Circuit Break Podcast #431: Timing Tariff Modulations

Podcast Discussion
1

Podcast Title: Timing Tariff Modulations

Release Date: 2024-05-17

Episode: #431

In this episode, Parker Dillmann and Stephen Kraig delve into the fascinating world of time modulation, discussing recent advancements in capacitor technology. They explore a new dielectric structure made from barium titanate and its potential impact on energy density and efficiency. The hosts also discuss the implications of new tariffs on semiconductors and other goods from China. Additionally, they touch on new developments from the Raspberry Pi Foundation and share updates on Parker’s personal projects, including his work on a 1965 Checker Marathon engine.

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Podcast Audio:

Podcast Notes:

News/Announcements

  • New tariffs announced by the U.S. government: 50% on semiconductors, 25% on steel and aluminum, 100% on EVs, and 50% on solar panels from China.
  • The Raspberry Pi Foundation announced an M.2 hat for the Raspberry Pi.

Key Discussion Points

  • Time modulation in capacitors and the new dielectric structure using barium titanate.
  • The concept of heterojunctions and homojunctions in semiconductors.
  • Efficiency improvements in capacitors and their potential applications.
  • The practical implications and future prospects of new capacitor technology.
  • Discussion on AI-generated content and the dead internet theory.
  • New tariffs on semiconductors and other goods from China and their potential impact.
  • The Raspberry Pi Foundation’s new M.2 hat and its benefits for storage solutions.
  • Parker’s personal project updates, including the digital control upgrade for a 1965 Checker Marathon engine.
  • The use of flatbed scanners for reverse engineering enclosures and components.
  • The potential future of neural interfaces and their ethical implications.

Relevant Links

Community Questions

  • Would you be willing to integrate a smartphone into your body if it was 100% safe and reversible?
  • Have you used a flatbed scanner for any unique engineering applications?
  • What are your thoughts on the new semiconductor tariffs? How do you think it will impact the industry?
2

Hey guys, I’ve recently (literally last week) got a pi5 and a couple pci express shields to try things out, I got myself the cheap official active cooler as well as the official case thinking it would be a good combination, everyone shows it on youtube videos. Been struggling with instability issues the whole time, fail to boot and shut down under heavy load while in the case. Turns out the active cooler works real bad in the official case, since I removed the cooler and just used the case fan and nothing else, the system has been stable. Bumped into https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=359592 eventually.

If you use any pcie shield you won’t be able to fit it in the case anyway but if you like me wanted to play around with it in various configuration it’s worth keeping that in mind, the active cooler works alright if you keep the board in free space, but if you then think about removing the shield and keeping the board in the case with the active cooler, you’ll probably run in my same issue. It also seem to be pretty picky with what power supply you use.

Also it would be cool if you do a rpi5 first boot livestream! And no, I would not implant a flatbed scanner in my brain. :slight_smile:

1 Like
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Amazing that the first pi required zero cooling and the latest needs active cooling to be stable. They are really pushing that form factor to the limits!

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I really like the M.2 system for my own prototyping. It’s really easy to use and one can readily find cheap connectors and stand-offs you need. It’s awesome when you have an expensive base PCB that you use to test many DUTs.

Sparkfun also gives CAD on github so you don’t even need to draw the symbols yourself. Designing with MicroMod - SparkFun Learn

I also like how sparkfun moves the stand-off off center so that’s it’s not form factor compliant with PCIE M.2. I move mine to the left of center so I’m also not compatible with sparkfun.