How to Include MathJax Equations in SVG With Less Than 100 Lines of JavaScript!
Today’s short and tangential note is an account of how I dug myself out of Documentation Despair. I’ve been working on some block diagrams. You know, this sort of thing, to describe feedback control systems:
And I had a problem. How do I draw diagrams like this?
I don’t have Visio and I don’t like Visio. I used to like Visio. But then it got Microsofted.
I can use MATLAB and Simulink, which are great for drawing block diagrams. Normally you use them to create a...
Garden Rakes Revisited: The Hall of Shame
A little while ago, I wrote about what I call the “garden rakes” syndrome in software, where there are little bugs or pitfalls lying around like sloppy garden rakes that no one has put away, and when you use these software programs, instead of zooming around getting things done, you’re either tripping over the garden rakes or carefully trying to avoid them. Either way, you lose focus on what you’re really trying to work on, and that causes a big hit in...
Levitating Globe Teardown, Part 2
Part 1 of this article was really more of an extended (and cynical) product review. In this part of the article, I actually take things apart (sometimes a bit more suddenly than I meant to) and show you some innards.First the globe. I knew there was a magnet in there someplace, because it's obviously plastic and it also attracts metal. I had intended to gently part the globe at the glue bond along the equator. I started by trying to gently flex the thing on my work...
Levitating Globe Teardown, Part 1
I've been kicking some ideas around for a long time for a simple and inexpensive platform I could use for control systems experimentation for the beginner. I want something that can be controlled easily in a basic fashion, yet that provides some depth: I want to be able to present ever-more challenging goals to the student, that can be attained by fancier control algorithms all on the same device.
I'm currently looking at magnetic levitation. It's fun, it has the potential to be...
Massive Open Online Courses ( Transforming education )
Emerging trends in online education have opened up unforeseen learning opportunities for aspiring students. Eminent instructors from the best names in the industry such as Stanford, MIT and Harvard provide several courses with video lectures online.
Named MOOCs, Massive Open Online courses are accelerating the learning process in a radical manner. Online universities like Coursera, edX, Udacity, Khan Academy and Udemy offer courses which are professionally relevant.
It starts with an LED
And slowly builds up from there.
I have been an embedded software engineer for many years. I was programming when I was a teenager before then, as a high school student involved in an NSF program called "National Science Foundation Summer Science Training Program (for High School Students)" or as we would rattle off during that summer of exquisite learning, NSFSSTP. We were taught to program in Fortran and taught the fundamentals of Calculus. It was a very enriching experience.
When it...
A part of history
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 40-year anniversary celebration of the formation of my high school's radio station (KVHS). The current students and staff of KVHS hosted a birthday party for the radio station and invited former alumni and teachers and the public to share in the celebration. On hand was a pretty good showing of the current and former students and teachers that helped build one of the most successful student-run radio station programs in...
Configuration Management: Why Developers are Avert to
A few reasons why developers have aversion towards "Software Configuration Management Systems"
(1) They do not understand the importance of configuration management. - It is a common and logical reason. But, it is also a very dangerous sign for any organization. If their developers do not understand the importance of configuration management; then it is highly likely that developers even do not understand the other fundamentals of software development. The situation becomes worst...
Nokia in Soup Again?
After suffering a big blow its image due to faulty "BL-5C Batteries", Nokia seems to have landed in another trouble. Company's decision to shutdown its manufacturing plant in Germany, has sparked strong public ire towards Nokia in the country. The strong political and government support to the Anti-Nokia movement, might mean a further Erosion of Company's Image and loss of revenue in Germany (and some other...Next time you refer to an Optical Disc
I recently came across this interesting (and lesser known) fact about Optical Discs:
The word disc, in reference to DVD or CD, should be spelled with a c, not a k. The generally accepted rule is that optical discs are spelled with a c, whereas magnetic disks are spelled with a k. For magneto-optical discs, which are a combination of both formats, the word is spelled with c because the discs are read with a laser. The New York Times, after years of head-in-the-sand usage of k for...
Practical protection against dust and water (i.e. IP protection)
Recently, I was faced with a challenge to provide IP65 compliance in a product that had to have humidity and pressure sensors on it. The tricky part was to keep the cost of the unit under $15 while meeting this requirement.
Under normal circumstances, one can put all the electronics within an IP65 enclosure that is affordable and readily available off-the-shelf most of the time such as the ones shown in this link. However, given the humidity and the pressure sensor need to be exposed to...
Garden Rakes Revisited: The Hall of Shame
A little while ago, I wrote about what I call the “garden rakes” syndrome in software, where there are little bugs or pitfalls lying around like sloppy garden rakes that no one has put away, and when you use these software programs, instead of zooming around getting things done, you’re either tripping over the garden rakes or carefully trying to avoid them. Either way, you lose focus on what you’re really trying to work on, and that causes a big hit in...
Oh Robot My Robot
Oh Robot! My Robot! You’ve broken off your nose! Your head is spinning round and round, your eye no longer glows, Each program after program tapped your golden memory, You used to have 12K, now there is none that I can see, Under smoldering antennae, Over long forgotten feet, My sister used your last part: The chip she tried to eat.
Oh Robot, My Robot, the remote controls—they call, The call—for...
Nokia in Soup Again?
