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I'm currently working on some code for an industrial heating controller. Due to Corona virus I'm working from home a lot more so took a prototype controller home to do some testing with.
I'd just made an update to some code that shouldn't have any impact on anything really when suddenly the controller starts randomly resetting. Concerned I'd just screwed something up I started rolling back through our versions. Strangely even when I ran code from one month ago when the device was known to be stable it still reset randomly.
After 4 hours of debugging I eventually noticed the resets came just as the relays for turning the heating element on kicked in. Turns out there was an electrical fault in the prototype that meant if you had a weak mains supply to it then it would temporarily drop the voltage on the CPU board just low enough that it might cause the CPU to reset.
This is why I love embedded software. Someone once described it to me as "trying to code around a broken light bulb".
In other news my business partner borrowed a lot of money last year to buy a big office and hire lots of expensive staff. I told him I wanted no part in that and was happy keeping our company small. So he went and created his own software company and did it anyway on the assumption "the economy always goes up!". He's now begging me to put some of our regular work his way because he can't afford the building and his staff. I really really regret going in to business with that guy. Lessons learned I guess.
(Score: 2) by lizardloop on Saturday April 04 2020, @02:54PM
I forgot to mention I'm looking for a couple of things.
1. A good programming forum or blog to read.
2. A react web developer who could do a few days work for me now and then.
Let me know if you know of either of these.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 04 2020, @07:10PM (1 child)
If you have a partnership, how do you prevent him from just directing business to his own outfit? I don't think I could ever have so much trust in somebody to risk unlimited liability for a partner's actions.
(Score: 2) by lizardloop on Sunday April 05 2020, @11:43AM
It's complicated is the best answer I can give you. We're both smart enough to know we have a lot more to lose by falling out than we have to gain. We have a lot of mutual friends and family who would look dimly on either one of use doing something to screw the other over too badly. Also there are aspects of our regular work that he would struggle to find someone other than me to do because of how specialised it is. The end result is we both pretend we are pulling in the same direction but also working on our own agendas.
As I've got older I've come to the conclusion an important part of any relationship is having common goals. In the early days we both had a similar vision for what we wanted the company and ourselves to be. He's stayed true to that goal of trying to create a huge tech company. Whereas I've decided that I'm just not that motivated and would rather just make a good living in my particularly niche.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday April 05 2020, @03:07PM
Yeah, fun, ain't it? Helps when you're also the hardware vendor/installer so you can spec out additional hardware to protect against rampant idiocy by site maintenance crews. Fucked up grounding and induction issues are my current favorites.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.