The Spark Gap

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Karl and Corey talk about various aspects of embedded electronics, from nuts and bolts design to high-level discussions and debates. We also talk about some of our hobbies surrounding electronics (3D Printing and CNC Routers). New episodes are released

The Spark Gap


    • Jan 31, 2018 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 56m AVG DURATION
    • 53 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The Spark Gap

    The Spark Gap - Episode 53

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2018 54:56


    Karl and Corey talk about projects they've been working on in their spare time.  Corey discusses his ping pong scoreboard's progress and challenges.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 52

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2018 92:20


    Karl and Corey discuss how to work with development kits, specifically on how to best transition from a dev kit to a custom design.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 51

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2017 73:44


    Karl and Corey talk about various ways to protect a design from other devices that can pull too much power, reverse voltage polarity, and otherwise cause damage.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 50

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 9, 2016 99:09


    Karl and Corey discuss various means of user input: buttons, rotary encoders, and resistive and capacitive touch sensing.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 49

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2016 59:20


    Karl and Corey talk about their trip to Portland, Oregon and the 2016 Open Hardware Summit.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 48

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2016 57:32


    Karl and Corey are back to talk about design choices you can make when creating schematics and PCB layouts that will make board bring up and debugging much easier.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 47

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2016 83:09


    Karl and Corey discuss the issues with heat in an embedded design, how to prevent it, how to detect it, and how to deal with it.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 46

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 9, 2016 70:33


    Karl and Corey discuss the CANbus protocol and the new CAN-FD specification.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 45

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2016 51:01


    Karl and Corey talk about some of the lessons Karl learned (and remembered) at the Signal Integrity Boot Camp at DesignCon.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 44

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 25, 2015 64:22


    Karl and Corey air some grievances about Raspberry Pi, "Hoverboards", and PCB layout practices in this grab bag/Festivus episode.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 43

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2015 54:19


    Karl and Corey talk about how knowledge of electronics can cause headaches when looking at products and crowd-funding campaigns.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 42

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2015 67:11


    Karl and Corey finishing talking with Chris Gammell about parts.io and selecting the right op-amp for a given application. (Part 2 of 2)

    The Spark Gap - Episode 41

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2015 59:33


    Karl and Corey are joined by Chris Gammell to talk about how to pick the right op-amp.  Part 1 of 2.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 40

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2015 71:18


    Karl and Corey are back! Join them as they talk about design choices and gotchas involving connectors.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 39

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 12, 2015 56:12


    Karl and Corey depart from hardware to talk about one of the more interesting bits of firmware, pointers.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 38

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 29, 2015 67:56


    Karl and Corey talk about the gear they use to bring you this podcast.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 37

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2015 61:26


    Karl and Corey talk about designing projects with the future in mind.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 36

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 4, 2015 57:36


    Karl and Corey discuss a few submissions they liked from the Hackaday Prize 2015.  Disclaimer: Neither Karl nor Corey are affiliated in any way with the Hakaday Prize selection.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 35

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2015 110:47


    Karl teaches Corey about how cars work and how electronics fit into modern automobiles.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 34

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2015 51:37


    Karl's going to Burning Man.  Let's talk about some electronics you might want when camping in the desert.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 33

    Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2015 89:28


    Karl and Corey explore the analog world a bit by discussing Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog Converters.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 32

    Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2015 79:14


    Karl and Corey revisit topics from the past 31 episodes.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 31

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2015 52:29


    Karl and Corey talk about different displays you can use in embedded systems.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 30

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2015 57:12


    Karl and Corey discuss various ways to switch on power to circuits.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 29

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2015 57:21


    Karl and Corey are joined by Fouad Kiamilev from the University of Delaware to talk about ASIC design and ways to be a more healthy and productive engineer.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 28

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2015 60:46


    Karl and Corey are joined by Andrew Retallack of Crash Bang Prototype to talk about his work with moving people past their reliance on Arduino.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 27

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 25, 2015 38:01


    Karl and Corey talk about mess ups, disasters, and other horror stories from their past.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 26

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2015 92:53


    Karl and Corey are joined by Bob Coggeshall of Small Batch Assembly to talk about designing PCBs that will go through SMT at a professional assembly house.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 25

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 28, 2015 77:05


    Karl and Corey are joined by James Lewis of Kemet Electronics to talk about capacitors.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 24

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 7, 2015 42:59


    Karl and Corey talk about their personal goals for 2015, the future of the podcast, and discuss a few topics on reverse engineering.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 23

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2014 38:12


    Karl and Corey discuss projects they've left unfinished and wonder why this seems to happen so often.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 22

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2014 47:22


    Karl and Corey finish their talk about PCB layout.  This part talks about signal layout and some manufacturing details.  Part 2 of 2.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 21

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2014 42:32


    Karl and Corey talk about PCB layout and some tips for hobbyists. In this part, component placement and power layout.  Part 1 of 2.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 20

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2014 30:27


    Karl and Corey throw out some old boards and discuss lessons learned the hard way.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 19

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2014 34:15


    Corey and Karl discuss the benefits of controlling your embedded product with smart software and simple firmware. 

    The Spark Gap - Episode 18

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 15, 2014 47:36


    Corey and Karl talk about the popular Serial Communications - Uart, SPI, I2C, and CAN.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 17

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2014 43:29


    Karl and Corey talk about the fascinating topic of In-Circuit Programmers and Debuggers.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 16

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2014 31:26


    Karl and Corey talk about the new Arm Cortex-M7 microcontroller.  

    The Spark Gap - Episode 15

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2014 43:06


    Corey and Karl discuss the origins and the future of the Raspberry Pi. They explore how a product with an imperfect beginning can still become a huge success.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 14

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2014 38:27


    Karl and Corey discuss the operation of an Adjustable Constant Current Dummy Load.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 13

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2014 43:45


    Corey and Karl talk about setting up your workbench.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 12

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2014 36:50


    Karl and Corey talk about the advantages and challenges of adding Ethernet capability to an embedded system.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 11

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2014 52:20


    Karl and Corey interview James Snyder about the eLua project.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 10

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2014 44:19


    Karl and Corey wax poetic about the aspects of embedded electronic engineering that can can worsen your mood and waste your time.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 9

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 12, 2014 48:04


    Karl and Corey discuss the practice of Manufacturers charging money to unlock built-in features of Test Equipment. They give their opinion on whether unlocking those features by means of “hacking” your equipment is actually stealing. Alternatives to paying exhorbant sums of cash to unlock existing features are considered.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 8

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 5, 2014 46:12


    Karl and Corey welcome guest Jacob Rosenthal to explain the Internet of Things.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 7

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2014 57:22


    Corey and Karl welcome their first guest Rodney McGee to talk about his research in electric vehicles and Vehicle to Grid (V2G) technology.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 6

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2014 48:28


    Corey and Karl explain the different ways to implement USB connectivity on an embedded device, from the physical layer to application layer.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 5

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2014 44:09


    Corey inquires about Karl's hobby, CNC Machining. Karl discusses his CNC Router and the decision that went into it.

    The Spark Gap - Episode 4

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2014 26:03


    Corey and Karl start off their first episode of "The Great Debates!" Corey takes the position that RTOSes for the most part don't belong in single core embeeded systems. Karl takes the position that the advantages of using an RTOS ,even in single core microcontrollers, far exceed their disadvantages.  

    The Spark Gap - Episode 3

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2014 42:06


    Karl and Corey discuss the basics of how to power your electronic circuits. Linear Regulators, LDOs, and Switch Mode Power Supplies are explained. Traps for new engineers and hobbyist working with power supplies are lamented.

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