Comment by the__alchemist
1 day ago
> As a hobbyist I found hardware to be quite impenetrable, given the hard mathematics and physics requirements.
IMO there aren't any. It's mostly about reading datasheets, and connecting pins to each other IOC those datasheets.
Maybe the physics and mathematics are more important for analog electronics or designing ASICS?
Do you have any specific projects you'd like to build? Post here and we can talk through it. And/or start by downloading KiCAD and clicking around until you understand the UI.
The programming side is mainly also reading datasheets. Instead of connecting the right pins together, you are writing a certain value to a register, as described in tables.
> It's mostly about reading datasheets, and connecting pins to each other IOC those datasheets .. Maybe the physics and mathematics are more important for analog electronics or designing ASICS?
I agree that electronics is very accessible, and I'll add that in my experience as an EEE the main beginner gotcha is bad PCB layout rather than maths/physics.
For a flight controller say, bad layout would manifest as slightly noisier sensor readings and reduced radio range. But assuming this is 4 layers https://www.anyleaf.org/mercury-g4 then you probably know what you're doing :) - ditto for OP's article.
Simple layout rules will take anyone 99% percent of the way to professional results. Ground planes on inside (or bottom) layers, signals on outside (or top). Don't cut ground planes. Decoupling caps close to ICs. Keep current loops small. Vertical traces on one side, horizontal on the other. A single youtube video could teach you all that.
When I used to do this stuff for a job, math/physics was only needed for analog electronics (interfacing to hardware like specialized/novel sensors), optimizing control systems and signal processing, and general cost/efficiency engineering - but you could go a long way without it.