Hardware
Hot-plugging is rarely part of the official user flow. But it happens anyway. Cables are inserted while power is on. Sensors are connected mid-operation. Boards are swapped during diagnostics. Debug tools are attached under load. Users try things “just to see.” In many current-state embedded products, hot-plugging is tolerated only
Hardware
In many embedded products, sensors are judged by their datasheet performance: resolution, noise floor, and accuracy. Yet in the field, sensor quality is rarely limited by the sensor itself. It’s limited by what the rest of the system is doing at the same time. Motors spin. Radios transmit. Displays
Hardware
Most modern boards are not powered by a single supply. They are ecosystems of rails: high-current domains for motors or radios, quiet domains for sensors, always-on islands for state retention, and transient-heavy rails that only exist during specific modes. On paper, these rails look independent. In reality, they are tightly
Hardware
Most boards are designed under a quiet assumption: everything that should be present will be present. All sensors are populated. All cables are connected. All rails come up cleanly. Firmware discovers what it expects, and the system progresses forward. That assumption holds in the lab. It collapses the moment a
Hardware
Connectors are often discussed in terms of pin count, current rating, or mechanical life. Those are important—but they’re not the reason connectors fail products. In real systems, connectors fail when they are asked to carry too many assumptions without being designed to enforce them. A single connector today
Hardware
In many products, the power button is treated as a UI element—a cosmetic input whose real meaning only emerges once software is running. Press the button, wait for the logo, let firmware take over. From that point on, everything interesting is assumed to be a software problem. That assumption
Hardware
1. Reframing the Topic: Charging Is Not Plumbing Charging circuits are often treated as settled territory. Choose a controller, follow the reference schematic, confirm thermal margins, and move on. In many organisations, charging is considered infrastructure—important, but fundamentally understood, and rarely revisited once it appears to work. That assumption
Hardware
Why USB, PCIe, and the Decision to Punt Are Product-Level Choices, Not PCB Details 1. Introduction: Reframing the Topic High-speed interface routing on platforms like the Compute Module 4 is often framed as a technical hurdle to be cleared late in design—something to be validated, tuned, and signed off
Hardware
Introduction: The Surface Is the Product In consumer hardware, surfaces are often treated as cosmetic decisions—colour, gloss, texture. In reality, surface engineering is one of the most critical determinants of product longevity, safety, and trust. For products that live in close proximity to pets, surfaces are not passive shells;
Hardware
Choosing the Right Path from Geometry to User Reality Speed matters—but only when it’s paired with intent. At Hoomanely, getting a product into users’ hands early is not a race against time; it’s a strategy to surface real-world constraints that no simulation or review can fully predict.