VolksEEG: Rust Development On Adafruit nRF52840 Feather Express
Contents:
Learning Rust For Embedded Systems
The Motivational PortionBased on recommendations from Kevin Nause, the VolksEEG project is considering using Rust as the embedded system programming language. So I've been off on a tear skimming books and e-books and watching videos at 2x to evaluate it.
My conclusion? Do it!
Most of the rest of us participants are primarily C/C++ embedded developers. I had previously been sensitized to Rust for embedded systems by
The 2021 IoT Online Conference
The IoT Online Conference is back, and this time the core focus is on IoT embedded systems and edge computing. This post will explore what will be happening at this year’s conference and how teams and developers can benefit.
The IoT Online Conference OverviewThe IoT Online Conference will be taking place December 8 – 10, 2021. This is the conferences’ fourth year, although it started as a fall embedded systems conference which was a single day of webinars. The...
Six Software Design Tools
Contents: IntroductionHere are six tools to help you with software design. The first two are very simple, almost deceptively trivial, while the last four are more involved. They apply universally, to all types of software, all types of systems, and all languages. This is part of good engineering discipline.
At face value, this is just a bunch of acronyms,...
VolksEEG Project: Initial Hardware Architecture
The initial hardware architecture for the prototype VolksEEG uses an Adafruit Feather nRF52840 Sense, which connects to a PC via USB for UI (User Interface). Through several additional chips, this provides power to and acquires data from the ADS1299 ADC.
An important topic I mentioned in my introduction to the project is isolation, ensuring there is no conductive path for current through the patient. The architecture is therefore split into...
Introducing The VolksEEG Project
IntroductionThe VolksEEG project is an open-source project with the goal of creating an electroenchephalogram (EEG) machine, fully cleared by the FDA for standard clinical use. All designs will be freely available for others to manufacture.
The project was founded by Alan Cohen, a medical device systems engineer with an electrical engineering/software (EE/SW) background in Boston, USA, and Dr. Bryan Glezerson
Video-Based STEM Embedded Systems Curriculum, Part 2
Contents:- Introduction
- Lesson Plan 1: Introducing Arduino
- Lesson Plan 2: Circuit Drawings With Fritzing
- Lesson Plan 3: Basic Electronics
- Coming Soon
This post continues from part 1. It contains the first three lesson plans.
Lesson Plan 1: Introducing ArduinoThis lesson is first because Arduino is the simplest programming environment, yet allows lots of interaction with hardware. In...
Video-Based STEM Embedded Systems Curriculum, Part 1
Contents:- Introduction
- Adapting To Your Circumstances
- Suggested Policies
- The Video Educators
- Equipment, Books, and Supplies
- Lesson Summary
- Suggested Teaching Method
Review: Prototype to Product
Prototype to Product: A Practical Guide for Getting to Market, by Alan Cohen, is a must-read for anyone involved in product development, whether in a technical, management, or executive role.
I was reminded of it by Cohen's recent episode on Embedded.fm, 388: Brains Generate EMF, which is worth listening to a couple times through, especially if you're interested in medical device development. And in fact his first episode there,
Back from Embedded World 2019 - Funny Stories and Live-Streaming Woes
When the idea of live-streaming parts of Embedded World came to me, I got so excited that I knew I had to make it happen. I perceived the opportunity as a win-win-win-win.
- win #1 - Engineers who could not make it to Embedded World would be able to sample the huge event,
- win #2 - The organisation behind EW would benefit from the extra exposure
- win #3 - Lecturers and vendors who would be live-streamed would reach a (much) larger audience
- win #4 - I would get...
Ten Little Algorithms, Part 3: Welford's Method (and Friends)
Other articles in this series:
- Part 1: Russian Peasant Multiplication
- Part 2: The Single-Pole Low-Pass Filter
- Part 4: Topological Sort
- Part 5: Quadratic Extremum Interpolation and Chandrupatla's Method
- Part 6: Green’s Theorem and Swept-Area Detection
Last time we talked about a low-pass filter, and we saw that a one-line...
