Amelia's Weekly Fish Fry

(Fish) Fryin' Your Senses

We're attacking your senses this week. Yep, we're coming on like last week's cold and we're taking no prisoners. OK, that's not really true... but this week's Fish Fry is exploring several recent sensory-related technological breakthroughs in the world of electronic design. First, we're talking about one of the newest advances in artificial compound eye technology and explaining how it could kick up the vision performance on your next robot project. Next, we're checking out the newest advances in low-power touchscreen microcontrollers, and finally we are investigating how one perfume company in Japan is looking to add a fourth dimension to our smartphone text notifications. Click Here to enter to win a Freescale i.MX6Q Sabre Lite Board courtesy of newark element14.

Tools, Airplanes, and Smart Watches

In this week’s Fish Fry - we’re talking tools, we’re talking airplanes, and we’re talking watches. First, I’m chatting with Jim McElroy (Vice President of Marketing - LDRA) about where LDRA fits in the embedded tool landscape, what their compliance management system is all about, and how this compliance management system may just help you get your next Mil/Aero design off the ground. Also this week, I’m checking out how Aldec’s new Spec-TRACER tool suite can help you navigate the twists and turns of your next DO-254 design and why you should check out a new Kickstarter campaign that is attempting to launch a brand new smart watch called The Agent.

I’ve got a chipKIT Uno32 Arduino-Compatible Prototyping Platform to give away to one lucky listener courtesy of newark element14 this week! Head on over to element14.com/fishfry to enter to win. Click here to enter to win a chipKIT Uno32 Arduino-Compatible Prototyping Platform courtesy of newark element14

ASIC’s Four Letter Word, Napalm Bats, and The GertBoard

Fish Fry is treading on scary ground this week. Guard your children, hold your RTL close and your soldering gun even closer. We're talking ASIC design costs. I know many of you are cowering in fear at the slight mention of custom chip NRE costs. This week my guest is Reid Wender (Triad Semiconductor) and we're chatting about how you can relinquish your mixed-signal ASIC design cost fears once and for all. Think of it as an NRE exorcism, sorta.

Also this week, we're checking out a special long lost World War II battle battalion and giving away a GertBoard courtesy of newark element14.

(Raspberry) Pi in the Sky

Fish Fry is going raspberry this week, Raspberry Pi that is! My special guest is none other than the co-creator of the Raspberry Pi board Gert Van Loo. Gert and I are chatting about how the Raspberry Pi board was created, how Gert built upon Raspberry Pi to create the Gertboard, and why he thinks IO education is important for the next wave of engineers. Also this week, I'm chatting with Cliff Ortmeyer (newark element14) about the intersection of hackers, makers, and engineers. In keeping with this week's theme, I have a Raspberry Pi Model B to give away to one lucky listener this week courtesy of newark element14. Click here to enter to win a Raspberry Pi Model B courtesy of newark element14

Ultra-low Power Strikes Again

Show me an engineer that isn't worried about power consumption in his or her design and I'll show you a bridge I would love to sell you. Getting your the power consumption down in your designs can be a tricky dance. From resistors, to transistors, and all the way the programmable logic you choose for your design can play a big role on whether you get to that magic voltage. In this episode of Fish Fry, we're heading into the land of ultra-low power with a chat with Gordon Hands (Director of Marketing - Lattice Semiconductor). Gordon and I chat about Lattice Semiconductor's claim to have the world's smallest FPGA and what exactly they mean by ultra-low power. Also this week, I'm talking with Alf Bogen (CMO - Energy Micro) about how Energy Micro is making a name for themselves in the low power business.

I've got a brand new nerdy giveaway - A NXP LPCXespresso Development Board courtesy of newark element14. Visit element14.com/fishfry to enter to win one of these super cool development boards.

Click here to enter to win an NXP LPCXespresso Development Board courtesy of newark element14

Westward Ho!

Pack up your soldering gun, your API handbook and your slide rule, we're heading to Design West 2013 - where the sun is high, the booth babes look bored, and the tumbleweeds are plentiful. This week I'm chatting with Joerg Bertholdt (Director of Marketing, MCU Tools and Software - Atmel) about embedded design tools and how the right tools just might make your next embedded design a whole lot easier. Also this week, I'm breaking down my Design West swag count and investigating what the heck the semi truck on this year's expo show floor was all about.

I'm giving everyone a chance to win a BeagleBone Black courtesy of newark element14. Check out this week's episode of Fish Fry to find out how you can win.

Click here to enter to win a BeagleBone Black courtesy of newark element14

FPGA Tools, Marketing Malarkey Goggles, and More

FPGA Tools - can't live with them, can't design without them. This week's Fish Fry is about ending the first part of that meme and how Xilinx is hoping to make our design tool experience a whole bunch easier. My guest is Tim Vanevenhoven (Senior Marketing Manager - Xilinx) and we're going to chat about design abstraction, IP integration, and how the FPGA tool community is working together to provide more powerful, easier to use solutions. Also this week, I give a sneak preview of my previously-top-secret, special-purpose augmented reality glasses - and explain how I plan to use them to cut through the marketing fog at the upcoming Design West show. Hmmm... Maybe I should do a kickstarter project to get these guys into volume production... I have a copy of "Analog Circuit Design, Volume 2, Immersion in the Black Art of Analog Design" by Bob Dobkin and Jim Williams to give away to one lucky listener. Like this episode on Facebook and you will be entered to win.

My Substrate or Yours?

Fish Fry is getting down to bare metal.We’re talking the who, what, where, and how of multi-substrate technology and checking out why the tools of today may not be up to snuff for tomorrow’s 3D IC packaging. Also this week, we look at the challenges of 100G designs and investigate why Portland, Oregon was ranked the second nerdiest city in the United States.

I’ve got a Microchip TCHIP003 chipKIT™ Starter Pak - courtesy of Mouser and Microchip Technology to give away this week. You can enter to win one for your own by posting a comment on this week's Fish Fry page.

Sensors on the Brain and FinFETs in the Game

Fish Fry is headed to the Land of Next this week - the next process nodes, the next big breakthrough in brain sensor technology, and the next Kickstarter investment you should consider. My guest is Wilbur Luo (Cadence) and we’re talking 16, 14, and 10nm, what’s in store for these next process nodes, and how the design challenges associated with FinFETs are going to keep us on our toes. Also this week, I’ve got a brand new nerdy giveaway - the Microchip TCHIP003 chipKIT™ Starter Pak - courtesy of Mouser and Microchip Technology. You can enter to win one for your own by posting a comment on this week's Fish Fry page.

Boldly Going...

Fish Fry is going off the rails this week. We’re trading o-scopes for tri-corders. We’re ditching that RTL, HLS, UVM and I²C for JTK baby. JTK. Yes, I said it. My guest is Marc Cushman, author of the book "These are the Voyages - The True History of Star Trek: The Original Series, Season One”. We're dishing about some of the juicy details of this new book including how Hollywood politics shaped its legacy, what Gene Roddenberry's private memos revealed about the nature of the show, and how Star Trek has shaped the world as we know it.

Also this week, I am giving away a BeagleBone courtesy of newark element14. Check out this week's broadcast to find out how you can win.

Click here to enter to win a BeagleBone courtesy of Newark element14