Blog

Encoders work! i2c bus operational

2026-05-15T00:45:26Z

Yesterday I learned that j1939 is Canbus, and that our FC6A Plus PLCs support this. Today I learned that when I plug in the PLC to the network the arduino looses control over the HMI, and the PLC doesnt have it. ..so theres some unknown networki...(read more)

Omega 5SRTC hack, and basic IO on arduino to HMI is operational.

2026-05-13T03:07:03Z

Im doing my on the Line challenge figured out the issues with the HMI Coms,geting readdy to write the helper functions to make the arduino PLC Server respond with the IO of the arduino.6% memory use on a Mega!well anyway all I have for pots are these...(read more)

Now possible to deploy IDEC PLC code from server of choice.

2026-02-25T19:46:34Z

Ok The Docs arent great, and I literally just figured this out 2 days ago. but if you have a ZLD file (the raw instruction files for IDEC PLC Code)it is now possible to deploy native instructions from the server of your choice.This includes Linu...(read more)

More FC6A library uses

2026-01-23T17:18:16Z

Yesterday I wanted to reconfigure all the PLCs in my lab with settings for a specific use case. This involves changing the values of 3 registers to make the PLCs listen to a server over DHCP. my lab has 12 FC6A plcs. and loading windLDR on ...(read more)

Conditional breakpoint in VSCode

2025-12-15T20:00:16Z

Sometimes, you want to have a breakpoint that only halts execution (breaks ) if a certain condition is true. My user story: I have a GPS design that receives data from satellites. Sometimes, that radio receives "not guaranteed" data. The dat...(read more)

modern C++: write my own function that returns true / false, and a value, part 2 (embedded friendly)

2025-12-04T17:59:36Z

what came before: modern C++: function returns true / false, and a value or error message modern C++: write my own function that returns true / false, and a value or error message C++ has released a new feature: return ...(read more)

modern C++: initialise a static array inside a class

2025-11-24T16:58:50Z

Pre C++17 In traditional C++, if you have a class that has a static array as data member, you have to initialise that array outside of the class. class myclass { protected: static uint myarray[4]; }; uint myclass::myarray[4]; You will typi...(read more)

Monitor your IDEC PLC with Maintenance Protocol using the open source library FC6A

2025-11-23T00:11:54Z

Maybe you work with IDEC PLCs, or maybe you have to monitor a process using them. Well, from WindLDR, that process might suck, having to monitor trends, or open multiple instances of WindLDR just to look at some select registers, there is now a ...(read more)

Generate Awesome ASCII ART with QAAA.py

2025-11-22T23:30:03Z

Hello All from rural Maine. QAAA.py is a novel drawing app, which uses text to draw pictures. Some of y'all might have been around at a time when ASCII text was more prevalent. Well anyway, this app is designed to be cross platform tho...(read more)

C++ write your own stream class - part 1a: the cost of objects can be zero (embedded friendly C++)

2025-11-12T19:48:35Z

I wrote a little output stream class in a previous post: C++ write your own stream class - part 1: output stream initial design (embedded friendly C++) . In this post, I'm adding an input stream, and an input / output stream that's su...(read more)

C++ write your own stream class - part 1: output stream initial design (embedded friendly C++)

2025-11-11T19:09:30Z

In C++ it's common to stream data. You write to a file using the << operator. example: cout << "hello, world! << endl; In this blog I'm making my own minimal output stream class. Just enough code to show that it works. This co...(read more)

modern C++ for loop, but you still want an index

2025-11-05T21:08:59Z

C++ has a range loop. A for loop that will run over all elements in the range you give it: std::vector<int> v = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}; // ... for (auto i : v) std::cout << i << ' '; std::cout << '\n&#...(read more)

Reflections on Using AI in Software Development

2025-09-11T19:59:54Z

Context: A Practical Project Over the past days, I have been developing a Python Qt application to generate weekly meal plans for my baby and family.The project itself is not overly complex, but it has provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on so...(read more)

C++ moving and returning objects part 2: move and copy (embedded friendly C++)

2025-07-20T11:25:27Z

In object oriented designs, there are times when you replace an object by another. Example: when you store an object into an STL container. In a lot of those cases, you create an object, and add it. The object in the container is a cop...(read more)

C++ moving and returning objects part 1: object as return value (embedded friendly C++)

2025-07-19T11:02:00Z

You may read guidelines that say: "never use an object as return value of a function. Because of performance reasons". Because the object is copied into the receiving variable when returning from the function call. That was true in C++...(read more)