4 ms·

Sort of treating a funny comment seriously here, but I imagine that it's exactly like it is for EEs, which are also using lots of pieces of test equipment (some

by anyfoo 5y ago

Sort of treating a funny comment seriously here, but I imagine that it's exactly like it is for EEs, which are also using lots of pieces of test equipment (sometimes the exact same, even). It's not so much that messy labs are desirable or even okay for everyone, it's just that often it's pretty much impossible to keep your test bench "clean" and organized with so many devices, probes, and their cables, interconnected with each other. Or that even in the cases where you could achieve it, iterative changes to your setup mess that up immediately. Personally I often like it, it feels like actual work getting done. %)

yesenadam 5y ago
Not to mention Delbruck's principle of limited sloppiness. I don't know the best single place to read about it, but reading around the top google results you get the idea. https://www.google.com/search?q=delbruck%27s+principle+of+limited+sloppiness https://www.google.com/search?q=delbruck%27s+principle+of+li... The prototypical story is Fleming's nose dripping into a petri dish enabling the discovery of penicillin. If he was less sloppy that wouldn't have happened. But he was unsloppy enough that when something unexpected happened he paid attention and knew what it meant.
adhesive_wombat 5y ago
> feels like actual work getting done The absolute best bit about a test rig setup that's starting to evolve it's own sentience is that any time you are stuck, you can spend a whole day tidying it up, neatening cable routing, putting redundant things back in parts bins, mounting things to brackets, labelling stuff nicely, and so on. Not only will you feel like you're "getting stuff done", but anyone watching will see only a buzz of industrious activity, marvel at your pristine setup, and, moreover, at the end of the process, nothing will work and you get to spend another day debugging to get back to where you were at the start. The good news is that somewhere along this route, your brain will probably have concluded you have obviously lost the plot and figured out the original problem all on its own. But now it's Friday evening, so write that thought down before you go or you'll forget it by Monday! Oddly specific? Maybe, but I can't be the only one.

by anyfoo 5y ago

yesenadam 5y ago

Not to mention Delbruck's principle of limited sloppiness. I don't know the best single place to read about it, but reading around the top google results you get the idea. https://www.google.com/search?q=delbruck%27s+principle+of+limited+sloppiness https://www.google.com/search?q=delbruck%27s+principle+of+li... The prototypical story is Fleming's nose dripping into a petri dish enabling the discovery of penicillin. If he was less sloppy that wouldn't have happened. But he was unsloppy enough that when something unexpected happened he paid attention and knew what it meant.

adhesive_wombat 5y ago

> feels like actual work getting done The absolute best bit about a test rig setup that's starting to evolve it's own sentience is that any time you are stuck, you can spend a whole day tidying it up, neatening cable routing, putting redundant things back in parts bins, mounting things to brackets, labelling stuff nicely, and so on. Not only will you feel like you're "getting stuff done", but anyone watching will see only a buzz of industrious activity, marvel at your pristine setup, and, moreover, at the end of the process, nothing will work and you get to spend another day debugging to get back to where you were at the start. The good news is that somewhere along this route, your brain will probably have concluded you have obviously lost the plot and figured out the original problem all on its own. But now it's Friday evening, so write that thought down before you go or you'll forget it by Monday! Oddly specific? Maybe, but I can't be the only one.