Embedded

It’s another episode with Elecia and Chris. This week they discuss people that have influenced their lives and careers, thinking about past career choices and regrets therein, identities, the Embedded Slack book club, and electronic projects. Chris is currently taking Dogbotic’s DIY Rhythm Widgets [https://dogbotic.com/diy-rhythm-widgets] course which covers making an analog drum machine from components. We had Dogbotic founder Kirk Pearson on the show on Episode 491 [https://embedded.fm/episodes/491]. Elecia mentioned the book that the Embedded Slack #book-club channel is working through, Data Driven Science & Engineering Machine Learning, Dynamical Systems, and Control, which you can find for free at https://databookuw.com [https://databookuw.com/] along with code and examples. The group is two sessions in but if you want to join late, join the Slack group via Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/embedded] or Ko-Fi [https://ko-fi.com/embedded]. You can subscribe to the newsletter here [https://embedded.fm/subscribe]. Transcript [https://embedded.fm/transcripts/504]

Emily Lovell spoke with us about teaching how to contribute to open source, including her own experience creating the LilyTiny as a Master’s student and researching the impact as a PhD student.  The LilyTiny work was done in conjunction with Leah Buechley (Embedded episode 382 [https://embedded.fm/episodes/382]). See the paper The LilyTiny: A Case Study in Expanding Access to Electronic Textiles [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360408199_The_LilyTiny_A_Case_Study_in_Expanding_Access_to_Electronic_Textiles] or watch the video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=744pt7kElN0]. UCSC Open Source Program Office [https://ucsc-ospo.github.io/] (note this is different from the Center for Research in Open Source Software (CROSS [https://cross.ucsc.edu/]) that we spoke about with Carl Maltzahn (Episode 285 [https://embedded.fm/episodes/285]). Emily recommended the curriculum from TeachingOpenSource.org [http://teachingopensource.org/].  Emily’s other life is at EP Custom Pickups [https://www.instagram.com/epcustompickups] and Aberdeen Guitars [https://aberdeenguitars.com/]. She spoke on a lutherie panel at NAMM [https://www.nammshow.org/event/nammshow25/person/RXZlbnRQZW9wbGVfMzQ1NzM4OTg=]. Transcript [https://embedded.fm/transcripts/503]  Mouser’s Empowering Innovation Together hub dives into all sorts of topics like renewable energy, energy-efficient systems, and sustainable design. Whether you’re looking for the latest in clean tech trends or just need some inspiration, you’ll find articles, videos, and podcasts all geared toward engineers who want to make a difference. Head over to Mouser.com/empowering-innovation [http://mouser.com/empowering-innovation] and check out their clean tech [http://mouser.com/empowering-innovation] content.

Chris and Elecia talk about Murderbot,  LLMs (AI), bikes, control algorithms, and fancy math.  The website with the ecology jobs is wildlabs.net [http://wildlabs.net/] from 501: inside the Armpit of Giraffe [https://embedded.fm/episodes/501] with Meredith Palmer and Akiba..  The algorithm Elecia mentioned was from Patent US7370713B1 [https://patents.google.com/patent/US7370713B1]. The Control Bootcamp YouTube series [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi7l8mMjYVE&list=PLMrJAkhIeNNR20Mz-VpzgfQs5zrYi085m] is a great introduction to control systems beyond PIDs There is also a book from the same folks (with matlab and some python code): Data-Driven Science and Engineering: Machine Learning, Dynamical Systems, and Control [https://databookuw.com/databook.pdf]. Finding bad AI interactions is too easy. Copilot PR mess [https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/pull/115762#issuecomment-2898635945] that was discussed. Lawyers letting ChatGPT hallucinate precedents [https://www.theverge.com/policy/677373/lawyers-chatgpt-hallucinations-ai]. Fake (hallucinated) citations in a high-profile report on children’s health [https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-officials-downplay-fake-citations-high-profile-report-children-s-health]. Transcript [https://embedded.fm/transcripts/502] Nordic Semiconductor has been the driving force for Bluetooth Low Energy MCUs and wireless SoCs since the early 2010s, and they offer solutions for low-power Wi-Fi and global Cellular IoT as well. If you plan on developing robust and battery-operated applications, check out [https://embedded.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bb8caeb750ad079df2b961c41&id=907d298a44&e=bf5fb14408] their hardware, software, tools, and services. On academy.nordicsemi.com [http://academy.nordicsemi.com/], [https://embedded.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bb8caeb750ad079df2b961c41&id=f334a550bd&e=bf5fb14408] you’ll find Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular IoT courses, and the Nordic DevZone community covers technical questions:  devzone.nordicsemi.com [http://devzone.nordicsemi.com/]. Congratulations to the giveaway winners!

