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Do you have a question on Embedded electronics and controls? Ask our Expert, Paul Clarke

pjclarke

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Paul Clarke

Paul has 20+ years of working as a digital electronics engineer and has strong software skills in assembly and C for embedded systems. Currently developing embedded electronics for thermal management control solutions for the air movement industry (HVAC & RAC).




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  • in reply to e14 Contributor
    Hi Pratik
     
    Any of the development boards are a good starting point. What we as employers are looking for are people with hands on experience. Anroid or arduino based you will be able to prove to someone at some point you can do this stuff. Employers what engineers that go that bit more and are passionate about engineering.
     
    I would not judge someone any different who showed me a project made from a pre-made panda board programmed with Anroid to someone with a Microchip hand build board. It’s the level and depth of knowledge that will take you on.
     
    As for using dev kits in industry – well some people do and some don’t. I have a mix of arduino and mbed kits and others that I may try stuff out on – but in the real world engineers quickly move to prototype boards or skip dev kits completely. However in education there is not the money to design boards from scratch, or the time. So platforms are good and excepted.
     
    I hope that answers your question?
  • in reply to pjclarke

    Hello Pratik,

     

    Paul's opinion is other than mine !

    I rate would be engineers MUCH higher if they have done work on their own hardware design. The way I see it is using an Arduino is a bit like going on a package holiday - everything is sorted out for you in advance and you go "Ooh" at the right places. Designing your own hardware starting with a blank sheet of paper is like being an explorer.

     

    Having said that your college's choice of Android is very topical  - there is a lot of interest in using Android in industrial embedded systems. Try and design some hardware of your own to connect the Panda to some sensors or actuators.

     

    MK

  • in reply to michaelkellett

    Oh I agree to a point - someone doing there own hardware and makes a LED flash is not on the same level as using an arduino as a web server interface to the homes heating controls, lighting etc.

     

    We all use pre designed units - like micros, RF modulas etc - we could debate this all day, but point is what is the end product and has the engineer used their brain or just plugged stuff togetter. Inivation is what I want to see.

  • e14 Contributor
    e14 Contributor in reply to pjclarke

    I second that. Building your own hardware is neat of course, but that does not make you great engineer per se. Great engineer is the one that reaches his goal with least resources and in least time.
    I just had a case where I needed to build start/stop system for white water competitions. Be arduino what it is, but hooking up and getting to work GLCD, keypad, SD card, GPS and photodetector took me a day, now it is just user interface and logic that needs to be implemented.

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    Hi Pratik,

     

    There are several issues you need to deal with as an engineer.  One of those is learning new subjects quickly and another is understanding what really goes on inside the MCU.  The Arduino and other devices of its kind are one way to begin learning about the detailed world of engineering projects.

    Learning how to implement an idea into an Arduino is no different in process than you would go through to design and build a desktop, DVR, smart phone or a rocket ship.  You have to learn what each of the components can do and then use that knowledge to implement the requirements needed for the device you were hired to build.

    When I would hire young engineers fresh out of school, I would first check to see how well they did in their core technical courses.  That information enabled me to see very quickly if the candidate could quickly learn new concepts.

    Next I would look to see if they had done any projects or worked on a design team that had them go through the entire engineering process.  A course that had you implement a project in an Arduino would catch my eye enough to add you to my interview list.

    When you would come in for an interview, I would ask detailed questions about the engineering process you used and how well you understood it.  I would also be assessing your aptitude and attitude.

    I would only consider hiring those candidates who demonstrated an ability to learn new things and if you had the passion to do engineering. You would also have to demonstrate that you could handle a dynamic environment.  Things change almost daily on most projects.  So if you cannot quickly reset, assess the change, and make the needed adjustments to your project, then you will not last long.

    I seldom had any problems with engineers I would hire when using this selection process.

    So if you want to succeed as an engineer, you want to learn everything possible during your Arduino course.  There are a wealth of technical issues that you will see during the course.  You want to soak up all of them and get yourself very comfortable in tracing your requirements through the hardware to the software and back.  If you master those skills, then you have a good chance of getting a good job after you graduate.

    In my thirty plus years in the engineering field from an electronics technician to the Senior Systems Engineer in charge of training the entire engineering staff in systems and software engineering processes, I always drew on the skills I learned very early in my carrier to build some of the very first microprocessor controlled devices.

    Systems are just a collection of hardware and software.  Every component is important, but you need to know what it does and what you need it to do.  An Arduino is as good a way to start learning those skills as any other, but it is you who have to go past just the basics.

     

    Learn well and prosper.

     

    DAB