Catching the String

Abstract for ignitedallas.org

2013-10-10T13:36:00.001-07:00

What is Ignite Dallas?

Five minutes, 20 slides. What would you say? At Ignite Dallas, 16 artists, technologists, thinkers, and personalities will take the stage to answer this challenge.

The Goal

To spark new conversations and collaborations across cultures and disciplines throughout the city of Dallas with fast-paced, bite-sized presentations. It’s a great opportunity to meet smart, interesting people (if we do say so ourselves) and maybe even learn something.

What I submitted:

Overcoming the Electronics Dark-Ages: The call for Engineering Education—for everyone.

“I can’t/shouldn't need to understand that,” are phrases we hear about electronics education. I challenge that. You should be able to understand. After all, we've seen this trend in history before. In the Middle Ages, people didn't understand how germs and bacteria worked—and doctors were regarded as “Wizards” or Agents of God. There are countless examples in our history that shows how democratizing knowledge has grossly improved our society.
Technology dominates our lives, in our homes, cars and work. Many of these technologies are so ingrained in our every-day life that we take them for granted. We’re addicted to technology, but… how many of us know where these devices come from, how they were made… and what the implications are? I’m advocating for an informed population to take the mystery and magic out of the Technology we depend on. There’s no need for an Engineering Degree-cover-charge to be able to understand the origins of things that are and will change our lives. My talk walks through a few things we can do today to help bring us out of the dark-ages and into the technology enlightenment.

*fingers crossed* I hope I get accepted.

Sharing: Understanding Keiko- Dog Body Language

2013-05-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I adopted a Jindo Dog that I named Keiko-Xiong.

This is Keiko in the car with Keith, after I picked her up from Doggy Day Care

I have to admit that having a dog has really made my home life so much happier. Although I still think it was a brief moment of insanity that made me go and adopt Keiko... I'm happy I did.

Keiko came to me as a rescue with a questionable past.

She was extremely insecure, shy and would shake visibly when I came near her. Her first three days in my condo was spent huddled in corner behind my coffee table.

Day 1 : I caught her sleeping and got a picture

My previous dog, Britta Bean, had also been a rescue and shared some of the same skittish behaviour. Britta was a 3 year old Rottweiler that had been found on the side of the road by a woman (who I swear is an angel on earth) named Helen Garcia who ran Rotts Across Texas. If I were to be put into dog-form, I think I would have been very close to Britta Bean (we shared the same personality). It was almost this innate understanding of what Britta was thinking that helped us work through her issues and I loved her very much. However, Keiko was very different from Britta... and I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to help her integrate into my house at all.

My and Britta Bean (if you want to see more photos click on her Flickr Album)

I wanted to make sure that I was able to read and communicate with Keiko and without the "love at first sight" intuition that I had with Britta Bean... I decided to learn as much as I could about dog-language.

Disclaimer, this photo was taken a few days ago-- Keiko is much more friendly to me than when I first got her

I had a few things in my advantage.

First, Keiko was a Korean-Jindo. I found the most information by reading an amazing blog by Tammy-Lin about Owning a Korean Jindo- The Jindo Project: Benefits and Challenges of Owning a Jindo

The most important piece of information I found was: Jindo's are considered a primitive breed.

This means that the breed is very close genetically to the Wolf. As such Jindo's have many of the same characteristics of the early domesticated dogs ( including shyness and wariness of strangers).

Artic Wolf Walking

Keiko Walking in the Yard this morning.

This was excellent news because there are a LOT of studies about Wolf Behaviour that is accessible.
The most interesting was about Wolf Body Language-- a particularly helpful site was from a page hosted by Kim Miles and also by Karlyn Atkinson Berg's site on Timberwolves.
Both sites talked about reading body language through, face, ears, tail, and body position.

Tail and Face Click on photo for source (used Google Search)

Having Keiko have so many wolf characteristics gave me more concrete examples to pull from, which was nice. This was unlike Britta Bean who had floppy ears and a docked tail (almost 70% of the visual queues were missing).

In this picture this is her Happy- Focused face. Nothing in the world would pull her focus from us. She could only get like this if she was alone with me or my roommate and there was nothing potentially threatening around us.

So, with all of this information I started to apply these to Keiko.
/*This started out for me wanting to see if she was improving. I had the option to take her back to the rescue group in case she didn't work out. Although I was sure that I would keep her no matter, my living situation was a complete 180 from where she was used to living before. If she wasn't able to make the transition... then I didn't want to subject her to living with me and would rather the rescue group find her a better suited home. It ended up becoming a complicated study which I am now sharing. */

To do this I had to know what to look for and watch and what situations there were.
I needed to observe the situational factors and the outputs (what Keiko was telling me-- and since she can't talk--- I had to use body language).

Some assumptions I made:

Dogs react to the situation they are in and aware of. This means that the inputs of the system could be directly observed by monitoring the external situation. I made the assumption that there are no inputs that are motivated internally by the dog (although this assumption needs more exploring, this key premise makes the analysis much simpler, please see *processing communication blog post to understand the complexity should I change this.)
There are pre-determine ways a dog reacts to external situations and will react the same way to every situation if it is similar. (dogs won't change their base processes). The only way to change this reaction is by training or changing the situation.
Dogs have no hidden processes. If there is a change in the dog's body language then there was an external situation stimulus. If there is a change in external stimulation there should be a change in body language.
Dogs will output an action and provide feedback through body language. An output without an action may be an internal process, with the feedback being the output.

A look at inputs and situational factors:

I love this cartoon, I found it on reddit, but can't find the original source. Not only does this dog look like Keiko, but if a dog had the ability to have introspection ... I swear it would say something like this.

A look at Dog's Processes--
Since one of the assumptions stated is about how Dog's processes are fixed, I need to spend time on classifying the processes.
In general, I group all dog behaviours into three groups.

There is a bit of debate if dogs have personalities. I'm on the side that thinks they do.
Granted, many humans assign human personality to Dog behaviour and that is something I disagree with (since they are dogs) and I certainly understand the reservation from the other side (that dogs don't have personalities). However, based on my experience, dogs DO have some degree of personality and have observed it when the dog has to make choices or options on their own (e.g. what toys they choose to play with, how they react when you want to snuggle them for long periods of time, when they don't get their way). What I DO believe is that this personality can be developed over time and can be shaped by the human through training. The Nature/Nurture debate plays in here, but I think it's a combination of the two: What the dog is naturally inclined to do + how the dog was raised with what reinforcements. I ordered the chart in acceding from degree of development required.

Since I was getting Keiko as an adult dog, I made the assumption she had personality traits already and wanted to expose those.

Keiko likes to sit on my bed under my duvet cover when I leave the house.

A look at situational factors and background:
Dogs are very social creatures and are pack animals. As such, the "pack" mentality is immensely powerful for them. Chalk this up to watching a lot of Cesar Milan, but how the dog reacts to the world largely depends on their status in a "pack".
So I summarize this by assuming that a dog loses his individual identity once he/she acquires a "pack". This is what makes humans so different from dogs (although I speculate that this is actually a more powerful force than we realize).

This gives us four main modes that we can operate on and a fifth occasional circumstance.

Dog is alone and seeking a pack.
Dog is evaluating a pack (and the pack is potentially evaluating him/her)
Dog has been accepted in a pack and is establishing an identity within the pack.
Dog is a pack member and acts as a pack.
dog is alone and is not seeking a pack this is a case that should only appear if the dog is 100% secure in his/her identity without a pack (already has a pack) or is actually unhealthy and not seeking one.

It may be more helpful to illustrate my above categories with an example (since it's a little abstract and the divisions may seem arbitrary).

Is alone stage: When I first got Keiko-- she was uninterested in getting to know me, because she felt her situation was temporary... and she still had a pack identity at the shelter with the shelter family. In this stage she was very skittish and had no desire to eat, use the restroom, make eye contact, etc. All she wanted was to go back to her own pack.

is seeking a pack: a full 48 hours later, she began looking around for resources. Although she still was not acknowledging me beyond hiding from me... she began to investigate her surroundings and looking for a possible pack (or her old pack). After another 24 hours... she realized that I had the food and the means to give it to her and began to investigate me.

evaluating a pack: it's here that I had a chance to interact with her. This is where a pack could evaluate the dog back. Humans tend to think this is a one way street, but with dogs the pack has the same opportunity to reject a dog and the dog to reject the pack.

In my scenario, I made the conscious decision that I would not force Keiko to deal with me (since she was already so skittish) and instead was letting Keiko decide to join my pack. Since I believe that dogs have personalities and preferences, I approach dogs from a position of respecting their choice to choose who to interact with. (I have a pet peeve of people who claim to love dogs, but go to a dog and force themselves on the dog. If you are female and go to a bar and a man comes up to you and grabs your behind... you would be upset. I don't see this different from dogs.).

this MEME made me laugh, she is called the Overly Attached Girlfriend. If people thought they look like this when they go for your dog... they may be a little more respectful.

So, I decided to ignore Keiko and instead of seeking her out (asking her to be part of her pack), I was letting her observe actions and see decide if she wanted to be a member of my pack. I did do a few things I hoped were "dog inviting" (I tired to imagine how I would want to be treated if I were a dog in her situation). Things such as: I would pause and look at her--every so often on things such as water, when I got dog food and put it in a bowl... or I would walk outside, but I made sure that I didn't approach her. At first, she was content to ignore me, but gradually she started to become aware of my presence. Then, she became interested in me. I knew this when I went upstairs (with no invite or call out to her) but when I came back down she had moved herself to be laying directly across from the steps (here she was by the bookshelf at first). Eventually that night when I got the dog food (she had been eating the dog food when I was not around), she stood up and followed me into the kitchen and watched me pour the food (continual interest). When I turned around, she ran away, but she went to the place I was putting the dog bowl and was waiting patiently there. I put the food down and she didn't eat until I walked away, but she ate in front of me (which I searched that in dog language was acceptance of me, instead of trying to take the food to somewhere safe). Later that night she came over to investigate me and smell me... and that was when I started to pay attention to her. I saw that as her deciding that we would try out being a pack of 2. That's when we started the next stage.

establishing pack membership: this may be the most important part of a new dog and I know that Cesar Milan spends a huge amount of time on this topic. Cesar is constantly educating humans about the pack mentality. Many humans don't look at themselves as pack members (which is why they have no problem approaching strange dogs to just "pet them" or keeping the dog's pack membership position stable. It's really difficult for people to realize that a dog's pack identity is often times more powerful than the one they have as an individual dog.

What makes dogs so effective as pets (there have been amazing studies on this --one of my favourites is the National Geographic Science Of Dogs series I found for free on Netflix) is their ability to use see humans as pack members. Dogs know very clearly they are seeing another dog (no matter what the dog looks like) and know if they are dealing with a human. Since humans can be pack members to dogs, then it only would be fair that humans see themselves as pack members when they are interacting with their dogs. Since dogs live in a human world... it's almost our responsibility to be concerned with the "pack" psyche since it will become the dog's own.

In my case, I would make myself the Pack Leader and Keiko a member. I was already on my way there by making her request to join MY pack (not the other way around). I also made sure she approached me and didn't seek her out under any circumstance. If she needed something, she would need it to be associated with asking me. It's here that I would put classical "dog training" here. I was using this time to show Keiko what were the rules of my pack and where she fit in. Once I granted her membership to my pack and Keiko accepted it, she began to see herself as part of a pack and her behaviour changed (took close to an entire week).

acting as a pack: it was then after Keiko felt part of our pack of 2 I noticed her behaviour change slightly. Around me, she was the same dog at all times. In fact, I couldn't tell a difference between how she acted in the house and how she acted when we went on walks. However, when I began to introduce her to other scenarios e.g. going to Dog Day care, meeting another dog on a walk, or having friends over to my house... I noticed that she would act differently. I speculate it is either her trying to evaluate this person as part of our pack of 2, which would depend on me setting the tone-- or she saw them as not part of the pack and reverted to her non-pack self.

Training can happen in every mode:
Why I bother to differentiate these modes?
Because ever time the dog moves into a different stage of the process, you will need to find out the dog's base mode of operation (instinct, preferences and personality). Most dogs will change their behaviour significantly when they move from one stage to the other. There are some basic things that stay the same (e.g. Britta Bean was afraid of plastic bags no matter who was around or where she was), but in general, I like to give the dog the benefit of doubt that a particular behaviour may not reflect how the dog behaves most of the time. This separation helps me decide where and what training I need to focus on e.g. when I need to travel and leave Keiko at dog day care, I need to work on her Pack Evaluation personality or if we have mis-behaviour at home-- I'm needing to work on her pack membership etc.

A look at output and feedback:

By understanding the different situations Keiko was in, this provided a much better understanding of the possible outputs that I was seeing.

It was difficult initially for me to understand why she behaved so drastically different around any visitors to our home, but in a completely different manner if we went to visit the same people at their home. By knowing that she saw a shift in pack membership as the question... I was able to understand why she had a different reaction to the situations. In both cases, her cautious and very reserved personality came through, but it looked very different through actions.