We spoke with ecologist Dr. Meredith Palmer and embedded engineer Akiba about lions, terror, and technology.  Akiba works for FreakLabs.org [http://freaklabs.org/] on global conservation projects. We talked about their Boombox [https://freaklabs.org/boombox/] which Meredith uses to create experiments to map the landscape of fear in predator/prey relationships. While this may look like pranking animals with jump scares, well, there is real science being done.  * What would it look like to be smooched by a lioness? (Video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q50SmChmdl4]) * Bird hears lion, decides to go over there (Video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITR94WGjMPk]) * Checking the reflexes of some zebras and other critters (Video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzKNTN58w9k]) * Hyena eating camara (Video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzXd0jr2oBM]) These are lots of fun to watch and you can find the freshest ones and help out science by categorizing some at Snapshot Safari [https://www.zooniverse.org/organizations/meredithspalmer/snapshot-safari]. Or skip to using the data on Lila.science [https://lila.science/] (Snapshot Safari 2024 data [https://lila.science/datasets/snapshot-safari-2024-expansion/]). Check out Meredith’s website [http://meredithspalmer.weebly.com/] for more github and Data Dryad links to data and science.  If you want to get involved, Wildlabs.net [http://wildlabs.net/] has discussions around conservation technology. There is also a Slack group by Sara Beery focusing on AI for conservation. [https://beerys.github.io/#slack] Elecia mentioned David Quammen [https://davidquammen.com/], an author who writes a lot about biology and ecology. And now, a guy gives birth to a botfly. [https://vimeo.com/116518067] Transcript [https://embedded.fm/transcripts/501] If you’re interested in the intersection of neuroscience and engineering, you might want to check out what Mouser Electronics is doing with Brain-Computer Interfaces. It’s all about how you can control machines with your mind, and it’s one of the coolest areas of innovation right now. Mouser’s Empowering Innovation Together site has great content on BCIs, from videos to in-depth articles and podcasts that break down the tech. If this piques your curiosity, head over to Mouser.com/empowering-innovation [https://www.mouser.com/empowering-innovation] and explore what’s happening with BCI and other exciting developments in the world of design and engineering.

Komathi Sundaram spoke with us about her enthusiasm for tests and test automation. We talked about the different joys of testing vs. development, setting up CI servers, and different kinds of tests including unit, hardware-in-the-loop, and simulation. It may sound dry but we had a lot of fun. Komathi’s site is TheKomSea.com [https://thekomsea.com/] which hosts her blog as well as contact info. She will be speaking on automated hardware in the loop test processes at the Embedded Online Conference [https://embeddedonlineconference.com/session/Automated_HIL_Test_Processes].  Transcript [https://embedded.fm/transcripts/500] Nordic Semiconductor has been the driving force for Bluetooth Low Energy MCUs and wireless SoCs since the early 2010s, and they offer solutions for low-power Wi-Fi and global Cellular IoT as well. If you plan on developing robust and battery-operated applications, check out [https://embedded.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bb8caeb750ad079df2b961c41&id=907d298a44&e=bf5fb14408] their hardware, software, tools, and services. On academy.nordicsemi.com [http://academy.nordicsemi.com/], [https://embedded.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bb8caeb750ad079df2b961c41&id=f334a550bd&e=bf5fb14408] you’ll find Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular IoT courses, and the Nordic DevZone community covers technical questions:  devzone.nordicsemi.com [http://devzone.nordicsemi.com/]. Oh, and don’t forget to enter Nordic Semiconductor’s giveaway contest! Just fill out the entrance form, [https://embedded.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bb8caeb750ad079df2b961c41&id=d80909b6b6&e=bf5fb14408] and you're in the running. Good luck!