I've been making test points reachable by putting them at the edge of the board. Not a good idea if you are as careless as me. One of them came from a thick trace capable of high current, but the trace to the test point was pretty thin. I accidentally 🧵

Does anyone else find increasingly difficult to focus on work with everything that’s going on in the world?

You have designed entire systems while others were talking to you about the weather.

When I first watched Hackers in the late 90s, I found it laughable. But rewatching it made me realize what I didn’t appreciate enough back then. The internet was self-expression and intellectual discovery, not the gamified doom scroll subscription prison we’re in today.

My 11yo and I have been watching @veritasium’s episode on non-humanoid robots. Oh, the fascination in his eyes seeing the scientists’ work. “Who are these people and how did they get there?”

Somebody find that DeLorean soon because we’re totally in Biff’s timeline.

Every new PCB component increases production complexity and cost, failure modes, supplier overhead and potential supply disruptions. Design for simplicity. Justify complexity. The circuit that never lets you down is the one that doesn’t exist.

Here's the trick (^ is XOR): a=a^b b=b^a a=a^b XOR's properties enabling trick: a^0=a a^a=0 a^b=b^a a^(b^c)=(a^b)^c Proof: //in a0=a b0=b //trick a1=a0^b0 b1=b0^a1=b0^(a0^b0)=(a0^b0)^b0=a0^(b0^b0)=a0^0=a0 a2=a1^b1=(a0^b0)^a0=(b0^a0)^a0=b0^(a0^a0)=b0^0=b0 //out a=a2=b0 b=b1=a0

Stack Underflow

You know I’m not a fan of the humanoid form stealing the spotlight, but I love how Boston Dynamics gave it a twist (literally) and redefined its kinematics. F$%ck joint constraints!

A circuit breaker tripped during our vacation and now my tomatoes have more hair than me.

Hello everybody out there using Amazon’s Astro, I’m doing a (hackable) home robot (just a hobby, won’t be big and professional like Astro). This has been brewing since april and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in Astro…

You can be happy for a Venezuela free from Maduro and, at the same time, be mad at the US government for its colonialist practices and its disdain for checks and balances.

Are you fucking kidding me?

We're seeing lately advocacy for letting some AI-generated PRs into repos without review. The main points are: -AI is sufficiently good for small changes. -if the code base is well tested, risk is low. While I don't totally oppose to that, I wanted to add my 2 cents.⬇️

2025 was a year-long reminder of how difficult it is to ship robots. Hardware is hard, but robots are something else, and yet I think I'm pulling it off. I wrote a recap of my wins and struggles this year ⬇️

If you're on the HF1 robot wait list, this year's progress report should be in your inbox! Check the spam and promotions folders if you don’t see it. This is my first time using a mass email service.

Spent the morning working for the EU after integrating Google Analytics in my website. Thanks to the folks @silktide for making it so easy to add a cookie banner.

Sometimes brains dig up memories, long time lost. Today, it was that guy at a company I worked mid 2000s. We built websites. All throwaway code, little architecture. He knew Java Struts. He was passionate about Java Struts. He taught us Struts because Struts was the future.

Nothing to see here. Please disperse.

I don’t necessarily agree with the last part, but it’s interesting to read first hand info from a co-founder on what led to iRobot’s bankruptcy.

Should’ve posted this today instead.

K probe and thermal paste. Is this a good way to measure component surface temperature?

What's truly revolutionary (and cool, if you ask me) is being empathetic, kind and generous in a time when amorality is overtly displayed by those with power and influence.

Safety in full autonomy is not just about the road and other cars. It can also be about the situation inside the car. Yet another reminder that the world is a fat tail.

Learned my lesson. This time, testing the 5V regulator at around 49W after the fixes. That’s way above its typical max load.

History of physics for short attention spans.

Accidentally created a cardboard printer while testing a circuit with a 60W load.

Happy for this week’s progress on the PCB prototypes! The MCU worked first try 🍀 and I was able to flash the firmware over USB. Fixed several things on the real prototypes and now these things are working, too:

YouTube just recommended me my own video on the same account I used to published it. Now that’s an echo chamber!

A few fixes later, here’s the robot’s new PCB alternating power between batteries and the Jetson Orin Nano’s 19V adapter. In both configurations, different voltages are regulated for the MCU, the sensors and logic, and the motors, with a total max power of around 60W.

Good news! against all odds, the MCU and USB design worked in the first try. I baked the bootloader chip for two long the first time and fried it, but got it right the second time. Here’s the MCU booting up after flashing it over USB.

And here’s a 20x video of the solder paste melting on the pads (and under the chip). Couldn’t get a better image with zoom unfortunately.

Here’s my high tech setup to solder the missing tiny chip after PCB assembly.

We found the real John Connor.

Thanks to the organizers at @RoboticaUnileon and all attendees! Loved the energy. 🦾🤖

“Travelling to University of León, Spain, to talk about my story with robotics students. My human is coming, too. Please, feed him coffee.”

Siri knows

Remotely controlling an HF1 to check on charging batteries because walking is boring.

Is this the new “I’m not a robot”?

These 3x3mm QFNs are not in the manufacturer's catalogue, so the original footprint (left) is now closer to the edge (right) for post-soldering. Chip area is heatable with a hot plate's corner with less impact on surrounding components. Longer pads can direct heat from a solder.

I struggle to find books, podcasts or movies that are not just a variation of something else, and it's unclear whether a solution is in my hands. Do I not know how to search? Is it a consequence of experience? Have we created a flood of data with little information?

Order 110 chips, create this ocd nightmare.

About the US Mint ending production of the penny, here’s my five cents…

How it started vs how it's going. #Robotics #PCB

Explain to me why I, a passionate roboticist, am in this downward spiral of caring less and less about humanoid announcements.

One Halloween ago, I was testing robot teleoperation like this (sound on). The experimental HF1 unit is still traumatized by its encounter with this hairy robot specter. Happy Halloween!

Neo is ~30kg+payload. Should users let babies or small kids/pets near it (or the other way around)? Unlike a piece of furniture, it must work constantly to keep its balance. Unlike a person, its judgment is limited by current AI. Imagine wet stairs or a stray Hot Wheels here⬇️

You can now order a Neo, the humanoid home robot from the company 1X. According to their VP of AI:

Couldn't live without code autocomplete.