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The
Designer-III
Company!

Are your embedded system designs ready for the Third Millennium, or are you content to sail along with ideas and designs of ol'?

Cost Of Modifications Graph

If you think that I could be of some assistance to you or your organization let me know,
American Society for Quality  Certified Software Quality Engineer.
Device Software Optimization (DSO) Expert.
We now have a blog! Check it out.


CDC/NIOSH has released my book on Wearable Smart Sensors, check it out at www.wearablesmartsensors.com.


I have many years experience designing and programming embedded systems for one of the roughest environments on Earth, Coal Mines.

In a Coal Mine you have the worst of everything, caustic water, dust so thick you can't see through it, and vibrations that can turn "off the shelf" modules in to unidentifiable 'things' rolling around the bottom of the case etc...  If my designs can survive that, I bet they can survive your requirements.  For an example of my thoughts on embedded systems, see my site on System Safety.

If you saw the movie "Ladder 49", starring John Travolta,  then you have already seen some of my embedded work on the big-screen.

Is there an embedded system design that I can do for you?


I have experience developing hardware and software for Embedded Systems, using many different architectures, as well as software for both Windows and Linux platforms which allows for increased market penetration.   I also do design and document review work for government agencies and professional publishers.  For example you can find my name in the First Edition of the uCOS-II book and the wxWidget book:

Cross-Platform GUI Programming with wxWidgets  
(Bruce Perens Open Source)

The wxWidgets book is now available as a PDF.

"Cross-Platform GUI Programming with wxWidgets is the best way for beginning developers to learn wxWidgets programming in C++, and is a valuable resource for experienced wxWidgets programmers looking to expand their skills. This book is a must-have for programmers thinking of using wxWidgets and those already using it." -- Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus Software and the Open Source Applications Foundation.

wxWidgets is an easy-to-use, fully open-source C++ API for writing GUI applications that run on Windows, Linux, UNIX, Mac OS X, even Pocket PC...supporting each platform's native look and feel with virtually no additional coding.


Examples of my work for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)/ National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH) Mining Division maybe found in the links below:

Programmable Electronic Mining Systems: Best Practice Recommendations (In Nine Parts) Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health.

These reports draw heavily from International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard IEC 61508 [IEC 1998a,b,c,d,e,f,g] and other standards.


Contact me, see link above, if you are interested in having me do wxWdigets cross platform development work, or design review work, for your organization.




uCOS-II:

Click for larger image.

Since Jean J. Labrosse says, on page XIX of the Preface section, "Special thanks to Mr. Alian Chebrou and Mr. Bob Paddock for passing the code of uC/OS-II through a fine tooth comb.", of his book "MicroC/OS-II The Real-Time Kernel; A complete portable, ROMable scalable preemptive RTOS";first edition. I thought I should give it a plug here. :-) 

Check it out at  http://www.uCOS-II.com/.
 ISBN: 0-87930-543-6.
Copyright 1999.

This is a excellent textbook to learn how to write and use a embeddable Real Time Operating System. Comes with CD containing the complete source code, in ANSI 'C'.  You may find in a college classroom near you soon...

Click for larger image.


Winner of Distinctive Excellence award in the 2003 Zilog Z8Encore! Flash for Cash International Design Contest, administrated by Circuit Cellar Magazine.



My work for
Circuit Cellar Online:
THE MAGAZINE FOR COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
Circuit Cellar Online  offers articles illustrating creative solutions
and unique electronic applications through complete projects, practical
tutorials, and useful design techniques.

http://www.circuitcellar.com/

From the final "Connect Time" in Circuit Cellar Issue #80, March 1997: "I do want to thank a few individuals who have contributed above and beyond the call over the last 10 years (and, I'm hopeful, for years to come). Specifically, Bob Paddock, Pellervo Kaskinen, George Novacek, Jim Meyer, and Ed Nisley. I could always count on one of these sharp guys to have an intelligent, well-thought-out answer to some of the most off-the-wall questions I've ever seen." 

- Ken Davidson former SYSOP/Editor-In-Chief Circuit Cellar Magazine

Resource Page
Archives

I consider Circuit Cellar Magazine one of my off spring.  Before the Internet was known as it is today, computer systems known as "Bulletin Board Systems" were popular.  Steve Ciarcia's organization sponsored a BBS where like minded technical people hung out, and helped each other solve the design challenges of the day.  Steve talked about starting a simple newsletter to supplement the BBS.  I made a comment that what the industry really needed was the hardware equivalent of Dr. Dobb's Journal.  Then, as today, Dr. Dobb's Journal is where you can learn about the latest and greatest software techniques.  Shortly after this Circuit Cellar Magazine was born, where you can learn about the latest and greatest hardware techniques. "Whats in the box still counts".



Circuit Cellar Online is a supplementary monthly edition to Circuit Cellar magazine.

