#embedded-development

[spindlecrank]

Data Structures in Popular Programming Languages: A Top Down Introduction

Data structures are fundamental building blocks in programming, allowing developers to efficiently store, organize, and manipulate data. Every programming language provides built-in data structures, and developers can also create custom ones to suit specific needs. Below, we will explore: What data structures are and why they are important Common data structures in programming How to…

[maddieandangel]

First Ghost doodle page of the year! As I test out a new way of maybe drawing their cloak, based on a headcanon of mine.

[tea-cat-arts]

I'm willing to at least hear out most of the "xyz plot point is heavily tied to abc cultural context" brands of posts but the "wwx isn't meant to be read as morally gray" and "the western fandom made up Sizhui being wangxian's son" brands of post make me feel like my cultural ignorance is being used to gaslight me

[debian-official]

it has been so long since reading and writing to addresses picked from a datasheet >.< idk if I really missed all this

[bitstream24]

CAN Bus Development for Embedded Systems: With and Without an Operating System

Explore the differences in CAN Bus development between embedded systems with or without an operating system. Compare Linux-based Raspberry Pi with PiCAN HATs to bare-metal Teensy and ESP32 platforms. Learn which solution fits your application needs.

[unforgivingchorus]

I’ve got like story boards for a red Robin solo run that would retcon a lot of the unfinished arcs of the last red Robin (keeping brucequest cause it was mostly finished) but the only person I would ever want drawing it is Juni Ba who’s doing the current boy wonder run. In love with her art actually.

[cerulity]

frontend development is so confusing to me sdggsfgdf how can people do this for a living

i could read a thousand pages of embedded manuals and understand everything but literally anything to do with frontend development leaves me with a hydra of questions, answering one question will make me question like five other things

[lesbianshadowheart]

How I sleep knowing Aloy is a lesbian and HZ3 will not have dating sim-like romance options

[el-ffej]

IMO: Absolutely, positively spot-on. Been a software engineer from 1980 to 2016, and this just nails the tech industry economics (and phases) that I saw then, and that I see now.

Must-read. Brilliantly written and on target. Kudos and applause, OP.

If anyone wants to know why every tech company in the world right now is clamoring for AI like drowned rats scrabbling to board a ship, I decided to make a post to explain what's happening.

(Disclaimer to start: I'm a software engineer who's been employed full time since 2018. I am not a historian nor an overconfident Youtube essayist, so this post is my working knowledge of what I see around me and the logical bridges between pieces.)

Okay anyway. The explanation starts further back than what's going on now. I'm gonna start with the year 2000. The Dot Com Bubble just spectacularly burst. The model of "we get the users first, we learn how to profit off them later" went out in a no-money-having bang (remember this, it will be relevant later). A lot of money was lost. A lot of people ended up out of a job. A lot of startup companies went under. Investors left with a sour taste in their mouth and, in general, investment in the internet stayed pretty cooled for that decade. This was, in my opinion, very good for the internet as it was an era not suffocating under the grip of mega-corporation oligarchs and was, instead, filled with Club Penguin and I Can Haz Cheezburger websites.

Then around the 2010-2012 years, a few things happened. Interest rates got low, and then lower. Facebook got huge. The iPhone took off. And suddenly there was a huge new potential market of internet users and phone-havers, and the cheap money was available to start backing new tech startup companies trying to hop on this opportunity. Companies like Uber, Netflix, and Amazon either started in this time, or hit their ramp-up in these years by shifting focus to the internet and apps.

Now, every start-up tech company dreaming of being the next big thing has one thing in common: they need to start off by getting themselves massively in debt. Because before you can turn a profit you need to first spend money on employees and spend money on equipment and spend money on data centers and spend money on advertising and spend money on scale and and and

But also, everyone wants to be on the ship for The Next Big Thing that takes off to the moon.

So there is a mutual interest between new tech companies, and venture capitalists who are willing to invest $$$ into said new tech companies. Because if the venture capitalists can identify a prize pig and get in early, that money could come back to them 100-fold or 1,000-fold. In fact it hardly matters if they invest in 10 or 20 total bust projects along the way to find that unicorn.

