# 500: Nerding Out About the Ducks

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2025-05-02
- Length: 1h 07m
- Episode: 500
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-05-02-500-nerding-out-about-the-ducks
- Listen: https://embedded.fm/episodes/500

## Summary

Komathi Sundaram, a principal test engineer at Cruise, discusses her career transition from software development to embedded testing and her philosophy on automation. She details the architecture of hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test benches, explaining how to orchestrate real-world scenarios like NFC taps and audio loops for devices under test. Sundaram emphasizes the importance of continuous integration, using Docker for environment consistency, and designing 'brick test beds' to safely allow developers to break systems during innovation.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-05-02-500-nerding-out-about-the-ducks#t=6) Introduction and Career Background
- [7:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-05-02-500-nerding-out-about-the-ducks#t=434) Unified Testing and Automation Architecture
- [13:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-05-02-500-nerding-out-about-the-ducks#t=803) Setting Up CI and Test Infrastructure
- [24:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-05-02-500-nerding-out-about-the-ducks#t=1471) Hardware-in-the-Loop Bench Design
- [31:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-05-02-500-nerding-out-about-the-ducks#t=1896) Automating UI and Physical Interactions
- [37:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-05-02-500-nerding-out-about-the-ducks#t=2248) Testing Mindset and Career Advice
- [54:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-05-02-500-nerding-out-about-the-ducks#t=3264) Simulation vs. Hardware-in-the-Loop
- [1:03:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-05-02-500-nerding-out-about-the-ducks#t=3783) Conclusion and Resources

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Cruise (company)
- Nordic Semiconductor (company)
- Motorola (company)
- Cambridge Silicon Radio (company)
- Jenkins (tool)
- Buildkite (tool)
- GitHub Actions (tool)
- QEMU (tool)
- Wokwi (tool)
- dSPACE (tool)
- TheKomSea.com (other)
- Embedded Online Conference (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [#021: Hardware at Software Speed: How BootLoop Is Bringing AI to the Bench for Firmware Teams](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/coredump-sessions/2026-03-25-021-hardware-at-software-speed-how-bootloop-is-bringing-ai-to-the-bench-for-firm) (Coredump Sessions)
- [Embedded Systems Engineer Discusses AI-Driven Testing Revolution](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-06-03-embedded-systems-engineer-discusses-ai-driven-testing-revolution) (OnTrack)
- [Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2021-09-21-hardware-in-the-loop-testing) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Firmware Deployment and Troubleshooting with Akbar Dhanaliwala](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-04-06-firmware-deployment-and-troubleshooting-with-akbar-dhanaliwala) (The Amp Hour)
- [BDD with Steve Branam](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2025-03-26-bdd-with-steve-branam) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-05-02-500-nerding-out-about-the-ducks. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.