Passion Rules
Ready for Android in your car?
Want to download an app to check your average speed on a given stretch of road? Or optimise your fuel consumption? With all the data available and produced in a modern car, the possibilities are virtually endless if only the information were accessible and easy to handle.
That is what we at EIS are examining as part of a project within the framework of Vinnova’s programme for independent and flexible electronic architecture for vehicles – DFEA 2020.
Together with the Volvo Car Corporation we have established a laboratory where we can easily test the development of apps based on in-vehicle data. We have developed an Android-based architecture that makes app development independent of the vehicle in which it is installed and which, not least, makes it as easy to build as conventional apps for today’s smartphones.
The project has been under way since the summer and will end before Christmas 2011. It is being run entirely in accordance with SCRUM. A team of three people are working almost full-time in roughly four-week-long sprints. Emil Knabe from EIS is product owner and ensures that the requirements of both Volvo and the automotive industry in general for this type of solution are included in a prioritised list, a backlog. Jens Pommer is SCRUM master. Running SCRUM in an architecture project has been a new experience for several team members and has meant a lot in terms of both creativity and speed of development. This also encompasses the entire app concept, which makes it possible to ignore the architectural aspects of the software in order to focus entirely on function.
The experience we gain in the project is documented in an in-house blog and is also distributed in each respective organisation in the form of presentations and discussions.
Meet our electronics development group
There are people who feel there is nothing more enjoyable than to penetrate deep into the challenges and potential offered by electronics. That’s what we’re like here at EIS, for instance – or at least some of us are. And as if it weren’t enough to do this in our daily projects, there’s always more to discover and learn by talking to colleagues, finding out the latest advances in research and discussing with suppliers. That’s the background to the Electronic Engineering technology development group at EIS.
The group was started in December 2008 by Michael Moser at EIS’s Stockholm office. The idea was to have a better picture of the electronic engineering competence available in the organisation. And at the same time find a way of mixing with others who share the same interest.
Since then the group has undertaken a large number of activities:
• Discussions on general electronic engineering issues
• AC/DC+DC/DC converters
• EMC+ESD
• Discrete components
• Transmission lines
• Impedance
• AVR-ATMEL – PIC processors
• Seminars with Linear Technology
• Demos of various designs and of the MCU family
The idea behind the technology development groups is that they should develop EIS’s co-workers internally through discussions and know-how acquisition. However, we are always interested in input from outside too. So if anyone has something that they feel the group might want to study in greater depth, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Michael Moser at EIS Stockholm, email michael [dot] moser [at] eis [dot] semcon [dot] com
At the end of 2008 I was discussing with a few colleagues at EIS Stockholm the idea that everyone who works with electronic engineering should be able to work as a “group” where everyone gets the chance to know the others better. This would also give us a good picture of the competence available at EIS. It would also improve our collective competence through discussions on technology and development tools such as LTspice and so on. The forum would allow us to find out who we can turn to with any future questions. What is more, it’s easier to get in touch when you know the person you are contacting.
I started at Semcon in 1996 and have always felt it is important to have activities that boost cohesiveness. Attending department meetings is important, but usually people sit there are listen, watching the clock so they can get home as quickly as possible. There isn’t so much extra time available for just sitting and chatting. In addition, the usual format is large meetings – so large that the individual often disappears in the crowd. That’s why smaller gatherings are sometimes very valuable.
I was very surprised when I checked the minutes of our meetings and noted that we’ve had 10 meetings in two years. I would have said that two or three meetings a term would have been a more reasonable figure. The following were discussed:
• General discussion on electronic engineering
• General discussions
• AC/DC +DC/DC converters
• EMC + ESD
• Discrete components
• Transmission lines
• Impedance
• AVR-ATMEL + PIC processors
• 2 Seminars/Study Groups? Dealing with Linear Technology
• Demo of Peter Nilsson’s “gadget”
• Demo of the MCU family
If you’re interested, please contact me, Michael M
Participants:
Michael Moser (chair)
Kia Kiani
Kenneth Hofberg
Mats Halvarsson
Peter Nilsson
Tomas Brodén
Introduction to experience and quiet know-how
Presented in Swedish. Stig Ursing talks about experience and quiet know-how.
We’re happy to share
This autumn we’re running our courses on Embedded Linux once again. Over a period of three days participants take part in lectures and practical exercises aimed at teaching them how to create a complete built-in system based on Embedded Linux. The first course is already fully booked but we will soon announce new sessions.
From the course, the participants will take away new know-how on how to create built-in systems and their development environments, how to compile and install the Linux core, how to install and configure U-boot and how to write basic drive routines. The course includes development platform Olimex SAM9-L9260.
If you would like to take part in the next course, get in touch with Jan-Erik Matihiesen at the EIS Linköping office: jan-erik [dot] mathisen [at] eis [dot] semcon [dot] com or 013-470 86 00. It is useful to come to the course with basic Linux and C programming skills.
Make your own autopilot
What does it take to get an aircraft to fly autonomously, without any direct human control? The answer is six students at Mälardalen University’s programme for robotics and intelligent embedded systems.
Over a period of 10 weeks, the students succeeded in designing a system that used a computer (a BeagleBoard with Open Embedded Ångström Linux and an ARM Cortex-A8-processor) and two AVR micro-controllers to operate a radio-controlled aircraft after the radio control unit was switched off. Instead, data from GPS, an accelerometer and a gyro were used. The aircraft was also equipped with a Webcam and a 3G modem.
EIS was happy to sponsor this project and was present when the aircraft made its maiden flight.
According to Johan Kraft at Percepio, who supervised the students together with Dag Nyström from Mimer Information Technology, the most important lesson learned was that it is actually possible to build this type of advanced system in a short space of time and with very modest resources.
Here at EIS we are looking forward to monitoring the project with the next batch of students, who will take over where the previous group left off.
What does it take to get an aircraft to fly autonomously, without any direct human control? The answer is six students at Mälardalen University’s programme for robotics and intelligent embedded systems.
4G mobile network system
Presented in Swedish. Christer Ek talks about the 4G mobile network system.
All you ever wanted to know about functional security
Presented in Swedish. Sara Wranker from the EIS Göteborg office is first off the mark in our series of webinars, in which we filmed our regular lunch seminars. Sara talks about her experiences with Functional Security and guides us through the most common questions on this subject. Take a seat and learn something new. Lunch, however, you’ll have to organise yourself.
Report from FOSDEM 2011
Presented in Swedish. Report from FOSDEM (Free and Open source Software Developer’s European Meeting)
David Holm of EIS attended this year’s FOSDEM in Brussels. Check out his colourful description of what you missed if you weren’t there. And what’s hottest in the field of open source right now.