Dogs communicate almost entirely through non-auditory methods. They do this by communicating their emotional state through their body language. Apparently, dogs are very good at reading visual queues, almost more so than our primate relatives (this PBS video on Netflix really covered this well- Dogs Decoded- NOVA)

To understand this, we need to have an idea of basic emotional states.

Four basic emotions.
The farther from the center, the more amplified state the emotion is (e.g. the edge of Sad could be seen as depression)

I can't remember the source, but most emotions fall into four basic categories.
I put calm in as the absence of emotion-- when the dog is in a content or stable state (or just is).
It's here I speculate that personality helps explain how dogs jump to which emotion first, more quickly, how frequently.

Tails:

Face- Expressions/ Ear Position:

Putting it together:

With all of this information, I began to take pictures of Keiko interacting with the world and wanted to test myself to see how well I could read her. Unfortunately I didn't get that many photos of her in moments that she was in extreme discomfort (I think I'd need to have a camera to follow me around).

I made her pose with her new toy... I felt she was reserved...

At the dog park, this was one of the first dogs that Keiko met.

she wanted to go home after a while, but this is what she looked like when she was looking for me.

She did well here, but didn't like the pointer that was sniffing her on the left.

She was ready to go home. She repeatedly came up to me

On White Rock Lake, calm and relaxed

this was day 3, when she had acknowledged me and was watching my every movement.

At White Rock Lake, she kept trying to climb in my lap wanted me to take her home.

I taught her how to use PhotoBooth and made her sit on my lap... not amused.

getting ready to play with this dog at the Dog-Park

every morning, she likes to cuddle before we go for our walk. She could lay here all day.

This is Keiko asking me to take her outside

checking her territory

This was one of the first times she went to meet the puppies herself, instead of having them meet her.

Any Guesses? :-)

Fast forward to today... and now.
I'm now thinking that I am getting better at understanding Keiko.

I've now been tracking her emotional reactions to different situations... and getting to know my dog a lot more. Although it hasn't been the instant connection as it was with Britta Bean... I now have no doubt that Keiko and I will continue to bond and I'll get more fluent in Dog-Language :-)

Lesson Schematics- and Test

2013-04-30T11:04:00.001-07:00

Before you get into this lesson, it’s important that you already have a basic understanding of common electronic components and circuits.

Schematics are symbols that help capture the essence of what a circuit is doing. They are used to show how electronic components are connected to each other, but may not necessarily reflect the physical position of a circuit. They are very similar to how we use symbols to communicate on maps

We see this on a map and know it’s a gas station without
having to have a picture of the actual gas station.

Using schematics we are able to communicate to other people about the circuit. This makes schematics part of your electronics language and like all languages you will need to learn vocabulary.

Like all languages, it’s best for you to keep a reference of what you are learning. If you find that you do not understand a particular schematic it’s encouraged for you to look it up (like a dictionary). If you aren’t sure of how the component that the particular schematic represents, it’s a good rule of thumb to seek out the component and understand how it works yourself.
Many of these resources can be found on www.rapidtables.com

So, let’s get started

Since electronic schematics evolved from electrical wiring diagrams, we will start with the wire.

It’s important to note that wires in a schematic assume almost 0 resistance, which unless noted will be the same assumption that we will be operating on.

Wires are generally shown by lines.

Electrical Wire or Conductor of Current

When wires are connected together, they are shown like this:

Connected Electrical Wires

And when they are not connected they look like this:

Not Connected Wires

Next- Power Sources-

One of the things that is helpful to identify is the power sources and grounds.

You will also run into places where a wire will simply have 5V or GND labeled, it’s most often found in microcontroller schematics where power is coming from a development kit (like the LaunchPad).

Once you've identified your power sources, it’s a good starting point to start to follow the flow of electricity.

Polarized vs. Non Polarized:

Some of the schematics are directional or polarized, where it matters what direction they are placed in the circuit (diodes, transistors, motors). Others, it doesn't matter which direction the component is placed (resistors, capacitors, inductors). Sometimes schematic writers will try and help you know which direction something needs to be placed by putting a + or a – , or a dot for GND to be found where it connects with the wire.

These are symbols that are not polarized:

These are symbols that have a + or a – and need to be used correctly.

Figuring out symbols before looking them up.

Take a look at the Diode symbol:

Now look at the LED symbol:

If you notice, the only difference between the LED symbol and the diode symbol is the arrows pointing out.
This is because an LED is a Diode Light is Emitted (or sent out)

Now, look at this symbol:

What direction the arrows are—this means that the diode accepts light.
This symbol is a photo diode.

Now take a look at the resistor:

And look at a variable resistor:

The only difference between the resistor and variable resistor is an arrow diagonally.

Take a look at this symbol and see if you can figure out what it is:

*hint, it's a capacitor*

Many times schematic symbols actually LOOK like the components they represent.

See how many of these you can identify without having to look them up.

Test Your Understanding- Schematics

printable version here

Schematics are a form of communicating to others about electronics True or False

A schematic symbol represents the functionality of an electronic component and how they are connected together. True or False

Identify the following schematic symbols and name the electronic component they represent.

What is the difference between the following two symbols:

Now describe the differences between how the components they represent function.

Based on the schematic symbol, can you guess how does the component it represents functions? Write what you think this symbol does.

Take a look at the below schematic and answer some of the following questions:

How many resistors are in this circuit?
Are there transistors in this circuit? If so, what type?

What do you think this circuit is doing?

Draw a circuit, using schematics that do the following:
Consists of an LED, 330 Ohm Resistor, Battery, pushbutton.

Extra Credit:

Use schematics to show a circuit you’ve designed or thought of. Credit will be assigned if you are able to correctly connect your schematic drawings.

Build the following circuit with your components box, take a picture of it and e-mail it to me with the title: Extra Credit: Schematic Test

LaunchPad- Proto Plate from Ponoko

2013-03-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

One of the things that has irritated me when I am working on my LaunchPad and using a breadboard is how both seem to move around a lot...

which is why I wanted to find something to "fix" both down for a cleaner look-feel.

So, I had a few of these "protoplates" made-- I fell in love with the one from AdaFruit for the BeagleBone and really wanted one for the LaunchPad and had some made.

(I have to thank Bart, if he's on here, for really making my first Ponoko trial-run so smooth).

So here is where you can order the sheet: http://www.ponoko.com/design-your-own/products/launchpad-proto-plate-9765
It's 14 total plates on the Plastic- Acrylic- Clear- 3mm- P3 sized sheet, which comes out to be about 3.50 for each plate- total about 46.50 (Bart had free shipping since he's a regular user at Ponoko).

I'm sure there is a more efficient way to arrange these to get more on the same sheet (there was a lot of extra plastic that wasn't used).

This was a trail run for me.

It comes in a large sheet, where you only need to pull off your plate

I left the backing on the plate--

Added the breadboard:

these breadboards from Mouser (I get them in packs of 10 so it comes out to be about 4.95 a piece)

The hardest part was to figure out how to connect the LaunchPad to the sheet.

Even though it's nice that the rubber feet were already included... it turned out to be inconvenient.
The BeagleBone and the Arduinos have screws that allow you to use standoffs.

In this case after trying:

hot glue, epoxy, these scrapbooking "zots" (super strong adhesive tapes in dot shape) and double stick tape and found out that all of them don't adhere to the rubber well.

What's worked is Crazy Glue.

Put it on the LaunchPad, set it down and let it dry...

then I peeled off the backing.

I'll get to test these in a workshop soon, but so far I like them, but plan on changing a few things.

It's hard to know which direction is up...

I have two sleds and one is right handed and the other is left handed... I guess if I just removed the logo all together I could have it be either right or left handed

This is what I think my next one will look like, but I'm completely open for any suggestions!
I'd prefer those to be on the discussion board here: 43oh Forum

Hope that's helpful, I've included the files to make the edits in my dropbox (it's in illustrator and the forum doesn't like the format for some reason). https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6tho7jrplryvyhl/PJAJ22XqpQ

Needle Felting and a thought on learning a new skill

2012-10-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

This week I learned how to needle felt.

Needle Felt - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needle_felting
Needle felting is a popular fibre arts craft conducted without the use of water. Special barbed felting needles that are used in industrial felting machines are used by the artist as a sculpting tool. Using a single needle or a small group of needles (2-5) in a hand-held tool, these needles are used to sculpt the wool fibre. The barbs catch the scales on the fibre and push them through the layers of wool, tangling them and binding them together, much like the wet felting process. Fine details can be achieved using this technique, and it is popular for 2D and 3D felted work.

Within the span of four days I've managed to add over 25 new pins on pinterest of future Felting animals, visit Michael's four times in two states (I travel), purchase about 50.00 worth of materials and felted enough animals for a small starter zoo for barbies. I've talked to entire airport full of people about what I was doing as well as showed several ladies on my plane how to do it.

Although I tend to get over-excited when I discover a new talent. I think my experience needle felting is fairly representative of other people (perhaps a different skill or different methods).

My thought is this, what would be the marketing potential if someone was able to capture the same sort of excitement I had with learning a new craft... and can it be recreated and deployed elsewhere?

How it started:
Some time ago at the Maker Faire in San Mateo Kenneth had found this little owl that had been needle felted and tried to get my attention and excitement about it.

I had never heard about it and although I was mildly curious, I hadn't really looked into it. He had mentioned that he wanted to go back to the Needle Felting booth and buy that owl because it was so cute, but never made it there.

Fast forward to Maker Faire NY where I was an attendee walking around looking at things in the maker shed where I saw a needle felting kit.

WoolPets in the MakerShed : Borrowed photo from Flikr ksharpphoto

During the several months between the MakerFaire San Mateo and the one in NY that I was now at we had developed a series of jokes about penguins... + I remembered he wanted to have a needle felted owl... and I bought this kit intending this to be a gift to him when I saw him next.

Wool Pets Penguin Kit: Sold at Maker Shed Photo from: stubbypencilstudio.com

The little Chinese take out box sat in my suitcase as I traveled back to Dallas, then to Seattle before finally making it to California where he was.

When I gave him the box he explained a little more about needle felting.
"My sister does a lot of these, she really enjoyed doing them.
Once you get really good, you can make a lot of neat animals.
She used them as puppets with the kids she was teaching.
etc. etc."

The following day, the kit was still sitting unopened on the table and I was graciously avoiding my laptop and outlook email.

"Um, do you mind if I tried out your kit? I'm curious how Needle Felting works..."
Although slightly Indian giver-esque, he said yes under the condition that I didn't break the needle (which I didn't know that was an issue).

And I started.
everything I needed was inside of this little box:
the wool, all of the colours, the needles and an instruction booklet.

I liked the simplicity of the instruction booklet. It got me started ... but in the end... I ended up disregarding the remaining instructions and going down a different route with my penguin.

Example of the instruction booklet starting from a different kit: Source: Blueberry Forrest

After ten/fifteen minutes and having Kenneth watch over to make sure it was turning out "cute" ... I turned out a penguin.

My completed penguin.

Although my penguin was a far cry from the cute and fluffy one that was on the box... it still looked like a penguin and because it looked more like the penguins from the iPhone doodles that Kenneth and I were passing back and forth... I was rather happy.

the inspiration penguins (iPhone doodles)

Kenneth and the new penguin reading Ham Radio Magazines :-)

After that little penguin... I decided I liked needle felting.
1. It reminded me a bit like voodoo dolls. You take a special pointy needle and stab at an object. Only instead of hurting the target, you were taking that stress and putting it into making a cute animal.
2. It felt like sculpting, but with wool instead. I was able to visualize my end product and turn it into one by manipulating the needle.
3. It was easy.

Putting the rest of the kit away (so that I didn't use ALL of the kit) I got on the Internet and started to look up other Wool Felting projects.

Rough order of what I found
The properties of wool that make wool felting possible and how the craft originated.
Prices of felt on ebay.
inspiration of other types of things that could be made
First, I found out how to make better beaks... and possibly larger wool felted animals.
Couple of ideas of what to actually do with the completed animals.
The benefits of kids playing with wool versus plastic toys.
Where to buy a lot of these materials.

I ended up deciding that my mom would enjoy doing this ... and bought her a seal pup kit instead.

The next day on my way to the airport to go back to Dallas I sheepishly (no pun intended) asked Kenneth if we could stop by Michael's again. We had gone there the day before ( to get things to repair my backpack) where I noticed wool felting materials near the sewing materials.

Once there I knew what to buy
The felting needles
Various colours of felt.

After buying those, I was dropped off at the airport where I had a few hours to kill before my delayed plane came.

I tried my first pet without the starter instructions. A baby chicken my sister and I used to play with when we were little called "Piyo-Piyo".
And... Success, made this:

Which, then looking at the colours that I had... I decided to make a penguin that was much better at representing the cartoons that I like to draw about them.

Inspiration for the penguins. My penguin relationships cartoons you can find on my tumblr feed.

The penguins I draw, in needle felt.

While I was poking at this penguin to make it, the TSA rep sitting across the way was curious and I explained why Needle Felting worked, what was it about wool... and what you could make with it. (Basically a regurgitation of the Internet research I had been doing the night before).

