EP#350: Estimating Effort

Python Demo for Extra Life API

• Stream Date: November 5th, 2022
• Functionality so far 
  • Check Extralife API for donations 
    • This is done with the requests module
    • This endpoint seems to return old and new donations
    • There isn't a “new donation” end point it seems
  • Get the donation IDs and compare them to a local file 
    • Local file is made with the pickle module
    • Pickle allows you to take any data structure in python and “package it” into a binary file for storage. 
  • If there is a new donation ID that isn’t in the local file 
    • Queue up a random audio clip
    • Record the donation ID to the local file
  • Audio is placed through the playsound module 
    • Weird “bug” that short audio clips get cut off
    • Add a little sleep after the call to get around it
  • Auto parses the audio folder for the files 
    • Looks into audio file
    • Gets all the file names
    • Adding a new audio clip is as simple as dropping it into the folder
  • Preventing truly random files 
    • Made a rotating buffer
    • Used the collections module to implement a bi-directional “stack” 
      • Think like a bitwise shift but with an array of strings
  • Multithreading! 
    • Threading module used to setup the API and Audio player queues 
      • API runs every 20 seconds
      • Audio player runs every 30 seconds
    • If a new donation, global mailbox variable increases one for each new donation.
    • Audio player runs and looks at that global variable. 
    • Threading has a “lock” function to prevent race conditions on that global variable.
• What is next? 
  • Play graphics in Open Broadcast Software
  • OBS has some python hooks that I am just starting to learn 

Chip Fab Jobs

• Need practically every engineering discipline
• Mechanical to design and maintain equipment
• Chemical for designing the masking / chemical bath processes
• Electrical for testing and validation 

Estimating project time

• PCB layout
• New project revision 
  • About 1600 parts
  • Lots of duplicates
• Things that impact timing 
  • Components 
    • Parts with pours and complex ground
    • Specific trace routs like differential or snake traces
  • Layers
  • Duplication
  • Rest day
  • Cleanup day