But also, becoming profitable takes time. And that might mean being in debt for a long long time before that rocket ship takes off to make everyone onboard a gazzilionaire.

But luckily, for tech startup bros and venture capitalists, being in debt in the 2010's was cheap, and it only got cheaper between 2010 and 2020. If people could secure loans for ~3% or 4% annual interest, well then a $100,000 loan only really costs $3,000 of interest a year to keep afloat. And if inflation is higher than that or at least similar, you're still beating the system.

So from 2010 through early 2022, times were good for tech companies. Startups could take off with massive growth, showing massive potential for something, and venture capitalists would throw infinite money at them in the hopes of pegging just one winner who will take off. And supporting the struggling investments or the long-haulers remained pretty cheap to keep funding.

You hear constantly about "Such and such app has 10-bazillion users gained over the last 10 years and has never once been profitable", yet the thing keeps chugging along because the investors backing it aren't stressed about the immediate future, and are still banking on that "eventually" when it learns how to really monetize its users and turn that profit.

The pandemic in 2020 took a magnifying-glass-in-the-sun effect to this, as EVERYTHING was forcibly turned online which pumped a ton of money and workers into tech investment. Simultaneously, money got really REALLY cheap, bottoming out with historic lows for interest rates.

Then the tide changed with the massive inflation that struck late 2021. Because this all-gas no-brakes state of things was also contributing to off-the-rails inflation (along with your standard-fare greedflation and price gouging, given the extremely convenient excuses of pandemic hardships and supply chain issues). The federal reserve whipped out interest rate hikes to try to curb this huge inflation, which is like a fire extinguisher dousing and suffocating your really-cool, actively-on-fire party where everyone else is burning but you're in the pool. And then they did this more, and then more. And the financial climate followed suit. And suddenly money was not cheap anymore, and new loans became expensive, because loans that used to compound at 2% a year are now compounding at 7 or 8% which, in the language of compounding, is a HUGE difference. A $100,000 loan at a 2% interest rate, if not repaid a single cent in 10 years, accrues to $121,899. A $100,000 loan at an 8% interest rate, if not repaid a single cent in 10 years, more than doubles to $215,892.

Now it is scary and risky to throw money at "could eventually be profitable" tech companies. Now investors are watching companies burn through their current funding and, when the companies come back asking for more, investors are tightening their coin purses instead. The bill is coming due. The free money is drying up and companies are under compounding pressure to produce a profit for their waiting investors who are now done waiting.

You get enshittification. You get quality going down and price going up. You get "now that you're a captive audience here, we're forcing ads or we're forcing subscriptions on you." Don't get me wrong, the plan was ALWAYS to monetize the users. It's just that it's come earlier than expected, with way more feet-to-the-fire than these companies were expecting. ESPECIALLY with Wall Street as the other factor in funding (public) companies, where Wall Street exhibits roughly the same temperament as a baby screaming crying upset that it's soiled its own diaper (maybe that's too mean a comparison to babies), and now companies are being put through the wringer for anything LESS than infinite growth that Wall Street demands of them.

Internal to the tech industry, you get MASSIVE wide-spread layoffs. You get an industry that used to be easy to land multiple job offers shriveling up and leaving recent graduates in a desperately awful situation where no company is hiring and the market is flooded with laid-off workers trying to get back on their feet.

Because those coin-purse-clutching investors DO love virtue-signaling efforts from companies that say "See! We're not being frivolous with your money! We only spend on the essentials." And this is true even for MASSIVE, PROFITABLE companies, because those companies' value is based on the Rich Person Feeling Graph (their stock) rather than the literal profit money. A company making a genuine gazillion dollars a year still tears through layoffs and freezes hiring and removes the free batteries from the printer room (totally not speaking from experience, surely) because the investors LOVE when you cut costs and take away employee perks. The "beer on tap, ping pong table in the common area" era of tech is drying up. And we're still unionless.

Never mind that last part.

