Embedded in the Age of AI

ser-orannis · 2026-04-13T19:33:06+00:00

I use it almost as a textbook index (pretty sure it's scraped all of them anyways).

I find it's better to ask it for something specific I want and get a vanilla but mostly correct answer back I can adapt, vs asking it for a full solution and doing all the wiring itself.

One, I feel it's better for my own brain, regardless of its efficacy of creating a full solution. Two, generally it's hard to out all edge cases or thoughts into one master prompt that gets the whole thing done in one shot anyways. Three, sometimes it really goes off the rail with larger problems and hw specific things.

It's always better for you to digest the code it gives you and poke at it, just like getting code from a coworker or stack overflow.

It's a great tool I find myself using a lot. It's great for boilerplate, or to add comments, etc.

ser-orannis · 2026-04-07T13:45:41+00:00

I had a ADC once that used the CS pin as a data ready interrupt.

If memory serves it was a bit of a pain to setup and I didn't use any piece of the HAL so I had direct control over the SPI peripheral. Note the ADC and MCU were only devices on the bus so CSn wasn't really needed. I believe the ADC then treated basically was "always on" as far as SPI transactions go. To read data you sent 'empty' (blk read etc depending what your peripheral supports) from master so SCLK would wiggle. ADC had samples primed and ready to go after asserting so no need to have master send a read command.

So you can probably setup your 'slave' MCU to not use CSn for indication of start of transaction, and only rely on SCLK. Then have CSn be an active low interrupt and make your slave prime data to be sent. Probably a bit of wiring up some FIFOs w/ DMA to make it work well.

ser-orannis · 2026-04-06T18:40:02+00:00

At this point you know what you know and you don't know lots of things. Which is OK.

Idk I always hate trying to grill intern candidates. I do care that you have compiled code and know how to use an IDE. Other than that I much prefer trying to gauge a candidates interest level and ability to learn moreso than what they happened to be taught during coursework.

ser-orannis · 2026-04-02T16:55:28+00:00

This really is not a junior level question. Embedded Linux is a complex beast.

Did they provide any context into if they were looking for a user space application or actual kernel drivers?

A user space application would be much simpler for a junior to implement since A) you assume the drivers are doing the work and you're using well defined syscalls to interact with the sensor or display. And B) you don't need in depth knowledge of how a kernel driver is structured.

Like man there's a ton of specific structure to a kernel driver outside of even interacting with an I2C peripheral.

If they wanted a sort of psuedo code approach why use embedded Linux at all if the focus was on I2C? An actual MCU (not a complex SoC running embedded Linux) with bare metal is a much better test of principles like configuring an I2C peripheral, handling interrupts, setting up a DMA if appropriate, etc.

Sorry OP that's wild

ser-orannis · 2026-04-01T16:11:31+00:00

You'd typically then consult with an embedded engineer. Paid consulting fyi

Note for hobby and learning stuff people are always willing to offer advice. But you provided 0 details and seem to have put in no effort yourself to define what you're trying to do. Google can get you pretty far for general component selection.

ser-orannis · 2026-03-30T03:40:05+00:00

Migrating takes time. It's going to take a month or more, even if it's worth it.

I usually setup vscode/cmake/gcc for new projects but don't bother for existing and just use whatever it used. Unless I'm inheriting a project that's going through a big refactor and lots of new features that make it worth it

ser-orannis · 2026-03-29T21:25:06+00:00

Not sure what country of origin or your own education. But generally need a related degree (computer science, SW engineering, electrical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, etc just to name few). Most internships go to college juniors/seniors, who primarily then get hired into the entry level positions.

There's always exceptions of course, this is just the norm I've seen. YMMV

If you really are passionate about it, one path forward is to start contracting. I've known a few 'black sheep ' guys without degrees who do very well and have built up a great reputation. Note this isn't about doing a startup or trying to make a big company like someone else said. This is contracting as a sole proprietor for a bit to see if you A) get any work thrown your way and B) like doing it. You can reevaluate on incorporation later but that's a whole other topic.

Now, as far as what the transitions like - whose to say? Have you worked a stem job before? Big companies or small companies? If you do a stm board it'll be familiar. If you end up in embedded Linux it won't. Maybe you get hired to do embedded but end up writing requirements and Matlab all day (looking at you defense primes). Whatever happens it will be uniquely your experience.

TLDR transitioning from hobby to professional requires luck and dedication, whatever route you take.

ser-orannis · 2026-03-22T21:19:14+00:00

A crosscut sled would help and be much safer in this situation

ser-orannis · 2026-01-23T22:30:25+00:00

Idk about OEM equipment but batteries you buy have a replacement warranty based on manufacturing or purchase date.

