536: I’ve Seen a Giraffe

October 15, 2026 by Elecia White

David Such joins us to discuss his new book, Embedded AI: Intelligence at the Deep Edge. We explore the boundary between classical signal processing, heuristics, and edge machine learning; IMU processing and sensor fusion; and how to determine what sort of ML fits on your processor. David also shares his experiences writing for No Starch Press and why future robotic architectures need a digital cerebellum for low-level reflexes.

David Such is an electrical engineer based in Sydney. He is the director of Reefwing Software.

Discussion Resources & Links

David's Website & Book Resources:

Technologies & Frameworks Mentioned:

Sensor Fusion, Kalman filters, Mahoney filters, and quaternions for IMU processing
TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers & Edge Impulse
Raspberry Pi Pico / RP2040 PIO and DMA engines for high-speed signal processing
Syntiant neural processing chips (Arduino Nicla Voice)
MicroPython for embedded scripting and test automation

Book Giveaway & Discount Code:

No Starch Press is giving away two print copies of Embedded AI (US/Canada residents). Entry rules are in the show, due by Nov 1, 2026. There is also a coupon for the book good through Nov 5, 2026.

Transcript

495: Shortcut the Difficulties of Reality

February 20, 2025 by Elecia White

Professor Cindy Harnett spoke to us about new and different sensors and actuators, primarily designed for soft robotics and fabricated with relatively low cost materials.

Cindy is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Louisville where she runs the Harnett Lab.

The papers we discussed are here. You can find a longer list of Cindy’s papers on Google Scholar. The video of the SESAME actuator is especially interesting.

Transcript

Nordic Semiconductor has been the driving force for Bluetooth Low Energy MCUs and wireless SoCs since the early 2010s, and they offer solutions for low-power Wi-Fi and global Cellular IoT as well. If you plan on developing robust and battery-operated applications, check out their hardware, software, tools, and services.

On academy.nordicsemi.com, you’ll find Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular IoT courses, and the Nordic DevZone community covers technical questions: devzone.nordicsemi.com.

Oh, and don’t forget to enter Nordic Semiconductor’s giveaway contest! Just fill out the entrance form, and you're in the running. Good luck!

371: All Martian Things Considered

April 29, 2021 by Elecia White

Doug Ellison (@doug_ellison), Engineering Camera Team Lead at NASA’s JPL and Martian photographer, spoke with us about low power systems, cameras, clouds, and dust devils on Mars.

The best paper for learning more is from NASA’s JPL site: The Mars Science Laboratory Engineering Cameras

Mars rovers wiki

365: Barbed Wire Fence and Great WiFi

March 11, 2021 by Elecia White

Cy Keener spoke with us about sensors, Arduinos, ice, and the crossover between art and science.

You can see some of his field work and gallery installations at his site: cykeener.com and on his vimeo channel. Cy is an art professor at the University of Maryland (bio, youtube)

Cy’s advisor at Stanford was Paul DeMarinis (pauldemarinis.org, Stanford page).

Arduiniana: a blog of useful Arduino libraries

We also talked about some custom sensors by Lovro Valcic of Bruncin (bruncin.com).

214: Tiny Sensor Problems

September 07, 2017 by Elecia White

Kristen Dorsey explained MEMS sensors: how do they work, how they are made, and what new ones we expect to see in the future.

Kristen’s website is kristendorsey.com. She is a professor of engineering at Smith College and runs the MicroSmithie.

MEMS stands for microelectromechanical systems (Wiki). Used in some sensors, Galistan is a room-temp liquid with interesting properties (Wiki).

A few interesting MEMS applications:

Micronium: a tiny resonator making music
2-stroke gas engine
Pinball machine

One of Kristen's stretchy strain sensor, not MEMS (so you can see it)