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Acroname
Company blog · acroname.com/bloghardwaresystems
Acroname is the company blog at acroname.com, writing about hardware and systems. Since 2008, 10 different Hacker News readers have linked it 11 times, most often “Why USB-C Connections Sometimes Don't Work (2018)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-08-06, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (9) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers cite Acroname's articles on USB-C power delivery negotiation, pinouts and Sharp IR distance sensors as technical references. The comments mostly link them as sources rather than praising them.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 9 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
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Most-linked posts?
- Why USB-C Connections Sometimes Don't Work (2018)2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2023-10-09
What Hacker News says?
I have also seen these issues and always wondered why this happened. There seems to be an issue with the tolerances of USB C compared to A that make C more susceptible to damage and also dirt and dust. The main issue seems to be lack of resistors in some devices, which leads to USB C not seeing the device to be charged as such, as it isn't negotiating the USB-PD part. USB A doesn’t officially implement a power deliv…
Comment linking /blog/why-usb-c-connections-sometimes-dont-work
on “Voyager 1 is back online: NASA spacecraft returns data from all 4 instruments”Submitted Why USB-C Connections Sometimes Don't Work (2018) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThe opposite tool exists, it's awesome (on paper, anyway), but I could not afford it ($1200). Meet Acroname USBHub3c Pro: https://acroname.com/store/programmable-industrial-power-del...
Comment linking /store/programmable-industrial-power-delivery-hub-s99-usbhub-3c-pro
on “USB Type-C finally shows up in power tools”Submitted Un-confusing USB-C Connections as a story · 1 points
HN discussionPIRs measure temperature changes, not motion. I set one up in my kitchen and it got very confused whenever I turned on the kettle or the toaster. :) Sharp make a range of IR distance trackers that are more useful for checking whether or not there's an object/person in front of the sensor. https://acroname.com/articles/sharp-infrared-ranger-comparis... Adafruit sell one of the short range models, but the GP2Y0A710 is…
Comment linking /articles/sharp-infrared-ranger-comparison
on “I made a cheap home motion sensor and controller”That's not true, see this random pinout diagram: https://acroname.com/sites/default/files/shared/alt_mode_-_d...
Comment linking /sites/default/files/shared/alt_mode_-_displayport_pinout.png
on “J-Link Compact USB-C Issues”This is incorrect. USB power delivery does not need the data lines. Negotiation happens over the CC line and Vbus line: "A power-only receptacle Upstream-Facing-Port might only have VBus, GND, and CC pins populated, because they do not need the data transfer capabilities" source: https://acroname.com/blog/breakdown-all-power-delivery-types...
Comment linking /blog/breakdown-all-power-delivery-types-connectors-and-capabilities
on “Ask HN: Why do laptop chargers have data wires?”I've actually used these IR ranging sensors before. They have circuitry built-in, so the interface is really simple (the drawbacks are that the output is non-linear with respect to distance, and the time between outputs is kind of slow ~50ms): http://www.acroname.com/robotics/info/articles/sharp/sharp.h... He uses a lot of LEDs. If I were to design something like this, I'd just use a speaker from a PC case and have…
Comment linking /robotics/info/articles/sharp/sharp.html
on “DIY Short Range Personal Radar: $30”I used Acroname USB hub: https://acroname.com/store/programmable-industrial-hub-s79-u... It was very expensive but works reliable. You can use API to control it.
Comment linking /store/programmable-industrial-hub-s79-usbhub-3p
on “I2c-USB-hub: An i2C Controllable USB 2.0 Hub”Turns out I seem to be right about the negotiation: https://acroname.com/sites/default/files/shared/blog-basic-p...
Comment linking /sites/default/files/shared/blog-basic-power-negotation.png
on “My cat water fountain comes with a spicy USB power adapter”This could have been as well been a prediction 8 years ago, because in the mean time all of this happened. regarding 1) look at this post from 2019: https://people.kernel.org/bleung/now-how-many-usb-c-to-usb-c... I imagine it only got worse in the mean time. regarding 2) I have seen various posts in the past of devices that only work if the cables are connected in a specific orientation. Technical background is disc…
Comment linking /blog/why-usb-c-connections-sometimes-dont-work
on “USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible”