And then in early 2023, AI (more specifically, Chat-GPT which is OpenAI's Large Language Model creation) tears its way into the tech scene with a meteor's amount of momentum. Here's Microsoft's prize pig, which it invested heavily in and is galivanting around the pig-show with, to the desperate jealousy and rapture of every other tech company and investor wishing it had that pig. And for the first time since the interest rate hikes, investors have dollar signs in their eyes, both venture capital and Wall Street alike. They're willing to restart the hose of money (even with the new risk) because this feels big enough for them to take the risk.

Now all these companies, who were in varying stages of sweating as their bill came due, or wringing their hands as their stock prices tanked, see a single glorious gold-plated rocket up out of here, the likes of which haven't been seen since the free money days. It's their ticket to buy time, and buy investors, and say "see THIS is what will wring money forth, finally, we promise, just let us show you."

To be clear, AI is NOT profitable yet. It's a money-sink. Perhaps a money-black-hole. But everyone in the space is so wowed by it that there is a wide-spread and powerful conviction that it will become profitable and earn its keep. (Let's be real, half of that profit "potential" is the promise of automating away jobs of pesky employees who peskily cost money.) It's a tech-space industrial revolution that will automate away skilled jobs, and getting in on the ground floor is the absolute best thing you can do to get your pie slice's worth.

It's the thing that will win investors back. It's the thing that will get the investment money coming in again (or, get it second-hand if the company can be the PROVIDER of something needed for AI, which other companies with venture-back will pay handsomely for). It's the thing companies are terrified of missing out on, lest it leave them utterly irrelevant in a future where not having AI-integration is like not having a mobile phone app for your company or not having a website.

So I guess to reiterate on my earlier point:

Drowned rats. Swimming to the one ship in sight.

[spindlecrank]

Data Structures in Popular Programming Languages: A Top Down Introduction

Data structures are fundamental building blocks in programming, allowing developers to efficiently store, organize, and manipulate data. Every programming language provides built-in data structures, and developers can also create custom ones to suit specific needs. Below, we will explore: What data structures are and why they are important Common data structures in programming How to…

[monarchinnovation]

Embedded Linux for Firmware Development

Explore how Monarch Innovation leverages Embedded Linux for advanced firmware development. From custom board support packages (BSPs) to real-time operating systems and device drivers, we deliver robust, scalable, and secure embedded solutions across industries. Enhance your embedded systems with expert Linux-based firmware development that ensures flexibility, reduced time-to-market, and seamless hardware integration.

[volersystems]

Designing the Future: How Embedded Systems Enhance Medical Device Reliability

Technology is making a huge impact in healthcare, and at the core of many of those breakthroughs is smart engineering. Voler Systems has become a trusted name in developing medical technologies that help people live healthier, safer lives. Whether it's designing advanced medical devices, building embedded systems, or creating custom FPGA solutions, Voler Systems is helping bring the future of healthcare to life.

Turning Ideas Into Life-Saving Medical Devices Bringing a medical device to market is about more than just having a great idea—it requires deep technical knowledge, strict regulatory compliance, and careful planning. Voler Systems specializes in medical devices development, working closely with clients from early design to final production. Their team understands the high stakes involved and focuses on building devices that are accurate, reliable, and user-friendly. Whether it’s for remote patient monitoring or in-clinic diagnostic equipment, their experience helps turn concepts into real-world healthcare solutions. To learn more, visit the Medical Devices Development page.

Reliable Embedded Systems That Power Healthcare Devices Behind most smart medical devices is a powerful system running in the background. These systems are known as embedded systems—and getting them right is critical. Voler Systems has led numerous projects in embedded systems, creating customized designs that power everything from wearable monitors to imaging machines. The focus is always on low power usage, fast response time, and reliability in demanding healthcare settings. Find out how embedded tech powers medical innovation at Projects Embedded Systems.

Smarter Hardware with FPGA Development In situations where performance and speed are non-negotiable, FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) provide a unique advantage. These reprogrammable chips allow for fast, custom hardware-level functionality—ideal for critical healthcare applications. Voler Systems offers expert FPGA development services, helping healthcare companies create high-performance systems for imaging, diagnostics, and real-time processing. Explore the possibilities at FPGA Development.

