Embedded

Kelly Shortridge ( @swagitda_ ) spoke with us about the intersection of security and behavioral economics. Kelly's writing and talks are linked from her personal site swagitda.com . Kelly is currently a Product Manager at SecurityScorecard . Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman What Works by Iris Bohnet Risky Business , a podcast about security Teen Vogue's How to Keep Your Internet Browser H...

Dirk Akeman of SEGGER ( @SEGGERMicro ) joined us to talk about debugger specifics. Ozone standalone debugger for use with J-Links SystemView visualization tool for RTOS and system debugging Jlink Products Turning an ST-Link on a development board into a J-Link We recently did two other shows on debugging: a general intro with Alvaro Prieto and one with a focus on the development-system's debugger...

Bob Skala of Interactive Instruments spoke with us about very large servo motors, wind tunnels, and staying current in tech.  Hydraulic Press YouTube channel (and our favorite video ) The Wright Brothers by David McCullough Other good tech podcasts included The Amp Hour and HamRadio 360 WorkBench Chris talked about getting into WSPR in 197: Smell the Transistor but we first talked about it in 76:...

Carmen Parisi ( @FakeEEQuips ) joined us to talk about electronics and podcasts. Carmen works on switching regulators. If you want to know more, he sent along some very basic application notes: How to Apply DC-DC Step Down Regulators (Analog Devices) and Switching Regulator Fundamentals (TI). The digital communication method with these switchers is the I2C-like PMBus . If all those make sense, div...

Alvaro Prieto ( @alvaroprieto ) joined us to talk about the basics of debugging, from software to hardware. Some of the programmer devices we talked about: SEGGER JLink and Black Magic Probe . Chris mentioned a visual frontend for gdb called "Vulcan" but which is actually called Voltron . (He's got graphics on the brain). How did we forget to mention the six stages of debugging ? Alvaro Prieto and...

Kristen Dorsey explained MEMS sensors: how do they work, how they are made, and what new ones we expect to see in the future. Kristen's website is kristendorsey.com . She is a professor of engineering at Smith College and runs the MicroSmithie . MEMS stands for microelectromechanical systems ( Wiki ). Used in some sensors, Galistan is a room-temp liquid with interesting properties ( Wiki ). A few...

Gretchen Bakke spoke with us about the future of power generation and transmission. Her book is The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future . Gretchen is a professor of anthropology at McGill University . Gretchen's website The book's Facebook page Grechen's first book is Anthropology of the Arts: A Reader

Kwabena Agyeman joined us to talk about making OpenMV ( @OpenMVCam ), an easy-to-use camera and control module with built-in machine vision functions, all interfaced via MicroPython . To learn more about computer vision, Kwabena suggested looking at PyImageSearch or reading the April tags code as it is a good introduction to image manipulation and matrix operations. Some other interesting links: F...

Dennis Jackson spoke with us about making the career shift from software to embedded. Dennis buys James Grenning's Test Driven Development in Embedded C for his new hires and often recommends Elecia's Making Embedded Systems . His tip that everyone should know was "Learn make!" and he has a reference for that: Why Use Make . He suggested Joel Spolsky's reading lists from Joel On Software , even th...

Alan Yates ( @vk2zay ) told us about his entries to the 2017 Flashing Light Prize . Alan's entries involved making a light bulb  and dripping charge . Alan works at Valve . He told us about making virtual reality hardware in Embedded episode 162: I Am a Boomerang Enthusiast . Hackaday SuperCon is Nov 11-12, 2017 in Pasadena.

Pierre-Marie de Rodat ( @pmderodat ) joined us to talk about how debugger software works (and what compilers tell the debugger). Pierre-Marie works for AdaCore on GNATcoverage (among other things). His github repo is pmderodat . Note that the AdaCore sponsored Make with Ada competition is running right now but you still have time to enter! Last year's winner, Stephane Carrez with EtherScope, made...

Elecia gave a talk about machine learning and robotics at the Hackaday July Meetup  at SupplyFrame DesignLab (video!) and LA CrashSpace . She gives it again in the podcast while Chris narrates the demos.  Embedded Patreon Embedded show # 187: Self Driving Arm  is the interview with Professor Patrick Pilarski about machine learning and robotics applied to prosthetic limbs. I have also written more...

Natalie Silvanovich ( @natashenka ) discussed reverse engineering hardware, working on security software, and the fantastic world of Tamagotchis. Natalie's site and blog Hardware Excuse Generator  Original CCC 2012 talk: Many Tamagotchis Were Harmed in the Making of this Presentation CCC 2013 talk:  Even More Tamagotchis Were Harmed in the Making of this Presentation   Natalie's upcoming BlackHat...

