Embedded Bytes #158: Embedded Bytes — August 2024

Dear *|FNAME|*,

Welcome to the Embedded Bytes newsletter issue #158.

There’s a lot to report on in this edition! To start, here are three articles that will help you grow your skills and modernize your techniques:

Join the Conversation on LinkedIn! 💬
I’ve started sharing new insights about developing embedded products on LinkedIn daily. Check them out, share your thoughts, ask questions, and connect with fellow professionals. Don’t miss out—join us on LinkedIn here!

Attend a Free Webinar! 🚀

In partnership with Mohammed Billoo and MAB Labs, I’m hosting a free webinar on the Best Practices for Customizing Zephyr RTOS Hardware. The webinar will be Wednesday, Sept 18, from 11am – 12:30 EDT. To participate, you can sign up here.

Tune In! 🎧

Listen to the latest Embedded Frontier Podcast episode, where I talk with Memfault CEO François Baldassari about whether Embedded Manufacturers are Ready for IoT Security Compliance Demands. Episode 008 is available on your favorite streaming apps, or you can watch it with subtitles on YouTube.

Unlock Unlimited Learning! 📚

Solve your development challenges, modernize your software, and accelerate your development! Join the Embedded Software Academy by Beningo! For the price of one workshop, you can access my library of workshops and tools for an entire year with just one subscription.

Happy coding,

Industry News and Cool Stuff

Embedded Rust: Cortex-M QuickStart Template (Embedded.com)

We’ll look at Rust from the ground (silicon) up, starting with how to get a project up and running. To do that, I’ll introduce you in this post to the Cortex-M QuickStart Template that can make your life far easier when setting up an Embedded Rust project.

Skills You Need to Build an Embedded Systems Career (DesignNews.com)

A successful embedded systems career requires technical acumen and a proactive approach to professional development. Here are 5 skills that could help.

Essential CMake Techniques for Effective Embedded Build Systems (DesignNews.com)

CMake offers powerful features that streamline the build process, improve productivity, and ensure software quality. By mastering essential CMake techniques and toolchain files, you can enhance your development workflow and position yourself for success in the embedded systems industry.

Join the Conversation

Explore these topics and more with me on LinkedIn:

The future of legacy C code might be a C -> Rust LLM named TRACTOR

Ever seen C code like this and wondered what it’s doing? It’s a masterpiece from the Obfuscated C Code Contest.

They say that you never forget your first . . . Mine was a Microchip Technology Inc. PIC16F84, an 8-bit beauty running at 4 MHz with 2 KB flash and 128 bytes of RAM.

Free Webinar

Best Practices for Customizing Zephyr RTOS Hardware

Wednesday, September 18 at 11am EDT

Have you found that getting Zephyr up and running only takes a few minutes, but customizing it for your hardware is a herculean task? If so, you’ve just encountered one of the most common problems with adopting Zephyr RTOS.

This webinar will explore the best practices for adopting Zephyr RTOS in your embedded projects and customizing it for your needs. We’ll also guide you through the critical steps to successfully integrate it with your custom hardware.

Key topics we’ll address include:

Why Zephyr “just works”
Setting up and customizing the Zephyr environment
Practical steps for integrating Zephyr with your hardware
Overcoming Kconfig and Devicetree woes
Developing and deploying a sample application

Embedded Frontier Podcast

Available via your favorite podcast app or watch it with subtitles on our

YouTube channel here!

Summary

In this episode, Jacob Beningo interviews François Baldassari, Memfault CEO, about IoT security compliance demands. They discuss embedded manufacturers’ readiness for new security regulations, the challenges they face, and potential solutions.

They also explore the differences between the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act and the US’s Cyber Trust Mark. François emphasizes the importance of OTA updates, using open-source software, and building security teams within hardware companies. He also highlights the need for collecting the right data and observability to improve security posture.

Embedded Software Academy

The Embedded Software Academy is an on-demand education platform that provides you with access to hands-on workshops, lectures, webinars, and other resources that will help you successfully grow your skills and move towards delivering embedded products on time and within budget.

I charge $295 each for most of these workshops, but I’m now including them in the Academy, offering you significant cost savings. For the cost of a single workshop, you can access all the academy’s resources!

Want to learn more? Visit our website to find out more about Beningo Embedded or check out our blog to discover our entire article archive—read past articles, search by category, and much more!

Struggling to keep your development skills up to date or facing outdated processes that slow down your team, raise costs, and impact product quality?

Here are 4 ways I can help you:

Embedded Software Academy: Enhance your skills, streamline your processes, and elevate your architecture. Join my academy for on-demand, hands-on workshops and cutting-edge development resources designed to transform your career and keep you ahead of the curve.
Consulting Services: Get personalized, expert guidance to streamline your development processes, boost efficiency, and achieve your project goals faster. Partner with us to unlock your team’s full potential and drive innovation, ensuring your project’s success.
Team Training and Development: Empower your team with the latest best practices in embedded software. Our expert-led training sessions will equip your team with the skills and knowledge to excel, innovate, and drive your projects to success.
Customized Design Solutions: Get design and development assistance to enhance efficiency, ensure robust testing, and streamline your development pipeline, driving your project’s success.