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"Anyone else out there vibe circuit-building?"

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Re: "Anyone else out there vibe circuit-building?"

#21

Post by deckar01 »

I have been working on a tool that aids in circuit tuning: model circuit equations as python functions, the solution space is discrete component values, auto solve for a target spec, build the circuits, record measurements, fit error, repeat until the experiment matches predictions. It adjusts nearly every parameter between tests and converges surprisingly fast. (25% to 2% error in 3 tests for an active band pass filter)

The MVP was hand coded, leaned heavily on sympy, linear fits, and worked for simple circuits. The current PoC only falls back to sympy to invert equations, switches to GPR when convergence stalls, and use a robust differential evolution from scipy for combinatorial search. The MVP works, but now I have a mountain of slop to cleanup and some statistics homework to understand the limitations of these algorithms. It’s nice to validate ideas so quickly though.

Re: "Anyone else out there vibe circuit-building?"

#22

Post by jacquesm »

mikeayles wrote: post #11

Been working on this exact problem for a while now. The core issue isn't that LLMs are bad at circuits, it's that we're asking them to do novel design when they should be doing selection and integration. My project ( https://phaestus.app/blog ) takes a different approach: pre-validated circuit blocks on a fixed 12.7mm grid with standardized bus structures. The LLM picks which blocks you need and where they go, but th…

This sounds very interesting, especially if you combine it for instance with an FPGA for logic blocks.

Re: "Anyone else out there vibe circuit-building?"

#24

Post by [deleted] »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #7

Why, yes I am. I know Ben is having some fun, perhaps making a valid point, with the burning component on the breadboard. I think it does underscore a difference between software vibing and hardware vibing—crash vs. fire. But in fact vibe-breadboarding has drawn me deeper into the electronics hobby. I have learned more about op-amps and analog computing in the past two months in large part thanks to Gemini and ChatGP…

[deleted]

Re: "Anyone else out there vibe circuit-building?"

#25

Post by nospice »

mikeayles wrote: post #11

Been working on this exact problem for a while now. The core issue isn't that LLMs are bad at circuits, it's that we're asking them to do novel design when they should be doing selection and integration. My project ( https://phaestus.app/blog ) takes a different approach: pre-validated circuit blocks on a fixed 12.7mm grid with standardized bus structures. The LLM picks which blocks you need and where they go, but th…

> The core issue isn't that LLMs are bad at circuits, it's that we're asking them to do novel design when they should be doing selection and integration.

I don't want to detract from what you're building, but I'm puzzled by this sentence. It very much sounds like the problem is that they're bad at circuits and that you're working around this problem by making them choose from a catalog.

Try that for code. "The problem isn't that LLMs are bad at coding, it's that we're asking them to write new programs when they should be doing selection and integration".

Re: "Anyone else out there vibe circuit-building?"

#26

Post by jacquesm »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #7

Why, yes I am. I know Ben is having some fun, perhaps making a valid point, with the burning component on the breadboard. I think it does underscore a difference between software vibing and hardware vibing—crash vs. fire. But in fact vibe-breadboarding has drawn me deeper into the electronics hobby. I have learned more about op-amps and analog computing in the past two months in large part thanks to Gemini and ChatGP…

> I have found better ADC chips than the ones that come pre-soldered on most EDP32 dev boards (and have breadboarded them up with success).

Depending on your setup: beware of your ground and realize that breadboards are an extremely bad fit for this sort of application. It's hard enough to get maximum performance out of a good DAC on a custom designed PCB, on a breadboard it can be a nightmare.

Re: "Anyone else out there vibe circuit-building?"

#27

Post by dcrazy »

As an AI skeptic, I’ve been brought around to using Claude Code to understand a codebase, like when I need to quickly find where something happens through a tower of abstractions. Crucially, this relies on Claude actually searching my codebase using grep. It’s effectively automated guess and check.

I wonder if a SPICE skill would make LLMs safer and more useful in this area. I’m a complete EE newbie, and I am slowly working through The Art of Electronics to learn more. Being able to feed the LLM a circuit diagram—or better yet, a photo of a real circuit!—and have it guess at what it does and then simulate the results to check its work could be a great boon to hands-on learning.

Re: "Anyone else out there vibe circuit-building?"

#28

Post by jacquesm »

nebben64 wrote: post #23

Semi related: what are your guys workflow to PCB design? I need to build an AFE + BLE MCU for a BCI, and having no EE background, my workflow is KiCAD -> buy components -> breadboard testing -> done?? -> order fully manufactured PCB? I know nothing...

Hire someone competent?

Re: "Anyone else out there vibe circuit-building?"

#30

Post by avsteele »

I haven't had much success yet with this. My ratings follow.

Reading and interpreting datasheets: A- (this has gotten a LOT better in the last year)

Give netlist to LLM and ask it to check for errors: C (hit or miss, but useful because catching ANY errors helps)

Give Image to LLM and ask it to check for errors: C (hit or miss)

Design of circuit from description: D- (hallucinates parts, suggests parts for wrong purpose. suggests obsolete parts. Cannot make diagrams. Not an F because its textual descriptions have gotten better. When describing what nodes connect to each other now its not always wrong. You will have to re-check EVERYTHING though, so its usefulness is doubtful)

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