Hardware Podcasts

#003: Pebble's Code is Free: Three Former Pebble Engineers Discuss Why It's Important (PART 1/2)

Coredump Sessions · 11 Feb 2025 · 49m · Episode 4

What this episode covers

Francois Baldassari, Chris Coleman, and Brad Murray, former engineers at Pebble, discuss the technical architecture and engineering decisions behind PebbleOS. They explain how a single codebase supported multiple hardware variants, enabling a platform approach that simplified updates and app compatibility. The team details their custom NOR Flash file system, app sandboxing using MPU fault handlers, and the strategic use of intentional crashes to generate core dumps for debugging. They also highlight the importance of analytics, serial protocols, and the collaboration between firmware and hardware teams in shaping the final product.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Pebble, Memfault, Automatic, Fitbit, Google, ST
Products
PebbleOS
Chips
FTDI, INA226, ARM
Tools
KEMU, WAF
Also
FreeRTOS, FatFS, LittleFS, Rust

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