The Amp Hour

Hosted by The Amp Hour (Chris Gammell and David L Jones)

Technology Science EducationInterviews guests

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Episodes

748

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

The Amp Hour is a weekly conversation about electronics and the people who design them.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 26, 2026Episode 73258 min

Hands-on Physical AI with Kevin Cloutier

Kevin Cloutier is the North American Lead for Physical AI at a global engineering consulting firm and a computer engineer who is passionate about taking complex computations to the edge. He joins Chris to discuss the transition from legacy, statically programmed factory robotics to modern, imitation-learning-based “Physical AI,” building and calibrating the affordable $200 3D-printed SO101 robot arm using the LeRobot open-source framework or Intel’s Physical AI Studio, and orchestrating complex robotic systems entirely on local edge hardware.

August 19, 2026Episode 7311 hr 22 min

E&M Reality Emerges with Robert Fennis

Robert Fennis joins Chris to demystify the black magic of RF and talk about his open-source, Python-based 3D electromagnetic solver, EMerge. They discuss why simulation is like building a pyramid of knowledge, how silk screen can completely de-tune a patch antenna, and Robert’s quest to build the “IKEA of FEM solvers” so hardware developers everywhere can simulate their designs without relying on insanely expensive proprietary software.

August 5, 2026Episode 73055 min

The Focus Knob Works

Dave and Chris celebrate 16 years of the show (1st episode was August 10th, 2010) by launching a brand-new static website featuring searchable transcripts and a “pissed-old amber” SVG scope with a working focus knob–and links to merch!. They also discuss Dave’s new employee, 10 cent RISC-V debuggers, and why naming your startup after an un-Googleable Australian cryptid is a bad move

July 22, 2026Episode 7291 hr 20 min

The Terahertz Frontier with Greg Charvat of Teradar

Dr Greg Charvat, CTO and co-founder of Teradar, joins Chris for a 5th appearance on The Amp Hour to talk about how terahertz frequency radar will revolutionize the automotive space and far outstrips the capabilities of LIDAR and Blobbology

July 9, 2026Episode 7281 hr 6 min

Space Age Bluetooth with Alex Haro

Alex Haro, CEO of Hubble, joins Chris to talk about building a network of terrestrial and space (!) based Bluetooth infrastructure to track low power devices across the globe, without a data plan or a GPS module onboard.

July 2, 2026Episode 72754 min

Boat Anchor Warehouse

Dave and Chris discuss a massive “boat anchor” warehouse clearance, 0201 board assembly, Texas Instruments’ stealthy datasheet updates for classic op-amps, the latest in local AI models, and paper-based electronics art

June 17, 2026Episode 7261 hr 10 min

Arduino's Invisible Touch with Massimo Banzi

Massimo Banzi is co-founder of Arduino, the worldwide project built upon easily accessible embedded hardware. He joins Chris to talk about the design, rise, struggles, and eventual exit of the company, and what he’s now doing with Supermoderno.

June 4, 2026Episode 72559 min

The Secret Life of Circuits with lcamtuf / Michał Zalewski

Michał Zalewski (lcamtuf) is a security researcher, author, electronics enthusiast, and calculator collector. He joins Chris to talk about his new book The Secret Life of Circuits and his interest in the field of electronics and explaining things to others.

May 25, 2026Episode 7241 hr 5 min

All Heat, No Useful Work

Dave and Chris discuss the infrastructure and massive energy demands of AI data centers, injecting power through a programming header, Linux changes, and dogfooding your own projects.

May 7, 2026Episode 7231 hr 10 min

BeagleBoard's Back with Jason Kridner

Jason Kridner returns to The Amp Hour after his first appearance 15 years ago to talk about the BeagleBadge and Zepto boards that showcase new capabilities in the Linux and Zephyr space. The BeagleBoard.org project is still focused on building open source, affordable, and accessible Linux and embedded hardware.