• [05:30] Cross-disciplinary mobbing with firmware and hardware engineers in IoT development
• [12:45] Addressing efficiency objections: Local vs global optimization in embedded teams
• [18:20] DevOps collaboration patterns and reducing friction between software and infrastructure teams
• [25:10] Selling mob programming to management: Building trust through continuous delivery
• [35:40] Dynamic team composition and the law of personal mobility in technical teams
• [42:15] Coordinating mob teams with waterfall processes and hardware gate systems
• [48:30] Automated firmware protocol documentation and testing infrastructure

"When you initially hear about mobbing, you think everybody's inactive, but there's a lot of excess thought capacity around programming that can happen - somebody can be thinking about refactorings while others are typing the solution." — Chris Lucian

"If you're all there, that whole feedback loop can happen in 15 minutes as opposed to 15 days. It's like technical debt - you pay now or pay later, and if you pay later, it's going to be more expensive." — Austin Chadwick

"We tend to have multiple releases a day all the way to production. Most mobs will deliver to production at least twice a day - four hours of work and then deliver to prod." — Chris Lucian

• Mob Mentality Show - Podcast dedicated to mob programming practices and extreme programming techniques
• Kent Beck's Test-Driven Development Book - Foundational resource for understanding true TDD practices in embedded development
• Amy Edmondson's Teaming Book - Framework for understanding high uncertainty and high interdependence scenarios in technical teams
• Liminal Thinking - Mental framework for breaking through belief-based barriers in agile transformation

You can find Jeff at https://jeffgable.com.
You can find Luca at https://luca.engineer.

Want to join the agile Embedded Slack? Click here

Are you looking for embedded-focused trainings? Head to https://agileembedded.academy/
Ryan Torvik and Luca have started the Embedded AI podcast, check it out at https://embeddedaipodcast.com/

• [03:45] Hardware-software coupling challenges and decoupling strategies
• [08:20] Documentation overhead in safety-critical medical device development
• [12:15] Breaking down silos between electrical, mechanical, and software engineering teams
• [18:30] Hardware abstraction layers as database abstraction equivalents
• [22:10] Introduction to mob programming: all brilliant minds working together
• [28:45] Flow efficiency and eliminating handoffs in embedded product development
• [35:20] Optimal mob sizes and team organization strategies
• [42:15] Inverse Conway maneuver for architectural alignment
• [48:30] Getting started with mob programming in embedded teams

"If you can run unit tests on your host and run your embedded code in a simulator on your PC, that's a pretty good indicator that you've successfully decoupled it from the hardware." — Jeff Gable

"You need to understand that documentation is actually part of your product. It's not separate from your product made of curly brackets - it's one and the same thing." — Luca Ingianni

"Typing is not the bottleneck. It's the problem solving. This is a method of problem solving together faster." — Chris Lucian

"If you get the whole system in the room and in the same mob, things just start cranking. You're not waiting for anything because everyone you need is there." — Austin Chadwick

Find the Mob Mentality Show at https://mobmentalityshow.podbean.com/

You can find Jeff at https://jeffgable.com.
You can find Luca at https://luca.engineer.

Want to join the agile Embedded Slack? Click here

Are you looking for embedded-focused trainings? Head to https://agileembedded.academy/
Ryan Torvik and Luca have started the Embedded AI podcast, check it out at https://embeddedaipodcast.com/

In this episode of the Agile Embedded Podcast, Luca speaks with Violet Su, Business Development Manager at Seed Studio, about the challenges and opportunities in hardware manufacturing.

The conversation explores the realities of hardware development, from initial prototyping to mass production. Violet emphasizes the importance of getting products into users' hands quickly to gather feedback, even if they're not perfect. She highlights common pitfalls for newcomers to hardware manufacturing, including underestimating costs, certification requirements, and supply chain complexities. The discussion also covers the growing influence of AI in hardware development and how emerging connectivity technologies are shaping the future of embedded systems.

• [01:30] Introduction to Seed Studio and its focus on open source hardware and AI
• [03:15] Changes in hardware development landscape over the past decade
• [06:45] Common challenges for hardware startups and innovators
• [12:30] The importance of early feedback and iterative development
• [16:20] Success story: OpenUC2 microscopy project collaboration
• [23:40] Indicators of a successful hardware project
• [28:15] Insights from Embedded World 2024 conference
• [33:10] Future trends in hardware beyond AI

"You might be able to design one and it really works when you have a sample or 10 samples, but when we talk about products, there are a lot of nuances that we really need to think about." — Violet Su

"You can fail faster so that you can succeed faster. We couldn't make a perfect project and we shouldn't expect to make a perfect product." — Violet Su

"When they give you the complaints early on, you will be very thankful, and they know you listened as well." — Violet Su

"The projects that might take off either really solve the pain of some people, or get people excited because it's something new." — Violet Su

"There's nothing better than getting customer complaints early on, so you don't get them later on." — Luca Ingianni

• Seed Studio - Company providing open source hardware and AI solutions
• OpenUC2 - Open source modular microscopy project mentioned as a success story

• Reach out to Violet Su at violet@seed.cc to discuss potential hardware collaborations with Seed Studio
• Visit seedstudio.com to explore their range of AI hardware and customization services
• Connect with Violet Su on LinkedIn for updates on hardware manufacturing trends

You can find Jeff at https://jeffgable.com.
You can find Luca at https://luca.engineer.

Want to join the agile Embedded Slack? Click here

Are you looking for embedded-focused trainings? Head to https://agileembedded.academy/
Ryan Torvik and Luca have started the Embedded AI podcast, check it out at https://embeddedaipodcast.com/