In this post, we’ll show you exactly how to unlock the power of Flux Copilot for yourself: from writing rock-solid triggers to scoping entries at the project, user, and system levels.
Today, we’re taking collaboration one step further by giving hardware teams a shared virtual space that’s built for innovation. Today, we’re launching Flux for Organizations: a new way for hardware teams to collaborate.
Today, we’re taking collaboration one step further by giving hardware teams a shared virtual space that’s built for innovation. Today, we’re launching Flux for Organizations: a new way for hardware teams to collaborate.
Flux for Organizations is a new suite of capabilities designed to foster a collaborative environment across teams, large or small. At the heart of the feature are
Creating an Organization for your team aligns everyone, ensuring all members share the same default permissions, design rule checks, and Copilot presets for organization-centric AI-design reviews. This unlocks a new level of transparency, alignment, and ease of collaboration.
Creating an organizational account is easy. Just follow these steps:
Want to see a Flux Organization in action? Feel free to check out some of our favorite Flux Organization profiles here:
Imagine designing a PCB in a third less time than you're used to - that's the power of Flux Copilot's new upgrade, allowing it to wire components together for you. In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the important workflows and example prompts to help you design a Raspberry-Pi-Pico-like board in 20 minutes.
To put this new feature to the test, we revisited a recent project where we designed a Raspberry-Pi-Pico-like schematic using only AI. Initially, it took us 30 minutes to complete the design using Flux Copilot's advice. With Copilot taking the lead on making connections, the same schematic design was completed in just 20 minutes!
In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the important workflows and example prompts to help you design a Raspberry-Pi-Pico-like board in 20 minutes. Curious about the end result? Take a look at the finished project here.
Using generative AI for PCB design means working at the very edge of current possibilities. This requires a few workflow adjustments to get the most out of it. These are some of the principles we found work particularly well, but we can't wait to hear what you come up with. Let us know in Slack!
Your input and interactions play a significant role in getting the most out of Copilot. Be clear and precise with your objectives, don't hesitate to explore different suggestions, and feel free to give feedback with a thumbs up. We compiled a list of useful prompts if you want to learn more about what Copilot can do.
Go from general to specific. It's much easier to get precise responses when Copilot is provided with more details. You can get those details by first asking more broad questions and use Copilot's response to ask a more detailed question. When you're confident about Copilot's reponse, use the "Take action"button to have Copilot wire the schematics for you.
Use Copilot as a teammate. Depending on the question, it might take Copilot a few seconds to reply. Use that time to focus on other areas of the design, Copilot can answer several questions in parallel.
Without further ado, let's dive into the prompts that made this project happen:.
At the start of your project, you'll need to identify the necessary components. This is a good opportunity to ask more general questions at first and start narrowing down the scope of the project.
For a Raspberry Pi Pico-like board, your interaction with Copilot might look like this:
@copilot what is the minimum set of components I need to make a Raspberry Pi Pico-like board?
Having to sift through datasheets consumes a significant amount of time.
When you find a part in the library that you think might for your design, ask Copilot to verify:
@copilot does this LDO work for powering the RP2040?
If you're not familiar with some of the ICs in your design, you can ask Copilot what other components are required or what a pin is used for:
@copilot how should I connect the shield pin?@copilot what else do I need for the oscillator?@copilot what decoupling capacitors do I need for the RP2040?
Copilot can do the wiring for you and save you precious time. Before you ask Copilot to take action, make sure you provide it with as much information as you can. If a component can be connected in multiple ways (as a flash memory to the RP2040), state your goals clearly.
@copilot how do I connect this flash memory to the RP2040? I want to make sure I can boot from it.
If you take a close look at the final project, you'll notice that these patterns repeat over and over on the different elements. Once you get familiar with this workflow, you'll be designing at a speed only big teams were able to accomplish in the past.
It's an exciting time for PCB design. With this new feature of Flux Copilot, we're not just accelerating the design process but also opening up new possibilities for creativity and innovation. It's like having a skilled coworker by your side, ready to tackle the complex parts so you can focus on the big picture.
We're eager to see what amazing designs you'll create with Flux Copilot. This is just the beginning of a fascinating journey toward a future where AI assists in creating, imagining, and realizing incredible hardware designs. And we're thrilled to be on this journey with you.
Happy designing!
In 2019, we scratched our heads at the current state of hardware tools. Why did they look like they were designed in the 1980s? Ohhhh they were. We asked ourselves... what if we started from scratch? What if designing hardware was seamless, intuitive, even delightful? What if we could automate all the mundane work? That was our dream.
