Episode 48 - Noe Ruiz
Show Notes
Transcript
Paul
Welcome to The CircuitPython Show. I'm your host, Paul Cutler. This episode, I welcome Noe Ruiz, who is a designer engineer with AtaFruit Industries, and the co-host of 3D Hangouts, which you can catch every Wednesday on the Adafruit YouTube channel. Noe, welcome to the show.
Noe Ruiz
Thanks for having me.
Paul
How did you first get started with computers and electronics?
Noe Ruiz
Sure, we'll start with the computer first, and then electronics. So back in the 90s, like around 94-95, my brother Pedro, he saw an advert or an infomercial on local television about using a Macintosh to like do your book reports and edit video and do graphic, you know, publishing.
So he was like really enamored in that and it really got him into like, let's get a Mac because we didn't have a computer yet. And, you know, it was the 90s and folks were starting to get computers. And that was, I think, a really good investment.
It wasn't cheap. But man, did we just invest all our time? and learning how to use that thing, like using super power goo and like all these like creative Mac paint, you know, kind of style apps that that really got me on like the track to doing like creative design work.
And then for the electronics, I got a makey, make I think around December of 2012 or 2013, we saw their Kickstarter video. Me and Pedro did. We thought this would be a really cool like kind of, gadget that we can, you know, play with and maybe make some projects around. So the Makey Makey was like our first like entry into electronics. How did you get into design?
Design, like I've always been enamored with design for high school. I took a commercial arts class and there I learned the principal with design, color theory, typography. And it was a good like mix of like doing the traditional stuff like printing things out making things for stationary but also designing things in Photoshop, Quark Express, Illustrator. So that's where I really got to like get my my training in. Design for me has always been like a thing. Before I had a computer, it was always drawing. So it was always like creative in that realm like just drawing and loving special effects from movies like Jurassic Park and watching. I think it was called movie math.
magic on Discovery Channel. Like, that's, like, the sort of stuff that we were, like, really into. So I think that's kind of how we got, how I got into design.
Paul
How did you first get into design for 3D printing?
Noe Ruiz
Yeah, so really it started off when Pedro decided to get a MakerBot replicator near the end of 2012. Like, he saw that it was, like, a really big thing that happening. I guess it was like CES.
He saw that the MakerBot replator was something that you can now purchase. You don't have to put it together. It's ready to go.
out of the box. It was like really, you know, focused around creative designers. So he just went ahead and bought that.
He already had 3D modeling experience. I had barely any 3D modeling experience. But I saw him 3D print one of his models that he made.
At that time, we were working on a iPhone game that was centered around like the Tron light cycle type of game mechanic. And he 3D printed his Tron cycle model. And I was like, this is so freaking cool.
I got to learn how to do this. I don't know how I stumbled upon this tinker cad. Back in those days, it was very scrappy small team, but it was a web-based, you know, 3D modeling app that was like, you just dropped in primitive shapes, you smashed them together, and you can make something really cool.
So I thought I'd make, I think it was either a pencil holder or that eventually turned into like a planter, because Pedro actually was, he had a collection of carnivorous plants. These are like pitcher plants and the penties plants. And I thought it'd be really cool to make like a planter that was like a face and the pitcher plant and the leaves were kind of like its hair.
So I spent my time working on that. And I came up with this kind of cool thing. You can actually still find my tinker cat designs from 2012, 2013.
And I thought that was like the coolest thing ever. So I just kept at it making more and more planters. Eventually I got into, you know, making things around the house.
light fixtures, little signs that were all, you know, based around typography and stuff. So that's kind of how I got into the design. I was like, the printer was there and I wanted to do something.
I saw a page would do something. I was like, I got to do something to you.
Paul
A lot of your designs use snap fit enclosures. How and why did you start designing this way?
Noe Ruiz
Yeah. So snap fit enclosures was something that like, I think the way I remember is like, I remember doing the Pie Girl project for Ater Fruit back. in like 2013 or 2014.
And all my projects from that era was all screw-driven standoffs. Like you have screws for everything. But as you know, with 8-a-Fruit Learn Guides, we have to document assembly.
And screwing things over and over again for years and years and years became kind of a nuisance. And I remember getting the idea by looking at the enclosure from my dental flas, right? Or maybe even it was a shampoo bottle, but all these things have these little snap-fit tops that have this tiny little ridge and a tiny little like indentation. And I was looking at it when they brushed my teeth. I was like, what if I could design this into the enclosure so I no longer need to like invest my time into screwing things and taking it apart? So it took me quite a few times to really nail the right layer height and the right size and geometry for the snap fits. So I think around the pie girl zero, which is like maybe the third or fourth pie girl because we've done so many of them, that's when I finally figured out, okay, I can, this is like the right kind of recipe to make snap fit enclosures. And then from then on, I just started adding it to everything. So I think that's kind of the origin story.
Dental floss.
Paul
That is a great story. I would never guess that that was the origin and the inspiration for snap fit enclosures.
Noe Ruiz
Yeah, some clever person came up with that. And it's just like, you see it everywhere. You know, all the shampoo models and like as a dental floss, they all use this snap fit kind of thing, which is like super clever.
Paul
You've been doing 3D hangouts with Pedro for over 500 episodes in 11 years. What are some of your favorite memories?
Noe Ruiz
Yeah. So I had to look back because like it's been a while, right? So I think the most memorable one was doing it live in New York at the Adafruit headquarters.
And we did an episode where we had like five guests. We had Philip Burgess. We had Scott Shawcroft
We had a bunch of people on it. Like I forget, like we had a bunch of people on that. It was a really fun show.
