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Issue #225 April 2009
Troubleshooters, Unite!
by C. J. Abate
Sure, workarounds are great. It’s clear that a nifty workaround can be helpful when you’re in a tight bind, particularly when a client or project manager is breathing down your neck. But there’s no “working around” the fact that a workaround is nothing more than a temporary fix—a fix that, if left unattended, can trigger a project-wide disaster. I know, you probably have a story about how you saved the day with a brilliant workaround on a day when failure was just over the horizon. I applaud you for that success, because we here at Circuit Cellar value ingenuity in all its forms. But at the end of the day, you must agree that a solution always trumps a workaround at the workbench.
The process of tailoring a solution to an embedded design problem requires a talented engineer to troubleshoot complex circuitry and code glitches of all sorts. And if a glitch lies around the corner, rather than presently before him, a good engineer must be able to troubleshoot that potential complication before it rears itself up.
As with most embedded-design-related skills, the science of troubleshooting both existing and potential problems takes time to master. It is typically developed over the course of dozens of projects and nurtured by adept mentors such as Circuit Cellar authors. Like our founder Steve Ciarcia, many Circuit Cellar authors have excelled at troubleshooting existing and potential design problems—as well as real-world problems fixable with embedded design applications—over the course of many years. In this issue, a group of stand-out authors unites to present useful articles that highlight their wide range of skills.
Lack a parallel port? No worries. In a series titled “Construct a USB GPIO Pod,” DJ Delorie shows you how to address this problem with a general-purpose input/output module that plugs into a USB port. This month he presents the module (p. 16). Encountering trouble while building your first solar data logger? Columnist Ed Nisley describes how to assess your mistakes, regroup, and move forward (p. 24).
Wondering how to program that motionless robot sitting beside your workbench? Don’t let software problems keep you from realizing your design goals. In the second part of his series, “Robot Navigation and Control,” Guido Ottaviani explains how to write and debug software to get the job done (p. 30). Jeff Bachiochi’s article on page 58 includes information about application development for a basic robotics system.
Having issues with the signal-processing aspect of a design or, more specifically, decoding a particular signal? You’re in luck. Two authors focus on demystifying the topics of signal processing, signal reflection, and signal analysis. Danilo Consonni explains how he decodes hourly signal transmissions (p. 40). He built a digital decoder to analyze the Italian SRC-RAI time signal. If you’re confused by the topics of signal reflection or impedance mismatching, turn to Robert Lacoste’s article, “Time Domain Reflectometry” (p. 50). He describes how to detect and measure an impedance mismatch in a transmission line and more.
Tom Cantrell wraps up the issue by explaining why acquiring a “healthy mix” of MCUs, sensors, and wireless technologies to keep on hand can lead to the creation of exciting new “killer apps” (p. 66). With a nice variety of cutting-edge parts on tap, you can push the innovation envelope and quickly solve any number of menacing design problems.
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