Entries for the 'Embedded Design' Category

Since joining the DMC team, I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to a wide variety of awesome projects and learn several new technologies. During a recent embedded design project, I was tasked with converting our circuit schematic to a printed circuit board (PCB) layout using a software package called Altium Designer. Altium is a very powerful tool for schematic capture and layout (as well as FP... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Our first experience with the .NET Micro Framework (NETMF) was on GHI Electronic's Embedded Master platform, using the .NET Micro Framework 3.0.  We recently had an opportunity to use the GHI's next generation replacement for the Embedded Master, the EMX module, and the .NET Micro Framework 4.1.  Both Microsoft and GHI have made many changes to the assemblies, classes and methods.  ... [Read the rest of this blog...]

When, besides in children’s cartoons (and my Christmas blogs), do you ever get to see robots dancing? At the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry! This past week I had another opportunity to check out cutting edge robotics at the museum. This event was showcasing Aldebaran Robotics’ Nao (pronounced “Now”) Robot, a top notch humanoid robot companion. Not only is this robot the star of th... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Anyone who has frequented my blog entries knows that I am one of the biggest robot-enthusiasts at DMC. That's why I was so excited to get a chance to attend a lecture at the Museum of Science and Industry given recently by Dr. Minoru Asada, a top researcher in modern robotics and one of the driving forces behind Robocup, and Mr. Ken Nagasaka, of Panasonic Factory Solutions of America. Aside from ... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Recently DMC put together another BMS Validation Test Stand for testing the BMS inside a PHEV battery pack.  Before we shipped it, we wanted to demonstrate the basic capabilities of the battery cell simulators, software, and other electronics. 

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 In an ideal world, a design project has well defined phases with appropriate time alloted for each milestone.  In the real world, clients often bring a project that is already behind schedule, needing results yesterday.  Board design can be a cumbersome process, often taking weeks before something physical is ready for the end customer.  Breadboarding is an option, but it ofte... [Read the rest of this blog...]

It is quite typical for companies to outsource their embedded design and other electronic and board design needs to other firms.  Sometimes companies have innovative ideas they want to bring to market but not the internal electronics expertise, sometimes larger firms don't have the internal capacity or don't do enough electronics or embedded design to justify the dedicated staff. Own Your De... [Read the rest of this blog...]

In RT-101: Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS), I provided readers with a brief description of the many benefits that systems running an RTOS can provide in harsh and demanding environments.  The bigger question is: in an industry saturated by PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers), PACs (Programmable Automation Controllers), Field Point controllers, Microcontrollers and many others, why should... [Read the rest of this blog...]

 Eric Nielsen’s Real Time blog did a good job of hitting the major strengths and benefits of any system based on a controller running a Real-time operating system.  Here I’ll get into a little more depth, specifically for the capabilities these systems give in regards to distributed execution.

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Although we use many different technologies and software packages at DMC, we have a great amount of experience with National Instruments LabVIEW. We currently have four Certified Architects and another seven Certified Developers. Lately, we've had several customers with applications that require distributed systems using cRIOs and RT PXI chassis. Both for development and for later interaction, we... [Read the rest of this blog...]

 What is a Real-Time Operating System? Known as an RTOS, the Real-Time Operating System is the heart of any Real-Time Solution.  An RTOS is capable of executing programs with extremely accurate timing creating a very deterministic system.  This key benefit is often highly desired for many scientific, engineering, and industrial automation projects. Real Time Operating Systems can ... [Read the rest of this blog...]

I was recently called up by a past customer who was using XP Windows embedded on an HP Neoware Thin Client who had lost their hard drive image and needed the machine restored. These types of machines are becoming more and more common, used as terminals for ATM’s, self checkout terminals, etc. They are moderately low cost, light, flexible platforms that don’t have any moving components li... [Read the rest of this blog...]

A few days ago, I was working on a project where I needed to control a stepper motor using the .NET Micro Framework on the GHI Embedded Master microprocessor.  Stepper motors are a unique type of motor - the velocity is controlled by a pulse wave input.  The faster the pulse frequency, the faster the motor rotates. It turns out that most stepper motors will tend to vibrate enough t... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Recently one of DMC's customers, LTS Scale, issued a press release describing the first fork-truck-mounted dimensional weighing system. DMC worked closely with this customer from the first stages of research through the development of the system and into product production, successfully delivering a flexible and robust system that met numerous design challenges along the way.  The s... [Read the rest of this blog...]

It is well-known that increasing the number of pins on an integrated circuit (IC) increases its cost.  To reduce the number of pins, several serial protocols have been developed to transfer data between IC's.   One such protocol, I2C, uses only 2 bidirectional open-drain wires. For a recent application, I needed to write a quick class to communicate to a Newhaven LCD display over t... [Read the rest of this blog...]

We are happy to announce that DMC has become a Windows Embedded Partner.  DMC has been an active partner with Microsoft, joining the Microsoft Partner Program in 2001 and acheiving Gold Partner status in 2007.  Our Windows Embedded Partner status reflects our familiarity with Windows Embedded platforms, included Windows Embedded operating systems and the Microsoft .NET Mi... [Read the rest of this blog...]

We are big fans of the .NET Micro Framework.  For anyone who hasn't heard of it, it's a super light version of the .NET Framework that runs on resource-constrained devices embedded systems (read more of our thoughts on .Net Micro Framework).   It's a great platform, however sometimes we do run into issues.  The Micro Framework  has lighter versions of some of the core function... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Recently I've had the opportunity to do some embedded development using the .NET Micro Framework platform.  The .NET Micro Framework is a light-weight version of the full .NET framework that can be ported to run on a variety of processors, including the ARM and Blackfin architectures. Using the .NET Framework, developers can implement their solutions in C#.  While develop... [Read the rest of this blog...]

You've finished and double checked your schematic, all the footprints have been loaded or created, and you've layed out all of your components on your board.  Now it is time to route the traces.  Traditionally board designers route traces by hand, giving them complete control over everything.  However there definitely are times and places for the auto-routing tool: Simple bo... [Read the rest of this blog...]

A few weeks ago, I was coerced by my girlfriend into buying one of those silly "floor cleaning robots".  Yes, I mean a Roomba.  I was skeptical, but I sat down and did some research.  Little did I know that while I had been slaving away religiously vacuuming my own floors (ok, occasionally vacuuming my own floors…)

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