The Trials and Tribulations of Connectivity Integration (and How Taoglas can Help!)

My special guest this week is Dermot O’Shea, CEO of Taoglas! Dermot and I discuss the biggest design and development challenges engineers face today when integrating connectivity into their designs, how Taoglas can speed up time to market for IoT designs and the educational resources included in the Taoglas AntennaXpert.

 

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Reinventing the Wheel… and the Motor… and the Powertrain

There are lots of things I know nothing about. If I were to create a list, electric motors would likely appear near the top. I do remember one of my lecturers at university droning on and on about electric motors and generators. Unfortunately, I don’t actually recall anything he said. All I vaguely remember is him sounding a bit like the muted, mwah-wah-WAH-wah trombone … Read More → "Reinventing the Wheel… and the Motor… and the Powertrain"

New FPGA Conference and Exhibition Coming to the UK and USA

If you have anything to do with the design and deployment of FPGA-based products and systems, then this is your lucky day because I’m poised to tell you about a new FPGA-centric conference and exhibition that’s heading your way. With events scheduled in both the UK and the US, this bodacious beauty will focus solely on FPGA designers and developers. No executive daydreaming, corporate fairy … Read More → "New FPGA Conference and Exhibition Coming to the UK and USA"

Shifting Left and The Road Ahead for Software Defined Vehicles

This week’s podcast is all about how shifting left can enable software defined vehicle innovation. My guests Wensi Jin from MathWorks, Thomas Hülshorst from FEV.io and I chat about the demand for software defined vehicles today, the engineering challenges associated with SDVs and why it is important to adopt a shift left mentality when it comes to SDV innovation.</ … Read More → "Shifting Left and The Road Ahead for Software Defined Vehicles"

Plug-in Replacement APDs Dramatically Boost the Performance of Optical Systems

On the off chance you were wondering, the city of Sheffield in England boasts two main seats of learning: Sheffield University (a.k.a. the University of Sheffield) and Sheffield Hallam University. The latter was formerly known as Sheffield Polytechnic. This was deep in the mists of time when I wore a younger man’s clothes and studied for my degree at that august establishment.

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featured chalk talk

STM32 Security for IoT
Today’s modern embedded systems face a range of security risks that can stem from a variety of different sources including insecure communication protocols, hardware vulnerabilities, and physical tampering. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Thierry Crespo from STMicroelectronics explore the biggest security challenges facing embedded designers today, the benefits of the STM32 Trust platform, and why the STM32Trust TEE Secure Manager is an IoT security game changer.
Aug 20, 2024
39,978 views

Libby's Lab

Libby's Lab Scopes out Phoenix Contact Trio 3 Power Supplies

Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Phoenix Contact

Join Libby and Demo in this episode of “Libby’s Lab” as they explore the Phoenix Contact Trio 3 Power Supplies, available at Mouser.com! These DIN-rail power supplies are great for providing solid, stable power in a variety of applications. Keep your circuits charged and your ideas sparking!

Click here for more information about Phoenix Contact TRIO 3 One-/Three-Phase & Coated Power Supplies

discussion
Posted on Aug 15 at 10:24am by Max Maxfield
I don't have many regrets in my life -- but one of them is that I didn't pay more attention when people were trying to teach me things. I'll try to do better if I get another spin at the wheel (I recently read Reincarnation Blues, which has given me ...
Posted on Aug 15 at 12:44am by RedBarnDesigner
Hi Max, About time too - I would say. I have been thinking about this sort of thing for years. I DID pay attention in the electric machines lectures (thank you Mr Robinson) but these days I do firmware with a nod towards VHDL as well! I would have loved ...
Posted on Aug 14 at 9:51am by Max Maxfield
Hi Peter -- that would be ideal in Europe and the UK, where parallel parking is pretty much the only option going -- I couldn't believe how different things were when I moved to the USA to discover that even small stores have excellent parking lots so people rarely need ...
Posted on Aug 14 at 9:48am by Max Maxfield
I just remembered that the folks at Orbis mentioned drones as another target market. Originally, I was thinking of small drones like the ones I play with, but it turns out they were talking about the sort og big hairy drones used for things like agriculture -- beasts that are 14...
Posted on Aug 14 at 9:31am by traneusee
In-wheel HaloDrive combined with four-wheel independent steering, would permit parallel-parking by driving sideways.
Posted on Aug 5 at 6:02am by Max Maxfield
I had never heard this nugget of knowledge before -- thank you for sharing it
Posted on Aug 4 at 10:37am by jackrubin
Hi Steve - great to see your byline! Stop by more often.
Posted on Aug 1 at 6:26pm by traneusee
Back in the 1950s germanium-transistor era, radio hobbyists could connect two crystal radios to one antenna. The first radio was tuned to the strongest station, and its output was used to power a one-transistor amplifier. The second radio was tuned to a weak station, and the transistor would amplify the ...
Posted on Jul 31 at 11:20am by Max Maxfield
The main thing is that we're enjoying ourselves :-)
Posted on Jul 31 at 10:42am by JK
Yea, well the idea of my dishwasher (or my wood stove!), not being able to be used until I get a software update (or pay a mandatory subscription fee), doesn’t thrill me as much as you’d think it would. Thanks to the standard amoral silicon valley ethics, and ...
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featured blogs
Aug 11, 2025
If you're like me, all three of these videos will leave your brain buzzing with ideas, thoughts, and unanswered questions....
AMP Mini CT Low Profile Inverted Through Board Connectors
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Sarah Smith from TE Connectivity and Amelia Dalton investigate the benefits of the AMP Mini CT Low Profile Inverted Through Board Connectors from TE Connectivity. They also examine how these solutions can reduce shadowing in lighting applications and can facilitate a simpler assembly of solid-state LED lighting applications.
Aug 15, 2025
17 views
OPTIGA™ Authenticate NBT
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Infineon
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Neeraj Kumar from Infineon and Amelia Dalton explore the features and benefits of the OPTIGA™ Authenticate NBT. They investigate the security elements, key hardware aspects and data transfer rates of this solution and how it can enable ultra-fast, contactless NFC communication between IoT devices and contactless readers.
Aug 12, 2025
2,957 views
Infineon Automotive MOSFETs Expertise and the OptiMOS™ 7 Advantage
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Infineon
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Joseph Sara and Amelia Dalton explore the mega trends motivating MOSFET innovation and the details of Infineon’s cutting-edge MOSFET solutions. They also explore the benefits of Infineon’s OptiMOS 7 platform and how you can take advantage of Infineon MOSFETs for your next design.
Jul 21, 2025
29,761 views
On-board Battery Charger & DC-DC Converter
Sponsored by Infineon
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Steven Hehn from Infineon and Amelia Dalton investigate the functions of on board chargers and high voltage to low voltage DC-DC converters for electric vehicles. They also investigate the benefits that wide band gap power technologies can bring to these kinds of designs and the innovative solutions that Infineon offers for your on board charger and DC/DC design needs.
Jul 17, 2025
35,604 views
Qorvo Accelerating Matter Product Development with Qorvo QPG6200
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Qorvo
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Tim Allemeersch from Qorvo and Amelia Dalton explore the challenges of Matter application development and how Qorvo can help you navigate the landscape of Matter development. They also investigate the benefits of Qorvo’s QPG6200 IC and how you can get started using this integrated circuit for your next Matter design.
Jul 16, 2025
34,698 views
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
30,961 views