Important Programming Concepts (Even on Embedded Systems) Part I: Idempotence
There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of subtle concepts that contribute to high quality software design. Many of them are well-known, and can be found in books or the Internet. I’m going to highlight a few of the ones I think are important and often overlooked.
But first let’s start with a short diversion. I’m going to make a bold statement: unless you’re a novice, there’s at least one thing in computer programming about which you’ve picked up...
Introduction to Microcontrollers - Driving WS2812 RGB LEDs
This tutorial chapter is a bit of a detour, but I think an interesting and useful one. It introduces a bit of assembly language programming, and demonstrates bit-banging a tight serial data protocol. And it deals with RGB LEDs, which are just very fun in their own right, especially these new parts. So I thought I'd post this to give readers time for some holiday lighting experimenting.
Back To The FutureRemember how we started this...
Boot sequence for an ARM based embedded system -2
In the last post, we discussed about the startup execution sequence on an ARM based embedded system in broader terms. In this post, we are going to cover the details of a startup code.These details are also available through various ARM resources , however for the sake of completion of our discussion , here is - the flow the startup code for an ARM based embedded system.
Step 1: The reset
On startup, the processor will jump to fixed location ,(most ARM cores support two vector...
Digital PLL's -- Part 1
1. Introduction
Figure 1.1 is a block diagram of a digital PLL (DPLL). The purpose of the DPLL is to lock the phase of a numerically controlled oscillator (NCO) to a reference signal. The loop includes a phase detector to compute phase error and a loop filter to set loop dynamic performance. The output of the loop filter controls the frequency and phase of the NCO, driving the phase error to zero.
One application of the DPLL is to recover the timing in a digital...
Libgpiod - Toggling GPIOs The Right Way In Embedded Linux
Overview
We all know that GPIO is one of the core elements of any embedded system. We use GPIOs to control LEDs and use them to monitor switches and button presses. In modern embedded systems, GPIOs can also be used as pins for other peripheral busses, such as SPI and I2C. Similar to the previous article on interacting with peripherals on an SPI bus in userspace via SPIdev (https://www.embeddedrelated.com/showarticle/1485.php), we can also control GPIOs from userspace on an embedded...
Back from Embedded World 2023
It was great to be back in Nuremberg for Embedded World after three long years. The trade show is probably the most significant event in the embedded systems industry, and it was a relief to see that it has survived the pandemic with more than 900 vendors exhibiting.
I recorded this video on the very first day when the doors opened. What you see in the video is probably 10% or less of the full show floor. I am always impressed by the size of...
Basler pylon on Raspberry Pi with Yocto
Camera vendors are increasing offering Yocto layers to simplify the integration of drivers and the creation of cross-compilation environments. This article demonstrates how Yocto can be used to integrate Basler pylon into a Raspberry Pi Linux image.
Basler's pylon Camera Software Suite includes an SDK, a viewer and drivers for development and operation of vision software using Basler cameras. When deployed in Windows environments, pylon is usually installed on a booted Windows image using...
Round Round Get Around: Why Fixed-Point Right-Shifts Are Just Fine
Today’s topic is rounding in embedded systems, or more specifically, why you don’t need to worry about it in many cases.
One of the issues faced in computer arithmetic is that exact arithmetic requires an ever-increasing bit length to avoid overflow. Adding or subtracting two 16-bit integers produces a 17-bit result; multiplying two 16-bit integers produces a 32-bit result. In fixed-point arithmetic we typically multiply and shift right; for example, if we wanted to multiply some...
VHDL tutorial
When I was first introduced to "Programmable Logic" several years ago, it was an answer to many of the challenges that I was struggling with. Though the parts were primitive by today's standards (simple PALs verses FPGA), they were an extremely cost effective tool addressing the need for specialized logic blocks.