Having something to show people and demonstrate was a lot more effective than just talking about it. I'm not sure if anyone went and got their own kits, but now a lot of them understand what needle felting is.

sharing on facebook

Somehow in the midst of learning how to needle felt I transitioned from a consumer to an advocate.
Since then I've created... well,
another penguin ( I need a pair to do my penguin relationships comic), and a baby seal.

Then, I stopped by a local shop in Dallas (the cute name Shabby Sheep) after Jury Duty and bought some green wool + introduced the ladies there to Needle Felting and learned how to incorporate wire ... and made a dinosaur.

using pipe cleaner to be the base of the neck and the tail, now this guy is pose able.

Later, a T-Rex and then a large polar bear.

I can't stop myself from wishing that somehow I could bring this same type of energy to others by learning.
What was it about needle felting that made me so inspired and ready to tell the world about what I had accomplished?
And could this... this type of environment be applied to other things?

A look at the kit:
The kit itself was really a good way to get me started.

Unlike learning how to screen print, it was small, affordable and contained all of it's materials in ONE box. Although the process was fairly intuitive it was able to establish an end goal (the completed baby penguin) and show the way (instructions).
I imagine the kit as the following:

You're up at the lake with your older brother and friends and sleep in. When you wake up, no one is around, but there is a note on the door with a small map drawn, "At the Fergusons, take the scooter to come."
The scooter is right outside the door.
You know roughly where the Fergusons are, but you've never used a scooter before.
You're ridden a bike before and you could walk to the Fergusons.
What do you do?
If it were me? I would look at the map and focus on learning how to ride that scooter. If it failed miserably, I'd probably leave the scooter behind and head over to the Fergusons on foot.
However, the end result is the same... I'm getting to the Fergusons.

That's sorta what this kit did.
It gave me the tools.
it gave me a desired path to take (the instructions)
but more importantly, it gave me an end goal.
If I were to follow the directions, that is what I would obtain.
At any step of the way, I would be able to show how I was progressing to my goal.

The process:
It was easily understood.
Although I looked into it in depth on line, which was available, but I didn't have to understand the individual fiber contents of the different types of wool to get started. All I needed to know was, Wool when tangled together can be made into shapes.

Having this clear "How To Message" was essential in me being able to relate what I was doing to anyone else.

Otherwise, a bunch of people in the San Luis Obispo airport would be looking at me, leaned over a small stuffed figure, punching a needle into it... and think I was some sort of crazy person (then probably check around and make sure that I hadn't snagged a lock of their hair).

It wasn't until I actually started to needle the felt did I see exactly what it meant by, "hooking fibers" of wool. But, having the show portion of the show and tell, really helped me not only gauge my own progress, but it helped me relate what I was doing to everyone else who wanted to know.

The Results:
Being able to leave the instructions behind and focus on the creation of something different from the book was what hooked me thinking about it creatively. Once I covered the basic technique I was able to move to the application portion. If I had messed up in any portion of it, I could easily revert back to following the directions to salvage the project.

What I think is important:
A clear and measurable end goal.
Able to measure progress against the goal
Early Successes
Clear directions that are easily understood and explained
A Show and Tell component
Low-Barrier of entry and easily accessible upgrade.
Low-investment. If it went wrong, I didn't sink hundreds of dollars.
Low investment of time too and brain power. I could do this while watching Star Trek or sitting on the plane, I didn't need to have all of my facilities locked into the activity.
Many inspiration possibilities
information readily available.
lots of success stories from people like me.

I'm sure other reasons will come to me, but those are the ones that come to mind.

Lady Bird... haven't figured out how to make Antennae yet.

Snuggly Polar Bear

T-Rex

One of the best videos that I've watched.

2012-10-11T10:53:00.004-07:00

Reframing the Educational Problem.

thoughts on improving the user experience...

2012-09-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on Microcontroller Platforms Types

2012-09-20T08:49:00.002-07:00

I work for a semiconductor company and work with making/distribution of hardware development platforms.
As a semiconductor company, we sell silicon. However, silicon on it's own doesn't do very much-- so we have to develop methods to show-case the functionalities of the silicon. One of these methods is through a tool platform/ tool chain.

These are some of my thoughts on the development of a perfect tool chain to evaluate microcontroller silicon chips.

---------

Types of Platforms:
I want to begin this with looking at the different types of platforms that are available today.
Because my experience is with TI micro controllers, the majority of what I am speaking to has to do with the observations around these platforms.
You can take a look at what platforms I am speaking to by going to the TI estore and looking at the micro controller offerings.

I propose that these tools fall into four main categories:

These are categories that I have assigned based off of my experience with the different types of functionality and their relative position in the design cycle. Mostly focused on the end customer's behaviour.

What do I mean about end customer's behavior?

I am going to use the perfect customer as my example case.

Taking each of these segments into account... we get

Defining

Planning

Execution

Delivering

in terms of micro controller evaluation...

It's

Demoing what is possible to define requirements

Evaluating capabilities and required resources for planning purposes.

Executing on the development.

Delivering a product for production and distribution.

Demo Platforms-

Purpose: Platforms that are made to catch someone's attention.

Uses: Trade Shows, Sending these to media... show casing a particular functionality.

Primary Characteristic: "Cool Factor". This needs to be the most "product centric of all of the kits. These kits could almost be a complete product on it's own.

Best Practices: A STRONG and easy out of box experience. It needs to be quickly relatable to the lay-man or the new engineer. The better the out of box, the better the demo.

Size also-- make this so it's portable and easily shown (tactile) versus being complicated and needing a lot of engineering to get it to work. It's about making it as relatable as possible.

Opinion: I almost would put these kits as whetting appetites. If it's designed correctly it gives the user the incentive to go and "pop the hood". The best ones allow a degree of customization without forcing the user to have to enter a full-blown development process.

Here are a few of my favourite examples:

Absolute Favourite: MikroElektronika's MikroMedia using the Stellaris M3 board!

TI's EZ430-CHRONOS Watch and the Stellaris MDL-STEPPER that runs a Stepper Motor right away.

Evaluation Platforms-

Purpose: Platforms created to be able to enable a user to evaluate the chip set.

Uses: Introduction to development environments, first entry point, get familiar with a product set.

Primary Characteristic: This should be the "user experience" or the barrier to entry.

Best Practices: To have the lowest business barrier of entry (cost), size (convenient) and to allow the user to expand the platform's abilities and grow with the user's skill.

Opinion: This is the most important kit of all in my opinion. This kit is an introduction to the product line. The best kits are about-- enablement. The entire design of the kit should be about enabling the user to 1.) learn the product and 2.) get going on the product. Because these kits should be designed to follow the user development-- it should be well designed to create incentives for the user to upgrade or add functions.

Borrowed Image of the MSP430 Launchpad.

The best kit that has achieved this I've worked with is the MSP430 Launchpad.

First, TI has taken away all of the business cases to why you wouldn't evaluate the MSP430.

The platform is cheap, it's less than 5.00! Who wouldn't try something out for that.

All of the hardware required is included (on-board emulation and debug).

There is a development environment that is free and fully featured that comes with the kit.

There is also a development environment that is good for a beginner.

As you grow with the platform, you can change the centre chip out for larger function chips, or it can have functionality added with BoosterPacks. It's entirely where the user wants to take the platform.

(Where this kit could use a lot of improvement is really on the transition of it's users from the layman to expert. Today there is a severe learning gap between new users and experienced users, but this is getting improved!).

Here are some other Evaluation Kits that I like:

Predecesor to the LaunchPad. The EZ430 USB Tool.

CC3000 evaluation on the MSP-EXPFR57xx board (FRAM Development Board)

The two major themes of these kits is User experience and enablement.

Development Platforms-

Purpose: Platforms that are about delivering the full capabilities of a particular chip set.

Uses: Chip Development

Primary Characteristic: Full access to all of a chip's abilities and possible re-use for other chips.

Best Practices: Re-use and giving complete access to a chip (e.g. pinning out all of the pins)

Opinion: This should be a kit that can be seen as an investment, but an investment that should only be made once.

This is a kit that should be used by an experience user and focused on the development of a microcontroller project. These kits should be very prototype-able.

The MSP430-U boards, a ZIF socket that can take any of the same packaged MSP430 Chips and all of the pins pinned out to the edges of the board.

The MikroElektronika Easy MX ProV7 for Stellaris

Production Platforms-

Purpose: Platforms to help with production once development is done.

Uses: To mass-program chips, anything to aid with production.

Primary Characteristic: usefulness!

Opinion: Unfortunately I don't work enough with this segment of the business to have a strong opinion yet. However, I speculate the primary use of this would be to enable production to be the easiest possible.

MSP-GANG430 Programmer for programming multiple MSP430 Devices at once.

Thoughts on the perfect Platform-

After looking at all of the platforms, a lot of platforms overlap each of the categories.

This should be encouraged and expected, but just like any all-in-one kitchen tool... there are always sacrifices that have to be made. e.g. if you wanted to use the CHRONOS Watch as a development platform... you can't get to all of the pin-out of the CC430 chip on board. That would prove to be irritating if you were trying to make a product that didn't do just a form factor of the watch.

I would love to be able to take the first three platforms and create a type of ecosystem.

What I would love to see:

Using a LaunchPad + A BoosterPack we would create the perfect Demo Platform

Demo Platforms get people's attention:

LaunchPad + BoosterPack

Once you have someone's attention then they can go to evaluate the platform:

Evaluation with the MSP430-Launchpad

Advantages of making this the same platform as your demo platform is having an example to work off of. This keeps the application in mind.

When you run out of capability, I would love to see the LaunchPad be able to plug into a board like the MikroE MX Pro v7

This allows the user to expand capabilities from a place of familiarity.

When the capabilities of the LaunchPad Evaluation run out, then they can replace the socket with one of the Chip Socket Boards!

Taken from the MikroE User guide showing the card replacement.

The general idea is to allow the user to pace themselves through the development cycle on thier terms. (Just think about all of the times that I hit "IGNORE" when I get requests to upgrade software).

By allowing the user to decide when to move to a different platform you don't have to market as hard, the user is already bought into the value proposition (why would they move if they didn't need to) and they have a knowledge base that can be expanded upon (versus having them re-learn and figure out new connections).

So, that's what I would love to see...

An exciting, expandable, fully featured, evolving ecosystem centered around the user's comfort level.

Amazon Prime- The Single's Costco

2012-09-20T05:46:00.001-07:00

The other day, I was sitting in suburbia with my girlfriend and we had a conversation about Costco.

N: I love Costco, we get everything there. You can get a gigantic thing of hummus and even DVD's for really affordable.
Me: That's awesome, but you live in a house. I live in 700 square feet and have no idea where I would put a year's worth of Toilet Paper...
N: True, but if you ever want to get food, steak, chips, drinks... you should give us a call!

Yeah, Costco is awesome.

I think I got a box of 96 Batteries there once, but the membership dues + the amount of things that I could get there... really doesn't make sense for my life style. After all, space + how much I actually consume + what services they offer... I can't justify paying the $50.00 membership fee.

What I really get behind is Amazon Prime.

I got hooked into Amazon Prime a few years ago when they upgraded everyone up to Prime to try it out.

Initially I scoffed at the idea of paying 80.00 some dollars to just get upgraded shipping. At the time Amazon actually delivered their Ground Shipping faster than the 3-7 business days they advertised... so, I didn't really value 2 day shipping. Not sure if was deliberate, but after my free period wore off... it seemed that the 3-7 days actually was taking the 7 days.... and it left me missing the 2 day shipping.

A year later, I decided to try out the Prime Membership again. For three weeks I had the upgraded shipping, but they then added a function that I was actually interested in. I could borrow Kindle books (The Kindle is still my favourite piece of technology to date). However, I decided to cancel the membership having done about 40 some dollars in shipping and didn't pay anything. *Props to Amazon's customer service.

Last year this time I decided to take the plunge.
Already, I was an avid Amazon buyer. About once a month I would make some sort of purchase. With my iPhone and the Amazon Scan It and Snap it app + my Kindle reading habit + the Audible.com affiliation... Amazon was becoming one of my most frequently visited websites. Before pinterest, I was using the Amazon "ADD TO WISHLIST" button to collect the things that I wanted to find somewhere else. In addition, my Roku player (which has since replaced my Apple TV) had Amazon as one of it's player options... and I had access to many of the TV Shows and Videos...

Admittedly, it wasn't the services that initially pulled me into the membership but ironically the free shipping. In my full time job working with Universities I found myself having to send book samples to professors on a regular basis. Having booked shipped to me, then having to pack it into a Fed-Ex box and ship it to the professor just seemed to be a very inefficient and needlessly resource expensive. Even though I wasn't allowed to put the membership as a work expense, I decided to buy it myself. A lot like when people bring a custom chair or cushion to their work cubicle to make doing their job much more enjoyable... not having to deal with shipping textbooks became appealing.

Shipping over 15-20 books a month + buying miscellaneous things like Soldering Flux, irons, used books, laptop cables, iPhone cases... it was starting to add up.

