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INTERVIEW
Phil: I really like the Array 3710
programmable load and the Array
3644 programmable bench supply.
The two in combination allow for
detailed analysis of battery charging
and discharging characteristics.
What are your favorite
software tools that you use?
Jeff: This may sound funny, but we
use PowerPoint all the time to draw
up specs on all sorts of things. For
the most part, we’re not doing circuit
level design, we’re specifying the
physical design and the behavior.
It allows us to work really quickly
to build specifications on a wide
range of components.
Phil: I’m a hardware guy.
What is the hardest/trickiest
bug you have ever fixed?
Jeff: For me, it is the actual
manufacturing of components.
We’re dealing with over 15
suppliers and we’re trying to work
with them to make the highest
quality components. Even with
simple components like phone
adapters that you’d think should
have zero problems, it turns out that
sometimes the supplier solders a
bit wrong, so it breaks if you bend
it too far. We’re constantly getting
samples, trying to break them,
and making suggestions on how
to manufacture them for better
durability. I’d love to say that we
have “fixed” this, but the reality
is that we will always be making
improvements to our components.
Phil: Charging Apple products is a
tricky affair, and it took a bit of reverse
engineering and conversations with
our suppliers to figure out. All the
Apple products charge using OEM
cables and docks, most of which
plug into an AC power adapter via
USB. What we learned was that all
four pins of the USB connector are
used to communicate to the Apple
device telling it how much power it
can draw, and these vary by Apple
device. For the time being, we
seem to have it all figured out, but
with Apple constantly upgrading
its products and changing its
standard, who knows how long it
will be before we have to figure it
out all over again.
It is incredibly
liberating to realize
that it’s possible
to generate power
without having to
plug into a wall.
What is on your bookshelf?
Jeff: A lot of books on economic
development, plus too many Nordic
mystery novels. I use the Web for
most of my engineering information.
Phil: A healthy mix of electronic
references, critical theory, sound
and art theory, modern physics, and
gardening books: A well worn copy
of The Art of Electronics by Horowitz
and Hill, several different selections
from Don Lancaster’s Cookbook
series, Baudrillard, Virillio, Zizek,
Agamben, John Cage’s Silence,
Harry Partch’s Genesis of a Music,
How to Imagine by Gianfranco
Baruchello, and The One-Straw
Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka
are just a few of my favorites.
What online resources
do you use?
Jeff: I spend a decent amount of
time on Adafruit.com—sometimes
for their technical explanations,
which are simple, but written very
well. I also look to them as a model
for sharing information I’ve learned
about almost anything, and sharing
it with the world. We’re not as good
as them at this and might not ever
be, but we really love how open they
are about sharing and teaching.
Phil: Google. Whenever there’s a
part (especially ICs) that I encounter
in the field that I’m not familiar with,
I pop the part number into Google
and can usually pull up a datasheet
a few clicks later. Wikipedia is also
good for refreshing my memory and
filling in any gaps in knowledge. If
the answers aren’t in either of those
places, I tend to turn to the books.
Do you have any tricks
up your sleeve?
Phil: Unrelated to my work at Voltaic,
I circuit bend devices (intentionally
short circuit components) to
induce erratic output. It’s an
anti-engineering approach to
producing art with electronics.
You can see some images I’ve
produced with low resolution digital
cameras http://continentcontinent.
cc/index.php/continent/article/
viewArticle/27. Because we as a
society haven’t fully dealt with the
end-of-life issues of our electronic
devices, fully functional machines
can be found on the street awaiting
trash collection. These discarded
electronic devices are becoming
fodder for a growing art movement
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