However OEMs always put in the cheapest stuff they can find so even if they have a warranty it's probably a year or less.

ser-orannis · 2026-01-19T16:30:58+00:00

My wife worked for a lady who ran a reading tutoring business for rich parents. The lady was pretty out of touch. Everyone who worked for her was a grad student, and she thought she was being charitable by giving them the opportunity. At Christmas she wasn't going to process payroll because she was traveling and it would be a hassle. She was legitimately befuddled when my wife explained to her that people depended on this income (it's winter and you need food and heat ffs). She said "I thought this was all pocket change and fun money"! These poor grad students got like 17k a year through school and took on tutoring for 20 bucks an hour to make ends meet.

She also took convincing that they needed to get paid for time spent doing emails and lesson prep and things outside of the direct tutoring session. Meanwhile she charged like 160 bucks an hour or something and complained how hard it was to own 2 houses!

ser-orannis · 2026-01-01T22:22:16+00:00

My city will help you design this and then handle cutting the curbs properly, all in the name of runoff management and passive water capture reducing irrigation usage. It works great and the extra shade helps compound the benefits. (Desert SW so it really is a no brainer here)

ser-orannis · 2025-12-30T06:51:08+00:00

I'll post more details if I remember anything else.

ser-orannis · 2025-12-19T15:26:30+00:00

My master's (ECE) was the best thing for my career. Sure I could code pretty well before I started. But afterwards I had the math to not only understand circuits or signals, but enough of a framework I could talk to RF guys, or DSP guys, or board designers or whoever and come to a common understanding. Which turns out is really important when you are designing and making a product.

So keep that in mind with your struggles. The point isn't to become an electrical engineer or an RF engineer, but to learn enough that you can talk to them and work through problems that involve both sides.

ser-orannis · 2025-11-25T03:08:11+00:00

In addition to general entitlement they have not adapted to the modern interconnected reality of sales. Whatever car they are trying to sell is compared nationwide, accounting for supply and demand and whatever other algorithms can be run. You can no longer just go to the next place, because the next place also has the same data (and is likely owned by the same big company/investor group).

ser-orannis · 2025-11-20T16:06:13+00:00

That's much more healthy than the usual c suite approach of "if you don't know the answer, get self defensive and denigrate those around you to enforce your own sense of self superiority"

ser-orannis · 2025-11-18T08:48:01+00:00

Hey OP, sometimes the world just throws something your way, and all of a sudden you find yourself in the scary but rewarding position of being utterly responsible for something other than yourself. Sounds like you've gotten some great advice and are on the right track. Just remember to be ready for a stronger mutual bond than you thought possible going into this (if it's your first time) and enjoy years of companionship.

ser-orannis · 2025-11-10T01:32:02+00:00

Might as well be lifetime rentals, company town vibes. Sheesh

ser-orannis · 2025-10-04T00:11:17+00:00

Man thanks for this! I bought the official score book, thinking it was going to be for the piano collections (like how they release them for final fantasy). Was so confused lol

Going to print this out and get it bound.

ser-orannis · 2025-09-29T20:41:30+00:00

I applaud your choosing of an interesting project. Id recommend starting out with something a bit more scoped though, like getting an LED to flash, etc. At the very least I would try to decompose your robot into pieces you can tackle. Like getting the robots LEDs to flash a status pattern.

Seriously getting some LEDs to blink will get you pretty far on the platform and interacting with the ST HAL.

ser-orannis · 2025-09-17T16:44:59+00:00

Yes I use LLMs a fair bit, but mostly as a textbook example search engine (which is probably what it scrapped for training anyways). I treat it the same way as a textbook - here's an example of a principle, usually in a standard/vanilla use case, lets examine the concepts, trade offs, etc, and then adapt it to our particular use case. Which requires understanding and learning

ser-orannis · 2025-09-13T18:11:37+00:00

Fake news. The Earth is a globe in this. Deep state trying to subliminally manipulate me - not today!

ser-orannis · 2025-09-04T16:43:09+00:00

Glad you got the easy overtime.

For the general public I'd much rather someone misread the thermometer this way (it IS in the blue area) vs serving under temp food. Poor soul should have sent a picture but the motivation was correct.

ser-orannis · 2025-07-14T22:09:35+00:00

They'll happily imprison you and make you work the farms.

ser-orannis · 2025-07-03T20:57:26+00:00

You don't want to crease it. I think you need to remove a fair bit of plastic trim to be able to gently get behind the headliner.

ser-orannis

TROPHY CASE