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Keenan Johnson

@keenanjohnson.com
270 followers 489 following 552 posts

Freelance Human. Founded some hardware startups. Loves making things. www.keenanjohnson.com www.breadboardfoundry.com www.ribbitnetwork.org sifa.id/p/keenanjohnson.com

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 20h
This is a rite of passage in the bay sadly :(
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 26/09/2026
Vortex strawberries
Dyson strawberries
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 26/09/2026
I guess I am in the target demographic since I worked at space x a long time ago but eeesh these ads scream of desperation.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 26/09/2026
If I have to see one more of the most cringy grok bot ads on the internet I will flip.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 25/09/2026
Overheard walking outside: “I am trying to pivot my career, so I asked an AI. Truly it just made my confusion even worse brah.”
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 24/09/2026
Amazon I need to get myself a PixelPump
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 24/09/2026
Oh weird. Never had that happen before with oshpark. Do you have a reflow oven or will you attempt the hand solder?
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 24/09/2026
My main premise is that most engineering teams don’t actually want to be good, but some do and I love helping them. I do a lot of coaching / mentoring / consulting on that and I love it. If I was better at marketing myself maybe I could just do speaking / do that full time.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 23/09/2026
This is your brain on pcb
The layout of a printed circuit board
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 21/09/2026
One day I hope that I'll be able to just work on whatever I want and create things that are useful or needed, but would never get built because capitalism.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 21/09/2026
Had a meeting today where someone validated and then talked about the next steps for an idea I've been working on for over five years. It's taken a long time to find the right fit, but some ideas just take that long.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 21/09/2026
So many really good technology people just spend all their time shooting down ideas rather than trying to reframe them into something that is feasible or useful.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 21/09/2026
Being a non delusional, optimistic technologist is one of the hardest things, but if you can walk the line, then you will do amazing things.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 20/09/2026
source files for those interested: github.com/keenanjohnso...
github.com
GitHub - keenanjohnson/deepsea-light-pcba: A PCB for controlling Deepsea Lights
A PCB for controlling Deepsea Lights. Contribute to keenanjohnson/deepsea-light-pcba development by creating an account on GitHub.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 20/09/2026
Ah cool. Then take some rest :)
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 20/09/2026
Oooo what are you launching?
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
It's not real cad if yu don't spend time spinning it around. This board is a bit goody as it uses huge connectors to ensure it can be hand soldered and is very high current.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
Also fits the "dull, dirty, dangerous" idea of where robots are most useful as spending hours underwater in the deep ocean counting kelp is certainly dull, dirty, and dangerous.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
This work is typically done with scuba divers visually, but given the scale of the ocean and the immersive amount of conservation work ahead of us, it is impractical to achieve our goals with scuba divers alone.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
Essentially yeah. More specifically trying to locate and count things like kelp, invertebrates, and fish, which are the foundations of the ocean eco systems.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
This press release I linked yesterday is also really good high level context: www.seattleaquarium.org/press-releas...
seattleaquarium.org
New Partnership Paves the Way for Reintroducing Sea Otters to Oregon - Seattle Aquarium
The Seattle Aquarium, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Elakha Alliance and Wildlife Conservation Network’s (WCN) Sea Otter Fund are collaborating to generate new data on how sea otters—or their absence—affects ...
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
Totes. This repo is probably the best place to start with some basic context / videos. Feel free to drop any questions and happy to answer though. github.com/Seattle-Aqua...
github.com
GitHub - Seattle-Aquarium/Coastal_Climate_Resilience: This is a public repository to organize information and documents pertaining to the development and testing of the Seattle Aquarium's BlueROV2
This is a public repository to organize information and documents pertaining to the development and testing of the Seattle Aquarium's BlueROV2 - Seattle-Aquarium/Coastal_Climate_Resilience
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
Sending a new PCB for sea otter conservation robot out to fab today. So fulfilling to do great engineering for good causes.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
I need access asap to whatever that blue tool is.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
Of all the things I could not have predicted this year, seeing T-Pain become a dad cave, basement lair 3d printing enthusiast is at the top of that list
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
Wow so many likes! If any people like the work, everything is in open source and you can see it here: github.com/Seattle-Aqua...
github.com
Seattle Aquarium
Seattle Aquarium has 18 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
If I have learned anything today it’s that the internet likes sea otters, robots, and especially the combination thereof.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026
Same!
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 18/09/2026
Robots for otters!
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 18/09/2026
Wooot some of my work with the Seattle aquarium's robotics for Sea Otters is starting to get published: www.seattleaquarium.org/press-releas...
seattleaquarium.org
New Partnership Paves the Way for Reintroducing Sea Otters to Oregon - Seattle Aquarium
The Seattle Aquarium, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Elakha Alliance and Wildlife Conservation Network’s (WCN) Sea Otter Fund are collaborating to generate new data on how sea otters—or their absence—affects ...
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 18/09/2026
I’ll be impressed with new software tools when this class of bug is fully solved and no one thinks of it anymore haha
Trojan horse of search string
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 18/09/2026
Wishing all products I used came with such a concise and awesome info sheet like this:
A harwin customer information sheet
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 18/09/2026
Just heard someone say: "The internet, it's not all bad"
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 17/09/2026
I relate to this so much
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 17/09/2026
I have many opinions, but I will instead just leave this classic paper that I suggest everyone read before placing their own opinions in the comments: No Silver Bullet Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. www.cs.unc.edu/techreports/...
cs.unc.edu
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 17/09/2026
Been working on this nice little easy to hand solder pcb for the seattle aquarium in between other harder EE projects for secret clients.
A pcb for controller some LEDs inside a watertight enclosure
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026
Had to call a customer support. Got passed between three separate AI support bots which had to interact with in different ways (voice, numeric entry, and then voice again). They each had unique hold music. This is a new kind of support hell.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026
My main technical niche seems to now be helping out robotics and sensing teams that have raised a lot of money, built a prototype and have not a lot of ideas how to make it reliable next.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026
My goal for reference is I do a lot of consulting work for different technical / creative clients. My lifestyle is also somewhat transient for the next six months to a year or so, so instead of constantly traveling very far to my lab, I am wondering if I can just take my lab with me haha
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026
Thanks for the ideas!
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026
I know a lot of people in the construction industry like this packout crates that can stack / unstack etc. I am currently thinking of something similiar. These are strong enough to protect a o-scope / some other somewhat fragile stuff and be easy enough to take around to client sites. etc
A set of packout crates
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026
Great idea!
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026
Thanks these are great for ideas! Here's a link on pifpack which is very cool: wsp.plusea.at/collection/c...
wsp.plusea.at
WSP
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026
Yes definitely! I think Salae might still be the best in the cheap-ish market.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026
Oh very cool!
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026
Is it possible to create something of a mobile electronics lab? With a o-scope, e-load, soldering stuff, power supply etc to bring around to client sites for board bring up etc? What’s the best way?
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 15/09/2026
What a time to be alive.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 15/09/2026
Was just notified by the burger place I sometimes get takeout from that my info was exposed in a data breach.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 15/09/2026
It has become very obvious that most engineering companies do not understand the difference between a prototype and a product, how to move between them, or really design either very well.
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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 15/09/2026
When I was little I wanted a grappling hook for my birthday. I did not receive a grappling hook.
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