Can an AI coding assistant turn a multimeter’s firmware binary and schematic into working replacement firmware? In a video published on 31 October, EEVblog’s Dave Jones puts that question to his own 121GW multimeter. The 43-minute experiment moves from a failed first run in Cursor to attempts using Claude and the Reverse Engineer Anything tool, then to testing a generated binary on the instrument itself.
The interesting part is the hardware test, not simply whether an assistant can produce plausible-looking code. Jones’ chapter markers show two completed tool runs and a test on the 121GW, followed by a moment when the meter stops working. That sequence makes this a useful cautionary look at the gap between reverse-engineering output and dependable embedded firmware; the video should not be read as proof of a finished replacement.
Watch EEVblog’s original video, “Can AI Reverse Engineer the 121GW Multimeter Firmware?” for the full experiment and its conclusion.