I have continued to incorporate these powerful blocks into many of my latest designs. My current favorite part line is the Xilinx CoolRunner series (XC2Cxxx). In this...
Analog-to-Digital Confusion: Pitfalls of Driving an ADC
Imagine the following scenario:You're a successful engineer (sounds nice, doesn't it!) working on a project with three or four circuit boards. More than even you can handle, so you give one of them over to your coworker Wayne to design. Wayne graduated two years ago from college. He's smart, he's a quick learner, and he's really fast at designing schematics and laying out circuit boards. It's just that sometimes he takes some shortcuts... but in this case the circuit board is just something...
Help, My Serial Data Has Been Framed: How To Handle Packets When All You Have Are Streams
Today we're going to talk about data framing and something called COBS, which will make your life easier the next time you use serial communications on an embedded system -- but first, here's a quiz:
Quick Diversion, Part I: Which of the following is the toughest area of electrical engineering? analog circuit design digital circuit design power electronics communications radiofrequency (RF) circuit design electromagnetic...An overview of Linux Boot Process for Embedded Systems
This Text provides an insight in to the Embedded Linux Boot Process. Reader should have a basic Knowledge of Boot Process in general and should be familiar with Embedded Linux Boot Process.
.................PART-A................(1) Software components Involved in Embedded Linux Boot Process (a) Bootloader (b) kernel Image (c) root file system - either an initrd image or a NFS location(2) Steps during Booting process of a conventional...Boot sequence for an ARM based embedded system -2
In the last post, we discussed about the startup execution sequence on an ARM based embedded system in broader terms. In this post, we are going to cover the details of a startup code.These details are also available through various ARM resources , however for the sake of completion of our discussion , here is - the flow the startup code for an ARM based embedded system.
Step 1: The reset
On startup, the processor will jump to fixed location ,(most ARM cores support two vector...
Introduction to Microcontrollers - Timers
Timers - Because "When" MattersComputer programs are odd things, for one reason because they have no concept of time. They may have the concept of sequential execution, but the time between instructions can be essentially any number and the program won't notice or care (unless assumptions about time have been built into the program by the programmer). But the real world is not like this. In the real world, especially the real embedded world,...
VHDL tutorial - A practical example - part 2 - VHDL coding
In part 1 of this series we focused on the hardware design, including some of the VHDL definitions of the I/O characteristics of the CPLD part. In part 2, we will describe the VHDL logic of the CPLD for this design.
With any design, the first step to gather the requirements for the job at hand. From part 1 of this article, I have copied two sections that address some of the requirements for the CPLD design.
The data acquisition engine has the...
Introduction to Microcontrollers - Further Beginnings
Embedded Programming BasicsThis tutorial entry will discuss some further embedded programming basics that you will need to understand before proceeding on to the LED blinky and other example programs. We will do this by looking at the general organization and types of instructions found in most microcontrollers, and how that organization and those instructions are reflected (or, in some cases, ignored) by the C programming language.
Basic CPU...Important Programming Concepts (Even on Embedded Systems) Part V: State Machines
Other articles in this series:
- Part I: Idempotence
- Part II: Immutability
- Part III: Volatility
- Part IV: Singletons
- Part VI: Abstraction
Oh, hell, this article just had to be about state machines, didn’t it? State machines! Those damned little circles and arrows and q’s.
Yeah, I know you don’t like them. They bring back bad memories from University, those Mealy and Moore machines with their state transition tables, the ones you had to write up...
VHDL tutorial - Creating a hierarchical design
In earlier blog entries I introduced some of the basic VHDL concepts. First, developing a function ('VHDL tutorial') and later verifying and refining it ('VHDL tutorial - part 2 - Testbench' and 'VHDL tutorial - combining clocked and sequential logic'). In this entry I will describe how to...
Back from ESC Boston
NOT going to ESC Boston would have allowed me to stay home, in my comfort zone.
