Editor's Letter Insights

The Adventure Begins

Written by Sam Wallace

I am proud to bring you the October 2022 issue #387 of Circuit Cellar for a few reasons. To start, this is my first issue as Editor-in-Chief of Circuit Cellar. I’m excited to carry the torch for such a reputable and beloved magazine.

That reputation, as long-time readers well know, was built over 34 years by the outstanding contributions of a network of embedded systems experts. Our writers really know their stuff. This happens to be another reason I’m proud to edit their work. I can trust that the articles we publish are deep, thorough, accurate, and relevant to our readers. They’re also fun. Our writers’ love for the subject comes through on every page, and I hope to honor this passion by helping clarify, clean up, and perfect their pieces wherever I can.

But enough of the stuff you already know. This issue brings you Circuit Cellar’s characteristic range of content, from summaries of enjoyable personal projects, to in-depth technical how-to articles, to industry developments that hint at new horizons for embedded systems.

In this issue, Jeff Bachiochi breaks down resistive touchscreens and how they can be used as input devices for microcontrollers. Read more about it in his “From the Bench” column. Over in Stuart Ball’s “Start to Finish” column, he looks at the two broad categories of voltage regulators – linear and switching. In this month’s “Embedded in Thin Slices,” Bob Japenga continues his series on debugging embedded real-time systems by showing us what kinds of tools can help us debug. Wolfgang Matthes writes about how to turn a processor into a microprogrammed control unit in “Extending Machine Instructions.” Meanwhile, Brian Millier repurposes an old 3.5” drive to make a rotary encoder for his music studio in his aptly titled “Repurposing Old Disk Drives For Rotary Encoders.” In “Interfacing with Video Game Controllers,” Joseph Corleto is taking apart retro video game controllers to show us how to read their inputs. Dhairya Parikh trains a TinyML model to recognize certain gestures in the final part of his series introducing TinyML. Three Cornell students present their sandbox for interacting with Conway’s Game of Life. Zeljko Loncaric discusses the 12th generation Intel Core processor and what sets them apart. Oh, and I give an overview of developments in the smart home industry in this month’s “Special Feature.”

I cannot close out this Editor Letter without first thanking Shannon Becker, Carol Bower, Brian Millier, and KC Prescott. It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say I could not have made it through this issue without their editorial assistance, their years of experience with Circuit Cellar, their technical knowledge, and their remarkable patience with me as I scramble up the learning curve in my first month on the job. Thank you, all four of you, for welcoming me and showing me the ropes.

I hope you enjoy this issue. Feedback is always appreciated, so please feel free to contact me at editor@circuitcellar.com.

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Issue Table of Contents can be found here,
as articles are made available online they will be linked.

PUBLISHED IN CIRCUIT CELLAR MAGAZINE• OCTOBER #387 – Get a PDF of the issue

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Note: We’ve made the May 2020 issue of Circuit Cellar available as a free sample issue. In it, you’ll find a rich variety of the kinds of articles and information that exemplify a typical issue of the current magazine.

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Editor-in-Chief at KCK Media Corp. | + posts

Sam Wallace - became Circuit Cellar's  Editor-In-Chief in August 2022.
His experience in writing, editing, and teaching will provide a great perspective on the selection, presentation, and clarity of editorial content. The Circuit Cellar audience will benefit from his strong academic background encompassing a Master of Fine Arts in Writing and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with honors. His passion for learning and teaching is a great fit for Circuit Cellar's continuing mission of Inspiring the Evolution of Embedded Design.

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The Adventure Begins

by Sam Wallace time to read: 2 min