This PCB is brought to you by Fable 5
This article covers an experiment in designing a simple printed circuit board (PCB) without any tool use, using only plain English descriptions. The author aimed to create a development board that could drive an E-ink display, but initially used Claude Opus 4.8 to generate the design, which resulted in multiple errors. They then tried Fable 5, which successfully generated the design autonomously after several hours of work.
The design process had some issues, including component selection errors and routing problems, but these were addressed with the help of a colleague and open-source routing tools. After ordering the PCB from JLCPCB, the author was impressed with the straightforward process and the final product's functionality. They enjoyed the simplicity of describing their board design in English and shipping it overseas to receive a fully functional result without any PCB design knowledge.
Despite the convenience, the author acknowledges a loss of personal accomplishment in the process and hopes for future advancements that will make PCB generation even simpler and more accessible.
Written by urgent.news from Lobsters's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
