Ten Little Algorithms, Part 1: Russian Peasant Multiplication
This blog needs some short posts to balance out the long ones, so I thought I’d cover some of the algorithms I’ve used over the years. Like the Euclidean algorithm and Extended Euclidean algorithm and Newton’s method —...
MSP430 Launchpad Tutorial - Part 1 - Basics
TI's LaunchPad is a complete MSP430 development environment: all you have to do is download and install CCS IDE (login required), connect your G2231-ready LaunchPad to your computer with the included mini-usb cable, and you are ready to...
Handling Translations in an Embedded Project
A brief walkthrough on how to handle human language translations in a low level C application. Some options are listed, each with advantages and disadvantages laid out.
How to Succeed in Motor Control: Olaus Magnus, Donald Rumsfeld, and YouTube
Almost four years ago, I had this insight — we were doing it wrong! Most of the application notes on motor control were about the core algorithms: various six-step or field-oriented control methods, with Park and Clarke transforms,...
Painting with Light to Measure Time
Recently I was faced with a dilemma while working from home. I needed to verify an implementation of first-order sigma-delta modulation used to adjust LED brightness. (I have described this in more detail in Modulation Alternatives for the...
From bare-metal to RTOS: 5 Reasons to use an RTOS
Developers can come up with amazing and convoluted reasons to not use an RTOS. I have heard excuses ranging from they are too expensive (despite open source solutions) all the way to they aren’t efficient and use too much memory. In some...
Always-On Intelligence Without the Cloud: Why it matters more than you think
Much of the AI conversation today is still focused on scale: larger models, more data, more compute. Embedded systems live in a different reality, where constraints are unavoidable, and efficiency is the priority. What’s emerging is not a smaller version of cloud AI, but a different approach altogether, the one that values locality, predictability, resilience, and trust. Always-on intelligence without the cloud isn’t just a technical milestone. It’s a change in how we think about where intelligence belongs.
My TDD Journey Started Dec 6, 1999
My story of learning Test-Driven Development started 23 years ago today. TDD has helped me exercise my code well before there is target hardware to run on. TDD helps me prevent defects. It can help you too.
Acceptance Tests vs. TDD
The Question Our software book club at work is reading Michael Feathers' Working Effectively with Legacy Code. This is an outstanding book that's worth re-reading every few years. This week, we went over Chapter 8, "How Do...
My Guiding Principles As An Engineer
These are my guiding principles as an embedded systems software engineer, forged over 40 years of experience. They shape the way I work and approach problems, and maintain my attitude in the face of adversity. You may find them useful as...
Dumb Embedded System Mistakes: Running The Wrong Code
Contents Introduction The Mistake Causes The Strategy Marking Embedded Linux Rootfs Overlay Files To Mark Marker Lines Script C/C++ Source Modifications Linux...
Advice For High School Students
Contents Introduction My Education Experience My Career Experience My Advice Study Habits Continuous Learning Math Hands-On Try It Out Soft Skills ...
Your Career Archive
Clive Maxfield and Adam Taylor recently published a series of blog posts about how to get and keep an engineering job, discussing preparation in high school through early career stages. I've just started a new job, and wanted to add...
Painting with Light to Measure Time
Recently I was faced with a dilemma while working from home. I needed to verify an implementation of first-order sigma-delta modulation used to adjust LED brightness. (I have described this in more detail in Modulation Alternatives for the...
Review: Hands-On RTOS with Microcontrollers
Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book for evaluation.Hands-On RTOS with Microcontrollers: Building real-time embedded systems using FreeRTOS, STM32 MCUs, and SEGGER debug tools by Brian Amos is an outstanding book. It lives...
Review: Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager
Software development projects are notorious for having problems. Late, over budget, not working properly, making people's lives miserable all around. Embedded systems add the further complication of hardware to that. How many of us...
Scorchers, Part 3: Bare-Metal Concurrency With Double-Buffering and the Revolving Fireplace
This is a short article about one technique for communicating between asynchronous processes on bare-metal embedded systems. Q: Why did the multithreaded chicken cross the road? A: to To other side. get the — Jason Whittington There...
Absolute Beginner's Guide To Getting Started With Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi is a great little computer for learning programming in general, as well as embedded systems. It runs a version of the Linux OS (Operating System) called Raspberry Pi OS (formerly called Raspbian, so you'll see that name a lot,...
FSM - Let 'em talk
No state machine is an island. State machines do not exist in a vacuum, they need to "talk" to their environment and each other to share information and provide synchronization to perform the system functions. In this conclusive article, you will find what kind of problems and which critical areas you need to pay attention to when designing a concurrent system. Although the focus is on state machines, the consideration applies to every system that involves more than one execution thread.
Linear Feedback Shift Registers for the Uninitiated, Part II: libgf2 and Primitive Polynomials
Creating a GPIO HAL and Driver in C
Creating a GPIO Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) in C allows for flexible microcontroller interfacing, overcoming the challenge of variability across silicon vendors. This method involves reviewing datasheets, identifying features, designing interfaces, and iterative development, as detailed in the "Reusable Firmware" process. A simplified approach prioritizes essential functions like initialization and read/write operations, showcased through a minimal interface example. The post also highlights the use of AI to expedite HAL generation. A detailed GPIO HAL version is provided, featuring extended capabilities and facilitating driver connection through direct assignments or wrappers. The significance of a configuration table for adaptable peripheral setup is emphasized. Ultimately, the blog illustrates the ease and scalability of developing a GPIO HAL and driver in C, promoting hardware-independent and extensible code for various interfaces, such as SPI, I2C, PWM, and timers, underscoring the abstraction benefits.
The RTOS minefield
Choosing an RTOS is challenging both technically and when assessing suppliers.
Ten Little Algorithms, Part 7: Continued Fraction Approximation
In this article we explore the use of continued fractions to approximate any particular real number, with practical applications.
The Asimov Protocol
While the Internet is choke-full of explanations of basic data communication protocols, very little is said about the higher levels of packing, formatting, and exchanging information in a useful and practical way. This less-charted land is still fraught with strange problems, whose solutions may be found in strange places – in this example, a very short, 60 years old Science Fiction story.
Getting Started With Zephyr: Writing Data to EEPROM
In this blog post, I show how to implement a Zephyr application to interact with EEPROM. I show how the Zephyr device driver model allows application writers to be free of the underlying implementation details. Unfortunately, the application didn't work as expected, and I'm still troubleshooting the cause.
More than just a pretty face - a good UI is essential
A user interface can make or break a device - determining its success in the marketplace. With careful design, the UI can make the product compelling and result in a high level of satisfaction from new and experienced users.
Elliptic Curve Cryptography - Security Considerations
The security of elliptic curve cryptography is determined by the elliptic curve discrete log problem. This article explains what that means. A comparison with real number logarithm and modular arithmetic gives context for why it is called a log problem.