Chris Svec ( @christophersvec ) has an idea about adding empathy to software development. It is a good idea. His blog is Said Svec . He works for iRobot and they are hiring. (Chris' email is given toward the end of the show but if you hit the contact link here, we'll pass along info to him.)  Obligatory cat video Embedded has an episode devoted to impostor syndrome .  O'Reilly's Head First  book s...

Professor Ayanna Howard of Georgia Tech joins us to talk about robotics including how androids interact with humans.  Some of her favorite robot include the Darwin , the Nao , and, for home-hacking, the Darwin Mini . Ayanna has a profile on EngineerGirl.org , a site that lets young women ask questions of women in the engineering profession. Elecia has been working on a typing robot named Ty, docum...

This week, we mix things up a bit. This joint show with the Don't Panic Geocast .  This episode explores what happens when electrical engineering meets geoscience in cold places. We're joined by guest Dr. Sridhar Anandakrishnan of Penn State to talk about geopebbles, ice, climate, and more! Asimov Robot Series Anthropornis (giant penguins) Ice crystal structure Ice streams GeoPebble Propeller Prog...

This week we talked to Addie ( @atdiy ) and Whisker ( @whixr ), the Toymakers ( @Tymkrs ). They make electronics kits, videos, and conference badges. Toymakers site ( tymkrs.com ) has a link to their IRC channel, videos, and Tindie store (including those amazing heart simulators , the easy to make Amplify Me , and Protosynth Midi ). Their reddit community is r/Tymkrs . It has a lot more informatio...

Phoenix Perry ( @phoenixperry ) spoke with us about physical games. Phoenix is CTO of DoItKits ( @DoItKits ) and   More about Phoenix: Bot Party Her site: PhoenixPerry.com Goldsmith's page She enjoyed Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin    Physical games are sometimes called Alt Ctrl such as at the Alt Ctrl Game Jam .  Phoenix co-founded Code Liberation with Nina Freeman ( http://ninasays.so/ ) and Jane Fr...

Charlie Ladd ( @csladd ) joined us to give an overview of good hardware practices. The oil quality sensor is from VSI Oil . Recent fiction included Ready Player One , John Scalzi , and Matthew Mather . To stay current, Charlie reviews the trade magazines: EEWeb.com , EDN , ECN , and EETimes . A junior engineer's tale of woe.

Professor Alex Dean spoke with us about his ARM embedded systems books and @NCState courses. Alex's page in North Carolina State University's department of Electrical and Computer Engineering . His book is Embedded Systems Fundamentals with Arm Cortex M Based Microcontrollers: A Practical Approach (ecopy available from the ARM Media site ). It uses the   FRDM-KL25Z  as the example board throughout...

Shaun Meehan ( @logiclow ) joined us to talk about robot arms and stealth rocket companies. Shaun's rocket startup is hiring; information about the job openings are below.  Shaun's robot arm is an ABB IRB-2000  ( video of Fred ). Elecia was reading How to Choose the Right Industrial Robot when Shaun emailed. He convinced her that the MeArm Pocket Size Robotic Arm is the likely best choice for her...

Episode 200! Let's have a party (and a survey )! Former guests joined us in a panel-style celebration of working in embedded systems: Alvaro Prieto, Andrei Chichak, Elizabeth Brenner, Chris Svec, and Chris Gammell. Alvaro Prieto ( @alvaroprieto ) was a guest on 130: Criminal Training Camp . Andrei Chichak writes Embedded Wednesdays and was on 99: You Can Say a Boat ,  114: Wild While Loops and 139...

Chris and Elecia answer listener questions about contracting (and consulting). Reminders: T-shirts ! Hat contest ! Digilent contest announced in #197 ! It all ends around May 18th so get your entries in now! The original discussion was on episode 4: Are We Not Lawyers? Elecia's salary to rate conversion can be found as a Google spreadsheet . 

Walter Stockwell spoke with us about the legalization of drones, UAVs, UASs, and UFOs. Walter works at DJI which makes the Phantom . They have some jobs open . Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson Intel/Pepsi drone show at SuperBowl halftime AOPA Facebook page The amateur model aircraft organization discussed was the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA).  ASSURE UAS Ground Collision Severity Evaluation Fi...

Chris and Elecia talk with each other about science fiction, advertising, ham radios, debugging tools, and programming languages. You can buy Embedded.fm t-shirts until May 18, 2017. You can always buy Elecia's book: Making Embedded Systems . And don't forget we have a Patreon if you'd like to support the show directly. Some science fiction we mentioned: Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, Nightfall and...