"Anyone else out there vibe circuit-building?"

Vibe Circuit-Building vs. Traditional Hardware Design

• Thread starts from a joking image of a “vibe-built” circuit literally on fire, used to highlight the difference between software failure (crash) and hardware failure (smoke, cost, safety).
• Several people note that “letting the magic smoke out” has always been part of hobby electronics, not unique to LLM-assisted design.
• Concern is higher for hardware because parts cost money, turnaround is slow, and errors can be dangerous.

Using LLMs as Learning and Ideation Tools

• Multiple hobbyists report LLMs (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) helped them:
  • Learn analog concepts (op-amps, ADCs, protection circuits).
  • Discover better parts than default dev-board components.
  • Navigate datasheets and EE Stack Exchange more effectively.
  • Design small products (stove monitors, bathroom controllers, sheet-metal brackets, audio preamps).
• LLMs are often described as “idea boards” or “search on steroids,” good at suggesting directions but requiring human verification.

Limitations and Risks of LLM Circuit Design

• Critiques include:
  • Recommending obsolete or inappropriate parts (especially op-amps).
  • Confusion about circuit topologies and protection strategies.
  • Poor adherence to constraints and safety, especially for high-voltage or production designs.
• One commenter rates LLM capabilities: good at reading datasheets; mediocre at error-checking schematics; poor at designing circuits from scratch.
• Breadboards are flagged as especially problematic for analog/ADC performance due to parasitics.

Block-Based / Constraint-Driven Approaches

• A major subthread discusses using LLMs not for novel circuit synthesis but for selecting and arranging pre-validated blocks on a fixed grid.
• This is compared to software dependencies: reuse of known-good modules instead of reinventing them.
• Others push back, noting this is partly an admission that LLMs are bad at low-level design; still, many agree it’s practical for prototypes and non-experts.

Simulation, Tooling, and Future Direction

• Several people suggest integrating SPICE/LTspice or PCB tools as feedback loops, so the model can iterate until simulations pass.
• There is ongoing work on auto-placement/routing and tying LLMs to distributor APIs for smarter part selection.
• Consensus: with strong domain knowledge or strong tooling/feedback, LLMs are powerful accelerators; without it, they’re risky and must not replace expert review.