Click Here to see what's in Circuit Cellar Online!
Sponsored by ChipCenter:

#Topic

At the height of the Dot-Com boom in the late 1990's I was the founding author of Circuit Cellar Online's monthly Resource Pages, where I covered a technical topic of the month.  The Circuit Cellar Online project was done under subcontract to the now defunct ChipCenter web site.  I have reproduced these Resource Pages here because they still contain good technical information.  However please note that many of the links have expired, or turned into sites that are no longer relevant, please view them in the historical context that they were written several years ago.  Most of these were written ahead of their time, for example NanoTech and RFID were written when they were virtually unknown technologies.  In the saying "lead, follow, or get of out the way", I'm the pioneer with the arrows in the back from blazing the trail.  How can I help you blaze your trail?

"BED OF NAILS. Most EEs associate it with test fixtures, not torture, but choosing the right spring probe can be pretty darn unpleasant, says Bob Paddock. That's why he's created a resource page to ease the pain."
- ChipCenter Communicator Vol 1. No. 13

"TECHNICALLY SPEAKING.  If you're looking to voice-enable your next design, check out Bob Paddock's comprehensive resource pages on speech recognition and speech synthesis.  They'll leave you speechless."
- ChipCenter Communicator Vol. 2 No. 28

"Working Backwards. The best way to understand the basic operation of Content-Addressable Memory (CAM), says Bob Paddock, is to think of it as regular memory that works backwards." - ChipCenter Home Page Oct/10/2000

"MAGNETS. Everything you always wanted to know about our fluxy friends but were afraid to ask. Seriously, if your design calls for a magnet or magnetic coupling, Bob Paddock's resource page is a great start."
- ChipCenter Communicator Vol. 3 No. 5

Relays

Magnets  [Most popular one I did.]


Confused by Magnetic Units? Then check this out.

Snubbers 
(dV/dt)

Solid-State Relays

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

Solder: Making the Connection

Content Addressable Memory

CORDIC-Coordinate Rotation Digital Computer
[Embedded math]

Speech Synthesis and Recognition

Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)

The Making of PDF and Postscript Files

Rugged Data Storage

Real Time Clocks and How to Set Them

System Safety

Metglas (Application of Amorphous Metals)

LVDS(Low Voltage Differential Signaling)

XML (Extensible Markup Language)

Starting your own Business
Supply Chain Approach to Planning
and Procurement Management

Power Measurement (Root Mean Square/RMS)

H-Bridges & Class D

Peltier Thermoelectric Coolers

High Voltage

Spring Probes and Test Fixtures

Fuel Cells and Radioisotope Heater Units

Joint Test Action Group (JTAG)

Printed Circuit Board Software and Manufacturers

NanoTech 

Noise/Linear Feedback Shift Register/Chaos

Pointers to Standards and Like Organizations

Hall Effect / Magnetoresistive (MR) Sensors


Updates:

Please note that the material above was written right in the middle of the DotCom heydays, more than seven years ago now, which is a very long time in Cyberspace. All of the people that could access the site to do any updates have long since moved on after the DotCom Crash. I was never given the ability to update the sites directly. I have learned that I will never again take on a web site contract where I am not given direct access.

I have received many compliments on the articles, and still get requests to update them with new information. However because I can not update the sites, I am placing all such update requests on this site:



I served as a member of the Research Staff for Chip Center's Ask Us. "If you've been curious about a subject related to circuit design and just can't seem to locate the answer on your own - try out our cadre of experts. They have answers for questions nobody has thought to ask yet."


Comments by Steve Ciarcia
============================================================
From: STEPHEN GRISWOLD To: STEVE CIARCIA Subj: FAX Pump
------------------------------------------------------------
-=> Quoting Steve Ciarcia to Bob Paddock <=-

SC> Somehow when Bob Paddock wants your fax number it's time
SC>to check the paper supply. OK, I'll bite. My fax is...
SC>--Steve

Hello, Dean-Whitter? I want to buy stock in Georgia Pacific.. Now!

{chuckle}
============================================================
From: STEVE CIARCIA To: STEPHEN GRISWOLD Subj: FAX Pump
------------------------------------------------------------

I'm not kidding! Take a look back and see the length of some of the things Bob has posted as messages here.
Giving him a fax number might be like the waste basket for the library of congress. --Steve ;-)

============================================================
From: BOB PADDOCK To: STEVE CIARCIA Subj: FAX Pump
------------------------------------------------------------

Humm... I'm not sure if I should take that as

Bob = Trash Can
or
Bob = Library of Congress,

no matter. :-)
============================================================
From: STEVE CIARCIA To: BOB PADDOCK Subj: FAX Pump
------------------------------------------------------------

I assure you that the reference was to you being the library, not the trash can.
It always seems that if anyone has a question you have a volume of data on the subject.
It helps keep this BBS interesting.
Thanks. --Steve






If you think that I could be of some assistance to you or your organization let me know,
American Society for Quality  Certified Software Quality Engineer.
Device Software Optimization (DSO) Expert.