Then, I decided to try something new.
I travel a lot. Last time I calculated it, I am on the road about 70% of the time. Example: I had moved back to Dallas August 2011. By January 2012, I had been in Dallas a gross total of 34 Days (including weekends). When I am home, I spend my time having to re-pack, do laundry and get ready for my next trip... which leaves very little time for shopping. Needing Conditioner, a new razor, a facebrush replacement, some ziplock bags and ink cartridges for my fountain pen... I decided to buy all of it on Amazon.

Two days later and three boxes, they were all waiting for me nicely piled on my desk when I returned from a day trip to Houston.

Then, I got truffle oil, gesso, a tomato knife, paper towels and shower-gel.

Then Clay picks (had to make a model for someone), photography printing paper, ink for my printer and a USB Battery pack.

It was becoming more appealing to quickly cart something on my phone or computer... and have it sent knowing it would arrive in a few days...

Add in the lending for Kindle
The Free Audible Downloads for Prime Members
The access to Amazon TV
Letting me add three people to my account to use my Prime Membership.
Using a WishList like a shopping list
Being able to manage an address book of Professors.
The upgraded shipping.
and I'm officially hooked.

I don't need the bulk toilet paper, or steak by the cow's entire left side... what I need is something that is convenient and is able to cover my many whims and needs at the time I have them. Add in the added benefit of not having to go to the store and deal with all of the overhead of people... I can spend that time doing other things I enjoy.

Face Lotion

The Ad from Target that gets shipped to everyone.

I'm sure it's a matter of time for Amazon to partner with a grocery chain to do online grocery shopping (I used to do that in Minneapolis at Lunds and Byerlys when the weather was exceptionally daunting.) Amazon Prime can compete head to head with the Costco's and Sam's Clubs.

Academics vs Educators: Thoughts on Faculty Make-Up at Universities

2012-09-17T20:37:00.002-07:00

"Universities are Institutions which the educators have lost interest in the students."

Several years ago, I penned those words for my University Admissions essay to a prestigious school in the US as a high school senior applying for her undergraduate degree. My admissions essay proceeded to blast University Systems for not focusing on their largest constituents, the students. I never got into that school. I had gotten a generic, "Thank you for applying, but unfortunately..." letter that didn't go into any sort of detail. But it was that view I held onto for the greater part of my education.

With such a controversial admissions essay I was surprised that a few Universities still wanted me. (Granted, some of them had automatic admissions for top 10% of your graduating class, but there were a few that found my essay provocative and after all of the chips fel)l-- I managed to get myself into a decent school, with a few scholarships and a good prospect for full time employment afterwards. Several years later and now in a position where I work intimately with Universities... on the subject of Undergraduate Education-- I've refined my opinion... and found it interesting opinion shift.

"Universities are Institutions which the educators have lost interest in the students."

Universities, or any post secondary education, voluntary education are also known as Higher Education. Most of these schools are voluntary attendance and are a place where students may continue their education. Wikipedia has a good download on the general statistics and facts about Universities.

The United States has a total of 4,495 Title IV-eligible, degree-granting institutions: 2,774 4-year institutions and 1,721 2-year institutions,^[2] an average of more than 115 per state. As of 2010, the US had 20.3 million students in higher education, roughly 5.7% of the total population.^[3] About 14.6 million of these students were enrolled full-time.^{[4] -Wikipedia on US Higher Education}

It is accepted across most Industrial Societies that Universities are an integral part of the fabric of society. These are places of learning, research, development and... teaching.

The word Institution has it's own set of connotations.
Rom Harre that states:

"An Institution [is] defined as an interlocking double-structure of [people] with [jobs] and [administration] and of social practices involving both expressive and practical aims and outcomes."

How do I interpret that?

There are two parts to an institution. 1. The goals/aims of the institutions creation
and the 2. resources required to achieve those.

Applying to Universities, a University is united in purpose and cause or establishment, but requires resources to exist. These resources are a combination of those who are simply a part of the Institution, are a contributor to such or are managing aspects (if not the entire) establishment.

The major point to me?-- Universities are complex multi-layered objects that require resources at all levels to function. (Keeping that in mind helps shape the remainder of what it takes to understand certain issues (such as Students' importance being downgraded).)

Perhaps a long way to get to the point, but I find it helpful to step through each level as I discuss it.

Universities are Institutions

Institutions require Resources

Resources are People+Skill Sets+ Immediate (Tools and Equipment) Assets+ Future Investments

More Succinct: Tools + Equipment, Hiring and training of people, and Investments= Need Funding

Bottom Line: Universities = Need Funding

*Side Note* If one ever wanted to understand the motivations of a particular University for shaping their curriculum as it is... one only needs to see the sources of funding.

"Universities are Institutions which the educators have lost interest in the students."

Since Universities the constituency is assumed to be students... a University will always have a student component to their charter.

A way I often look at the quality of a University is by measuring the quality of students.

Looking at the institution as if it were a process and the student was the output.

As with most things you can judge it either by it's process or the result. Although we often say, "It's not the result of the game, but rather how you played it..." (process) by human nature we will always put more importance on the direct impact or (result).

In the United States, the calibre of a University is often times measured by either the types of students it attracts or... the types of students that it outputs.

None the less, every University must have a paradigm where students are an integral role.

"Universities are Institutions which the educators have lost interest in the students."

This is where my statement... is in need of being revised.

Looking at a University and assuming all of the people part of its ranks had Education first in mind ... is similiar to the frustrations that I feel when someone looks at the company I work for and assumes all divisions are exactly the same. In Universities, Educators, although perhaps integral part, are not the only division of labour.

calling out the major groups (according to my view) within a University.

Administratives, Academics and Educators.

Academics and Educators are different

Both Academics and Educators are found in the same place, Universities.

Both have a propensity and a drive to learn/discover.

The key differentiator between an Academic and an Educator though is how they use the University.

Academics are focused on the learning of a new idea/concept or in more common terms Research. Their view on the University is about using the University as a vehicle to other things (more research).

It's Educators that take that same focus on learning... and instead of applying it to external topics ... they apply that interest and energy into the classroom/students= Teaching. Educator's view on the University is as a purpose/mission/responsibility.

Both have their own merits and values and neither one nor the other is better than the other. A University is judged greatly on the type of students they can attract or the type of students they can turn out and both Academics (Research), Educators(Teaching) and all of the Administrative functions (viewing Universities as the main focus) the are all needed.

For an Institution to be healthy, it's the balance of these segments that really makes a difference.

I had the opportunity to sit in a University visit where the focus was clearly Research Centric.

The VP that I was with opened the meeting with the following:

"I'd like to spend some time talking about your teaching before you go into your Research. I feel what you teach your undergraduate students is what a school really believes."

*Side Note* We ended up funding the department anyways, (Luckily the faculty in the room didn't bat and eye and enthusiastically agreed).

Where the problem arises is when the University begins to tilt the balance to other segments at the detriment of other segments. Issues such as: Funding or Resources are usually primary drivers.

My VP asking the University to first speak about their Educational efforts was checking the program's balance. Too often a school will be spectacular at turning out researchers and projects ... but the students that are attending don't get any of the benefits. I personally chalk it up to an imbalance.

Examples:
Here are a few observations I've had from traveling and looking at different school's curriculums in regards to what type of students they tend to turn out... (of course there are different extremes, I only selected a few):

========= Examples of Imbalanced Curriculums=========

Evolving Institutions- We find these types of schools when either the department is new, there is an interim head from a different school. distance ed type of curriculums or there is a LOT of turn over in the department.

+ These are fairly regimented and process oriented curriculums. There is very clear paths.
+ There oddly usually is a lot of flexibility in the curriculum and special programs such as study abroad, outreach and work-study.
+ Many times these curriculums use material from other schools, so you can get the same material as a more prestigious school (depends on the teacher).
- Faculty is often times not motivated to go against the processes and instead are only there to collect pay-cheques.
- Students are left to fend for themselves.
- Resources are usually consumed outside the department and students don't get to see the results.

The types of undergraduates these tend to turn out... are usually very well rounded in all disciplines... but weak on the technical skills they obtained (e.g. Electrical Engineering).

Research Institutions- Schools where the faculty is mostly composed of researchers.
+ Best and Brightest minds are attracted to the facilities and the prestige in working at these schools
+ University has access to direct funding for the research and publicity
+ Students have access to cutting edge research ideas
- Requires a great deal of resources to continually attract the best
- University usually becomes specialised in a particular area.
- Students are often not taught by the professor, but rather TA's or Graduate Students

The type of undergraduates these tend to turn out are... future graduate students/ require re-training when they are hired by employers. These students usually are lacking strong fundamentals or are very specialized into one area of expertise.

Teaching Institutions- Schools where the faculty is mostly composed of educators.
+ Strong focus on fundamentals
+ Faculty is focused on the students
- tends not to attract big names or "wow" factor faculty.
-funding may be difficult to obtain

These types of graduates are my favorite. However, I have run into issues where they are too theory based without enough hands-on-research like exposure. These tend to be technically sound graduates that may need to be refined.

========

As with most venn diagrams, the overlap is usually the most interesting.

Below is my take on the type of faculty that exists within each of these segment.

This is where a few pivotal faculty members can easily change the dynamic of a curriculum. e.g. A strong researcher that has interest in education can bring his research into the classroom to give students a hands-on experience. An Educator with an administrative bent may want to standardize the curriculum and offer more options. Most importantly, I have found that department heads that are well balanced... tend to manage programs that tend to mirror that balance.

You can also take the same diagram and map out examples below:

Using the Stephen Hawkings: "Students are the transition between the layman to the expert" and my Bamboo Writing Tablet to scribble my notes...

I'm sure there are more things that I can put on these graphs.

Looking back on that college admission essay, I should have revised my statement to

"Some Universities are Institutions which ~~the educators~~ the Academics have over-whelmed the Educators and the University has lost interest in the students."

... and focused on the merits of Teaching Institutions over Research or Administrative. In the end it really just depends on how that University sees the value of each of these departments and knows what type of student they wish to turn out. Good, Bad... Indifferent... because Universities are voluntary, it ultimately comes down to the student's choice... which, in my case? I would have chosen a teaching institution :-)

Overview of Main Points:

Universities tend to be large and complex organizations and expectations should not be that they are only made up of Educators.
In a University the need for resources drives a lot of decisions.
Both Academics and Educators exist to pursue learning. However, Academics/Research pursue learning using the University as a means versus Educators pursue learning as their purpose.
The Administrators in the University are important to offer extra curricular and services.
The balance of these departments influences largely what type of students the program will output.

What do I carry in my Backpack?

2012-08-17T11:42:00.004-07:00

I was on the airplane yesterday scrolling through my RSS feeds and came across Adafruit's blog post, Asking Readers about what they carry in their backpack as people got ready to go to school.

http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2012/08/16/this-is-my-backpack-show-me-yours/

so here it goes...

----

What's in my backpack?

My backpack at the Alamo in San Antonio while I was there for the ASEE Conference.

My backpack is a combination of a purse, demo-box, life line and project transporter. At any moment the contents can drastically change, but for the purposes of this post I've decided to highlight only the things that are regulars (or have been in my pack for longer than a week).

First, my backpack... is simply awesome. It's called the Off-Grid from Voltaic Systems (a really neat company that makes rugged solar panels) and was actually my second bag from them. Some of the high points.

1. It has multiple pockets that can really carry almost everything that I need to. I like to compartmentalize things, and having the options where to put things is really nice.

2. I can split the solar panels between multiple packs instead of just using the one that it came with (they expose the junction box for you to re-wire if you want).

3. It fits, even fully stuffed, under the seat in front of me in the airplane.

4. It has a wire from the panel pack to the shoulder pocket, so I can charge my phone AND use it with headphones (thank you for that).

5. I can detach the front panels and take them with me even if I need to leave my backpack behind (e.g. Picnic at the park).

*I'm going to limit my gushing about Voltaic Systems because easily this post will become all about my amazing backpack. Instead, I'll get into the contents!

First things unpacked- Sitting at Gate 16 at the St. Louis Airport.

1. The back section

a. My personal laptop 13 Inch MacBook Pro Neon Green is kinda my colour, so I have a cover + a keyboard cover on it.

b. My work laptop. It's some version of a Dell. It runs Windows 7 now. The only reason why I use this one is for Code Composer Studio, National Instrument's LabView and to do official VPN things. I did get a skinit sticker on it that shows the TI portfolio. Once CCStudio becomes compatible with Mac then I'll stop carrying this thing around and just use my regular mac computer exclusively.

c. 1 copy of Space Games Kenneth and his sister told me a story about how they got seriously into programming when they were children because of a library book. Curiosity got the better of me so I ordered a version of the book. I've been going through some of the games and love it. I'm hoping to write a couple of these myself one day.

d. Amazon Kindle DX with Otterbox Case- around Christmas time they had a huge sale on woot.com and I got one of these for 200! The Kindle (original size) was my favourite piece of technology. Getting it's big brother has also been just as satisfying (and useful!) Primarily because it's large enough to read datasheets and manuals.

