Notes from
the bench.
Engineering writing from the people who design and ship the hardware. No marketing fluff. No filler.
All stories.
22 entries
EditorialInside a six-axis motion controller
A long look at the architecture, layout and validation that took a robotics controller from sketch to twelve thousand units.
EditorialTwelve frames from the build floor
An afternoon spent watching a new product come together. Pictures, mostly. Words, sparingly.
EditorialControlled impedance, the short version
A practical guide to stackups, traces and the numbers that decide whether a high-speed lane works on the first try.
EditorialThe BOM as a product decision
Every line on the bill of materials is a promise to a supplier. Treat it like one.
EditorialRigid-flex without the drama
Rigid-flex looks expensive on paper and cheap in production. Here is when to reach for it.
EditorialSecure boot on a budget
A chain of trust does not need a security team. It needs three good decisions made early.
EditorialEMC pre-compliance in your own lab
You do not need a fully calibrated chamber to find ninety percent of your EMC problems.
EditorialThe quiet art of power integrity
Decoupling is not folklore. It is a transfer function you can measure and a budget you can spend.
EditorialA Linux BSP that survives the second engineer
The first BSP works. The second engineer decides if the BSP was actually built.
EditorialDFM questions we ask on day one
Manufacturing readiness is a conversation that starts before the schematic, not after the gerbers.
EditorialThermal design without a fan
Most products do not need a fan. They need a copper pour that understands its job.
EditorialField notes from an NPI week
Five days at the contract manufacturer. What we changed, what we kept, what we learned.
EditorialChoosing an MCU in 2026
Cost is a feature. Lead time is a feature. The data sheet is a starting point, not a verdict.
EditorialTest fixtures that pay for themselves
A good ATE fixture is a product in its own right. Here is how we approach the build.
EditorialThe case for mainline Linux
Vendor kernels are convenient on day one and expensive on day five hundred.
EditorialAntennas are not an afterthought
A great radio with a mediocre antenna is a mediocre product. The matching network is part of the layout.
EditorialSchematic reviews that find real issues
A good review is a checklist, a quiet room, and one engineer who has not seen the board before.
EditorialThe anatomy of a product launch
A launch is a date. The product behind it is the result of fifty smaller dates done on time.
EditorialWhat we look for in an engineer
Curiosity, taste and the patience to read a data sheet twice.
EditorialThe firmware update that never bricks
A/B partitions, signed images and a watchdog that knows how to roll back. The boring trio that keeps a fleet alive.
EditorialThe cost of a late revision
Every revision after the first costs ten times more than the change suggests. Here is the math, and how we avoid it.