Show HN: Zenode – an AI-powered electronic component search engine
zenode.ai2) Hmm, not really. You can share the chat, and the specific response, but the only way to export the source would be to screenshot it... Adding it to our list of potential next features!
I'd argue the core value isn't just a better search or a faster reader. It's about providing a verified, reliable source of truth. This brings up a key tension: you say the AI isn't yet at your co-founder's level of accuracy, but is that precisely the level of confidence required to replace an engineer's manual check? How do you close that gap? You've got the data, but the trust factor is a different threshold?
I.e. maybe you've built the tool to make the problem faster, but the real win would be a tool that makes the problem safer? The killer feature might not be more speed, but rather a confidence score on every AI-generated fact, with a clear path to the source document so an engineer can verify it. It’s not about avoiding the document entirely; it’s about having a better starting point and knowing exactly what to double-check.
To close the gap, we've built our own Q/A datasets and are training custom AIs how to search and read a datasheet (like a new engineer needs to learn early on). We're concentrating on teaching the AI how to identify key information vs noise as it relates to electrical engineering (differences like 'Voltage' in the Absolute Max vs Recommended section) and where information is likely to be found in a datasheet or app note.
The speed of the search was ok, but the AI stuff seems to take a minute. I'm not sure if I've just been spoiled by ChatGPT or if this is a product issue, but it definitely could be faster.
I like the sources that are shown in the deep dive search and the datasheet chat, but deep dive doesn't seem to be taking me to the actual page it references. I know I can just type in the page it says in the pdf viewer, but the datasheet page takes me straight there so why doesn't the deep dive source?
Are you looking at a multiphase design? I think I've seen a few chips that control multiphase converters: You'd get a much higher current design with just one IC (and a few extra inductors).
But yes, OpenAI continues to be the 800lb gorilla 'boogeyman' crushing startups with every new update. Our goal is to remain cockroaches until we find solid distribution!
Octopart is a bit of a different beast from us. They're crushing the pricing and availability data, which is actually hard to get (a LOT of business development to get access to the realtime values from the distributors themselves). Plus they have a really massive catalog, definitely broader than ours, but they don't have the depth (i.e. the detailed spec and documentation data) that we do because we went to the manufacturer websites to obtain that.
However, we saved all the test conditions and similar notes. Maybe we could display the conditions with the specs in the table? That way, any outlier manufacturers would jump out right away.
Because of that, we're seeing many people put the parameters they're looking for directly into the search. After a few searches, it starts to be clear that you can add more information directly into the search, so queries get a little more complex.
We're getting ready to add features to the AI to help you (interactively) navigate the range of available parts to narrow down your choices and understand what's available when you don't know where to look or what parameters to use. You should be able to ask 'I need to convert a parallel RGB display bus into MIPI' and the AI will show you different families of parts that could do that.
I'd be interested in the industrial-world application of being able to ask things like “which pumps are seawater-rated, 10 bar, 40k hr bearing life, share the same footprint, can run on the same VFD, have BSPT or BSPP threads?”
Do you see Zenode extending into that kind of industrial equipment/knowledge realm?