I like the otterbox case (only complaint is there is no screen protector).

e. Plain old composition book: I use these to do my speedwriting and just idea dump. After school supply season is over you can get these at target for $0.25. I go through one probably one every two weeks.

f. MoleSkine Voliant XLarge Notebook: this is where I do my creative planning or note taking.

2. The Middle Section

This is probably the most interesting section of my backpack.

a. My Favourite Battery Pack: Energizer XP4001 This is my life saver. It power kits and it powers my phone. I like this particular pack over all of the other ones I've tried because there are two USB ports.

b. Charger for above battery pack: I did label and put my phone number and email on the charger.( I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally left this charger and had it returned to me. Moral, make sure to put your phone number on your adapters!)

c. charging adapter for Work Computer.

d. Misclaneous Kits. (covered below)

e. My Sonic Screwdriver- Pen: What girl doesn't have one? :-)

f. Lamy Safari Fountain Pen- Charcoal Medium Nib: My favourite pen... that I've had for years. Here's a fun post to explain this weird affinity.

g. Slap Bracelet ... that is also a ruler

h. My headphones: Foldable Darth Vader Headphones using the Apple Core Wire Keeper

i. macbook charger

j. lipgloss

k. chap stick

l. Sony bloggie HD Camera

m. hairbrush

n. FRAM For Dummies book I'm reviewing.

a.The expanded Slap Bracelet I got into trouble with TSA for storing it like this. (Apparently it looks like a knife blade when going through xray. Make sure your slap bracelet is rolled up if you are planning on flying. )

b. My accessories box (covered below)

c, d. Kits box 2 (boris on the cover)

e. Sun Glasses (prescription but I never seem to ever use them because I am seldom in the sun ;-/

f. My real glasses

g. Beaglebone Tin

h. My Pens Box (covered below)

i. The Launchpad Box: I found this card container at the container store (that is perfect so this will fit in the back pocket of jeans).

j. My mobile hotspotL A life saver for internet wherever I am.

k. car keys

l. Badges for Both the TI sites and the National Sites

m. Toothbrush and paste

n. My Livescribe Pen

3. The Kits I carry

a. BeagleBone revision A6 in the A5 Special Edition Tin.

b. Anaren AIR Module for the MSP430 It's the node part of a demo I have for my Chronos Watch

c. MSP430 Launchpad for the Launchpad in the Wild Photos,

d. Captouch Boosterpack

e. The Happy Earplug: An inside joke that began with an earplug that had a smiley face put on it.

f. 5529 MSP430 Kit- Prime kit for education I'm testing some of the lab exercises on.

g. Hotel Key card- I forgot to return a while ago, but have found useful as a scraper or prying tool.

h. Short IPhone Cord: Oddly useful.

i. various adapters for Voltaic Backpack

j. Square Reader: For taking payments at seminars.

k. Voltaic Battery Pack - that came with the backpack

l. C2000 launchpad just released

m. C2000 LED Booster Pack

n. breadbaord

o. Ardunio uno

4. The Pens Box

a. pen holder (it's actually a sushi holder I found at the 100 Yen Store when I was visiting the Tokyo office)

b. Extra ink refills for the livescribe pen

c. Eraser and sharpener (although no wooden pencils...)

d. Post-its.

e. The best give away ever. ADI had these mini screw drivers that were pen sized you could change the heads from. I haven't been able to this yet.

f. Sharpies: dark blue and black. Also super useful in a pinch.

g. Pen I stole: From the waiter in the Dallas Ft. Worth Airport Chili's... that I never got around to taking out.

h. Drawing Pens: for better doodles or when I'm feeling artistic

i: I forgot this letter...

j: Various Japanese Mechanical Pencils: I think japan has some of the neatest stationery. I always pick up a few in the gift shop when I am in Japan.

k. My favourite pencil of all time- it's a drafting pencil I've had since University.

l. Appropriate Pencil refills (0.7mm for the drafting and 0.5mm for the Japanese Pencils).

m. This pencil actually belongs in the below box

5. The front pocket + Accessories Box

a. Mini Tweaker Speaker, USB charged and powered. Surprisingly loud.

b. Extention cord ZipLinq

c. Retractable iphone cable

d. retractable mini mouse originally I had it for the BeagleBoard XM demo, but ended up using it as it's a really good mouse.

e. USB Memory Stick: given to me because it turns into Anakin Skywalker #bestgiftever

f. mini pen if I run into a spot where I forget mine.

g. retractable Ethernet : these come with all of the Stellaris Ethernet Kits

h. Retractable Audio

i. USB female to USB micro male (needed for the Stellaris LM4F Kits).

j. Retractable USB: Male to female extension

k. USB micro charge only (needed for the WiFi Hot spot, like the iPhone short cord, this is useful when charging off the battery packs.

l. USB charger with 45 degree angle for USB Mini good for demo kits and also the Voltaic Battery pack

m. USB Micro Cable (for kindle and data USB Micro).

n. another skipped letter...

p. Game Piece Carry Case bought at the container store.

before dissembling.

Proof it all fits.

getting ready to get on the plane with my bag.

Happy Earplug :-)

So that's what's inside of my backpack!

My first try at videos... building a story.

2012-08-15T18:15:00.002-07:00

So this is an experiment in building a story for Marketing reasons.

Background:
One of the common problems I find when I address students is a general misunderstanding on who and what Texas Instruments (the company I work for) does.
So I set out to make a presentation that would address that.

I am reaching beyond the normal audience that our Marketing Communications normally goes for and this type of messaging may not be of value to the core customer base. After all, it is very simplistic, but it's end goal (in my opinion) is to establish a baseline.

I wanted to try creating this type of presentation on my own for two reasons.

I could tweak and test it without costing thousands of valuable Marketing Communications budget/time and
To test if I was able to build a compelling TI story on my own.

So, this video/presentation came into existence.

Here are just some of my thoughts:
-It's better to go simple rather than complex. It's easy to get into the complex details quickly. Rather than having to stop the momentum of the message and have to backfill.

- It's far better to show versus tell. Using photos and animations to enhance your message.

-Timing is critical in trying to get this to read like a conversation. However, I think I needed to figure out Keynote's timing a little better ... seems a little fast when looking at the video.

-I attempted to appeal to the broader cause... what is our company all about? I think a lot of times people underestimate the desire to have a cause bigger than themselves to align to. This was the message I was grasping for.
I call this message the "Tell Grandma what you do" appeal. I come from a family of non-technical educators, so to get them to understand that Texas Instruments is actually NOT a calculator company... is really a stretch. However, they understand materials, understand inventing... and if I give them the broader cause... their imagination will fill it in.

So, here's the first of the three videos. I will post the others as I finish and get them fine tuned.
I'd love to get comments on it (if anyone is reading).

Side Note* This is the first time I used Apple KeyNote to make a presentation.

I have to say that Apple did a really good job in making it pretty intuitive in how easy it is to make videos.

What I really think when I see an Error Code in Code Composer Studio

2012-08-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

I have another blog where I like to post little short digestible tid-bits I find when I'm trouble shooting or dealing with documentation with my tools or students.

At the time of posting that one, I had to restrain myself from putting my translations next to each of these.

However, in this post I've put my thoughts in. (Perhaps because I'm hoping I'm not the only person who feels this way and am looking for the Code Composer equivalent to a Gym-Buddy).

My inner voice is typed in green.

/*Begin Post*/

TITLE: Code Composer Studio V5 Error Codes

Not sure anyone else is like this but I hate it when I get an error code in debug/run and can't figure out what it means. This possibly could be helpful. Really, it's a nice sigh of relief if I manage to do a compile without a million errors called out. Almost as if Code Composer is giving me a little shout out, "Yay, you actually know what the heck you are doing.".

Embedded in the MSP430 C/C++ Compiler guide there is a chart. Not sure why this was so hard to find, but it's there on page 36 in document http://www.ti.com/lit/ug/slau132g/slau132g.pdf

A fatal error indicates a problem so severe that the compilation cannot continue. Examples of such problems include command-line errors, internal errors, and missing include files. If multiple source files are being compiled, any source files after the current one will not be compiled. I am a moron and I forgot to copy a big chunk of the header file or probably mis-typed the include files...
An error indicates a violation of the syntax or semantic rules of the C/C++ language. Compilation continues, but object code is not generated. I cannot type and possibly suffer from a form of typing dyslexia.
A warning indicates something that is valid but questionable. Compilation continues and object code is generated (if no errors are detected). That Rockstar feeling when I get a clean run... a little diminished. Almost like winning a beauty contest but only because the competition was disqualified and you were the only contestant. Hey, most times I'll take it though. The minimum would not be the minimum if it was not acceptable to ... well the compiler, but that means I have no breathing room for any errors.
A remark is less serious than a warning. It indicates something that is valid and probably intended, but may need to be checked. Compilation continues and object code is generated (if no errors are detected). By default, remarks are not issued. Use the --issue_remarks compiler option to enable remarks. I am glad these are suppressed. I already have the in-line editor that gives me enough grief... not sure how I would feel about additional error flags in the debug window...

Typical *sigh*

underestimating colour...

2012-08-08T05:30:00.002-07:00

I am completely and utterly into the colour neon green.

So much so that recently, Kenneth, to get me a gift to impress me--got me a neon green iPhone charger.!
Something as mundane, but every day as a phone charger; being my favorite colour was enough to make me smile all day.

The kiwi green iPhone charger from the wonderful man in my life

Which is what prompted me to write this post.

I would have gladly paid an extra few dollars to get a neon green iPhone charger over the standard white one.

The concept that a colour could make all of the difference in a purchasing decision may be lost on some, but I contend that colour choice and appeal is a crucial option decision for any company hoping to market to a broader audience.

Take a look at what apple did in it's comeback with the iBook and iMac!

If someone asked me... I would take a lime green ibook any day (even though old and probably slow).

I speculate that,

Colour is the easiest and fastest way for someone to express their individuality/creativity.

After all, if I were to try to appeal to a large audience-- I'd think the fastest way to do so is to allow them to have a say (customise the product).

Maybe a good way to give it a try would be to release a "special edition" of your product...

Example: Xbox releasing the HALO version of the xbox

or Kitchen Aid and all of their stand mixer colour versions.

In my every day job... I work a lot with Microcontroller development boards.

What I work with...

As amazing as the technology is... it's not the presentation people fall in love with.

So if I could have a request for those people who are making these development boards... I wish that colour was a bigger factor in your designs.

ESPECIALLY if you are working on an entry level boards-- that is targeted at someone is being introduced to electronics.

After all, every company releases the standard Green PCB (although I love green, it's really pretty mundane after a while):

Snapshot of boards from TI's eStore. All standard green.

Take a look at this to a company called littlebits.cc

It's not that their products are THAT revolutionary, after all there are other products out there that are just as modular, and appeal to the same type of audience (e.g. ModKit). However, what got me hooked and clicking to support was the fact that they had incorporated colours into the overall marketing of their product!

from littlebits.cc

So... Here are a few things I'd like people who make kits to consider:
Allow people to express themselves by customizing, either through add on functions (like covers, or enclosures) or through offering other colour options.

From a marketing standpoint, use colour to call attention to your products.
For those in my industry--this is particularly important if you actually specialize in being a semiconductor manufacturer-- and releasing development boards to market is a "necessary evil" to get your product out. It's important because the board is essentially the "face" of how you would like someone to perceive the product (chip).

For example: If everything on the table is either standard pcb green, black or red... go for something exciting like Purple!, or release a special edition of your board ( I bet you'd be surprised by the excitement it brings).

Overall point-- don't underestimate how much lift you can get from giving a few colour options.
I (if anyone is listening).. would like to have a neon green development board next :-)

*disclaimer, if your product is simply awful, no colour will really make it any better...

Widgets for Website Navigation

2012-07-31T20:17:00.001-07:00

I applaud some of the business units in TI for trying to make navigating their portfolio easier.
One of the ones that I particularly like is what they have on the TI Home Page-- Web Bench.
I think the most effective marketing is marketing that serves to educate first and then pull through products second... this tool does this perfectly.

Playing around with the tool you can play with optimizing for size, cost, heat... and a variety of design considerations. What's nice is that you don't have to dig around in a data sheet to get the equations required to calculate to model the different considerations.

I wish I had thought to do these exercises real time to give the screenshots... on my to do list for a revision of this blog post.

Things that I noticed/ see opportunity in:
1. ) you can choose a "optimization" this is kinda like a paradigm that all of the selection of parts fall into. I would love to see the groupings that drive this, what characteristics and what parameters make it fall into these buckets. I'd like to make available to other tool/software companies to make better and more intergrated tools.

2.) If the above is too much... I wish that they would let me "turn off" these optimziations... or at least output a "The reason why we selected this was because you choose ..." That way I'm aware of why the part was in there.

Way I can use this right now...
The LED Design tool is going to be helpful while we are working on the LED power curtain project I have my interns working on :-)

(Also, no wonder why so many of the students I talked to LOVE this tool... they probably are turning this information out as lab reports).

