Know-Hows and Qualities to acquire Embedded skills accumulated in practical fields
Table of contents
- 1 Know-Hows and Qualities to acquire Embedded skills accumulated in practical fields
- 2 Encounter with embedded systems and the advantages and future potential of making it your skill
- 3 What you will face when larning embedded technology for the first time
- 4 Qualities require of an embedded engineers
- 5 summary
Encounter with embedded systems and the advantages and future potential of making it your skill
I'm Mekanotoro, a current engineer managing director who runs this site.
I am an engineer and a managing director of a company that designs, develops and sells equipment for the manufacturing industry in Osaka, Japan, and also has a wide range of overseas transactions. Until now, we have mainly manufactured and sold industrial machinery and mechatronics-related equipments for the manufacturing industry, but the difficult situation continued due to the influence of the economy and industry trends.
Under these circumstances, we began to sell our own brand of control devices and began to develop products that combined mechatronics devices with embedded systems by applying our accumulated design and development know-hows. Through a process of trial and error, the products we developed finally reached the point where they could be called products, and our annual sales of embedded systems products alone have now grown to tens of millions of yen. We feel that we have the strength to sell products with embedded technology under our own brand.
In the case of industrial machinery, the hardware accounts for a high percentage of products for limited applications, and it is difficult to make them more flexible, whereas the software that is written to the microcontroller accounts for a high percentage of products with embedded technology, so that added value such as additional functions can be added by software, depending on the design. This allows for flexibility in responding to market demands. In the future, the so-called IoT and AI, which make full use of the Internet, will enable the development of applications that are different in dimension from those of the past. Embedded technology has unlimited business potential, depending on the combination with the Internet and other networks and ideas.
Against this backdrop, I feel that the demand for embedded systems and their future potential is increasing. I have decided to launch this site to share my technical know-hows, which until now has only been contained within products, with as many people as possible, young people who aspire to become engineers, engineers with sufficient practical experience, and students who are beginning to develop an interest in manufacturing. I have decided to use this information to help us to improve the quality of our products and services.
This is not just a technical explanation, but also a unique site designed to help you improve your skills as an engineer. By the time you have mastered the techniques explained in this site, you will be a manufacturing engineer with improved skills, and it will not be a dream to sell your technology to the world.
What you will face when larning embedded technology for the first time
It is the same for everyone when starting out in anything new: you don't know where to start when you first start working with embedded technology.
I actually did. I decided to develop my own product in a company project, but when I had to work on embedded I was actually the same way. I had to develop my own product for a company project, and when I was forced to tackle embedded technology for the first time, I was at a loss, not knowing what was right and what was left. I had no one to ask for advice, and I was struggling on my own. I had no idea where to start, and to be honest, I really wanted to ask an expert to help me with just the introduction part of the project.
I happened to stop by a bookstore and bought a book on ARM microcontroller, hoping that it would give me some clues, but it turned out to be a trigger for me. Then, taking this opportunity, I made full use of online information and repeated trial and error, and the hardships came to fruition. Now, if I have an idea, I can realize anything with a microcontroller.
In my case, when I had no experience with embedded systems (microcontrollers), I chose the ARM MCU among various MCUs because, although the ARM was considered too sophisticated for beginners, I was convinced that it had a promising future and could solve many problems when used in actual work.
The result of this adoption was a great decision, but I think it is a shortcut to learn the basics starting from this ARM microcontroller for those who aim to become full-fledged embedded engineers in the future, not just hobbyists in electronic work.
In my case, I was completely self-taught, so it can be said that I have come this far in a roundabout way. That is why I understand the points where it is easy to get stuck, difficult to understand, and easy to fall behind. As with anything, the efficiency of progress is completely different depending on whether or not there is an opportunity to consult with someone when starting something new and unfamiliar.
I put this together with an awareness of providing an environment for learning in the shortest possible time and without waste, while omitting as much as possible the roundabout efforts that I have followed. I try to put together explanations from the perspective of the user, not from the perspective of the teacher. We aim to create a site where you can learn embedded technology efficiently by following the "Learning Curriculum Guidance" on this site in order and then proceeding to "Tutorial to ARM MCU for practical Use".
The site also provides a unique method for building an integrated development environment (IDE) and tools, which are often encountered when starting a microcontroller, in "Recommended Development Environment for Learning ARM Microcontroller STM32", so you can proceed with your learning without frustration.
Once acquired, a skill is an asset. We encourage everyone to acquire skills as early as possible to expand their own potential.
Qualities require of an embedded engineers
It is a real, active, and ready-to-use technical ability gained through real-world design/development experience and failure. I am self-taught in embedded technology and have developed a variety of products through trial and error. In this site, I will introduce the practical use of the technology that I have acquired in this way as the essence of the technology that I am using.
Because my practice is like that of a private company, unlike most engineers, I have acquired a deep knowledge of technology covering a wide range of fields, commercialized products, and achieved sales results, and I can say with confidence that the knowledge and experience I have accumulated in a strict environment in which I am solely responsible for my work is unparalleled.
In embedded technology, as in programming, simply imitating someone else's knowledge is not useful. Unlike techniques built up from the knowledge gathered from the Internet, this site aims to provide practical know-how built on a solid engineering foundation, and to help you develop the ability to apply and respond to any field, regardless of knowledge alone.
Applied and responsive abilities are the most important qualities for an engineer to be able to calmly respond to the inevitable failures that tend to occur in the field.
summary
This site supports learning embedded skills in a short period of time with teaching materials that are equipped with ARM core among various types of MCUs, especially ARM STM32. If you follow the curriculum, you will find that even if you are new to microcomputers, it is surprisingly easy.
It is important to understand the types of microcontrollers and the development environment and tools used in order to master them, but not all of them. Neither microcontrollers nor tools are permanent, but they evolve, become obsolete, and are replaced quite quickly.
For future embedded engineers, it is of course important to become proficient in the use of ARM MCUs, but it is also important to have a basic understanding of timeless and universal fundamentals, such as electrical and electronic circuits, mechanical engineering, control engineering, and programming.
The concept of this site is to develop wisdom to connect and apply basic knowledge. The most important element in developing wisdom is curiosity. If you are interested in something, you will be able to apply the knowledge you have acquired by developing it in your own way. These abilities become assets that can be used not only in the technical field, but also in many other areas in the future. By the time you have acquired "the ability to discern the essence of things and the wisdom to apply knowledge," you will be a full-fledged engineer.