In 2019, we scratched our heads at the current state of hardware tools. Why did they look like they were designed in the 1980s? Ohhhh they were. 😬
We asked ourselves... what if we started from scratch? What if designing hardware was seamless, intuitive, even delightful? What if we could automate all the mundane work? That was our dream.
Fast forward three years, and boom! We opened up to everyone. Since then, the numbers have been wild. Over 100,000 of you have joined, creating a whopping 177,000 projects! And shout out to the 3,200 businesses riding this wave with us. We've even got PCBs designed in Flux going to space soon! 🚀
Let’s take a look back at some of the company’s major highlights that you helped us fulfill!
From the very beginning, we always knew that Flux was only going to be as successful as the community that we built around it. That’s why we started with a private beta: so that we could build a tight-knit community of people who shared the same vision as us as we grew the product. If it weren’t for that group of beta users in the very beginning, we would not be here with you today.
In February 2023, we took our next big step when we emerged from private beta. For the first time ever, anyone in the world was able to test out Flux, and the response was overwhelming. This was our first major step towards our ultimate goal of truly democratizing hardware design for everyone.
We’ve always sought to take the “hard” out of hardware, and it was obvious that existing tools came up short of that vision. We knew we had to think bigger, which is why we came up with Flux Copilot: the industry’s first and only AI PCB design assistant.
When we introduced Copilot, its capabilities were unprecedented, and the response from YOU was fantastic. Over 15,000 users have now worked with Copilot, and it’s tackled a whopping 130,000 questions.
But we didn't stop there. Copilot evolved to not just provide feedback but to take action for you. With Copilot’s ability to wire up schematics for you, users were finally able to avoid the tedium of wiring schematics and spend more time on what really matters. We want to put the magic back in hardware design, and generative AI with Copilot has been one huge step toward that goal.
Meet Gerald, a software engineer behind Vendo King Manila, a vending machine business in the Philippines. Before Flux, he struggled with jumbled boards and too many jumper wires. With no prior PCB design experience, Gerald dived into Flux and crafted his own board. He says, “With Flux, I made our PCB easily. No more wire mess or production problems!” That's a big win! 🚀
Then there's Robert, a software engineer who loves computers, old-school games, web development, and 3D printing. He's the guy behind ControllerAdapter.com, making cool stuff for game controller fans. Thanks to Flux, Robert easily designs and shares his creations.
Looking back at the last four years, it’s amazing to see how far this community has come together.
While what we’ve done has been transformative, what’s really exciting are the infinite possibilities that lie ahead of us. We’re currently exploring the very edge of AI's capabilities in hardware design, and who better to do it with than our incredible community?
We have some exciting things planned for the future, and one thing is for sure: the best has yet to come.
If you want to help Flux continue to grow and change hardware design, tell your friends about us! Let them know about Flux and encourage them to sign up and get involved.
Today, we're proud to announce a significant upgrade to Flux Copilot: Copilot can now understand datasheets and reference them in its responses. This means you get more accurate responses when asking Copilot questions about specific parts. This enables you to directly utilize the wealth of data often hidden in the layers of these dense technical documents.
Copilot now offers unprecedented precision by incorporating information from datasheets. This enables you to directly utilize the wealth of data often hidden in the layers of these dense technical documents. Here’s some of our favorite use cases:
@copilot What is the power consumption of the ESP32 in sleep mode?
@copilot What's the power-up sequence for the PMIC in U1?
@copilot How do I configure an interrupt on a pin for U4?
@copilot What is the maximum frequency I can reach without an external crystal on U6?
@copilot What are some layout recommendations I need to follow for IC3?
@copilot What’s the voltage range for vddio on U4?
@copilot Can U2 withstand intense operating temperature even without heatsink?
Check out our full list of our favorite Copilot Prompts to get more ideas!
Copilot now gives you more transparency about where it gets its information from. Instead of just giving you an answer, Copilot now cites its sources.
We believe transparency is key to enhancing trust and confidence in AI technologies. Now, when Copilot pulls information from a datasheet it directly cites that source in the response. This feature allows you to verify the accuracy of the information provided, tracing it back to the original context in just a click.
By including the source of information directly in Copilot's response, we provide a clear, traceable path back to the original document. This heightened transparency gives you the confidence to trust Copilot's responses and the ability to dive deeper into the source material whenever you choose.
With this update also comes the ability for Copilot answer questions about how to use Flux by referencing our documentation. So, instead of getting stuck and searching documentation, you can stay in the flow and get the help you need without leaving your project! Now you can ask questions like:
@copilot I want to put custom silkscreen on my PCB. How would I do that?
@copilot I can't find part on the library what do I do?
@copilot How do I start a simulation?
