Hardware Podcasts

390: Irresponsible At the Time

Embedded.fm · 21 Oct 2021 · 1h 12m · Episode 390

What this episode covers

Tyler Hoffman, co-founder of Memfault, discusses the challenges of managing firmware updates, device diagnostics, and remote monitoring for millions of IoT devices. He draws on his experience at Pebble and Fitbit to explain why existing cloud platforms are often unsuitable for resource-constrained embedded systems, highlighting the need for secure boot, staged rollouts, and efficient heartbeat reporting. Hoffman details how Memfault’s platform helps engineers detect crashes, track battery life trends, and prioritize bugs by aggregating data from large device fleets. The conversation emphasizes the importance of defensive programming and building robust OTA systems to prevent bricking devices at scale.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Memfault, Pebble, Fitbit
Also
Zephyr, Mynewt, FreeRTOS, Espressif IDF, AWS IoT, ThreadX, MCUboot, wolfBoot, Interrupt

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