In conclusion-- I need/want to see more of these types of tools out there. Tools that help solve a problem first... and by doing so add value... THEN sell something.

The Dark Ages are Coming for Engineering Education...

2012-07-17T06:46:00.000-07:00

Aside from that, this is a bit of rant... and this is what set me off:

Around Christmastime I was given one of these by my mother's boyfriend. Unfortunately somehow I had lost it during the move and with my mother and her boyfriend coming to visit soon-- I decided to go and buy one to replace the lost one.

Meet my Apple "Magic" Trackpad.

It's nice.
I like it and enjoy using it. After all, its a very well designed multi-touch capacitive touch bluetooth mousepad. It's exactly like the trackpad on my macbook, except I can sit on my couch and use it instead of having to have the machine on my lap. No problems here.

But, it's not the product that I object to...

It's the Marketing of the product.

Marketing a consumer electronics product as "magic" really does not do me any favors. Labeling electronics as "magic" gives the people the illusion that those who design/work with electronics are some class of "wizards and warlocks".

Just because you cannot see electrons moving with the naked eye, doesn't mean that it's magic.

Consider, several hundred years ago we couldn't see germs... and doctors in the middle ages were seen as a cross between a religious man and a wizard. There was no understanding on what made people sick, where disease came from-- and people lived in fear and superstition about life and death. The common man was vulnerable for those who wished to take advantage of these fears and superstitions. The practicing early health care professional struggled to overcome the emotion and misconception in order to advance their profession.

A Mid-Evil Alchemy/Health Chart

It wasn't until the breakthrough of understanding germs and micro-organisms did the medical profession begin to make significant advances. Furthermore, it wasn't until the layman understood these impacts did we see the benefits of these advances. No longer was being a doctor a charter handed down from God, but rather it was a learned skill to contribute to the common good.

Look at modern day. Except the issue at hand isn't the germ, but rather how electronics work. In a day that more and more consumer applications are having higher levels of electronic content, it's odd how little the common person understands the mechanics how those devices work. As the dependency on these items increases so should the amount of people who understand them. But it's not the case.

In America, it's harder and harder to recruit students to want to become electrical and computer engineers working with electronics. Engineering is difficult to begin with, but Electrical and Computer Engineers are seen as a subclass within these groups.

I remember when I was in school seeing a shirt that said, "You can't spell "Geek" without EE". More recently I saw a similar one that said, "You can't get spell "Creep" without EE."

The overall issue? It's difficult to get students to relate to and understand what a EE or CE major does.

Mostly because there is a sort of misconception that what they do is on par to communing with the "dark arts" and only those with very special powers should/could/would want to do that.

After all, "magic" can only be preformed by a select few.

As comical as it is to imagine looking at the electronics industry almost like a Harry Potter book... as an Engineering Education professional, I'm more alarmed by the subtle cultural impact these attitudes have.

First, it perpetuates the "us" versus "them" mentality. That knowledge of electronics would not normally cross camps and should be concentrated to an elite few (which is probably why Apple also refers to their store helpers as "geniuses").

Second as a result of elitism around electronics understanding there comes a risk that there are too few players in a market that...

Thirdly, is growing and people are starting to shape their lives around and become dependent upon.

(If you don't believe me on this dependency, go and put a little ball of paper between the ethernet jack on your router/modem and the ethernet cable... and watch how vehemently the occupants needing the internet act when they can't figure out what's wrong. Props for anyone who has someone in their house that will unplug it and look to see what is causing the issue, but I doubt they would go through the trouble).

Fourth, this same population that is trusting that the technology they are using is there to enhance their lives will be first to cry out and call foul when a perceived offense occurs... and somehow the lack of their ability to make an informed decision is blamed on the few (pretty much analogous to the American Financial Systems where people were taking out home loans they didn't understand trusting that the Bank would tell them if something was amiss).

Lastly, other countries don't appear to have this same passive attitude for understanding electronics. And although we may be innovators today-- as the supply of engineers dries out, we will have to turn to other countries to fill those demands. Instead of driving innovation by having the best and most creative minds at work, we will just be maintaining the status quo.

If anyone were to make a significant impact to helping reverse this?... it could be Apple.
Apple with their incredible reach, cult following and ability to inspire people to appreciate technology is amiss their responsibility here.
Instead they choose to perpetuate the gap between electronics know-how and the layman. Charging a premium for the "ease of use" and benefiting from the fact that many people can't bother to learn how the product works.
After all, why would you when a "genius" will answer your question about your "magic" product?

Type in the word "Magic" on the Apple Store and these are the results...

On that note...
I have to go to work.
And I will need to resist the urge to re-name all of my daily interactions at the semi-conductor company I work for with World of Warcraft references.

PS.
IF you are interested here's a link to the Trackpad teardown .
I do appreciate how well designed the trackpad is. I just don't want to diminish the amount of brilliant engineering to something as superfluous as "magic".

A look at processing of communication

2012-07-16T22:06:00.001-07:00

Since the primary function of language is to facilitate communication I wanted to look at the fundamentals of communication.
These are a collection of my notes that serve as background for me on other ideas:

A look at the processing of communication:

Communication is defined as: is the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior.

As with any system there are some inputs, a process and an output.
What makes human communication so complex is the ability for many concurrent channels to be opened at once. (It's this simultaneous processing and transmission of information that happens real-time that always fascinates me how wonderfully efficient the human design is. )

For simplicity sake we are going to focus on the person and assume all of this person's communication is received perfectly by the "outside" world bubble (we all know that isn't the case, but for the purposes of this, I want to narrow our focus).

Within the person, a look at the process segment:

First, I'd like to look at Resources.

Very similar to a computer, resources in this case is memory.

I assert that the the process of increasing resources permanently is called = learning.

Very simplistically I am going to assert that Resources for communication depends on : it's how efficiently the person can access their memory and what contents are present.

(This is a very complex process and there are countless of research papers on the mechanics, but this will not be covered here).

Inside of the resources is a memory process.

Taking some input externally (or internally) the thought moves through short term memory into long term memory. It's the growing of long term memory that = increasing resources= the learning process.

This is very simplistic way of looking at how memory is processed, but the relationship between long term and short term memory needs to be kept in mind when discussing learning.

Not depicted on that chart is how the brain removes information or forgets.

If any part of this memory recall, processing, learning and filtering is broken -- the person will be considered to have a disability.

There is a great deal of research on the causes of different disabilities and what part of the brain's information shuttling is off- e.g. bypassing short term memory and into long term is found as a symptom of autism. A weak link between short term and long term memory (the consolidation and categorization process) is what causes ADD.

Next is a look at the input.

Inputs come from either internally actioned or externally.

This is where our five senses come in. Our senses are the external input receptors we need to take data from the outside world.

Once that data is received then the memory process can process it.

The remarkable thing about the inputs is that unlike resource/memory problems, input problems can either be compensated through other senses or even replaced.

It's very seldom that we only take in information through one sensor and often times it's the combination of all of the senses that delivers the most complete data transmission. The input can happen consciously or subconsciously. In the case of reading= conscious. In the case of sizing up a new person, most of the judgement occurs subconsciously with the result a "feeling" about that person.

A little bit different is the internal inputs.

I put emotions separately from memory. However these are inputs that happen either as feedback or pre-set conditions that go into the communications process. e.g. has a stomach ache and has a feeling of unease.

I wanted to cover the outputs before touching on the process.

The output are the results that are expected or happening during the communication.

I view the outputs as the actions that happen as a result of receiving information.

Either an action will be generated that can be viewed by the outside world or there actions that are generated internally that are not part of the outside world and may instead be an iteration of the process.

It's in the output that we see the differences between stylistic approaches.

Example: The difference amount of external versus internal communication is what makes the difference between introverts and extroverts.

Now a look at the process.

The chart is just an example of the decision that is being made for the particular input.

The branched logic is something that our brains can process concurrently with multiple threads.

Each step of the logic requires the information to be processed, matched against recalled information, compared, categorized then decision to either move to the next step or disregard.

It's the combination of how many of these processes you have access to versus the ones you have to create from scratch that determines how quickly you communicate.

It's the success of these processes that determines if you are likely to use the same method again.

Success= reinforcement = more likely to commit that particular process to memory.

Once in memory, then the next factor is how quickly and accurately you can recall the information.

(back to the resources section above).

Many of these processes happen in our subconscious and only if we wish to defy the result we would need to modify the process.

The closer to the subconscious a process is, the faster the process happens = the less opportunity you have to modify the result.

Since communication is the mechanism which information is received and transmitted-- then communication plays a large role in the learning process of an individual.

The next step is to evaluate the communication mechanisms, in particular the use of language.

Since communication is the process which information is acquired then the mechanism which communication occurs would be through language.

Meet Launchpad

2012-07-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

TI MSP30 Launchpad

The Launchpad was created in the later half of 2010 to show case the MSP430G2xx ValueLine Microcontroller. The MSP430 -- a 16 bit, RISC architecture, 27 instruction set, integrated analog peripherals and ultra low power -- was looking at it's 25 year anniversary in the market. The processor, although considered mature in this Industry's time line (when products older than 2 years are considered old news) was not only successfully thriving, but it's adoption was expanding.

After all, when you look at the reason why it was created in the first place (to be a Mixed Signal Processor and do all of it's work using as little power as possible), the needs of it's initial creation are just as relevant if not more so today. After all, with the world we live in becoming more and more integrated with electronics-- there is a greater need to add processing (digital) to the real world (analog). Make the need for this to integrate as seamlessly with our lives as possible... and you get concerns as small size and portability. Size and Portability drive applications to have to run on batteries... and to run on them as long as possible, so the low power characteristic is in high demand.

If I could pick a quote that really describes how the MSP430 team looks at the future it would be this one from Fred Wilcox.

Progress always involves risk; you can't steal second base and keep your foot on first."
— Frederick Wilcox

With ownership of the Ultra Low Power Market, a successful product line and a reasonably steady future demand... the MSP430 group had a choice. Either stay in status quo and do more of the same things that made the group successful in the past, or take a few risks and bets where the market would go. From that stance investments were made. Investments that would further the existing way they had been doing business, by winning with Ultra Low Power (FRAM was born) ... but then also looking at making investments to develop a new way of thinking about their existing products... so the Value Line was created.

The question was asked-- what new innovations and ideas could we enable if we gave the market a micro controller with power, performance and capability -- but we took away any excuse a customer would have to consider putting one in their system? What if we shook up the stereotypes that 8 bit processing and all of the hoops that you had to jump through to get an 8 bit processor to preform, plus gave the designers highly integrated analog components and made it run so low power... it was no additional tax on their system-- what could happen? Keep in mind, this was a risk on the MSP430 group's part... by putting out a "value line" of an existing product, they stood a chance at cannibalizing their own shipping business at the higher price points-- but the bet that the world could use more processing and the MSP430 was the right processor for it was compelling and overcame those concerns.

TI makes semiconductors. We like to make them, we do it well... and it's my opinion that we do it the best (after all, how many of our competitors actually still own fabs, have a quarter of the product offering and run profitability like we do? ) Evaluation boards and Development boards... are a bit of a necessary evil. We need to have them for us to get our chips into the market.

Providing evaluation/development boards is really an art form. It requires a special blend of knowing the chip's abilities, what is required to interact with it and who your potential users will be. Since the Value Line was being released as an experiment for- where can the market find use for adding mixed signal processing to their applications-- the last characteristic, arguably always the most difficult, was a bit nebulous. Despite that, the development board for the Value Line device-- was born and called the MSP430 Launchpad.

The Launchpad was designed with five key factors in mind:

To remove any business objection from any engineer to try out MSP430.
To have all of the necessary tools needed to evaluate the chip, in one place and make it as easy as possible to see the capabilities and understand the value proposition for MSP430.
To give a path to expansion into either larger capability chips or to more fully featured options.
To keep the chip and the platform "production ready" , that with any design-- there would as little as possible holding the design back from becoming a product.
To open the door to the possibilities of using MSP430 and serve as inspiration for the designer to try out new ideas.

The primary audience? Existing Engineers. Engineers that knew how to already program, or were close to it. Engineers who had been using 8 bit micro controllers because of cost... Engineers that never had a compelling reason to try a microcontroller out.

In the box- the Launchpad had all the necessary hardware required to interact with it.

Onboard power, debug and Emulation over USB-- All the required hardware needed.

An extra DIP Microcontroller (a package brought back to enable prototyping )

Header pins for expansion abilities

A free version of our shipping Industry IDE: Code Composer Studio

External crystals

an extra Microcontroller (in case you needed to change it out).

Simple push button I/O

All the information to getting started printed in the box and in the "Getting Started".

Two stickers (borrowed idea , but to promote Branding).

... and including shipping--- all for less money you would spend at Starbucks: $4.30

Prior to the Lauchpad, there was no other semiconductor manufacturer dared to go that low. To offer that type of performance and features was unheard of... and compelling. With so many of the standard objections removed-- there was almost no reason why an existing engineer shouldn't try out the MSP430 Launchpad. It's success was immediate. Within the first 3 weeks of it's launch all of the channels had sold out... and the backlog carried TI well into the next few quarters.

