My robot runs “trainware”.

Prioritizing robot features today as launch date approaches. Project has endless possibilities and I’ll continue creating more features after shipping to early backers.

Want an affordable robot you can learn from and build upon? This one’s for you.

Bio or contact for more info.

Read more about the robot and join the waitlist here: www.ignaciomellado.es/hf1

Got a rather flat power bank? Use the lateral slots instead.

Got a tall power bank? Pass the strap through the slots at the top.

The slots are meant for a strap.

The combination of the pads and the strap lock the power bank to the robot in all axes.

The circles mark the spots for a couple of adhesive hook-and-loop pads (e.g. Velcro).

Stick the loop pad to the lid and the hook pad to the power bank.

What are the slots and circles on the lid of the HF1 robot?

If the internal cells do not give you enough run time, these simple mechanism enables you to power the robot with virtually any 12V-19V power bank.

Here's how you attach the power bank ⬇️

HF1 now supports a Jetson Orin Nano.

Just finished the changes for the Orin to communicate with the robot's PCB via 40-pin header:

GPIO: power management, time sync
serial: comms with MCU
I2C: audio control
I2S: audio playback/record

Here's a ROS2 node syncing time every 10s.

Ok, I’m excited about the Artemis II launch.

Sounds like I could like those two. Maybe a chance to go back to the roots :) Gràcies, Bernat!

It seems impossible to find an interesting podcast. All I’ve heard so far are superficial points and tons of vocal fry. Suggestions please. Any topic welcome.

The next batch of robot control PCBs will likely be the final design.

The current batch was really helpful to stress test at max power, pinpoint the remaining issues and prototype the fixes that are already integrated in the design.

This includes powering a Jetson Orin Nano.

Came across a multiple ground issue that disappears when I probe the board with the oscilloscope.

When you get your robot, don’t mind the little tv with knobs duct taped on top of it.

A GitHub Issue Title Compromised 4,000 Developer Machines A prompt injection in a GitHub issue triggered a chain reaction that ended with 4,000 developers getting OpenClaw installed without consent. The attack composes well-understood vulnerabilities into so...

“how the attacker got the npm token in the first place: by injecting a prompt into a GitHub issue title, which an AI triage bot read, interpreted as an instruction, and executed.”

grith.ai/blog/clineje...

The workaround: Simply desoldering the output pin of the LDO (red circle in second image) brings the GPIO pins back to life, at least until the new LDO arrives. Already ordered!

However, the rest of the board leaks voltage to the LDO output trace, with an impedance low enough to power the Jetson module's side of the level shifters with 1.2V.

Not quite the intended 1.8V, but close enough to discriminate between high and low.

The GPIO pins started getting weaker despite no load (outputs at 3.3V in HIGH, but 2.8V in LOW) until they stopped reacting completely eventually.

Turned out the 1.8V low-dropout regulator (LDO) powering the level shifters between the Jetson module and the GPIO header died.

Should pivot to repairing Jetsons if all this AI robot thing flops. Over time, I've reversed engineered parts of the carrier board.

Here's a simple fix for dead GPIO pins ⬇️

Why so? Is it because they’re used for warnings and errors?

You'll have to tap on the left image to see all the icons.

Why are all my apps blue and green now?

Our robot’s voltage regulators passed all our validation tests this week!

It’s hard to get these at once:
-stable output voltage
-wide input voltage range
-high output power
-small footprint
-reasonable temperature increase

The latest prototypes show them all consistently.

3D printed power button and LED diffuser. I must have done like 20 prototypes of this part alone. My son now deems it "satisfying to press" (sound on).

What scares me most about relying too much on AI coding is that I might replace talking about what I do with talking about how productive I became.

Hahah my button has an existential crisis due to its perceived lack of agency in the world. Always being pushed to perform.

The most unexpected lesson from this week is how difficult it is to make a button that feels ok.

Silicon Valley has been exploiting the idealism of high achievers for decades.

I've seen many times this sort of reaction, to the realization that the company ultimately prioritizes making money.