The robots I grew up with on the silver screen were big clunky affairs like Robby the Robot, who first appeared in the 1956 film Forbidden Planet. Similarly, on the small screen, we had hulking contraptions like the B-9, Class YM-3 Environmental Control Robot, simply known as Read More → "Robots That Learn Through Interaction and Understand Objects Intuitively"
Before we start, I should note that I always enjoy chatting with company representatives for these columns—although, in some cases, we may be asking the word “enjoy” to do some heavy lifting. Happily, conversations with folks like Kyle Fox, Senior Director at NXP Semiconductors, require no such linguistic gymnastics.
On the off chance you don’t know, NXP Semiconductors is a Dutch semiconductor manufacturer that spun out of Philips’ semiconductor division in 2006. The “NXP” originally stood for “Next eXPerience,” but … Read More → "Want Physical AI? Just Add Water!"
I have been building up my home lab these past few years, and I decided that I needed a better multimeter. My original Fluke 77 handheld digital multimeter (DMM) has served me well for more than 40 years, but I wanted more resolution than its 3½ digits. A few years back in a fit of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome), I purchased a 20,000-count Surpeer AV4 multimeter from Amazon for $40. Alas, the Surpeer is no longer available. Eventually, I wanted a faster meter—a bench meter—so I purchased a dead Keithley 179 for $20 from eBay (plus $20.30 for shipping and tax) and described its … Read More → "A Tale of Two Multimeters – Part 1: Fixing rubber buttons on the Keithley 197 DMM"
I recently received an email that essentially said something like, “Interested in physical AI, agentic AI, robotic ships, autonomy, maritime, offshore, subsea, security, ocean science… [the list went on]? If so, get in touch!”
Let’s take a step back before we race forward. Someone recently asked me how my “triage process” works for people pitching potential articles to me. I’d never really thought about this before, but there are certainly several ways to turn me off before we start.
One is to call me “Clive” (my given name used only by my family) … Read More → "Physical AI Robotic Ships on Patrol!"
When I was a kid growing up in the 1960s, I fully believed that humans could live on both Mars and Venus without requiring special suits or survival gear. This was because I had discovered the wonderful world of science fiction. Many of the books I devoured (figuratively speaking) described Mars as a dusty frontier world with a thin, dry atmosphere. By comparison, Venus was portrayed as a foggy, steamy, swampy jungle planet. Although both planets were depicted as being home to intelligent races, Mars was typically represented as having a truly ancient civilization.
I’m thinking … Read More → "Should We Terraform Mars (“Yay” or “Nay”)?"
I have some news that will make chip and chiplet designers (we’re talking ASIC, ASSP, SoC, and multi-die systems) squeal in delight. However, before we leap headfirst into the fray with gusto and abandon (and, it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, aplomb), I just got off a call with my old chum, Adam Taylor.
As you may recall from an earlier column, Adam will be hosting the inaugural FPGA Horizons US East 2026 Conference and Exhibition, … Read More → "Want to Build Chips 10X faster and at 50% Lower Cost (Without Changing Existing Tools or Workflows)?"
As is often the case these days, my poor old noggin is jam-packed with myriad meandering musings pertaining to AI. For example, I just started reading Road Kill by Dennis E. Taylor (you may remember Dennis as the author of We Are Legion (We Are Bob)).
In Road Kill, three twenty-something friends—Jack, Natalie, and Patrick—come into possession of an alien spaceship in the form of an invisible (cloaked) flying saucer. This … Read More → "TrustInSoft Analyzer Turbocharged with AI and RUST"
I tell you, I’m starting to feel like I’m riding the crest of the wave when it comes to AI in all its multifaceted glory. Back in the 2010s, I thought it was astonishing that you could show an AI images of cats, dogs, chickens, and penguins, and it could tell these little rascals apart. I know that may seem “old hat” now, but as recently as ten years ago, it was considered nothing short of mind-boggling.
Since that time, which I’ve come to think of as the true dawn of perceptive AI (everything … Read More → "EnCharge Me Up! 200 AI TOPS at Only ~8 Watts"
If you’re involved in developing embedded systems, YOU NEED TO READ THIS. I’m sure that, like me, you’ve been exposed to a lot of AI-powered design tools over the past couple of years. Suffice it to say that the one I’m poised to tell you about just blew my socks off (don’t worry, I’ll retrieve them later).
I’m so excited about all this that rather than wiffle and waffle as is my wont, I’m moved to dive headfirst into the fray. I was just chatting with Ethan Gibbs, who … Read More → "Meet the Embedder AI Firmware Engineer"
Tracy Kidder, the author of the 1981 best-selling book “The Soul of a New Machine,” has passed away. Kidder wrote many non-fiction books including his first book, “The Road to Yuba City,” and “House,” “Strength in What Remains,” Mountains Beyond Mountains,” “Old Friends,” “Among Schoolchildren,” “Home Town,” and “Good Prose.” “The Soul of a New Machine” was only his second published book and his only book to win a Pulitzer Prize, which is somewhat surprising because the book details the experiences, trials, and tribulations of the computer engineers who designed the first Data General (remember them?) 32-bit minicomputer (remember those?), … Read More → "In Memoriam: Tracy Kidder, author of Pulitzer Prize-Winning “The Soul of a New Machine”"