As the launchpad stayed in the market longer, the $4.30 price tag wasn't as exciting as it had been at release. It was hard to get engineers who didn't have a strong programming background to understand the value of such a tool. After all, a micro controller on it's own-- doesn't show off a great deal. It's when the micro controller is part of a larger system-- that the value is demonstrated.

Approximately 1 year later, the Capacitive Touch Boosterpack was released.

created to give the MSP430 a different more interactive way to show off it's abilities-- Boosterpacks were made to give add-on functionality. The original launchpad didn't have the header pins soldered down (Version 1.4), but with the popularity of the capacitive touch booster pack and the development of several other application booster packs-- the feedback was users didn't particularly want to solder header pins down and would prefer the launchpad to ship with the header pins already done.

The CapTouch Boosterpack was the first booster pack and shipped with pre-flashed program of the demo so the user could get an out of the box experience immediately. No programming was required with the hope the tit would be enough to pique the user's curiosity to try programming the application themselves. However, it wasn't until the evolution of the Boosterpack system in to the Boosterpack Eco-System that the MSP430 Launchpad stepped solidly into the hobbyist world.

Deco-Nerd: Creating Artwork for the Technical Home

2012-06-30T09:15:00.001-07:00

Inspiration:
I've recently moved back to my condo in Dallas. After unpacking I noticed something missing... artwork. Of course, walking around shops , art stores and on the internet-- I couldn't find anything that I really liked. My home is a cross between Shabby Chic (although I like to call it Shabby Geek) and a Museum book/gift store (all of the traveling I've done I've collected a lot of keep sakes). So I needed to find artwork that complimented this.

I had found some pieces I had really fallen in love with at Restoration Hardware.
IN particular the maps and the Blueprints! But looking at the price tag... I nearly had a heart attack.

Plus, it wasn't the exact map that I wanted...

Overall Concept:
Be able to create large artwork for hanging that didn't cost over 50.00 unframed.

High Level Things to Consider:
Where to get a large image?
Once you got it, how to get it up without needing expensive frames or printing.
Technique.

Where to get the large image?
I have had a variety of poster ideas stashed.
Mostly keeping them for work (previous post about getting Marketing into Universities), but a lot of times when I see a really neat T-Shirt, Postcard... I think how neat it would be to be a large poster.

I always gravitate to Posters that are both useful... and make me smile when I see it.

or one of these:

I adore Deviant Art, there are a lot of art enthusiasts on there-- if you ever want something really neat and unique, go there... make sure to show your support and to LET THEM KNOW that you like their art! Search Terms: Schematics, Blueprints, Maps, Movie Titles or Character Names.

Whatever the image I chose I needed it to be:

at least 450DPi (Dots per Inch)

Saved in a format that didn't compress too much of the information.

Luckily I have photoshop.

Where to get it printed:

Now that I had images I was interested in, I had to get a physical copy of it.

I first went to Zazzle.com or Art.com to price out how much it would cost to do an "official" photo.

Upwards of 300.00 for anything over 24", so that was out of the question for me.

What I did notice was that I liked how the Canvas looked even though it wasn't framed.

Canvas at Michaels and Joann's is always on sale-- and I hadn't seen many that were over 30.00... plus I didn't need to frame it to get it on the wall!

The Engineering Print:

I had gotten large chip schematics printed at Staples before for work. I decided to try that avenue and found the following:
Large Prints for Colour cost: 40.00 and can get up to 36" x 24"
Engineering Prints can get up to 48" x 36" and only cost 5.00. The difference was paper quality and that Engineering prints had to be black and white only.

So I found an image that would be a good trial:

The Soyuz Rocket- Blueprint- I had spent an entire two weeks in NASA in high school broadcasting for the JASON PROJECT (wonder if that is still around?) and got to spend a lot of time in one of the older rockets.

I loaded it and got it printed.

6.00 later for two prints -- I had it printed in both black with white then inverted the image in PhotoShop and sent it in for White and Black. I wanted to compare.

I chose the black background and white images... I felt it was more Russian (I did this later with the Comodore 64 Schematic and chose the white, looks about the same).

Then, I found a matching Canvas size. 24 x 36

Trimmed the print.

Then gathered the material:

All you really need is the print + Canvas + Modge Podge or some Gel Medium and an applicator.

If you want it to lay down better, with less air bubbles, I'd start from the top of the print and work your way down. Glue the back to the canvas, then cover the front to seal it in.

If you notice, there will be little air pockets here and there.
I rather liked the textured look, but if you don't like it, you need to work in slower batches, squeezing out the air packets before moving forward. I would do just one side first, let it completely dry and then glue the rest down.
Alternatively, you can piece your image together in pieces (just be careful that you may have seams).

Notice the seam half way down the image?

Once you get the entire print glued down and dried... then you can work on painting the edges.
Since my photo was black I just wanted to cover my edges with paint.

This gave the canvas + Print a gallery look to it.

So now I have custom art work that is perfect for my house! :-)

If you are interested here's a dropbox link for other posters that I was thinking of doing/done.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xbj3a4w3mxsdcxh/e5bKpkBvfk

enjoy!

Strength's Finders Books

2012-06-26T09:08:00.001-07:00

I have a series of books that have provided the most profound impact on the person that I am.
One of the books that has greatly influenced my approach in anything is the Strengths Finder books.

The major point of the book is to speak about an approach that comes from a position of strength rather than one of weakness. A variety of analogies are used, but the basic assertion is :

[any improvement effort should come from a place that works with your most dominant characheristics rather than trying to simultaneoously juggle changing yourself as well as driving a result]

In particular, the examples given cover management of people.
The book's format includes:
-The overall premise for the book
-The discussion of the 34 character categories
-Test for your current status
-Explaination for your results
-Suggestions how you can motivate yourself and how people can work with you (use case).

What makes me love this book so much is how this is applicable in so many different areas.
Example: When I am crafting a marketing strategy:
-Establish an overall premise (what am I trying to achieve)
-Understand the different audiences and use cases(Categories)
-Find and establish position (understand the strengths and weaknesses of our position)
-Create a list of value propositions that assist in your overall message...
-Obtain suggestions and testing of concepts
-Go into Marketing Campaign Creation--

It's the understanding what our current value proposition (strengths) are that helps the messaging and consistency of the overall message goal.
If the things that are part of our current value proposition are in conflict with the message we are trying to convey-- then we have two choices.
1. Change the message
or depending on the importance of the message...
2. Change the mechanics to alter a value proposition.

It's far easier and more natural to work with a system, rather than try and make it do something it wasn't designed for. But if you want to change a system's function-- sometimes it's better to stop the system's functions and do the work required-- rather than try and change it on the fly.

So, if you get a chance, check out the book and take the quiz.
I'd be interested to find out what anyone else thought of their results.

-----

The Clifton StrengthsFinder For L.Swanland
As you may know, the Clifton StrengthsFinder measures the presence of talent in 34 categories called "themes." These themes were determined by Gallup as those that most consistently predict outstanding performance. The greater the presence of a theme of talent within a person, the more likely that person is to spontaneously exhibit those talents in day-to-day behaviors.Focusing on naturally powerful talents helps people use them as the foundation of strengths and enjoy personal, academic, and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

Below are my top five themes of talent, ranked in the order revealed by my responses to the Clifton StrengthsFinder.

How well do you think these themes describe me?

Restorative

People who are especially talented in the Restorative theme are adept at dealing with problems. They are good at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it.

Strategic

People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Ideation

People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

Individualization

People who are especially talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.

Learner

People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.

To learn more about the Clifton StrengthsFinder and how you can discover your top five themes, visit http://strengths.gallup.com

A different look?

2012-06-21T14:00:00.003-07:00

I have been spending a lot of time in Corporate Communication and have now learned about how a large business gets marketing out.
It's interesting the complex supply chains involved in something as simple as making a flyer. I have always had to do a lot of activity with limited resources, so I feel like the big-awkward monster when I'm dangling in the strings of Marketing Communications procedure... ready to run afoul a procedural step I royally messed up on.

One of these mishaps was instigated when working on putting my "poster" sessions together for University Labs.

Many Universities want to show their partnership by having posters on the wall. Normally I would send them to the University Poster Site-- and they would pick what they want-- and then we'd get it mounted and sent to them--END OF STORY.

Example Poster from the University Poster Site

So, one of my favourite University lab manager contacted me for posters.
I sent her the link to the website and waited to hear back.
After a little time I sent her a GTalk IM:

LaraS*: Hey, you find a poster you want?
gn***23: ... yeah. I could have just blow up a Selection Guide and used that.
LaraS*: There are posters in there that are actually posters...
gn***23: I think I was looking for something more personable, and relate-able-- less, showman-ship.
Plus, there's no launchpad posters-- and my students use launchpad.
LaraS*: Well, let me get back to you and see if I can get something for you.

After digging around our files and repositories-- she was right.
Today there wasn't any posters that were just about Launchpad-- and, I wasn't sure how I could make a poster created by corporate communications contractors look any less like -- corporate communications.

So I made my own.

I rather like both of them.
The funny thing is both were made with my iPhone camera, a little bit of photoshop -- and a different type set. All for probably 1/20th the designers charge TI to use stock photography images and clipart... (that as an aside).

So I sent that over to my professor.

gn***23: I love those. It doesn't reek of Corporate money.
LaraS***: You mean that it looks low-budget produced?
gn***23: No, not at all, just it is more relateable.
LaraS***: Well, printing may be an issue since it's not under the TI-Vault.
gn***23: No issue, we have large formats here-- I'm getting these up to see how the students like it.
LaraS***: Let me know :-)

Out of excitement I did what I shouldn't have done-- and shared this with one of my branding managers. Who promoptly said it had all of the wrong elecments for the brand and needed to be discontinued ASAP.

Oh well, lesson learned. If it doesn't look like the rest, we should hide it until you can't ignore it any longer.

On the bright side: at least, for right now there lives a version of this on someone's embedded processing lab-- and on this blog.

USB- I hate you

2012-06-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this may be a bit of a rant.
After a particularly grueling day where I have been running around with my head chopped off-- only to realise that it's already 5:00, my email is overloaded and I haven't even gotten to item 4 on my epic TO DO LIST-- I had the following voicemail on my mobile (I removed his name):

"Hi, This is J_______ from University of _______, I am calling because I cannot get a response out of your e2e forum. I posted a question and didn't get someone to answer it. I am having a lot of problems with the USB that is found on the TI Launchpad. The computer doesn't seem to see that there is anything attached. I reinstalled the software. Please call me back to fix the issue with your chip and development platform." -Message left at 3:41 PM CST duration 1:44 minutes

Um...Not a yelling message, but it was definitely the calm condesending tone that an older brother would take with a younger sibling that got me irritated.
Irritation is one of those things that will quickly foul up any situation for me.
I am as transparent as they come-- so in order to still be professional--I had to take a break from the situation and get out of my head. In particular, the irritating closing, "Please call me back to fix the issue with your chip and development platform," bit.

After typing for a few minutes (I find free writing really helps me purge nasty thoughts)-- I realised my issue.

I hate USB.

I'll clarify that I don't actually hate the standard USB, but rather the perception that it creates with certain people...
On one hand-- it's vastly convienent and a standard and everyone seems to understand it-- and on the other? It's so common and prolific that people take it's operation for granted!

Where do I think this perception came from?
... the wall outlet.
The fact that people are able to plug a USB cable into a charger and charge a device, just like they used to plug in a wall adapter-- makes them think that it's the same deal when you plug into your computer.

**Side note***It's funny because other standard interface products don't deal as much with these issues.

Perhaps not as prolific, but you don't see HDMI wall outlets today... nor people using Ethernet cables to charge their smartphones.

More often than not, problems with Development Tools before Development happens-- are often things that can be solved with a little bit of training.

Once upon a time, my company used to put these sorts of documents out for mass consumption:

These were vastly useful.

Before every set of datasheets on a particular product, it would step you through the reason why that particular chip's function existed.

Perhaps that's a different issue to be talked about on a different day-- but these types of documents are only available in pdf form now. I'm lucky that I happen to work in an office where people are constantly coming by and giving them to me (perhaps my reputation as a books hoarder precedes me).

Although the document is slightly outdated (it only covers USB 1.1), in preparation I was able to put together a semi-explainitory email that stepped him through checking all of the steps for why his MSP430 Launchpad was not getting picked up by his computer.

An Aside** Oddly, my approach when I am helping solve technical support issues-- comes from my mother. When I was a child, my mother used to solve every issue in the house with the process of elimination. She would ask, "WHO DID xyz". To which my sister and I would respond. If both my sister and I denied the action she would then go into, "Well, If I didn't do it. And Serena (my sister) says she didn't do it... and there are only three people in the house... then I ask you again, who did xyz?" Although it wasn't always actually the third person who lived in the house--- it was effective in getting the conversation started. **

So, with a USB problem there are three players here.

There is the Device

The Host

and the user.

So before I went digging into what would possibly be wrong with the Launchpad Development Kit's USB--- I had to go through the exercise and determine who was the most likely to blame.

