The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast

The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast


#242 - Can’t We All Just Get Arduino? - Tardiloquent Trademark Tirade

March 26, 2015



  • Chris is traveling and thinking about his portalab once again. This may require a set of modular test equipment built into the case.


  • Perhaps a “MIDI for control surfaces” for portable test equipment would be a good solution going forward?
  • Dave’s intern, also named Dave, has been working out well. He has been using SolidWorks to design a case for a project. 3d design skills continue to be valuable in the marketplace.
  • New CAD makers have been entering the market. Extremely well funded OnShape has a browser based CAD tool (similar to Upverter) that has been in development for 3 years. Perhaps this is the future?
  • Chris has been learning Autodesk Fusion 360, also free to use for new folks
  • Giving away student licenses seems like a no brainer. Dave’s intern learned Altium and Solidworks because it was free to students. Chris mentioned that small companies may struggle even giving away their software.
  • Chris wrote about using Github and KiCad together. This continues to be a good tool combination.s
  • The Arduino group has been embroiled in trademark legal issues. Read about it from Massimo here or from the court documents here.
  • This has interesting implications in the (open) hardware industry as people/companies will likely:

    1. Get more paranoid about up front agreements.
    2. Innovate and collaborate less openly because of potential downsides.


  • Mooooore consolidation in the electronics industry


  • You can dream up new circuits…using psychedelics? Chris has used a floatation tank to think about control system problems.

Thanks to BusinessSarah for the Venn diagram picture