At Flux, our goal has always been to empower the masses by making hardware design more accessible to all. With this newest update to Copilot, you now have greater accuracy, transparency, and control over your AI design assistant, and the sky is the limit!
If you want to learn more about Copilot and how to use it, reach out to us on Slack, or check out any of these resources:
Effortlessly calculate parallel and series resistor values with our accurate, user-friendly tool designed to optimize circuit performance and streamline electrical design processes.
💡 Did you know that one of the capabilities of Flux Copilot, an AI powered hardware design assistant is its ability to calculate the total resistance between any two points in your schematic diagram? You can effortlessly determine the overall resistance, making complex calculations a breeze. Try Flux now, and best of all, it's completely free!
This means you don't need to do any calculations or formula anymore. Through a simple chat interface, just simply ask Copilot,
"@copilot what is the total resistance across terminal 1 and terminal 2?"
and wait a moment for Flux Copilot to response with the calculated total resistance value. It can even determine series or/and parallel resistor configuration automatically. It's like your holding a physical ohm meter and reading the actual resistance of a circuit. See it for yourself!
As electronics enthusiasts and professionals, we are always on the lookout for tools that can streamline our design process and improve our understanding of circuit behavior. The parallel and series resistor calculator is one such indispensable tool that enables efficient and accurate analysis of resistor networks. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the concept of parallel and series resistors, the importance of resistor calculators, and the benefits they provide.
Parallel resistors refer to resistors connected end-to-end, sharing the same voltage across their terminals. When resistors are connected in parallel, their combined resistance is less than the smallest individual resistor's value.
The total resistance in a parallel configuration is given by the formula:
Series resistors are connected in a way that the end terminal of one resistor is connected to the starting terminal of the next resistor. In series configuration, the current flows sequentially through each resistor, and there is only one current path through the entire resistor network. The resistors should beconnected end-to-end, with no junction points or branches between them. Worth noting that same current flows through each resistor in this configuration, and the voltage drop across each resistor is proportional to its resistance.
The total resistance in a series configuration is simply the sum of the individual resistances:
Manual calculations can be tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone, particularly when dealing with multiple resistors or complex circuits. This is where parallel and series resistor calculators come into play, offering valuable benefits such as:
Parallel and series resistor calculators are designed to provide quick and accurate results for resistor networks. These calculators generally include the following features:
These resistor calculators are valuable tools for professionals and hobbyists alike. Some common applications include:
Parallel and series resistor calculators are essential tools for anyone working with electronic circuits. They simplify calculations, save time and effort, and reduce the risk of design errors. By understanding their significance and choosing the right calculator, you can ensure that your projects run smoothly and efficiently. So, go ahead and harness the power of these indispensable tools to elevate your circuit design skills to new heights.
Easily calculate resistor values with Flux online Resistor Color Code Calculator. This powerful tool saves time and eliminates errors for electronics enthusiasts and professionals.
Resistors are ubiquitous components in the world of electronics, playing a crucial role in regulating current flow, setting voltage levels, and protecting other components in circuits. As you dive into projects or repairs, it's important to understand how to identify the value of a resistor to ensure proper functionality and avoid potential issues. One of the most common methods to determine a resistor's value is by interpreting its color code. In this article, we will guide you through the process of identifying the value of a resistor using its color code, helping you become proficient at reading these codes and ensuring the success of your electronic endeavors.
Resistors are measured in ohms (Ω), the unit of electrical resistance. The ohm represents how much a resistor opposes or resists the flow of electric current in a circuit. Resistance values can range from a fraction of an ohm (e.g., milliohms or mΩ) to many millions of ohms (e.g., megaohms or MΩ). When selecting a resistor for a particular application, it's important to choose one with the appropriate resistance value to achieve the desired effect in the circuit.
The color code for resistors is a universal method employed to signify a resistor's resistance value, tolerance, and its temperature coefficient for 6-band resistor. This system features a sequence of color bands printed on the resistor's surface, simplifying the identification of the resistance value without requiring extra markings or tags.
The color code system employs 10 colors, each assigned a numerical value:
Resistors typically have 4, 5, or 6 colored bands:
You can determine the resistor's resistance value, tolerance, and temperature coefficient by reading the colored bands and referring to the color code chart. This system makes it simple and efficient to identify and select resistors for various electronic applications.
To read the resistor color code effectively, it's essential to understand how the bands represent different attributes of a resistor. Let's dive deeper into the significance of each band and how to interpret them:
Becoming proficient at reading resistor color codes requires practice. Here are some tips to help you along the way:
By familiarizing yourself with the resistor color code system and practicing reading the bands, you'll be well-equipped to identify resistor values and select the appropriate components for your electronic projects.
