Embedded

Jennelle Crothers (@jkc137) explained to Elecia what a technology evangelist does. Of course, it wasn't an embedded technology but it was still amusing. Plus, Elecia got to play with a Surface Pro. Check out Jennelle's blog Jennelle and Elecia met at She's Geeky in Mountain View, CA.

David Anders (Google+) joined Elecia to chat about open source hardware, what it means, how to do it, and why.  Dave will be speaking at the embedded Linux conference in San Jose, CA on April 30th: 9:00am: Panel: IoT and the Role of Embedded Linux and Android 4:20pm: Hardware Debugging Tools 5:20pm: Debugging - Panel Discussion  Open Source Hardware Association describes the gradient of open source hardware. Sigrok looks at open source and open source friendly tools Dave works for CircuitCo, manufacturers of the mysteriously elusive BeagleBone Black. While he didn't explain their absence (other than they are super popular for OEM'ing), he did announce the brand new Intel-based MinnowBoard MAX. Some open source tools we discussed included Tin Can Tool's 40 pin DIP Linux processor, Flyswatter, and Flyswatter 2. Also, check out Dave's past eLinux presentations.

Josh Chan and Tarun Pondicherry, founders of Light Up (@Lightup or on Facebook), returned to the show. In episode 7, they were midway through their kickstarter, planning to make a product to teach electronics to elementary and middle school students. They've start shipping, even distributing, their MiniKits (other kits will ship soon!).  Elecia asks them if building their business and shipping the product went according to plan. 

Tony Rios from MEMSIC spoke with Elecia about inertial systems and tuning algorithms used in sensor fusion (i.e. Kalman). The IMU380 will appear soon, creating a whole line of relatively inexpensive quality inertial measurement and inertial navigation systems.  Tony has a  few embedded systems and algorithms positions open, for example, embedded software engineer. Email hr@memsic.com (note you heard it in the podcast so Elecia gets brownie points). 

Christopher White (@stoneymonster) and Elecia talk about the failed startups (and projects) they've been through, focusing on identifying how to discern the end is nigh.  A nice collection of startups introspecting their failure. Wonderful, in-depth Everpix post-mortem. If you liked this episode, try 24: I AM A TOTAL FRAUD.

Micah Elizabeth Scott (@scanlime) came to talk about Fadecandy, a really neat way to control smart LEDs (NeoPixel, AdaFruit's term for the WS2812). The conversation ranged from beautiful LED control algorithms and open source embedded projects to triangle tessellations, art, and identity.  AdaFruit has a great intro to Fadecandy. Fadecandy is open source hardware and software, see the repository. Micah's blog is a combo of art and technology. Burning Man's Ardent Mobile Cloud (also a lovely still pic). Elecia also mentioned Deep Darc's hack of the GE Color Effects lights.

Evil Mad Scientist's Lenore Edman (@EMSL) talks about what evil mad scientists do on their path to world domination. Surprisingly, it consists largely of art, education, and soldering. Some EMSL items we talked about: LED Menorah kit (solderless breadboard and soldering version). ATtiny2313 Target Boards Bristlebot: a very cute, easy to build mini robot  We also mentioned Maker Faire, a wonderful community, and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. There is a give away on this show: EMS's Snap-O-Lantern kit. Tweet to Elecia (@logicalelegance) or contact the show. Send in the name of the author of the final quote, first one to do so wins the kit! [Update: Matthew J has won the kit!]

Jen Costillo (@r0b0ts0nf1r3) joined Elecia to talk about Jen's start-up: Bia Sport (@BiaSport). They discuss the difficulties of being in an underfunded start-up as well as the joys of shipping a new product and their upcoming conference talks. Jen discussed the company's focus on safety and privacy at the DesignCon sponsored Geek Girl Dinner. She will be speaking at : Wearables Device Conference. Beyond Activity Trackers: Sport Wearables Thursday, March 6, 2014 3:15pm. (Use the coupon code COSTILLO to save 30%.) EELive's embedded systems conference. Battle Out of Painted Corner, Thursday, April 03, 2014 10:45am. EELive's EE Times Fantastical Theater of Engineering Innovation (in the Expo, free!):  Bia Sport Teardown. Time TBD. (With Elecia!) Elecia will also be speaking at EELive, on how the internet of things isn't serving consumers very well on Thursday, April 03, 2014 at 1pm, though the talk title keeps changing. 

Producer Chris White (@stoneymonster) and Elecia discuss some insurmountable problems and some strategies for approaching them.  Google it (or look on Stack Exchange). Explain the problem to someone else… even if they aren't there (use a stuffed animal or write a really detailed email, anticipating potential questions). Draw a picture (system/subsystem architecture or code block diagram or a doodle). Make sure you are running what you think you are, start over from a blank slate, making no assumptions about how your hardware is programmed. Identify and verify your assumptions about the all the pieces involved. Get scientific: define the problem, create a hypothesis, run an experiment, record the results. Small steps! Also: get methodological and write everything down. Return to first principals: how is this supposed to work? Revert to last known good and diff to find the cause of a new issue. Logging functions: they take time but can lead to a better trace, better picture. Make it reproducible: there is information in the solution if you can find the steps to repro. Step by step, reduce the steps until you can nab it in the act. Remove the voodoo. Avoidance: accept the bug (it's a feature!) and go on. Sleep, go for a walk, or work on something else.

Dr. Karen Shell and Elecia talk about modelling vs. building models, ocean albedo vs. ice, climate vs. weather, and science vs. policy. They gloat about being on vacation only intermittently. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) NASA's climate change home  Help run climate models on your home computer at climateprediction.net Karen's class will be looking at data from NOAA's Climate at a Glance