The Open Source ASICs Hack Chat Redefines Possible

March 18, 2022 by Tom Nardi 4 Comments

There was a time when all that was available to the electronics hobbyist were passive components and vacuum tubes. Then along comes the integrated circuit, and it changed everything. Fast forward a bit, and affordable programmable microcontrollers arrived on the scene. Getting started in electronics became far easier, and the line between hardware and software started to blur. Much more recently, the hobbyist community was introduced to field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and the tools necessary to work with them. While not as widely applicable as the IC or MCU, the proliferation of FPGAs among hardware hackers once again opened doors that were previously locked tight.

We’re currently on the edge of another paradigm shift, but it’s no surprise if you haven’t heard of it. After all, the last couple of years have been a bit unusual, so the 2020 announcement that Google was teaming up with SkyWater and Efabless to enable the design and manufacture of open source application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) flew under the radar for many people. But not Matt Venn, the host of this week’s Hack Chat. For him, it was the opportunity he’d been waiting for.

Matt started like many of us, building electronic kits and building new gadgets out of old discarded hardware. He graduated to microcontrollers, and became particularly interested in FPGAs when the open source toolchains started hitting the scene. Of course by this point, it was much more than just a hobby for him. He was presenting a talk at the 2019 Week of Open Source Hardware in Switzerland when he saw Tim Edwards from Efabless demo a chip that had been made with open source tools. Unfortunately, the costs involved were still far too high for an individual to put their ideas into silicon.

So when Google and Skywater announced they would be footing the bill to have selected open source ASIC designs manufactured a few months later, Matt says he was in a good position to jump in. He has since started running the Zero to ASIC Course which aims to teach you how to produce your own chips using the open source Process Development Kit, and so far 160 people have taken him up on the offer.

As you might expect, many of the questions in the Chat had to do with what kind of designs you can actually produce using the 130 nm process. Especially given the limits on the physical space each creator’s circuit can take up on each multi-project wafer (MPW). Others wanted to know how difficult it would be to port over existing FPGA designs, or how well the process worked with analog applications. With the number of designs Matt has seen go through his course, he could answer many of the questions just by pointing to a particular individual’s ASIC. For instance, he held up the digital-to-analog converter from Harald Pretl and Thomas Parry’s 5 GHz satellite transceiver as prime analog examples.

So let’s say you put the work in to design an ASIC and it gets approved to be produced on a future MPW, what then? Well, first you have to hope everything goes according to plan. Matt explains that the initial run was almost a total write-off due to timing problems in the toolchain, though in the end, he was largely able to recover his own chip. But they’ve done several runs since then, so let’s assume there’s no production problems. What exactly ends up on your doorstep?

If you were expecting a handy DIP8, you might be disappointed. While some DIY friendly packages would be nice, right now the ASICs ship as wafer level chip scale package (WLCSP) with an unforgiving 0.5 mm pitch. If you can believe it, that’s actually an improvement over the first run, which shipped out as a bare die. Of course as Matt pointed out, anyone who’s gotten to the point of designing their own custom ASIC probably won’t be scared off by the prospect of some fine-pitch soldering. Some in the Chat wondered about the difficulty in getting compatible PCBs produced, but Matt said that in his experience OSH Park has been up to the challenge.

Like the Metal 3D Printing Hack Chat before it, this week’s session went over a topic that’s on the absolute cutting edge of what’s possible for hardware hackers and hobbyists. Truth be told, the vast majority of the people reading Hackaday are no more likely to send away for their own custom ASIC as they are to battle x-rays in an attempt to sinter metal with a homebrew electron gun. But that doesn’t make the fact that some folks out there doing it any less important, or inspiring. That said, if you do end up being one of those select few that can boast they’ve designed a custom chip of their own — don’t forget to send one of them our way.

We’re grateful Matt Venn was able, once again, to share his valuable experience in the realm of open source application-specific integrated circuits with us. If you haven’t checked them out already, the Zero to ASIC workshop he ran for Remoticon 2020 and his talk Open Source ASICs – A Year in Perspective from Remoticon 2021 are required viewing if you want to learn more about this fascinating new frontier in hardware hacking.

The Hack Chat is a weekly online chat session hosted by leading experts from all corners of the hardware hacking universe. It’s a great way for hackers connect in a fun and informal way, but if you can’t make it live, these overview posts as well as the transcripts posted to Hackaday.io make sure you don’t miss out.

Open Source ASICs Hack Chat With Matt Venn

March 14, 2022 by Dan Maloney No comments

Join us on Wednesday, March 16 at noon Pacific for the Open Source ASICs Hack Chat with Matt Venn!

