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Sponsored by partners who share our mission to advance embedded excellence.
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Welcome back to the Embedded Bytes newsletter!
This week I am teaching both halves of what is in this issue. As I send this newsletter, my Zephyr BSP with AI workshop is running live. All week I have also been teaching TDD for Embedded Systems at the DesignNews CEC. One week, two different tools, the same underlying skill: how to set up modern firmware development so that you can move fast without breaking things in production.
Also in this issue, there is a sharp new security developer guide that is worth the read for any firmware team shipping connected products, and a sobering reminder from Nintendo that defects have real financial consequences. Nintendo just got fined 35 million euros in France over a Joy-Con drift defect. That is what happens when an embedded product ships before its issues are caught.
I also have a quick question for you about the future of in-person embedded events. See the survey below.
Also in this issue:
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Looking for an RTOS that’s fast, safety certified, and easy to use? Discover why
PX5 RTOS is redefining real-time embedded systems.
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Industry News and Insights
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Embedded TDD: Testing Firmware Without the Hardware
(DesignNews.com)
Embedded developers have spent two decades arguing TDD does not apply to firmware. Hardware coupling. Real-time deadlines. Vendor SDKs. The arguments are real. The conclusion is wrong. This article walks through what TDD actually looks like in modern embedded work, how to structure code so it can be exercised without hardware, and why the teams that crack this ship faster and break less.
Continue Reading . . .
Embedded Systems Security: A Developer’s Guide to Building Secure Firmware
(SecureCodingHub.com)
If you ship a connected embedded product in 2026, security is no longer a ‘later’ item. This developer guide walks through the threat model, the practical defenses, and the discipline required to build secure firmware from the ground up. Worth a read for any team working under CRA, IEC 62443, or other modern compliance regimes.
Continue Reading . . .
Nintendo Fined 35 Million Euros in France Over Joy-Con Defect
(LeMonde.fr)
France just hit Nintendo with a 35 million euro fine over the Joy-Con drift defect on Switch controllers. A reminder that hardware and firmware defects in shipped consumer products are not just an engineering problem. They become a legal and financial problem too. The same lessons that apply to Ariane 5 and to MISRA C compliance apply here: catch it before it ships, or pay for it afterward.
Continue Reading . . .
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Would You Attend a 2026 Embedded Systems Summit?
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I have been thinking about putting together a 3-day, in-person Embedded Systems Summit on November 10-12, 2026 in Silicon Valley. Before committing the time, money, and venue, I want to know if the embedded community would actually show up for it.
This is where you come in. One click on the buttons below, followed by a few quick questions, genuinely shapes whether this event happens. Honest answers either way are useful.
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In person · Silicon Valley
Would you attend a 2026 Embedded Systems Summit?
We’re considering a 3-day, in-person Embedded Systems Summit on November 10-12, 2026
in Silicon Valley. Before we commit, we want to know if there’s enough interest. One click below,
and a few quick questions, genuinely shape whether this happens.
Takes under a minute.
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Scaffolding a New Zephyr Board in Under an Hour
Custom board bring-up in Zephyr has a reputation for taking days. You hunt through documentation, reverse-engineer existing boards, fight with Devicetree, and lose hours to Kconfig dependencies. It does not have to be this way.
The trick is structuring the work so that you are not fighting documentation and configuration in the same pass. In this article I walk through a workflow that scaffolds a brand-new Zephyr board, end to end, in under an hour. The core steps are creating the board directory, defining the SoC and devicetree binding, writing the minimal devicetree and Kconfig fragments, and validating with a known-good sample app.
The win is not just speed. It is repeatability. Once you have done the scaffolding workflow twice, the third time becomes muscle memory. And you can pull in AI as a research partner to accelerate the documentation hunt without giving up engineering control.
If you have been waiting for the right time to add Zephyr to your toolkit, this is a clean entry point.
Continue Reading . . .
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Build a Custom Zephyr BSP in 3 Hours with AI – $95
As you read this, the live session of my Build a Custom Zephyr BSP in 3 Hours with AI workshop is running.
If you missed the live, it is not too late. Everyone who registers now gets full on-demand recording access plus the workshop materials, so you can work through the labs at your own pace.
If you have been wanting to add Zephyr plus AI to your toolkit, this is your chance to learn the workflow without waiting for the next live session.
Register Now
Embedded Software Academy subscribers get this course for FREE.
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A lot is going on in the industry over the next couple of months. Here are some of the upcoming events, both free and paid:
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| September 22-24, 2026 |
Embedded World North America |
Anaheim, CA |
Learn More |
| November 10-12, 2026 |
Embedded Systems Summit (proposed) |
Silicon Valley, CA |
Take the Survey |
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Are you hiring embedded engineers? Let me know!
Please keep it to 150 words or fewer. I reserve the right to edit it to fit the newsletter’s format and intent.
No recruiters, please! Contact me at [email protected]
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Upgrade Your Skills, Processes, and Architecture
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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:
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Faster. Smarter. Firmware: A 2-Day seminar on modern practices for better embedded systems. Doing software the right way means fewer bugs and earlier deliveries. This seminar gives your team the tools and techniques to develop software with fewer bugs in less time by leveraging modern techniques to develop faster and smarter. To learn more, email me at [email protected]
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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.
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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.
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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.
Take action today to upgrade your skills, optimize your team, and achieve success.
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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!
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