A quick google search reveals that there are over 212,000 websites that examine how to debounce a button. After examining a number of them it is obvious that these implementations are not meant for reuse. The implementations and strategies often lack scalability, the ability to debounce multiple buttons easily and portability. They are tightly coupled … Continue reading 7 Steps to Create a Reusable Debounce Algorithm
Category: Software Techniques
3 Advantages to using a Multicore Microcontroller
Several posts ago, I wrote about how two major trends for the 2020’s was going to be Python as a dominate language and machine learning at the edge. A third trend is that multicore microcontrollers are also going to dominate the industry. That’s right, while multicore has been a technology relegated to application processors and … Continue reading 3 Advantages to using a Multicore Microcontroller
5 Tips for Modernizing Legacy Code
It’s always exciting to start on a new development project, but some of the most interesting and challenging projects to work on in embedded systems can often be how to modernize a legacy code base. There are so many products that are currently on the market that have been in production for years if not … Continue reading 5 Tips for Modernizing Legacy Code
5 Tips for Versioning Embedded Systems
One topic that can be tricky for embedded systems engineers is how to version their embedded system. Every embedded system has two primary systems that need to be versioned, the hardware and the software. While versioning the system sounds simple, it can be confusing on the best way to version the system. In this post, … Continue reading 5 Tips for Versioning Embedded Systems
Developing an Embedded Software Build Pipeline
One interesting fact that I’ve noticed about embedded software development is that development processes and techniques tend to lag the general software industry. When I first started to write embedded software back in the late 1990’s, the focus seemed to be on moving away from writing assembly language and adopting C along with the best … Continue reading Developing an Embedded Software Build Pipeline
5 Roles for Python in Real-time Embedded Systems
Python has become quite the trending program language over the last few years. Named after the famous Monty Python comedy group, the language is object oriented and interpreted (not compiled) which has resulted in it being adopted on many platforms such as Linux, Windows, and on single board computers such as the Raspberry Pi. With … Continue reading 5 Roles for Python in Real-time Embedded Systems
10 Pain-free Steps to Configure an Interrupt Controller
Properly setting up interrupts on a microcontroller isn’t easy. The number of times an engineer has setup interrupts in their career doesn’t seem to make a difference. Configuring interrupts always has some gotcha hidden away that leaves the developer scratching their head and seeking answers in an obscure data sheet or online code snippet. Thankfully … Continue reading 10 Pain-free Steps to Configure an Interrupt Controller
CEC – Designing Embedded Systems using MicroPython
The C/C++ programming languages have long dominated the embedded systems industry, with very few other languages being able to find a foothold. The winds of change are upon us, however, and MicroPython may be the programming language you use to build your next product. Python’s shallow learning curve and the fact that even elementary-school students … Continue reading CEC – Designing Embedded Systems using MicroPython
5 Tips for Getting Started with Digital Signal Processing (DSP) on Arm Cortex®-M CPUs
Digital signal processing (DSP) provides developers with the ability to clean-up and analyze complex signals in a flexible and cost-efficient manner all from software. When developers typically think about DSP, they often picture expensive, dedicated processors, but modern microcontrollers, such as the Arm Cortex-M processors, now include DSP extensions that allow DSP algorithms to be … Continue reading 5 Tips for Getting Started with Digital Signal Processing (DSP) on Arm Cortex®-M CPUs
5 Embedded System Characteristics Every Engineer Should Monitor
No matter how complex an embedded system becomes, there are five key characteristics to every embedded system that develops should monitor closely. A few are obvious such as RAM and ROM usage; however, the others are often over looked by developers and can easily become a major sticking point in the design cycle. Characteristic #1 … Continue reading 5 Embedded System Characteristics Every Engineer Should Monitor