BEC Systems

In the realm of industrial connected devices, the era of “develop, lock it down, and ship it forever” is largely behind us.

Vint Cerf co-designed TCP/IP with Bob Kahn in the 1970s, creating the protocols that let separate networks join into the Internet.

Building with LLMs can take many different paths with widely varying results.

We can use LLMs to do our thinking for us, or to help us think better.

I was in a meeting recently with a potential customer, and they said they did not want to go through 50 prototypes to get a product out the door. 50 is a bit of an exaggeration, but I routinely see printed circuit boards (PCBs) at version 13 or so before…

We may think of “good architecture” as getting it right up front.

Previously, we discussed that two things need to go right: architecture, and the learning loop.

The first is architecture, decided partly up front: network topology, the protocol between processors, how function is partitioned across boards, real-time constraints, the data model, how firmware gets updated in the field, and how operations are logged…

While we have many options in choosing technology, there are a few foundational things that are prudent to put in place early.

With part numbers, serial numbers, and similar identifiers, the natural tendency is to over-specify.

The magic of product development appears to live in the complex things: the clever circuit design, the brilliant algorithm, the integration of many technologies.

zephyr-snmp adds SNMP v1 and v2c support to the Zephyr RTOS.

Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat follows the University of Washington eight-oar crew that won gold in Berlin in 1936.

Simple IoT now processes GPS data.

Large and small teams differ in many ways, but one difference stands out: how much of the system gets built versus borrowed.

In the course of product development we build and we borrow components.

There are two trajectories for schedule confidence.

In the context of complex systems, gatekeepers are ineffective.

As developers, we use Markdown all the time: in documentation, GitHub issues, etc.

Along roads, there is often a ditch or some undesirable obstacle on either side of the road you want to avoid.

Is your work accelerating or decelerating?

One way to go faster is to automate the transfer of data between tools.

A recent meeting surfaced a problem: BOM changes in the engineering systems were not reliably reaching the production systems.

GitPLM now supports the KiCad HTTP Library API for an easy connection between your part library and KiCad.

In helping someone choose technology for a web application, we’ve had a lot of discussions about various frameworks, languages, etc.

We recently needed a mechanical model of a USB coupler.

After a conversation with Tim Bird about Space-Grade Linux, an idea about reliability emerged.

Starting in the 1970s, the terminal, popularized by Unix, has been a mainstay in computing.

How many hours go into just processing email?

I’ve been moving discussions out of email and into versioned Markdown files.

What matters more – having better tools or better processes?

While Samuel Langley had $100,000 (equivalent to $3.5 million today) in funding, a team of engineers, and Washington connections, the Wrights were bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio with a fraction of those resources.

Reflecting on Embedded Linux/Edge build systems, several things have changed: ARM and RISC-V hardware is fast.

The last post discussed the importance of command line interfaces (CLIs) in the AI agent stack.

DHH’s recent post offers a glimpse into the future: “So while we keep cooking on actually-useful native AI features in Basecamp, we’re launching a fully agent-accessible version today.

A common challenge in communication is getting people to open up and share what they really think.

One precept of “managing up” is that over-communicating tends to work better than under-communicating.

The concept of “managing up” can be a valuable practice for developers and middle managers.

A release is a good way for developers to communicate with everyone else: What got done What changed How to use or build the latest version Where to get support or provide feedback A regular cadence for communication A standard format everyone can follow…

A release needs to happen before a product is shipped to customers for sale.

In recent conversations about why development schedules slip and what to do about it, several themes continue to come up: Openness - This is key to surfacing issues early.

MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is a concept from Eric Ries’ Lean Startup methodology.

One common problem in product development is developers not finishing a feature or task.

The Release First mindset starts with how you handle reasonably complex information (a procedure, technical details, etc).

The biggest barrier to starting something is an unwillingness to start simple.

What is the bare minimum to call something a release?

Some questions to consider about a release: When is it created?

There are two types of unknowns: Things we don’t know.

The things we know and understand are easy to manage.

BIG releases are appealing — the magical moment when everything comes together.