After suffering a big blow its image due to faulty "BL-5C Batteries", Nokia seems to have landed in another trouble. Company's decision to shutdown its manufacturing plant in Germany, has sparked strong public ire towards Nokia in the country. The strong political and government support to the Anti-Nokia movement, might mean a further Erosion of Company's Image and loss of revenue in Germany (and some other...Massive Open Online Courses ( Transforming education )
Emerging trends in online education have opened up unforeseen learning opportunities for aspiring students. Eminent instructors from the best names in the industry such as Stanford, MIT and Harvard provide several courses with video lectures online.
Named MOOCs, Massive Open Online courses are accelerating the learning process in a radical manner. Online universities like Coursera, edX, Udacity, Khan Academy and Udemy offer courses which are professionally relevant.
It starts with an LED
And slowly builds up from there.
I have been an embedded software engineer for many years. I was programming when I was a teenager before then, as a high school student involved in an NSF program called "National Science Foundation Summer Science Training Program (for High School Students)" or as we would rattle off during that summer of exquisite learning, NSFSSTP. We were taught to program in Fortran and taught the fundamentals of Calculus. It was a very enriching experience.
When it...
A part of history
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 40-year anniversary celebration of the formation of my high school's radio station (KVHS). The current students and staff of KVHS hosted a birthday party for the radio station and invited former alumni and teachers and the public to share in the celebration. On hand was a pretty good showing of the current and former students and teachers that helped build one of the most successful student-run radio station programs in...
Next time you refer to an Optical Disc
I recently came across this interesting (and lesser known) fact about Optical Discs:
The word disc, in reference to DVD or CD, should be spelled with a c, not a k. The generally accepted rule is that optical discs are spelled with a c, whereas magnetic disks are spelled with a k. For magneto-optical discs, which are a combination of both formats, the word is spelled with c because the discs are read with a laser. The New York Times, after years of head-in-the-sand usage of k for...
Configuration Management: Why Developers are Avert to
A few reasons why developers have aversion towards "Software Configuration Management Systems"
(1) They do not understand the importance of configuration management. - It is a common and logical reason. But, it is also a very dangerous sign for any organization. If their developers do not understand the importance of configuration management; then it is highly likely that developers even do not understand the other fundamentals of software development. The situation becomes worst...
Tenderfoot: Embedded Software and Firmware Specialties
Once upon a time (seven years ago) I answered a question on Stack Overflow. Then Stephane suggested I turn that answer into a blog post. Great idea! This post dives deeper into the original question: “Is it possible to fragment this field (embedded software and firmware) into sub-fields?”
This post represents a detailed and updated response to my original Stack Overflow answer. I hope this post provides guidance and useful information to the “tenderfoots” in the...
nRF5 to nRF Connect SDK migration via DFU over BLE
This writeup contains some notes on how I was able to migrate one of my clients projects based on the nRF5 SDK, to nRF Connect SDK (NCS) based firmware, via a DFU to devices in the field over BLE.
A part of history
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 40-year anniversary celebration of the formation of my high school's radio station (KVHS). The current students and staff of KVHS hosted a birthday party for the radio station and invited former alumni and teachers and the public to share in the celebration. On hand was a pretty good showing of the current and former students and teachers that helped build one of the most successful student-run radio station programs in...
3D printing for embedded development
Used mostly for creating little plastic objects, the desktop 3D printer is not an obvious addition to the embedded developer's toolbox. However, if you're looking for more reasons to get one, or already have one that's mostly gathering dust, here are a couple of embedded-related ways to get more value out of it.
Who needs source code?
Many developers feel that the supplying source code is essential for licensed software components. There are other perspectives, including the possibility of it being an actual disadvantage. Even the definition of source code has some vagueness.
It starts with an LED
And slowly builds up from there.
I have been an embedded software engineer for many years. I was programming when I was a teenager before then, as a high school student involved in an NSF program called "National Science Foundation Summer Science Training Program (for High School Students)" or as we would rattle off during that summer of exquisite learning, NSFSSTP. We were taught to program in Fortran and taught the fundamentals of Calculus. It was a very enriching experience.
When it...
Configuration Management: Why Developers are Avert to
A few reasons why developers have aversion towards "Software Configuration Management Systems"
(1) They do not understand the importance of configuration management. - It is a common and logical reason. But, it is also a very dangerous sign for any organization. If their developers do not understand the importance of configuration management; then it is highly likely that developers even do not understand the other fundamentals of software development. The situation becomes worst...
Nokia in Soup Again?
After suffering a big blow its image due to faulty "BL-5C Batteries", Nokia seems to have landed in another trouble. Company's decision to shutdown its manufacturing plant in Germany, has sparked strong public ire towards Nokia in the country. The strong political and government support to the Anti-Nokia movement, might mean a further Erosion of Company's Image and loss of revenue in Germany (and some other...Next time you refer to an Optical Disc
I recently came across this interesting (and lesser known) fact about Optical Discs:
The word disc, in reference to DVD or CD, should be spelled with a c, not a k. The generally accepted rule is that optical discs are spelled with a c, whereas magnetic disks are spelled with a k. For magneto-optical discs, which are a combination of both formats, the word is spelled with c because the discs are read with a laser. The New York Times, after years of head-in-the-sand usage of k for...
Demoing Your Software
I came across this interesting blog entry on "Product Demo". Apart from touching upon some public speaking and presentation skills, it contains facts and data which you might find plenty useful.Getting Started With CUDA C on an Nvidia Jetson: A Meaningful Algorithm
In this blog post, I demonstrate a use case and corresponding GPU implementation where meaningful performance gains are realized and observed. Specifically, I implement a "blurring" algorithm on a large 1000x1000 pixel image. I show that the GPU-based implementation is 1000x faster than the CPU-based implementation.