[TECH] Make a Mini ASIC for Robots

A post of investigating the possibility of making my own ASIC chip. My initial thought was to design a custom Yubikey and use it as a shortcut key to awake AI agents; something like the iPhone 15 side button. Later I realized it might be more interesting to design a mini ASIC as a learning project, since I’ve never got a chance to get involved in the chip design process.

Why?

Just for fun. I have been using Yubikey for a while, and I am curious about how it works. I was also thinking about designing my own wireless keyboard, with mini USB transceiver and potentially some upgraded features for HCI (e.g., touch bar, NFC LBS, or GPS).

Robot Control in SkyWater 130nm

• ASIC to control robot motors: https://github.com/RAPcores/caravel_rapcores

GPS Tracker with TinyDuino

• https://www.instructables.com/Tiny-GPS-Tracker/

New Terms

• COB (Chip on Board): raw die, i.e., the wafer piece, is directly mounted on PCB (and covered with epoxy) without any packaging; COB can make the PCB more compact, but it is more difficult to repair and debug.