When it comes to electronic designs, most of us are content to make (sometimes) useful circuits using chips that were designed by someone else. That’s the beauty of this game, really — a lot of the hard work has already been done for you in the form of microcontrollers, gates, memory, amps, and timers that are all well-characterized, cheap, and readily available. Well, maybe not that last one right now…

Supply chain issues notwithstanding, though, there’s plenty to be said for designing your own silicon. It’s not for everyone, of course, but if you need something custom, something that nobody else has ever dreamed up, then you really might want to consider rolling your own. Trouble is, most of us don’t really have the tools to design something as exquisitely complicated as a silicon chip, and we don’t exactly have access to a multi-billion dollar fab plant to spin up a couple when the whim strikes.

Or do we? As it turns out, we all do have access to the tools and technologies needed to turn our designs into silicon. We just need a little guidance, like that offered by Matt Venn and his “Zero to ASIC” course. You’ll no doubt recall that Matt made appearances at both the 2020 and the 2021 Remoticons to talk about his efforts, and his recent partial success with his application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Now’s your chance to ask Matt questions about the process, what the course is all about, and how you can make your silicon dreams come true.

Our Hack Chats are live community events in the Hackaday.io Hack Chat group messaging. This week we’ll be sitting down on Wednesday, March 16 at 12:00 PM Pacific time. If time zones have you tied up, we have a handy time zone converter. Reminder: this is the first Hack Chat this year after the time change in North America, so check carefully.

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The Metal 3D Printing Hack Chat Brings The Heat

March 11, 2022 by Tom Nardi 8 Comments

At this point, it’s safe to say the novelty of desktop 3D printing has worn off. The community has largely come to terms with the limitations of extruded plastics, and while we still vehemently believe that it’s a transformative technology, we’ll admit there aren’t too many applications where a $200 USD printer squirting out PLA is truly the best tool for the job.

But rather than looking at today’s consumer 3D printer market as the end of the line, what if it’s just the beginning? With the problems of slicing, motion control, and extrusion more or less solved when it comes to machines that print in plastic, is it finally time to turn our attention to the unique problems inherent in building affordable metal printers? Agustin Cruz certainly thinks so, which is why he took to the Hack Chat this week to talk about his personal vision for an open source 3D printer that can turn powdered metals into solid objects by way of a carefully controlled electron beam.

To be clear, Agustin isn’t suggesting you toss out your Creality anytime soon. Metal 3D printing will always be a niche within a niche, but for applications where even advanced engineering plastics like PEI and PEEK simply won’t do, he argues the community needs to have a cheap and accessible option. Especially for developing and low income countries where traditional manufacturing may be difficult. The machine he’s been working on wouldn’t be outside the capabilities of an individual to build and operate, but at least for right now the primary target is hospitals, colleges, and small companies.

The Chat was full of technical questions about Agustin’s design, and he wasn’t shy about tackling them. Some wondered why he decided to sinter the metal powder with an electron gun when solid-state lasers are cheap, easily available, and relatively straightforward to work with. But while the laser might seem like the easier solution on the surface, Agustin points out that using a magnetically focused electron beam gives his printer some unique capabilities.

For example, he can easily defocus the beam and pass it over the entire build plate to pre-heat the powder. The steerable beam doesn’t require mirrors either, which not only reduces the weight and complexity of the machine, but in theory should allow for faster print speeds. The beam can be moved in the X/Y dimensions with an accuracy of 0.01 mm, and while the beam diameter is currently a respectable 0.5 mm, Agustin says he’s working on bringing that down to 0.1 mm for high detail work. The temperature at the focal point of the beam is between 1,400 and 1,500 °C, which he notes is not only hot enough to melt the powdered metal, but can also weld stainless steel.

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Metal 3D Printing Hack Chat

March 7, 2022 by Dan Maloney 1 Comment

Join us on Wednesday, March 9 at noon Pacific for the Metal 3D Printing Hack Chat with Agustin Cruz!

3D printing has been an enabling technology, and the ability to create parts that never existed anywhere before has been a real game-changer. But the cheap and readily accessible FDM and SLA printers we’ve come to depend on are not without their drawbacks, chief among which is that they only make plastic parts. Wouldn’t it be great if we home-gamers had the ability to print metal parts just like they do in industry? Agustin Cruz thinks so, and he’s been hard at work on an electron-beam sintering printer to make that dream come true. Dealing with the technical challenges of such a printer hasn’t been easy, but then again, squeezing out melted plastic wasn’t easy at first either.

Agustin has agreed to take a little time out of his project to talk to us about his progress, and to share what he has learned about electron-beam printing. Along the way, we’ll talk about metal printing in general, and perhaps even take a look at where the whole field is going and how — and when — it’ll penetrate the hobby printing market.

Our Hack Chats are live community events in the Hackaday.io Hack Chat group messaging. This week we’ll be sitting down on Wednesday, March 9 at 12:00 PM Pacific time. If time zones have you tied up, we have a handy time zone converter.
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Al Williams Tells All In The Logic Simulation Hack Chat

March 4, 2022 by Tom Nardi 1 Comment

The list of requirements for hosting one of our weekly Hack Chats is pretty short: you’ve got to be knowledgeable, passionate, and above all else, willing to put those two quantities on display for a group of like-minded strangers. Beyond that, we’re not too picky. From industry insider to weekend hobbyist, high school dropout to double doctorate, if you’ve got something interesting to talk about, we’re ready to listen.

