# An Interview With Brandon Harris - Impish Internet Iamatology

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2014-06-11
- Length: 1h 36m
- Episode: 202
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2014-06-11-an-interview-with-brandon-harris-impish-internet-iamatology
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/202-an-interview-with-brandon-harris-impish-internet-iamatology/

## Summary

Brandon Harris, a hardware engineer at Electric Imp, explains how the company simplifies IoT development by providing a platform that handles Wi-Fi connectivity, cloud infrastructure, and power management, allowing developers to focus on application logic. He details the hardware evolution from an SD-card form factor to smaller modules, the decision to switch the embedded language from Lua to Squirrel just before launch to solve memory inefficiencies, and the 'Blink Up' optical configuration method. Harris also discusses the challenges of battery life with Wi-Fi, the company's Series B funding, and its partnership with Murata for manufacturing.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2014-06-11-an-interview-with-brandon-harris-impish-internet-iamatology#t=0) Introduction and Electric Imp Platform Overview
- [1:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2014-06-11-an-interview-with-brandon-harris-impish-internet-iamatology#t=115) The Problem with Early IoT and XML Parsing
- [18:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2014-06-11-an-interview-with-brandon-harris-impish-internet-iamatology#t=1085) Hardware Architecture and the Squirrel Language Switch
- [36:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2014-06-11-an-interview-with-brandon-harris-impish-internet-iamatology#t=2182) Module Form Factors: SD Card to Chip
- [56:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2014-06-11-an-interview-with-brandon-harris-impish-internet-iamatology#t=3383) Power Management and Battery Life
- [1:12:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2014-06-11-an-interview-with-brandon-harris-impish-internet-iamatology#t=4374) Blink Up Optical Configuration
- [1:21:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2014-06-11-an-interview-with-brandon-harris-impish-internet-iamatology#t=4906) Business Model, Funding, and Competition

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Batteries & low-power design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/batteries-and-low-power)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Wireless & RF](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/wireless-and-rf)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Electric Imp (company)
- Arduino (product)
- STM32 (chip)
- Broadcom (chip)
- Squirrel (other)
- Lua (other)
- Nest (product)
- Budweiser Hockey Light (product)
- Spark Core (product)
- Murata (company)
- iFi card (product)
- Adafruit (company)
- SparkFun (company)
- DigiKey (company)
- Maker Faire (other)
- Twilio (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [6: Do Robot Squirrels Dream of Electric Imps...](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2013-06-20-6-do-robot-squirrels-dream-of-electric-imps) (Embedded.fm)
- [56: Rodents of Unusual Size](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-06-18-56-rodents-of-unusual-size) (Embedded.fm)
- [The Spark Gap - Episode 8](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-spark-gap/2014-08-05-the-spark-gap-episode-8) (The Spark Gap)
- [54: Oh! The Hugh Manatee](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-06-05-54-oh-the-hugh-manatee) (Embedded.fm)
- [272: Stick 'Em on Whales](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2018-12-28-272-stick-em-on-whales) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

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