A Trusted Technology Partner in Healthcare Developing smart medical technologies requires more than just technical skills—it requires a deep understanding of both engineering and healthcare needs. That’s where Voler Systems stands out. Whether it’s creating intelligent devices, building efficient embedded platforms, or accelerating performance with FPGA solutions, their work helps healthcare innovators bring safe and effective products to life.

If you're looking to bring a new medical product to market—or improve an existing one—Voler Systems offers the engineering expertise and industry knowledge to help make it happen.

[siliconsignalsblog]

Getting Started with AOSP: Build Custom Android Solutions

Want to see what it takes to build your own Android-based system? Regardless of whether you want to use custom hardware or embedded software, AOSP delivers a complete and adaptable resource. We’ll go over AOSP, its benefits, drawbacks and why it is slowly being adopted by smartphones, IoT devices and automotive platforms. 

What is AOSP (Android Open Source Project)? 

The Android Open Source Project is a repository of source code and documentation used to build the core Android operating system. It's open-source, meaning developers, OEMs, and businesses can freely access, modify, and build upon the platform to create custom Android distributions. 

While AOSP contains the base OS, it does not include Google’s proprietary apps and services (like Gmail, Google Play, and Maps)—those are part of Google Mobile Services (GMS), which requires a license. AOSP represents the raw and adaptable side of Android, giving developers control over features, UI, and performance. 

Why Developers and OEMs Choose AOSP 

High Customizability 

One of the biggest benefits of AOSP is its deep customization capabilities. Developers can tweak system behavior, design new UIs, and tailor Android for specific hardware or use cases, such as kiosks, tablets, or IoT devices. 

No Licensing Costs 

Since AOSP is free, it’s ideal for companies aiming to build custom Android-based products without relying on Google’s ecosystem. This is especially helpful for industries like healthcare, education, or defense, where Google services might not be required or allowed. 

Hardware Flexibility 

AOSP allows adaptation across a wide range of hardware—from smartphones and tablets to embedded systems, automotive solutions, wearables, and industrial IoT devices. This makes it a top choice for OEMs and BSP providers. 

Strong Developer Community 

With thousands of contributors, documentation, forums, and GitHub repos, AOSP offers rich community support. This collective innovation drives constant improvement and makes troubleshooting and development smoother. 

Key Challenges of AOSP 

Despite its strengths, AOSP comes with its own set of challenges: 

No Native Google Apps 

Devices using AOSP without GMS won’t have access to the Google Play Store or essential apps like YouTube, Gmail, and Google Maps. Licensing GMS is necessary for these features, unlike in closed ecosystems like iOS, where services are pre-integrated. 

Hardware Compatibility 

When building custom Android BSPs, developers often need to work on hardware abstraction layers (HALs), drivers, and kernels to ensure full compatibility with chipsets and peripherals—something that requires deep embedded expertise. 

OS Fragmentation 

Since anyone can fork AOSP, there’s significant fragmentation across Android devices, which can complicate update cycles and security patching. Closed-source systems like iOS maintain consistency but sacrifice flexibility. 

Comparing AOSP to Other Platforms 

iOS 

Pros: Controlled environment, seamless hardware-software integration. 

Cons: Limited developer freedom; closed source prevents OS-level customizations. 

Other Linux-Based OSs (e.g., Tizen, KaiOS) 

Pros: Designed for specific devices like feature phones or smart TVs. 

Cons: Limited community support, fewer apps, and low flexibility compared to AOSP. 

Market Forecast: Why AOSP is the Future 

Dominance in Emerging Markets 

Android, powered by AOSP, leads in affordability and reach. Custom builds allow for cost-effective smartphones tailored for budget-conscious regions like Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 

Rise of Android Automotive & Embedded Systems 

With AOSP at its core, Android Automotive is gaining traction in vehicles. Similarly, embedded devices, kiosks, and industrial IoT systems benefit from lightweight, modular AOSP deployments. 

