Working With ESP-C3-32S-Kit Dev Board
Introduction The ESP-C3-32S-Kit is a small dev board made by Ai.Thinker, containing an ESP-C3-32S SoC module, supporting WiFi and BLE: Development for the board uses the Espressif IoT Development Framework...
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...
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...
Six Software Design Tools
Introduction Here 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...
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...
Definite Article: Notes on Traceability
Electronic component distibutor Digi-Key recently announced part tracing for surface-mount components purchased in cut-tape form. This is a big deal, and it’s a feature that is a good example of traceability. Some thing or process that has...
Learning From Engineering Failures
IntroductionI'm an informal student of engineering failures. They guide a lot of my attitude and approach towards engineering.This is rooted in two of my favorite quotes:George Santayana: Those who do not remember the past are condemned...
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...
Ten Little Algorithms, Part 2: The Single-Pole Low-Pass Filter
Other articles in this series: Part 1: Russian Peasant Multiplication I’m writing this article in a room with a bunch of other people talking, and while sometimes I wish they would just SHUT UP, it would be better if I could just...
Introduction to Microcontrollers - More On GPIO
Now that we have our LED Blinky program nailed down, it's time to look more closely at outputs, add button/switch inputs, and work with reading inputs and driving outputs based on those inputs. [quicklinks] It's ON - No, It's...
Introduction to Microcontrollers - More On Interrupts
[quicklinks] A Little More Detail About The Interrupt Mechanism It's time to look a little closer at what happens in an interrupt request and response. Again this is in general terms, and different microcontroller designs may do...
C++ on microcontrollers 1 - introduction, and an output pin class
This blog series is about the use of C++ for modern microcontrollers. My plan is to show the gradual development of a basic I/O library. I will introduce the object-oriented C++ features that are used step by step, to provide a...
Modern C++ in Embedded Development: (Don't Fear) The ++
While C is still the language of choice for embedded development, the adoption of C++ has grown steadily. Yet, reservations about dynamic memory allocation and fears of unnecessary code bloat have kept many in the C camp. This discourse aims to explore the intricacies of employing C++ in embedded systems, negotiating the issues of dynamic memory allocation, and exploiting the benefits of C++ offerings like std::array and constexpr. Moreover, it ventures into the details of the zero-overhead principle and the nuanced distinctions between C and C++. The takeaway? Armed with the right knowledge and a careful approach, C++ can indeed serve as a powerful, safer, and more efficient tool for embedded development.
Moulding the Embedded Systems Engineers of Tomorrow: Adapting to a Constantly Transforming Technological Terrain
Embedded systems engineers, previously focused on device architecture, are now steering the digital era, encompassing firmware, software, complex silicon, and cloud computing. To keep pace, mastery in new areas like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and cloud technologies is critical. In today's highly connected world, security is foundational to design, necessitating knowledge in encryption, secure coding, and data protection laws. Additionally, expertise in AI and ML is essential for managing vast global data, requiring understanding of ethical implications and effective system design for data analysis. The advent of cloud technology mandates learning about cloud architectures and data security. In this fast-paced field, continuous learning and adapting these new skills is the key to staying relevant and spearheading future advancements.
Linear Feedback Shift Registers for the Uninitiated, Part VII: LFSR Implementations, Idiomatic C, and Compiler Explorer
The last four articles were on algorithms used to compute with finite fields and shift registers: multiplicative inverse discrete logarithm determining characteristic polynomial from the LFSR output Today we’re going to come back...
Review: Embedded Software Design: A Practical Approach to Architecture, Processes, and Coding Techniques
Introduction Full disclosure: I was given a copy of this book to review. Embedded Software Design: A Practical Approach to Architecture, Processes, and Coding Techniques, by Jacob Beningo, is an excellent introduction to strategies for...
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...
A Second Look at Slew Rate Limiters
I recently had to pick a slew rate for a current waveform, and I got this feeling of déjà vu… hadn’t I gone through this effort already? So I looked, and lo and behold, way back in 2014 I wrote an article titled Slew Rate...
