Required Reading (todo)
The goal function of the Hacker Fab is to never debug the same thing twice.
We operate under different constraints from the semiconductor fab industry. This allows us to curb a lot of complexity.
Goals:
Low cost
Create the simplest designs possible
Increase reliability
Reduce manufacturing complexity
Minimal danger
Small size
No cleanroom
Highly sourcable materials
High literacy in understanding working principles of tools and processes
End-to-end custom - from sand to NAND
Make the wafers
Design the tools
Design the processes
Design the IC
Package the chip
Non-Goals:
Reuse of existing fab equipment
The 1970s vs. Now
On Open-Source Hardware
Who we are looking for, how we grow, how to get support
Design Constraints
On Improvement
Central to the Hacker Fab is fast turnaround hardware development - it’s in the name. This means extremely fast hardware prototyping, and with that comes the need for iteration. The careful design constraints placed on all projects and focus on documentation enables someone else to iterate on anything developed in the Hacker Fab. Improvement to a V1, V2, Vn of a design means
Directly improving upon a tool’s functionality
Precision
Reliability
Throughput
New features
Safety
But there are other equally important ways to improve a design. Every tool version should try to be:
Easier to manufacture than the last
Reduce number of tools required to manufacture
Reduce # of vendors, lead time, BOM length
Better documented than the last
Tool specs as close to first principles as possible
Every tool spec should have a standardized test for others to verify performance
Explain working principles to the detail of variables we can control (no more, no less). Referenced sources.
More “closed-loop” than the last
In-situ sensors
Calibration software should be more generalizable (“now you can use any camera…any piezo with draw distance in range X to Y…”)
On Cleanliness
On Process Node
On Education
Where to Start
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