A Blob No More

My head hurts. As usual, I’ve been floundering around in embedded space (where no one can hear you scream). And as a result, I’ve been introduced to something with so many possibilities and potentialities that I don’t know whether I’m coming or going or doing something else entirely.

I was just chatting with Rolf Segger, the Founder, Owner, and Chief Strategist, and Dirk … Read More → "A Blob No More"

Scrona and A New Era of Micro-Manufacturing

In this week’s podcast, we’re diving into a world you can barely see—the world of micro-manufacturing. The technology that’s quietly powering the next generation of everything from advanced displays and tiny sensors to biomedical devices. My guest Dr. Patrick Heißler, CEO of Scrona, and I chat about how Scrona fits into the micro-manufacturing … Read More → "Scrona and A New Era of Micro-Manufacturing"

Meet the Next Generation of AR+AI Glasses User Interfaces

It’s hard to believe that it’s now been nine years since virtual reality (VR) truly went mainstream with the commercial launch of the Oculus Rift. I was at the front of the queue when it arrived. I love VR, but I firmly believe that augmented reality (AR) is the real wave of the future, especially when combined with artificial intelligence (AI).

As an aside (if … Read More → "Meet the Next Generation of AR+AI Glasses User Interfaces"

The New Era of Silicon: Collaboration Over Competition with PDF Solutions CEO John Kibarian

We all know that the semiconductor industry has always been fiercely competitive, but what if the key to its next great leap isn’t competition, but collaboration? My podcast guest, John Kibarian, President and CEO of PDF Solutions, believes that for the industry to keep pace with demand and complexity, a new model of cooperation is … Read More → "The New Era of Silicon: Collaboration Over Competition with PDF Solutions CEO John Kibarian"

Can You Hear Me Now (With My 21st Century Studio-Quality MEMS Microphone)?

In England in 1969, what’s now known as British Telecom (BT) didn’t exist. In those days of yore, UK telecommunications (including telephones, exchanges, wiring, and equipment) were operated by the Post Office Telecommunications Department, which was part of the General Post Office (GPO).

The unabridged story of how the Post Office ended up in charge of telephones is wonderfully Victorian and slightly bonkers. To cut a … Read More → "Can You Hear Me Now (With My 21st Century Studio-Quality MEMS Microphone)?"

December 22, 2025
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featured chalk talk

Simplifying Position Control with Advanced Stepper Motor Driver
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Jiri Keprda from STMicroelectronics and Amelia Dalton explore the benefits of the powerSTEP01 is a system-in-package from STMicroelectronics. They also examine how this solution can streamline overall position control architecture, the high level commands included in this solution and the variety of advanced diagnostics included in the powerSTEP01 system-in-package.
Jan 21, 2025
31,004 views

featured news

Need Faster VNX+ Development? Elma Just Built the First Lab Platform for It

Sponsored by Elma Electronic

Struggling to evaluate VNX+ modules or build early prototypes? Elma Electronic’s new 3-slot FlexVNX+ dev chassis streamlines bring-up, testing, and system integration for VNX+ payload cards—SOSA-aligned, lab-ready, and built for fast time-to-market.

Click here to read more

discussion
Posted on Dec 22 at 1:21pm by Max Maxfield
Bless you! I hope you aren't coming down with a cold. OCCAM is conceptually elegant but practically demanding. It can be easy or hard to use depending on how your brain works. If you like explicit parallelism, determinism, and discipline, OCCAM can feel beautifully simple. If you expect C-like flexibility, ...
Posted on Dec 19 at 6:22am by RedBarnDesigner
Hi Max, OCCAM!
Posted on Dec 18 at 2:11pm by Max Maxfield
That sounds just like my dear old mum LOL
Posted on Dec 17 at 7:50am by JK
But do you really need AR+AI Glasses? I think Henny Youngman said it best: “My eighty year old grandmother doesn’t even use glasses – Drinks straight from the bottle…”
Posted on Dec 16 at 11:11am by Max Maxfield
I didn't want to wander off into the weeds in this column (well, no more than I already did), but I feel it behooves me to mention that we could conceive an industrial-plus category of electromechanical switches where sci-fi starts to become plausible. If we were deliberately designing for millennia, ...
Posted on Dec 11 at 8:34am by Max Maxfield
I'm still waiting for the golden goose of memory technologies -- the speed and ease of use of SRAM coupled with the capacity of DRAM and the non-volatility of FRAM -- all while consuming almost negligible power... one day...
Posted on Dec 6 at 9:57pm by mgburr
Next stop, figuring out the power integration into the required memory for those same devices so it stops affecting the rest of the industry.
Posted on Nov 26 at 10:08am by Max Maxfield
"We live in interesting times." Truer words... wait until you see my next column on Tuesday, December 2 (I'm taking tomorrow/Thursday off to celebrate Thanksgiving)... I think you will be surprised... :-)
Posted on Nov 20 at 1:19pm by RedBarnDesigner
Hi again Max, Thanks for reminding me of the URL to that project - I remember it being very interesting and a few weeks ago I wanted to just refresh my memory but couldn't remember what the article was called. I'll add it to my list of useful URLs! In ...
Posted on Nov 20 at 10:59am by Max Maxfield
Hi RedBarnDesigner -- thanks so much for your comment. I can see all sorts of applications for this technology -- it's amazing what you can do with even a single axis of input (not that they are limited to a single axis) -- for example, I created my first AI/...
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featured blogs
Dec 22, 2025
Here's a seasonal sampler of intriguing videos, curious technologies, surprising history, and random delights collected during a rare pause for breath....
High-Speed FAKRA-Mini Interconnect System
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Molex
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Kirk Ulery from Molex and Amelia Dalton explore the trends driving a need for external and internal data connections in automotive applications. They also investigate the benefits of the FAKRA Mini interconnect system and why the new locking and shielding mechanisms make this system rugged enough for the harshest automotive environments.
Dec 22, 2025
2,916 views
STCC4 CO2 Sensor: Enabling Healthy Air in Every Home
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Sensirion
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Dr. Kaitlin Howell from Sensirion and Amelia Dalton explore the correlation between ventilation and carbon dioxide sensing and how the features of Sensirion’s STCC4 CO2 Sensor can enable air condition monitoring with ease.
Dec 10, 2025
25,297 views
Data Center Solutions
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Microchip
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Josue Navarro from Microchip Technologies and Amelia Dalton investigate the biggest challenges of AI servers and the benefits that power modules can bring to these types of designs. They also explore the roles that energy efficiency, power density, thermal management, and security play in the AI server applications and how you can take advantage of Microchip solutions for your next AI server design.
Dec 8, 2025
24,200 views
Time to first prototype shouldn’t be so hard!
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Romain Petit from Siemens and Amelia Dalton examine the challenges of FPGA-based prototyping and how the automatic partitioning, automatic cabling, runtime and debug infrastructure and more of the Siemens VPS platform can make your next FPGA-based prototype project easier than ever before.
Dec 3, 2025
33,465 views
Accelerating the Transition to 48V Power Systems
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Vicor
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Tom Curatolo from Vicor and Amelia Dalton explore the what, where, and how of 48 volt power delivery networks. They also investigate the components of a 48 volt portfolio ecosystem, the advantages of a high-density, modular power design solution and the six things to consider when transitioning to 48 volt power systems. 
Dec 2, 2025
33,703 views