I just looked at my blog and I see that I haven't posted any new content for a while. Sorry about that, folks. (That is, the two of you who read my blog... hi, mom!)
There's a lot going on in life right now, and I haven't had the time to dabble as much as I would like. However, there are a few things in the pipeline. Continue reading Geez, What Have I Been Doing?
About 2 years ago, I authored a five-part tutorial on setting up a free/open source toolchain with Eclipse and GCC to develop code on ST's line of STM32 microcontrollers. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Followup) That series demonstrated how challenging it can be to properly set up these tools and get them configured for the microcontroller of your choice.
Since then, ST has really upped their game and has introduced two tools that really make the process of developing for the STM32 line of parts much, much easier. In fact, I'd go so far as to say my tutorial series has been made obsolete. Continue reading New(ish) Tools for STM32 Development – STM32Cube
This morning, I was invited to be a part of an interview panel for some candidates for openings we have in my workplace. There were five of us conducting an interview for technical positions. I've done this enough and seen enough facepalms in these interviews that I want to pass on some basic advice. Continue reading Thoughts on Technical Interviews
I'm in the midst of writing some code to initialize an LCD screen. The initialization requires me to send a command, then wait for at least 50 milliseconds, then send more commands.
If you're using an Arduino, this is easy: you call the [cc lang="C" inline="true"]delay()[/cc] function. If you're graduating from the Arduino to a more 'bare metal' development environment, you may find yourself looking for this function that doesn't exist on your platform.
Furthermore, if you do a Google search for delay routines on an ARM microcontroller, the near universal reply is, "you should use a hardware timer for that!" Continue reading An Assembly Language Delay Routine for ARM Microcontrollers
I had given up all hope of receiving my AVC circuit boards and had convinced myself that they had become forever lost in the mail. And wouldn't you know, today they show up. Ten circuit boards when I only need one. Continue reading AVC Boards have arrived!
The AVC Proof of Concept deadline is today. (Or maybe it was yesterday.) This is my lame attempt at desperately hoping to still qualify for the contest.
You see, the circuit boards that I ordered from Dirty Boards on the 3rd of May still haven't arrived. Without circuit boards in hand, I really don't have much to show for my AVC entry.
On the off chance that the AVC staff will take mercy on me and allow me to remain in the contestant pool, my robot consists of:
Yeah, without pics, I realize the credibility in this post is near zero. But that's all I have right now- words and ideas. I'm well aware that the chances of me being ready in time are pretty slim, but I'm hoping the decision on whether or not to drop out can be my decision and not the decision of the AVC staff.
So I'll send them a link to this post and see what they say...
A couple of months ago, while doing research for the Sparkfun AVC, I posed to the DIYRovers Google Group a question about the Kalman filter. I had discovered through reading that the Kalman filter is a popular algorithm in robotics and the more I read the more it seemed that the Kalman filter is the answer to just about any robotics problem out there. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any good learning resources for this algorithm that didn't require an undergraduate degree in mathematics.
One of the members of the group suggested that a good resource for learning the Kalman filter is the Udacity course "Artificial Intelligence for Robotics."
Udacity, for those who don't know, is a MOOC: A Massively Open Online Courseware site. Udacity hosts online classes that anyone can take free of charge. Udacity is a for-profit educational organization founded by Sebastian Thrun, David Stavens, and Mike Sokolsky. It is the outgrowth of free computer science classes offered in 2011 through Stanford University, where Sebastian is a professor. I'll talk about the for-profit part in a few paragraphs.
So, at the encouragement of another AVC'er, I started taking the course. Continue reading Udacity Course Review: Artificial Intelligence for Robotics
Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. I've been very heads-down with various priorities and this is the first opportunity I've had to come up and take a breath. I've just shed a few obligations so I'm hoping I'll be able to post more frequently.
I haven't abandoned my AVC project! In fact, I spent several weeks tweaking the schematic and then several more tweaking the PCB design. The inescapable fact of all this is that I just plain suck at PCB design. Continue reading AVC Boards Have Been Ordered!
I just feel so.... dirty running Python on Windows. Like I'm going against God's Natural Law or something.
OK, I feel better now that I have that off my chest. Back to work.
I submitted my order to Mouser today. While that's on its way here I'll lay out my circuit board. When the order gets here, I'll verify footprints and then send off my gerber files to have a custom PCB made.
The June contest date is approaching way too fast! I don't even have my hardware done yet, so I can't do a whole lot of software development. Argh!