Embedded Systems Weekly #120
Published: 2022-09-30 17:25:57

## Articles 
[Facts about State Machines](https://github.com/cpressey/Facts-about-State-Machines)
When I was a student at the University, I had been introduced to FSMs and to Petri nets. Nobody emphasises how important these tools are (or I don't remember it) for a career in embedded systems. This article is a good introduction to the StateSmith tool, listed as well in this issue.

[Sphery vs. Shapes, the first raytraced game that is not software](https://github.com/JulianKemmerer/PipelineC-Graphics/blob/main/doc/Sphery-vs-Shapes.pdf)
With this demo Victor Suarez Rovere and Julian Kemmerer show the potential of their solution to translate C code into a circuit. The effectiveness of the result compared to the same C code executed on a CPU is astonishing. For more details read the paper linked or watched the [Sphery vs. Shapes](https://youtu.be/hn3sr3VMJQU) video.

[Getting Started With Embedded Linux - From Nothing To A Login Prompt](https://www.embeddedrelated.com/showarticle/1469.php)
It's an entry level step-by-step tutorial that is using the Yocto Project. A good ressource for beginners who are still afraid to start.

[A history of ARM, part 1: Building the first chip](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/09/a-history-of-arm-part-1-building-the-first-chip/)
Do you know how and why the company once named Acorn Computers started to design its first CPU? Check it out in this article.

[Why Rust is actually good for your car](https://medium.com/volvo-cars-engineering/why-volvo-thinks-you-should-have-rust-in-your-car-4320bd639e09)
A Volvo employee describes his experience on working on the first node ever coded in Rust at Volvo. I quote the conclusion of the experience: "We want to expand Rust here at Volvo Cars" It's quite simple to do so because: "There is zero overhead between C and Rust, C can call into Rust and vice versa"

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## Tools / Libraries
[F Prime](https://nasa.github.io/fprime/)
Originally developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
it is an open-source flight software framework that has been successfully deployed for several space applications.

[StateSmith](https://github.com/StateSmith/StateSmith)
StateSmith is a new cross-platform, free and open source tool for generating state machines. The author explains his motivation to develop a new library with this statement: "I couldn't find a state machine code generator that was suitable for low level embedded application use, had an attractive license, and was enjoyable to use." We all hope Adam Fraser-Kruck will continue to work on StateSmith and to maintain it.

[KiKit v1.1 — What’s New?](https://blog.honzamrazek.cz/2022/09/kikit-v1-1-whats-new/)
It's a set of tools to automatize common KiCAD tasks. It's a minor version release, but it comes with a large number of new features.

## Jobs
[Element Biosciences, Senior Embedded Software Engineer, Full-time, San Diego](https://jobs.embedsysweekly.com/job/Kz6rZ1jK/senior-embedded-software-engineer)
Element Biosciences is a multi-disciplinary startup focused on innovating genetic analysis tools for the research and clinical markets.

## Misc
[Creating an Operating System for the NES](https://youtu.be/UTWK_bIJf1U)
An operating system for the Nintendo NES, and immediately I feel nostalgic. The 80's styled GUI adds another layer to the pleasure to follow this project.