1.) Tell me about your launchpad? Did you just receive it? Have you ever used it before? Did it ever work before?

2.) What type of computer are you using and what Operating System? Do you know if your drivers are up to date? (Most machines this is a given for the current operating system, but every so often, it's a custom Linux machine or it's a really old computer!)

3.) This may sound silly, but can you describe how you connected your device to the computer?

Step by Step, you got the box, opened the ESD Bag, pulled out the board--- then what?

Only 1 out of the 3 is directly my company's responsibility. The best we can do for 2 and 3 is try and make it as easy as possible. Save mandating a custom connector and a PC that we control (once upon a time Texas Instruments made PC's)-- there is a lot of extra consideration that we have to afford to be able to get one of our devices running on a computer.

That's at least 3 major operating systems, with 100's of hardware systems + multitude of drivers that are available... all things that don't deal directly with our core competency of : Making Silicon Chips...

Then-- add user error into the mix... and our platforms get a lot of blame for things that may not have been part of the initial product design.

(I will say, we've gotten a whole lot better in solving them, but the point should be made that we have now learned how to do that after years of cranky USB issues).

So armed with my excellent USB Guide-- Combination of the TI Bus Solutions Interface Databook (SLA067A- which is not in available anymore in data book format) and one of the best websites about USB-- Here-- I called the professor back.

I found out he was using, the brand new launchpad I had handed him at ASEE conference, a Windows 7 HP Dell Laptop... the interesting issue was #3...

He scoffed that I asked him about the process to hook up the launchpad...

"Well, I opened the launchpad and connected it using a USB cord to the PC's USB Port."

"Did you use the cord that came with the launchpad?"

"No, I just used the one I use for my phone all the time."

"Can you do me a favour and use the one that came with the launchpad?"

"Okay..."

"I just need to know for sure that it's not the cord, USB cables sometimes are really picky..."

I heard the computer in the background and stayed silent...

"Oh, it appears that the cable may have needed to be changed, " he drew out...

"No problem. I'm glad it's that simple... "

"I guess the phone cable I was using doesn't have the data pinned out."

"Yeah, that happens periodically, well good luck and I'm glad that the it wasn't the platform's issue!"

We ended the phone with some niceties and I sent him my preparation email anyways-- just as a reminder. If we still did databooks-- I amy have included that in my next care package to his school.

Rant aside-- I am glad I didn't have to chase down a USB driver problem-- because that's not my area of expertise. I just wish that it wasn't so easy to blame our development kits.

wish I could Hack my Garmin with SMS

2012-06-09T08:09:00.002-07:00

Inspiration:
I'm one of the most directionally challenged individuals on the planet.
Usually I am running late, sprinting to my next appointment and don't have time to pre-load my GPS with addresses.

However, when I'm in the middle of setting up my appointments, I usually take time to write down the address or put it on the outlook appointment to enter into my GPS later.
It's that later part that never happens-- until I'm in my car, headed in some general direction I think I need to be-- and distractedly trying to programme the window unit.
Why don't I use my iPhone's GPS?
1. It doesn't talk to me.
2. It requires me to have my phone dedicated to that task
3. most importantly-- I use my iPhone to check my Garmin's authority on the route (sometimes it takes you in crazy paths).

So my thought is this...
What if I was able to send an address to my Car-in mount unit Garmin from my desk?
That way if I was setting up my appointment-- I could take care of the navigation configuration on the spot.
Additionally, I have to log Mileage and it would be excellent if I could query my Garmin to my computer.
Why doesn't this exist today (as I am most likely late to get on the road to drive to San Antonio for a conference).

Overall Concept:
How to add outside communication to the HMI interface of the in-mount-GPS -- without destroying the function of the original product.
GPS, SMS, (or some transfer protocol), some proprietary standard for accessing GPS or ghosting (using the existing system, but putting a rider on it to accomplish your task).

High Level Things I need to Consider:
Does this exist today?
How accessible is the Garmin GPS OS.
What communication protocol would make the most sense.
What wireless protocol would make the most sense.
What would be the required application characterizations on both the transmitting mechanism and the recieving mechanism?
How would I handle and prioritize map loadings?
How much work would this take?
(I need to stop asking why Garmin hasn't done this already...)

Problem Statement:
How hackable is the Garmin GPS Operating System?

Brainstorming---
I'd have to determine if the processor that runs the Garmin a custom ASIC or something that is available through other suppliers.
Regardless, I'm fairly certain that some sort of multi-core embedded processor such as the one in the Beagleboard XM or the Pandaboard is inside of one of these devices. The question will be if it's open enough try and see into it's processing.

I need to find a way to open up the device without ruining everything.

How would I program the device? Would it have headers, a memory card etc?
My GPS has up dateable OS over it's wireless networks--- or over USB (which is also an option).

How does Garmin instruct it's device to search it's address libraries and can I find a way to still use those libraries when trying to program it?

What happens if there is a mismatch, I type in "SanANtonio" instead of "San Antonio". Today Garmin does predictive suggestions, which requires querying the database at every character enter.

I'd have to find out if I could mail box the scheme...

The GPS has Bluetooth, USB and GPS links--- I wonder if there is any hidden protocols inside (some times a lot of wireless modules have multiple radios inside e.g. look at the one on the PandaBoard).

Where does the data go? I doubt that Garmin owns all of the satellites in space and instead rents them-- I wonder how accessible that is.

Is there options that perhaps if I carried the Garmin into my work place, I could program it through a cable at the desk? (Still better than having to manually input it).
Better yet, is the data stored within the GPS, can I use it post factor?

... I'd love to integrate my GPS with my address book.

This is a massive project and instead is probably only suited for research/curiosity, but interesting non-the-less.

You Learn Something New-- Wireless Expansion on the TI MSP-EXP430F5529

2012-06-06T00:21:00.001-07:00

One of the kits that I like to use is the MSP-EXP430F5529 Experimenter's Board, found here: http://www.ti.com/tool/msp-exp430f5529

I've been using this board for over 2 years.
It features an MSP430F5529, which is TI's newer MSP430 line with on-board USB capabilities.
The kit itself has a simple LCD, a 3 Axis Accelerometre, On-board capacitive touch slider, 9 LED's total, two user click buttons, an Analog Thumb Wheel, Standard JTAG connection, multiple power options, SD Card Interface and connectors for a Wireless Access point.

The board comes with demos as soon as you apply power, either through the external battery interface that is provided or over the USB OTG that is on the emulator. It has a JTAG interface should you want to use it, but also has onboard USB-Debug-Emulation so you don't need to buy an external one.

So, despite having used this board for over 2 years... I learned something new about it today!

How many wireless interfaces do you see on this board?

Here's One... where you add RF Functionality with the eZ430-RF2500T target board and have the board transmit information.

Then there is the Standard EMK Connector that can support any of the TI-Chip Con Radios and

Modules using the Sametec Connectors

"EMK-Connectors"

You can actually have both the EMK Connected radio functioning and the add on-EZ430 target board to have access to two radios.

Example: If you wanted to have one radio be RFID or Near Field Communication and the second Blue Tooth. So if you wanted to save power-- the NFC radio would verify the identity of the person then wake up the BlueTooth Radio to pair and associate.

Here's a third! on the Emulation-debugger side... where you can make the board a target--- and programme it wirelessly, using the EZ430-RF2500T target board.

But this is the one that caught me by surprise.

If you want to keep the target board closer to the board (less hanging parts), apparently ALL experimenter's kits put 18 pins down on the board next to the EMK connector, for this arrangement.

This board, can be connected either through the male header pins included or by the side pin-outs to the 18 pin connection on the experimenter's board (below).

Huh, I just found it interesting and wanted to share.

IF you haven't ever tried this-- look at any of your MSP430 boards and look for the little six holes on the edge of the board.

Even the launch pad has these!

Digital Measuring Tape/Odometre

2012-06-04T13:06:00.001-07:00

#ideasforProjects

Inspiration: I got this idea watching the intern assigned to me, slide the launchpad back and forth on the desk while he was talking to me.

I really like the form-factor of the launchpad, but outside of it being... well, a Development kit, it doesn't relate well to people who don't already know what you can do with a Microcontroller.

e.g. One of the things that makes the Evalbot such a good platform is how it relates to the consumer right away. I've been looking to find something like that for the Launchpad.

So, watching this launchpad slide back and forth on the desk while my intern discussed his week's workload progress-- the idea of cemented itself.

What if we could make one of our launchpads into a fun measuring device— like a tape measure?

Overall Concept:
Distance is fairly simple to measure.

If moving in a straight line—You can also measure distance by a point of origin, knowing time and a direction.

You will also need to know the unit of measurement (inches, feet, miles etc). Maybe something like an odometer of sorts.

High Level things I need:
I’d need a processor. -Ideally this would be on a platform that could be battery powered.

I’d need a way to input point of origin (maybe a button click).

I’d need a way to count time (I am pretty sure we can use the clock cycles on the processor).

I’d need a way to know which direction I’m headed.

or I’d need to find a way to let the processor know that I’ve reached my end point (maybe another button press?)

Problem Statement: Biggest issue is that without some sort of unit of meaurement— the time is variable between users (I could click move the thing faster and end click than maybe someone else).

This person here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Digital-Measuring-Tape/ used a circle wheel.

Brainstorming--

Maybe I could use an accelerometre? -- I need to look into that, are they sensitive enough to be able to pick up movement. When would measuring begin occurring and how would it differentiate between movements?
Does this exist already? I know there are hacks for Odometres today: http://hackaday.com/2011/01/19/make-your-own-odometer-from-scraps/ How can that example help?
Another idea for determining the end point--- I could use RF access points and use the broadcast strength of the nodes… Issue there is that I’d need 2 points versus just one. *granted lately I have been really fascinated with using the broadcast strength of wireless nodes as indicator as a useful measurement outside of QoS (that could be a blog post on it’s own).

Possible Solutions:
-I'd like to use the MSP430 Launchpad. It's cheap, it's got push buttons and can run off a battery pack... But the issue of determining the distance travelled or time/position seems a little complicated. This would require a hardware addition/modification-- which I'm frankly, terrible at.

-Another one is to use the Eval-Bot. It's got battery power, can run on its own. It's wheels travel on a set timing and could count the rotations x circumference x time... and get a distance. There are bump sensors that instead of using them to detect what it runs into-- I could use the button press as a start and have the bot move forward and then the bump sensor to designate a stop. From the start to the stop would transmit the data. **appealing, because it could actually store the # of wheel turns + when it hits the bump sensor into memory-- and even to the SD Card. We could have it log it's trajectory when it started, when it hit it's bump sensor, what angle it turned and the wheel rotations then-- eventually with the bot + the travel paths you'd be able to measure the size of a room. Useful? Not sure.
Issue is that the Evalbot is normally at least 50+ dollars (on a good deal) and therefore not as attractive.

End Market:
This would be an ideal introduction to the MSP430 Launchpad to someone who just wanted proof on what a micro could do. This relates well to the mechanical/home depot DIY audience versus the Capacitive Touch Demo that is cool-- but for most non-EE/ECE degrees wouldn't imagine where they could use it. This would be a much more relate-able demo + actually be useful.

For the Evalbot? This would really be just a good Computer Science type of exercise in writing code. The peripherals are all there, just the use cases and programming needs to occur. A good lab exercise. Even better if you can transmit the information via wireless to a computer-- or find ways to optimise its path in the least amount of turns. (e.g. If you run into a 90 Degree Corner (both bump sensors activated simultaneously), the bot should assume it found a Room's Corner -- turn 180 degrees and drive straight to try and measure the room's hypotenuse).

Status:
Draft

Catching the String

Abstract for ignitedallas.org

Sharing: Understanding Keiko- Dog Body Language

Some assumptions I made:

A look at inputs and situational factors:

A look at output and feedback:

Putting it together:

Lesson Schematics- and Test

So, let’s get started

Next- Power Sources-

Polarized vs. Non Polarized:

Figuring out symbols before looking them up.

Test Your Understanding- Schematics

LaunchPad- Proto Plate from Ponoko

Needle Felting and a thought on learning a new skill

One of the best videos that I've watched.

thoughts on improving the user experience...

Thoughts on Microcontroller Platforms Types

Amazon Prime- The Single's Costco

Academics vs Educators: Thoughts on Faculty Make-Up at Universities

What do I carry in my Backpack?

My first try at videos... building a story.

What I really think when I see an Error Code in Code Composer Studio

underestimating colour...

Widgets for Website Navigation

The Dark Ages are Coming for Engineering Education...

A look at processing of communication

Meet Launchpad

Progress always involves risk; you can't steal second base and keep your foot on first." — Frederick Wilcox

Deco-Nerd: Creating Artwork for the Technical Home

Strength's Finders Books

A different look?

USB- I hate you

wish I could Hack my Garmin with SMS

You Learn Something New-- Wireless Expansion on the TI MSP-EXP430F5529

Digital Measuring Tape/Odometre

Progress always involves risk; you can't steal second base and keep your foot on first."
— Frederick Wilcox