Tailored Enterprise & Industry Solutions 

Companies are creating Android-based devices for education, healthcare, logistics, and retail. These devices are powered by custom Android BSPs built on AOSP, offering greater control, security, and reliability. 

IoT & Wearables Growth 

From smartwatches to home hubs, AOSP’s flexibility makes it the go-to OS for IoT. Although Google shifted focus from Android Things, developers still rely on AOSP for headless devices and custom builds in the IoT space. 

Getting Started with AOSP 

To explore AOSP, start by visiting Google’s official repositories and AOSP documentation. Participate in forums like XDA Developers, Reddit, and GitHub discussions to find solutions and engage with the broader developer ecosystem. 

Looking for an experienced team to help you build, port, or customize AOSP for your embedded product? 

At Silicon Signals, we specialize in Android BSP development, AOSP customization, driver integration, and OS porting for a wide range of hardware platforms. From Android 14 BSPs to fully tailored Android stacks for industrial and commercial devices—we’ve got you covered. 

Ready to launch your custom Android solution? Contact Our Engineers for a free consultation 

Connect us on info@siliconsignals.io 

[rhosigmaa]

Integrating RTOS in Firmware Development for IoT Devices

In the fast evolving world of connected technology, firmware development for IoT devices demands real-time performance, efficient task management, and robust system reliability. One of the most effective ways to meet these demands is through the integration of an RTOS (Real-Time Operating System). Using an RTOS in firmware development provides the necessary architecture to support multitasking, deterministic execution, and modular design all of which are essential in modern embedded systems.

Interested in building efficient, real-time firmware for your IoT device? A well architected RTOS implementation can significantly enhance the performance and reliability of your system.

Unlike traditional bare metal firmware where tasks are executed sequentially, RTOS-based firmware allows developers to divide functionality into prioritized threads or tasks. This is especially important in IoT applications, where the firmware must handle multiple simultaneous operations like sensor data collection, wireless communication, and actuator control. An RTOS ensures these tasks are executed on time and without interference, delivering the real-time performance required by smart devices and edge nodes.

The integration of RTOS into embedded firmware development also brings scalability and modularity, making it easier to add features or adapt to new hardware platforms. With built in task scheduling and resource management, RTOS platforms allow developers to write more maintainable code and avoid timing conflicts that often arise in complex systems. This approach improves overall system stability and reduces debugging time during the development cycle.

Some of the most widely used RTOS options in IoT firmware development include Free RTOS, known for its lightweight footprint and wide microcontroller support; Zephyr OS, which offers a comprehensive set of features for connected devices; and Thread X, commonly used in commercial and safety-critical applications. Each RTOS has its strengths, and the choice depends on application needs, processor architecture, and certification requirements.

To effectively implement RTOS in firmware development, engineers must identify the system’s real-time requirements and define tasks accordingly. Communication between tasks should be managed through mechanisms like semaphores, queues, or event flags to avoid race conditions and maintain data consistency. Moreover, memory management becomes a crucial factor, particularly in microcontroller-based systems where RAM and flash resources are limited.

RTOS based firmware is now at the core of many advanced IoT devices from smart wearables and industrial sensors to medical equipment and home automation systems. These devices require not just functional correctness, but also consistent and timely responses. The ability of RTOS to deliver predictable task execution and low-latency performance makes it a vital component in modern IoT firmware development.

Explore deeper into RTOS-based development techniques to future proof your embedded solutions. Staying aligned with real-time system design practices ensures long-term scalability and product success.

If your embedded application depends on responsiveness, uptime, and modular design, integrating RTOS in your firmware development process is not just a best practice, it’s a strategic move. Early architectural planning with RTOS in mind helps avoid costly redesigns later and ensures your product meets both technical and market expectations.

[bitstream24]

Introducing the ESP32 with Dual Isolated CAN Bus Port

Enhance CAN bus communication reliability with the ESP32 Development Board and Dual Isolated CAN Bus HAT. Discover the benefits of galvanic isolation in automotive and industrial applications.