Category: Electrical Engineering

Posted on

Taking A Dive Into Rust

I’m getting into Rust. The Rust programming language to be more exact. I haven’t been this excited about programming since before COVID to be honest. Why am I so excited about Rust? I’m not sure, maybe it’s because of how different it is from my experience with C, C++, and Python. Rust doesn’t necessarily keep you from being able to shoot your foot off, but it tells you when you might!

How did I get here? While I was bored in my earlier years, I liked to play around with a computer. I don’t remember much, but I remember making rudimentary batch files in notepad, and trying to make Minecraft mods in Eclipse… Back in the days where you had to delete the META-INF folder to even mod the game. I pretty much used C++ for my Arduino projects, but to be honest I don’t know exactly how similar they are. I’ve used Python in my university coding, data structures, and algorithms courses. I’ve used C to program embedded devices and I took a class specifically on C, which was a blast! I also know some assembly for the 6502 microprocessor from a KIM-1 class I helped out with.

Since this pandemic struct the world, my focus shifted off of coding. Oddly, it’s not until this return to normalcy that I started to pick it back up again. I did a bit of Arduino programming in this past year for my senior project, but I’ve still been looking for that language that I want I want to build a portfolio off of. I believe Rust is that language for me!

My advisor and boss at university tipped me off to Rust while I was working on my senior project. I think he was interested in Rust himself and wanted some first hand takes. Regardless, I’ve since kept up with some of the news around Rust and I bought a book to help me learn the ins and outs of the language. I’ll give some recommendations down below…

I like this YouTube video by No Boilerplate where he makes some recommendations about how to learn Rust. I won’t spoil it, you should go watch it! One of the recommendations he made was “The Rust Programming Language” book by Steve Klabnik and Carol Nichols. I happily got this book myself and so far I’ve enjoyed 175 pages of it so far. I’ve done a few of the example too and I’m loving it! The video also mentions rustlings, which is a program I also started that is a collection of examples that follow the same order as the book.

To keep up with some of the news and takes, I enjoy watching ThePrimeagen (ThePrimeTime on YouTube), No Boilerplate, and CodeAesthetic.

I hope to add more updates as I continue my journey! -Cobie

Posted on

A quick post on Getting started in PCB Design

Designing a PCB doesn’t have to be as complicated as most people think. For hobby PCBs, a successful design can be achieved by following some rules of thumb, which I may go over in the future. Before we can even design a PCB, we need the tools to do so.

First, we need some software that we can use to create designs with and generate fabrication files for us to send to a PCB fabricator. There a handful of software to choose from. I’ve personally started with KiCad, then made a PCB in Eagle, then in Altium Designer, and now I’m back to using KiCad.

PCB 3D Render in KiCad
This is a PCB I designed in KiCad

I’m a KiCad fanboy to be upfront about my bias. I’ll admit it’s not as feature-rich as Altium, but in my opinion KiCad is all you need to get started on your journey designing PCBs. KiCad is also FOSS, meaning you should always be able access it.

Yes, I have experience designing PCBs, but to be honest I’m not confident enough in my skills to give much advice and teach it. On the bright-side, many great resources already exists to get you started on your journey.

I would recommend this YouTube series by Shawn Hymel to get started with KiCad.

In this series, Shawn not only teaches you how to use KiCad, but also covers the PCB fabrication process, and how to assemble your PCB one you’ve received it. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves! If you follow along with Shawn, you will create a fun LED project, which is a great way to dip your toes into this wonderful world and shows that PCBs are not only a technical component but also an artistic an aesthetic one too.

Reader, I hope this inspires you to start working on your first PCB. All you have to do is follow along with that YouTube series. Best of Luck! -Cobie