# A Smart Approach for Doing Firmware Right

- Show: [Over the Air](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air)
- Published: 2021-11-23
- Length: 21m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-11-23-a-smart-approach-for-doing-firmware-right
- Listen: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/over-the-air/episodes/A-Smart-Approach-for-Doing-Firmware-Right-e2l43q9

## Summary

Alan Vardon, Director of the Smart Home Division at Globe Electric, discusses the challenges of transitioning a 90-year-old lighting company into the IoT space. He details the critical importance of firmware, sharing how a firmware update caused pairing issues with new routers and how integrating a camera with RGB lighting required extensive debugging. Vardon emphasizes that while hardware experience is valuable, continuous testing and user experience are key to success in smart home products.

## Chapters

- [0:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-11-23-a-smart-approach-for-doing-firmware-right#t=48) Introduction and Globe Electric Background
- [3:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-11-23-a-smart-approach-for-doing-firmware-right#t=207) Transitioning from Traditional Lighting to Smart Home
- [6:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-11-23-a-smart-approach-for-doing-firmware-right#t=411) Firmware Challenges and the Wake-Up Call
- [11:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-11-23-a-smart-approach-for-doing-firmware-right#t=709) The Flood Cam and RGB Integration Debugging
- [13:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-11-23-a-smart-approach-for-doing-firmware-right#t=814) Future Strategy and Market Observations

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Globe Electric (company)
- Very (company)
- Wise (company)
- Philips (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [S2 E1: From Code to Creation: The Building Blocks of Firmware with Elecia White](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2023-11-28-s2-e1-from-code-to-creation-the-building-blocks-of-firmware-with-elecia-white) (The Builder Circle)
- [390: Irresponsible At the Time](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2021-10-21-390-irresponsible-at-the-time) (Embedded.fm)
- [Firmware for Hardware Engineers with Phillip Johnston](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-09-07-firmware-for-hardware-engineers-with-phillip-johnston) (The Amp Hour)
- [173: Everything's Amazing](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-10-26-173-everythings-amazing) (Embedded.fm)
- [Why IoT Is Difficult with Jonathan Beri](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-01-18-why-iot-is-difficult-with-jonathan-beri) (The Amp Hour)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-11-23-a-smart-approach-for-doing-firmware-right. 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 Over the Air.