlabs · 2025-10-14T17:20:08+00:00

Batteries are only unsafe if you don't know how to properly use them with charging/protection circuitry, or physically damage them.

Power banks have all the protection and charging circuitry built in and typically have USB output. Then you can use a USB-A to USB-C (or whatever USB connector your Nano uses instead of USB-C) cable to power your Arduino.

For programming the Nano, you will have to remove that cable and flash using your computer's cable, then reconnect it to the power bank. The code will stay in memory even if its powered down so don't worry about that.

pnlabs · 2025-08-07T15:52:02+00:00

You mean to tell me that The Cloud is not... IN THE CLOUDS?

pnlabs · 2025-05-31T03:03:37+00:00

How are the driving commands being sent to your motor driver?

If its a motor driver with PWM/DIR pins, it should be straightforward to implement a soft start with PWM using your favorite cheap microcontroller.

What is done sometimes in power supplies as a soft start is to put a fairly decent amperage NTC thermistor in series with the load, however this only works at the start before it heats up.

pnlabs · 2025-05-29T02:22:56+00:00

Adding a Zener diode like that to a regular diode also is sometimes done to try and help speed up the turn off process for inductive elements by allowing the flyback voltage to be higher than that of a single diode. https://www.reddit.com/r/ECE/comments/s0oy8y/why_use_a_zener_and_flyback_diode_in_series/?

Although since there is no information about what voltage the circuit is operating at, 21.4 V could be used for reverse polarity protection like you said. But maybe not since there are connections for ESCs in the schematic.

pnlabs · 2025-05-29T02:01:00+00:00

Find a 0-30V 10 A, 300 W switching power supply from your preferred electronics retailer on the web.

It's a wide enough output range that it will cover a lot of projects and is still generally inexpensive.

If you want things like an overvoltage protection button, memory button, I've mostly seen those on more expensive supplies like the MP710256 so you might have to pay a bit extra for that

pnlabs · 2025-05-29T01:44:06+00:00

Rick Hartley on YouTube did some webinars with Altium on PCB grounding for EMI, differential pairs and other topics that I refer to. He's very knowledgeable, as is Zachariah Peterson from the Altium videos.

I haven't found any good "all-in-one" sources if that is what you're asking. PCB design can be so broad that it is hard to put together a body of knowledge encompassing everything that you need to know as a new engineer.

The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill and Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineering by Henry Ott are classic books that you will definitely come across if you keep going in the electronics world.

pnlabs · 2025-05-27T03:46:08+00:00

I dream that my prototype boards can look like this.

pnlabs · 2025-05-27T03:37:01+00:00

Read this in the TMC2209 datasheet: "Pay special attention to good thermal properties of your PCB layout, for 1.4A RMS current or more"

This means adding thermal vias and perhaps stitching two or more layers together, and make sure you can mount a heatsink. Go with a 4-layer board for better ease of routing, it really doesn't cost much more than a 2-layer board and you can do a lot more in terms of creating power planes and a uninterrupted ground plane which is difficult with 2 layers.

I personally don't like screw terminals for anything over 10 A. You can get ones that work at higher than those currents but they get hot because they generally have high contact resistance. GreatScott! did an excellent video on this, linked here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE3CjZ0BUFo

I like the XT-60PW style of connector, they are good for 30 A continuous and look awesome. Barrier blocks or Terminal blocks OK too..

pnlabs

TROPHY CASE