But in casting a such a wide net, we occasionally forget that we’ve got a considerable collection of potential hosts within our own worldwide roster of contributors. Among this cast of characters, few can boast the same incredible body of knowledge as Al Williams, who was able to pencil in some time this week to host the Logic Simulation Hack Chat.

Or at least, that was the idea. In reality the Chat covered a wide range of topics, and was peppered with fascinating anecdotes pulled from Al’s decades of experience in the field. Though to be fair, we expected no less. He was building hardware before many of us were born, and can take credit for designs that have been at the bottom of the ocean as well as launched into orbit. He’s been writing about it just as long too, with articles of his appearing in iconic print magazines such as Dr. Dobb’s Journal.

Al has seen and done so much that he still surprises us with the occasional nugget, and we’ve been working with him for years. It was only a week or two back that he started a story with “Back when I used to manage a gas pipeline…” in the middle of a conversation about utility metering.

Of course, that’s not to say some technical discussion didn’t sneak in there from time to time. Sure Al’s recollection of how they used to literally crawl over the schematics for the 68000 back at Motorola might stick out as a particular high point, but he also explains his personal preference for vendor-specific software tools over their more generic open source counterparts. He also draws comparisons between hardware description languages (HDLs) like Verilog and parametric CAD tools such as OpenSCAD in the way that they help model complex relationships in ways that can’t be easily done by more traditional means.

At one point the conversation lingers on the design and production of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and how they compare to field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Traditionally ASICs have been out of reach for the hobbyist, but with the recent collaboration between Google and SkyWater Technology to create an open source process design kit (PDK), they’re now within the capabilities of a dedicated individual. Matt Venn spoke on the topic during Remoticon 2021, and it’s good to see more folks in the community openly discussing the possibilities of custom silicon designed by hackers.

From there, things start really getting wild. From dreaming of virtual reality circuit simulators that let you fly amongst your creations like in Tron, to salivating over high-end technologies such as reflective memory, this Chat really runs the gamut. But then, that’s sort of why we hold them in the first place. Whether you actively participate or are just along for the ride, the Hack Chat gives everyone in the community a chance to gather around a virtual water cooler with fascinating characters that you won’t find anywhere else.

Logic Simulation Hack Chat With Al Williams

February 28, 2022 by Dan Maloney 3 Comments

Join us on Wednesday, March 2 at noon Pacific for the Logic Simulation Hack Chat with Al Williams!

Many of us probably remember — some fondly, some less so — our first encounter with a truth table. The little grid of ones and zeros seemed simple enough, but it held real power in its tabular representation of the output of a logic circuit for a given set of inputs. It’s what makes more complex logic circuits possible, but only up to a point — add enough gates, flip flops, and counters, and keeping track of what’s high and what’s low becomes problematic with just pencil and paper.

If you’ve reached the point where keeping your digital design in your head doesn’t work anymore, or if you never could keep your NANDs and NORs straight, then you’re ready for a digital logic simulator. Applications like Falstad and LogiSim let you build a design using everything from discrete logic gates to complete assemblies like adders, counters, and even arithmetic logic units. Add in some passives like capacitors and inductors, and a logic simulator may be the only tool you need to bring a design to life in the virtual world before ever touching a breadboard.

To help us figure out where logic simulators fit in our design processes, Hackaday Staff Writer Al Williams will hop onto the Hack Chat with us. Al ran a very successful FPGA Bootcamp series back in 2018, which included a review of digital logic using Falstad. He’ll expand on that in this Hack Chat, so come along with your questions and comments. You won’t want to miss this one!

Our Hack Chats are live community events in the Hackaday.io Hack Chat group messaging. This week we’ll be sitting down on Wednesday, March 2 at 12:00 PM Pacific time. If time zones have you tied up, we have a handy time zone converter.

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Classic Chat: Arko Takes Us Inside NASA’s Legendary JPL

February 25, 2022 by Tom Nardi 4 Comments

Started by graduate students from the California Institute of Technology in the late 1930s, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was instrumental in the development of early rocket technology in the United States. After being tasked by the Army to analyze the German V2 in 1943, the JPL team expanded from focusing purely on propulsion systems to study and improve upon the myriad of technologies required for spaceflight. Officially part of NASA since December of 1958, JPL’s cutting edge research continues to be integral to the human and robotic exploration of space.

For longtime friend of Hackaday Ara “Arko” Kourchians, getting a job JPL as a Robotics Electrical Engineer was a dream come true. Which probably explains why he applied more than a dozen times before finally getting the call to join the team. He stopped by the Hack Chat back in August of 2019 to talk about what it’s like to be part of such an iconic organization, reminisce about some of his favorite projects, and reflect on the lessons he’s learned along the way.

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