A Hardware Engineer’s One-Room Workspace

What makes a great electronics workspace? Ask five engineers and you’ll get five different answers. For over 15 years, Eleftherios Provatos has used his one-room workspace for a wide range of electronics and robotics projects. The Thessaloniki, Greece-based hardware engineer proves you can do a lot of creative engineering with a small space, the right tools, and a little perseverance.
 
What did you have in mind as you designed your electronics workspace?  
A clean bench of course! Drink coffee and finish the work in between. Leave the bench as it is for "inspiration" until the next big piece of work comes around.

What interests you? What sort of projects do you take on in your workspace?
Electronics mainly and robotics. There is also a 3D printer not visible in the photo! I do anything from custom designs to programming to repairs. Whatever can fit on the bench goes.

Tell us about some of your equipment and tools. 
Soldering station and hotair, oscilloscope/wave gen, power supplies, PC, laptop, extra screen. I have component drawers and books. Ah, there is also an 3D printer around the corner!

What's your most valued piece of equipment?
The 3D printer has by far paid of its weight in money, though the soldering iron, hot air, and oscilloscope are essential. Everything is important!

Anything special about your workspace?
Well, it’s mine! It's not what I want. It´s not what I even like to use, as it's extremely small. But it's mine, and every drop of sweat that went into building it is a drop I will never regret!

Do you have any plans for your workspace? Perhaps you are considering some new equipment?
I actually got the 6 1/2 digit multimeter I wanted. Next stop now is probably an LCR and I could use more power supplies! You can never have enough power supplies and multimeters!



Tell us about your favorite electronics-related project. Did you learn anything interesting? 
It's very hard to describe what I have learnt and did during the last +15 years, practically since I was 14. I started when I was really young with robotics around 12 and programming. Part of who I am is on this bench. Still! I started working with Boe-Bot Robots and BS2, then moved to AVR, looked a bit around ARM, then PIC, and then ARM again. From the AVR family I have the STK500 and STK600. From the PIC the PICKIT3 and PICKIT4. Recently, I also bought STLINK v3, but that's also to support some other projects of mine! I also do a bit of power. I like my H-bridges and a little bit of analog and mixed signal. It´s always great fun! I really don't have a favorite. I find it all interesting and really like it!
 
Tell us about one or two of your electronics projects.
Various little projects jump between my daily responsibilities. My LinkedIn account is where I post my updates. GitHub is where I try to document them.


What about a dream project? Do you have one? 
Of course I do! Who doesn't want to be Ironman? Or maybe is it a bit Gundam Mobile Suit? I don´t know, it's only a question of scale in the end. But if it flies, and if it has electronic and mechanical parts (preferably automated and can carry a person) — well, it's a project in the right direction.

Do you have any advice or tips for the engineers and makers in Elektor's global community?
Of course! My bench still has a way to go, but it's much better than it used to be one year ago! Clench your teeth, work for the man, and buy equipment with the spares. It doesn't have to be the best equipement. If you want to have your own bench and you like to be independent, you will need some capital. So, do not worry, just set your aim high! And although it's true that life can derail you in many ways, if your aim is set high, then it will only cost a bit of time more. Patience and perseverance, as in all things in life!
 

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