Setting a watchdog strategy is easy. Just enable the microcontrollers internal watchdog timer and setup an interrupt to occasionally clear the timer and keep the dog happy right? Not exactly. Watchdogs help ensure that the embedded system we are creating is robust and can detect if something runs amiss. The chances for something going wrong on … Continue reading Embedded Basics – Selecting the Right Watchdog Strategy
Watchdogs are a critical and important component in developing a robust and fail-safe embedded system. In many circumstances, I run into development teams that either have not fully thought through their watchdog strategy or have their watchdog disabled. In order to improve system robustness and ensure that the watchdog can detect a system fault, here … Continue reading Tips and Tricks for Watchdog Design
The smart watchdog is a customizable, external watchdog solution that behaves similar to a supervisory processor except that its primary purpose is detect when a fault has occurred and power cycle the microcontroller. A simple example showing how a smart watchdog can be integrated into a project can be seen in the diagram below: Smart … Continue reading Tools – Enter the Smart Watchdog
Speed is imperative in the business world. Getting to market before competitors, leading the way in innovation, the development cycle can be relentless. For embedded systems engineers, deadlines are always yesterday. There is always a push to get things done faster. How quickly can we get this done? So and so needs this as fast … Continue reading Slowing Down to Go Faster