And it warrants another rewatch because it was just fun to see how many folks in Adafruit we could stuff into the camera there. in the camera shot. So that was a really memorable one.
Paul
I'll have to see if I can track that one down and add it to the show notes.
Noe Ruiz
Yeah, please do.
Paul
Any other memories come to mind that you've enjoyed over the years?
Noe Ruiz
The other memorable moment was just the first one. It was the first episode. It was really nerve-wracking and re-watching it for just a couple minutes.
You know, I feel a little cringe because hearing my own voice doesn't sound that great, but it's nice that it was like our beginning journey of like, how do you structure a show? What kind of segments? Yeah, it felt more structured back then.
Like, we had more 3D news was a part of the beginning of the show. And we had another co-host, actually. We had Matt Griffin, who was Aderfruit community lead.
And he helped us out, really, doing the first episode. He eventually went on to work with Ultimaker. But it was really cool to have, like, three people doing this where he would cover the news and then we would do a little bit of layer by layer.
And then I think we ended it with our learn guides. But yeah, episode one, that's got to be a nice milestone to do the first one.
Paul
You maintain a GitHub repository of CAD files for Adafruit parts. What goes into creating each part?
Noe Ruiz
Yeah. So Limor, you still use as EagleCad, which has now been folded into Autodesk Fusion. And they have this nifty feature where you can open an Autodesk, I mean, you can open an EagleC CAD file, infusion, and generate it into a 3D model.
So from there, you can choose, you know, how thick you want your PCB. You can choose what color of solder masks, silk screen. You can map different 3D models to all the different footprints for the components.
So what I end up doing is I just kind of click that generate button. And then from there, you know, I clean up some of the solder mask stuff because there's like some extra labels and stuff. But from there, I really like DigiKee's searching through DigiKis catalog.
You can find a lot of 3D models of all sorts of components, jelly bean components, of course, but also a lot of the temperature pressure sensors are all out there. All the CAD models are out there for those various types of sensors. So it's really nice to kind of get those and then just map them to the 3D model.
I think a few years ago, I had to draw them out by, not my hand, but you would get the data sheet and you would kind of sketch it out and make the part by hand. But nowadays, I rarely have to do that because it's amazing just how many 3D models of various sensors and components there are. So it's really nice.
And DigiKey also brings in 3D models from other places like EasyEDA, and I think there's a few other ones, but they kind of aggregate all the data. different data sheets plus CAD models. And another cool thing about DigiKee is you can, when I'm searching for a part, there is a filter where you can say, show me the 3D model, and that way I can only see like the 3D model for the thing, which is nice because there's a lot of like, you know, repeating components like buttons, for example. Like there's so many buttons on Digi key. So it's nice. If one, you know, manufacturers don't have it, another one does, and it's pretty much the same shape. Another thing like, I, like, I kept doing it so much that I needed to make a learn guide and a labor later tutorial on how I do it.
So there are resources out there now. So it's definitely documented. But getting the word out is still like one of those things I struggle with.
So maybe we can get the word out here now. But I need to talk about it more.
Paul
People can request parts via issues on the GitHub repo too. Do you get an opportunity to get to some of those requests from time to time?
Noe Ruiz
Yeah. I try to do one a week. This week I actually did two or maybe three.
Yeah, I encourage folks to go out there and add your part request. Normally, I try to just do Aderfruit circuit boards, not like kind of components that we stock from other places, like a connector or something like that. Those are a little bit trickier to do because I kind of have to find a data sheet and, like, you know, draw it from scratch.
But doing Adafruit PCBs is like, I got the workflow pretty much locked down. So I encourage folks to add their part request. And going forward, we are starting to, as the new product gets released, as a part of the learn guide for that product, we're starting to get that generated.
So we're trying to get those more part of like the release of the learn guide or the product learn guide. So very cool.
Paul
You mentioned layer by layer earlier, which is a playlist you have on YouTube where walk through how to design various things using a CAD program like Fusion 360. What motivated you to start layer by layer?
Noe Ruiz
Yeah. So me and making tutorials has, it goes way back to like my early web design days where I just wanted like a way to kind of teach my coworkers, like how I could do things, certain things, maybe more efficient or here's a cool tip on how I design this thing. So I've always been doing that for all the different careers, I guess I can say, like from web design to Ux design for mobile devices.
So as I started learning more and more about CAD, going from Tinkercad to 1-3D and then to Fusion, I just thought it was like an interesting thing to do. And I always felt that like once you kind of teach something or try to do like a, a tutorial, then you really start to understand, like, the workflow or the technique. So I think it was instilling me from an early age that that's a really good way to kind of learn is to, is to like try to teach it.
Paul
If
Noe Ruiz
anyone wants to learn more about you and your work, where should they go? Yeah, you can follow me on Instagram. That's normally where I post my stuff. My handle is at Ecken, E-C-E-K-E-N.
Paul
Last question I ask each guest. You're starting a new project or prototype, which board do you reach for?
Noe Ruiz
That's a good question. I probably would reach for these days, probably a QDPI, ESP 32 type board, mainly because it's so small and it has the STEM QT connector so I can connect all sorts of sensors and things to it. Yeah, the QDPie seems to be like my go-to now.
Paul
Noe, thanks so much for coming on the show.
Noe Ruiz
No problem. Thank you.
Paul
Thank you for listening to the CircuitPython Show. For show notes and transcripts, visit www.circuitpythonshow.com. Until next time, stay positive.