NOT going to ESC Boston would have saved me from driving in the absolutely horrible & stressful Boston traffic1.
NOT going to ESC Boston would have saved me from having to go through a full search & questioning session at the Canada Customs on my return2.
2017/06/06 update: Videos are now up!So two days...
Launch of Youtube Channel: My First Videos - Embedded World 2017
I went to Embedded World 2017 in Nuremberg with an ambitious plan; I would make video highlights of several exhibits (booths) to be presented to the *Related sites audience. I would try to make the vendors focus their pitch on the essential in order to produce a one to three minutes video per booth.
So far my experience with making videos was limited to family videos, so I knew I had lots of reading to do and lots of Youtube videos and tutorials to watch. Trade shows are...
Who else is going to Embedded World 2017 in Nuremberg?
These days I am particularly excited. In a little bit less than a month and a half, I will be travelling to Nuremberg in Germany to attend Embedded World, by far the biggest Embedded Systems trade show with over 1000 vendors displaying their products and services.
I have downloaded the Duolingo app and I'm trying to do a minimum of 30 minutes per day to learn some German. So far, I know that 'Frau' is a woman, 'Mann' is a man, 'Danke' is thank you and 'tschüss' is bye - still a...
New Comments System (please help me test it)
I thought it would take me a day or two to implement, it took almost two weeks...
But here it is, the new comments systems for blogs, heavily inspired by the forum system I developed earlier this year.
Which means that:
- You can easily add images, either by drag and drop or through the 'Insert Image' button
- You can add MathML, TeX and ASCIImath equations and they will be rendered with Mathjax
- You can add code snippets and they will be highlighted with highlights.js
- You can edit...
3 Good News
Good News #1Last week, I announced a new and ambitious reward program that will be funded by the new Vendors Directory.
This week, I am happy to announce that we have our firsts two sponsors! Quantum Leaps & Abelon Systems have agreed to pay the sponsorship fee to be listed in the new Vendors Directory. Because of their support, there is now some money in the reward pool ($1,000) and enough to pay for the firsts 500 'beers' awarded. Please...
The New Forum is LIVE!
After months of hard word, I am very excited to introduce to you the new forum interface.
Here are the key features:
1- Easily add images to a post by drag & dropping the images in the editor
2- Easily attach files to a post by drag & dropping the files in the editor
3- Add latex equations to a post and they will be rendered with Mathjax (tutorial)
4- Add a code snippet and surround the code with
Helping New Bloggers to Break the Ice: A New Ipad Pro for the Author with the Best Article!
Breaking the ice can be tough. Over the years, many individuals have asked to be given access to the blogging interface only to never post an article. Maybe they underestimated the time it takes to write a decent article, or maybe they got cold feet. I don't blame or judge them at all - how many times in my life have I had the intention to do something but didn't follow through? Once, maybe twice 😉 (don't worry if you don't...
Welcoming MANY New Bloggers!
The response to the latest call for bloggers has been amazing and I am very grateful.
In this post I present to you the individuals who, so far (I am still receiving applications at an impressive rate and will update this page as more bloggers are added), have been given access to the blogging interface. I am very pleased with the positive response and I think the near future will see the publication of many great articles, given the quality of the...
Recruiting New Bloggers!
Previous calls for bloggers have been very successful in recruiting some great communicators - Rick Lyons, Jason Sachs, Victor Yurkovsky, Mike Silva, Markus Nentwig, Gene Breniman, Stephen Friederichs,
DSPRelated and EmbeddedRelated now on Facebook & I will be at EE Live!
I have two news to share with you today.
The first one is that I finally created Facebook pages for DSPRelated.com and EmbeddedRelated (DSPRelated page - EmbeddedRelated page). For a long time I didn't feel that this was something that was needed, but it seems that these days more and more people are using their Facebook account to stay updated with their favorite websites. In any event, if you have a Facebook account, I would greatly appreciate if you could use the next 5 seconds to "like"...
