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

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

Hello Paul,

we need Amphenol IP68 Ethernet connectors

RJF 7PE

We need Amphenol IP68 plug

RJF 6

We need Amphenol cap.

Could you please help me to understand what are the part numbers in Farnell?

hi sir

im doing my B.E final year . we are decide to do project "extend the microcontroller I/O pins using 8bit shift register with parallel inputs and 8bit shift register with parallel outputs" whether it slow down the process in taking inputs and giving outputs for operations? or sugest me any other options to increase I/O pins in low cost?

Hi,

I was able to use a different controller board to light up the LED Panels (Clock and Message) with the start up routine.

Detail Images of the LED and Controller Boards - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sju-apprentice/collections/

The Active Message Board section has a AVI showing the message boards

With the controller board working is there a way to capture and understand how the LED panels are being controlled?

Good afternoon.

I have the following questions.

I hope I am asking the right person!

Can you remove dirt from surfaces using ultrasound?

Which electronic component i have to use?

What size can get this kind of conponent? ( I need  a very little component )

What size can have the power?

Thank you

Hi

I am a keen c++ programmer and would like to develop a pc input output interface and a standalone pid controller using a ds18b20 type chip.

Would a  STM32L-DISCOVERYSTM32L-DISCOVERY discovery kit be a good starting point?

Any resource sites?

Thanks

Hello Julan.

There are several discovery kits - the one you refer to uses the low power version of the STM32 ARM range. It should work OK as a stnad alone controller but is not ideal for a PC interface since the USB port is only used for the debugging interface. This means you will need to add your own hardware to talk to a PC.

There are other simple boards about which would allow you to interface with the PC without any hardware development - without knowing more about exactly what you want to do yourself it's hard to advise but I suggest you look at the Microchip DM240311 (Farnell 1761254 £39.20) which has options for RS232 for a simple PC interface. There is also on board temperature sensing but with the possibility of talking to the DS18B20 (not my first choice of temperature sensor due to it's awkaward 1 wire interface). You may need to solder some parts to the Microchip board to get the RS232 interface operational but at least the baord is done.

Michael Kellett

Hi Mr. Clarke,

I'm looking for small (up to 5 m"m) cube shape magnets catalog.

the magnet sould be on the narror face of the cube.

thank you,

Hi Asaf,

Sorry you need to talk to a sales rep, or start a topic in the forum - I'm only here to answer question about embedded electronics and air managment.

Paul