4 ms·

I'm guessing all the engineers you know are web software pukes. There are loads of people who could build these today.

by _moof 5y ago

PaulHoule 5y ago
Instead people like me make "spatial computing" led hula hoops and other harmless stuff like that... And those EEG cat ears!
- _moof 5y ago
  The world would be much better off with more LED hula hoops and fewer guided missiles.
  - PaulHoule 5y ago
    It's funny because we were brainstorming on the hoop the other night and it hit me that this was the killer app for a "cheap and cheerful" inertial navigation system. The Trident 2 submarine missile has a gyroscope in it that costs almost as much as the nuclear warhead because it is so resistant to drift that it can be spun up and locked on in port and maintain its position when the submarine is at sea. If you tried INS with a smart phone or wiimote the errors in velocity estimation will build up quickly and you'll get terrible drift. In the case of the spatial computing hoop though you know the hoop never gets far away from the user so you can damp the D.C. component of the velocity, work in coordinates relative the user's center of gravity and never notice any drift in the x or y coordinates. (I don't like damping the vertical so much but I think I can live with it.)
vintermann 5y ago
Oh, I'm pretty sure the stuff we "web software pukes" have to work with would drive all those old-timer Real Engineers crazy in its own way. It's a bit like how a middle school teacher doesn't necessarily have an easier job than a prestigious professor.
- _moof 5y ago
  That's true. (Although what's with "old-timer"? Most of the mech/aero/etc. engineers I know are under 35.) I'm sort of the bridge between the software and hardware folks where I work, and nobody understands what anyone else does. Which is fine - that's what specialization is. The difference I find is that most hardware folks are at least aware of that, while almost all programmers I've met outside of aerospace don't even know the basic engineering curriculum exists (as exemplified by the comment that started this thread).
- dogleash 5y ago
  Preface: I used to work in embedded control systems, now I shovel ads for a living. nah fam, we've got it so much easier. You should kick up your feet and enjoy it, or you'll drive yourself crazy.
  - stjohnswarts 5y ago
    Yeah digging through 2000 page reference manuals and looking for 1 bit differences with nothing other than a serial port/memory debugger is a lot harder than putting up a web page. Now backend stuff at scale is similar complexity. I still do embedded, but I also help/design on the web front ends for said devices :)

I'm guessing all the engineers you know are web software pukes. There are loads of people who could build these today.

by _moof 5y ago

I'm guessing all the engineers you know are web software pukes. There are loads of people who could build these today.

Instead people like me make "spatial computing" led hula hoops and other harmless stuff like that... And those EEG cat ears!

_moof 5y ago
The world would be much better off with more LED hula hoops and fewer guided missiles.
- PaulHoule 5y ago
  It's funny because we were brainstorming on the hoop the other night and it hit me that this was the killer app for a "cheap and cheerful" inertial navigation system. The Trident 2 submarine missile has a gyroscope in it that costs almost as much as the nuclear warhead because it is so resistant to drift that it can be spun up and locked on in port and maintain its position when the submarine is at sea. If you tried INS with a smart phone or wiimote the errors in velocity estimation will build up quickly and you'll get terrible drift. In the case of the spatial computing hoop though you know the hoop never gets far away from the user so you can damp the D.C. component of the velocity, work in coordinates relative the user's center of gravity and never notice any drift in the x or y coordinates. (I don't like damping the vertical so much but I think I can live with it.)

vintermann 5y ago

Oh, I'm pretty sure the stuff we "web software pukes" have to work with would drive all those old-timer Real Engineers crazy in its own way. It's a bit like how a middle school teacher doesn't necessarily have an easier job than a prestigious professor.

_moof 5y ago
That's true. (Although what's with "old-timer"? Most of the mech/aero/etc. engineers I know are under 35.) I'm sort of the bridge between the software and hardware folks where I work, and nobody understands what anyone else does. Which is fine - that's what specialization is. The difference I find is that most hardware folks are at least aware of that, while almost all programmers I've met outside of aerospace don't even know the basic engineering curriculum exists (as exemplified by the comment that started this thread).
dogleash 5y ago
Preface: I used to work in embedded control systems, now I shovel ads for a living. nah fam, we've got it so much easier. You should kick up your feet and enjoy it, or you'll drive yourself crazy.
- stjohnswarts 5y ago
  Yeah digging through 2000 page reference manuals and looking for 1 bit differences with nothing other than a serial port/memory debugger is a lot harder than putting up a web page. Now backend stuff at scale is similar complexity. I still do embedded, but I also help/design on the web front ends for said devices :)