Hardware Needs Its Vibe Coding Moment
OpusLABS
SubscribeSign in
Hardware Needs Its Vibe Coding Moment<br>Why I’m making Protobench for the next generation of hardware builders and teams
Sainath Krishnamurthy<br>Jul 15, 2026
Share
Building software is different now.<br>You can describe an idea, generate a first version, inspect it, test it, and revise it in minutes.<br>Describe → generate → inspect → test → revise.<br>That loop is why vibe coding matters. AI made building more immediate. You can follow an idea while it still has energy, react to something real, and keep moving.<br>Hardware still feels fragmented.<br>Open CAD → model → export → switch tools → design PCB → manage components → write firmware → check fit → revise → document → manufacture → (and most likely mess up).<br>Each step can involve another application, file format, and source of truth. The tools hold the files, but the builder has to hold the relationships between them.<br>The problem is not that hardware is difficult. Physical products should demand rigor. The problem is that hardware still lacks a connected creative loop.
Subscribe
Text-to-CAD Is Too Small
A prompt that generates a 3D model is useful, but hardware is not just geometry.<br>A real product is a relationship between mechanical structure, electronics, firmware, materials, assembly, cost, and manufacturing.<br>Move a connector on a PCB and the enclosure may need to change. Replace a component and the internal clearance, thermal behavior, or power requirements may change with it. Generating a new shape does not coordinate those consequences.<br>The real bottleneck is not creating the first model. It is keeping the whole product coherent as the design evolves.<br>Hardware needs an AI-native workbench where a builder and an agent can move through that process together.<br>The agent should understand intent, modify mechanical and electrical artifacts, inspect the result, check constraints, explain what changed, and help prepare the project for fabrication. The underlying files must remain readable, portable, and usable in established engineering tools.<br>AI should not replace engineering judgment. It should give that judgment a faster way to act.<br>A New Generation of Hardware Makers
This matters even more because AI is beginning to move out of the browser and into the physical world.<br>Amazon is turning Alexa and its connected-device ecosystem into a form of ambient intelligence for the home. Microsoft’s Project Solara is developing a platform and reference designs for agent-first devices built around contextual interaction rather than traditional apps. Apple is reportedly exploring AI-centered home hardware, including smart displays and tabletop robotic devices, while OpenAI and Jony Ive are developing a family of context-aware consumer products that could extend ambient AI into both the home and wearable computing.<br>These efforts may succeed or fail, but the larger signal is more interesting.<br>Agents create room for devices that are narrower, more contextual, and designed for a specific place or interaction. A workshop assistant. A field instrument. A wearable interface. A healthcare device for the elderly. A device that helps an agent see, hear, measure, or act in the physical world.<br>This is producing a new category of indie hardware makers and teams around the world. These builders will not need to create another general-purpose computer. They can create specialized physical interfaces for intelligence, built around a particular task, profession, community, or environment.<br>But they will need better tools. They will need to move from an idea to an enclosure, circuit, firmware, constraints, validation, and a manufacturable prototype without stitching the entire process together by hand.<br>Making Building Hardware Feel Alive
Most engineering and design software is powerful, but much of it feels like operating machinery. AI creates an opportunity to make these tools more conversational, visual, and responsive without sacrificing rigor.<br>Fun does not mean unserious. Fun means the loop has momentum. It means the builder can stay close to the idea. It means the tool gives energy instead of draining it.<br>Hardware needs an agentic development environment for the entire physical product, something more like Cursor for full-stack hardware development than just a prompt box attached to a CAD tool.<br>A workbench for designing physical things with AI.<br>That is the direction I am exploring with Protobench .<br>More soon.<br>;)<br>All questions and inquires:
@protobenchAI
Thanks for reading OpusLABS! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Subscribe
Share
Discussion about this post<br>CommentsRestacks
TopLatestDiscussions
No posts
Ready for more?
Subscribe
© 2026 Sainath Krishnamurthy · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice<br>Start your SubstackGet the app<br>Substack is the home for great culture
This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts