The Year of the Windows Desktop
Windows is making great strides in usability and is on the verge of being a good enough developer desktop. In this article we’ll explore what has progressed, and what is still to be done.
Jonathan Rico
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No Rush
Adventures in Ruter API land 🚆🚌: 
 A no-BS train & bus timetable website, tailored for my family. 
 Code at https://github.com/narvalotech/no-rush 
 ---- Blommenholm -> work ----
 16:21 [rail] line L1 to Oslo S
 16:51 [rail] line L1 to Oslo S
 17:21 [rail] line L1 to Oslo S
 17:51 [rail] line L1 to Oslo S
 
 ---- Blommenholm -> sandvika ----
 15:59 [rail]…
FV1 clip
A wearable guitar effects processor. Based on the Spinsemi FV-1 chip. 
 



 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 Outline 
 Contents 
 
 
 Status 
 Story 
 Electronics 
 
 Connector 
 Motherboard 
 DSP board 
 Pre-amp board 
 
 
 Case design 
 Software 
 
 Firmware…
RRewinding time (with Zephyr RTOS)
Today we will debug a Bluetooth application by using the rr debugger . 
 



 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 


Using the Zephyr host with an SPI controller
Today we will explain how to use the Zephyr Bluetooth stack on a board that doesn’t have a radio.
Tracing network buffer lifetime on Zephyr RTOS
This post is an experiment in collecting and displaying trace data from a device running Zephyr RTOS.
Split keyboard
A split low-profile mechanical keyboard.
USB-only for now, but will be wireless in the near future. 
 



 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 Contents 
 
 
 components 
 layout 
 electronics 
 accessory 
 case design 
 software 
 problems 
 review 
 project files 
 
 

…
USB power switch




 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 A USB-controlled USB power/data switch. 
 At my day job I usually have a bunch of development kits plugged in, used for hardware testing. I use a test framework/runner that used to be unstable, and put the DKs in a weird state. 
 They had to be plugged out and back in before every test…
Mini control panel




 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 Intro 
 A board with a bunch of inputs and outputs I made for my daughter. 
 It features: 
 
 
 Inputs 
 
 3x4 keypad 
 3 sliding pots 
 3 rotary pots 
 1 rotary selector switch
(not wired for now) 
 3 toggle switches 
 4 pushbuttons 
 1 red…
Jenkins CI christmas tree




 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 An LED strip (on a xmas tree) that displays the current job queue. 
 Contents 
 
 
 The idea 
 The API 
 
 Job queue 
 Node status 
 
 
 Talking to the LEDs 
 
 Transmitter 
 Receiver 
 LED control 
 
 
 Visualization 
…
Debugging on embedded devices
This post provides an non-exhaustive overview of the techniques that can be used to debug embedded devices.
Modular wristwatch system




 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 Intro 
 Designed as a follow-up to Ledwatch . 
 A modular (smart)watch system. The concept is splitting modern smartwatch functions into modular PCBs with mezzanine connectors, to be able to try different sensor/mcu/display combos without having to redesign everything from scratch each…
Personal projects
A project is never truly completed, but abandoned 
 2024 
 
 No-rush : Online train timetable 
 
 2023 
 
 FV1 clip : Wearable guitar effects processor. Follow-up to FVpedal . 
 Split keyboard : A mechanical split keyboard 
 Usb switch : A USB power/data cutoff switch. 
 
 2022 
 
 Mini control panel : A small control panel for my daughter to…
Ledwatch




 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 Summary 
 A simple binary led watch. Programmed in bare-metal C (i.e. no HAL), uses a MSP430 uC and 24 green leds. 
 Features: 
 
 16-bit ultra low power uC 
 32k watch crystal 
 High-brightness green led display 
 Ultra low power accelerometer 
 2.4GHz low power…
Guitarfm




 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 Summary 
 An FM transmitter, just like the ones used for hearing your mp3 player’s music on your old car radio, but made for using with an electric guitar. 
I made 3 revisions of the design: 
 
 A cobbled-together proof of concept with breakout boards and perfboard, I did not…
PureData IMU




 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 Summary 
 A system that allows one to graph the acceleration and angular velocity of a small widget in real-time, wirelessly. 
 Features: 
 
 PC display programmed in Pure Data (a graphical language similar to MAX/MSP ) 
 Microcontroller: Arduino pro mini 
 Wireless:…
Fvpedal




 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 Summary 
 A programmable guitar/bass effects pedal, based on the excellent Spin semi FV-1 DSP chip. 
 I was just starting playing bass, and dubstep was all the rage in 2013, and I wanted a way to achieve the bass growl/vibrato effect with a real bass and an effects pedal. 
 So I looked…
CrawlBot 1
Summary 
 My first encounter with robotics, in 10th grade. 
 This is a RC ‘robot’ made in my basement for a French competition. Each actuator (gripper, lever, both track motors) is controlled and powered by a controller box with a simple joystick-style switch and pushbuttons. 
 This was how they did it in the school’s robotics club before, and I didn’t know at…
Jon's projects




 
 

 
 About me 
 Welcome to my personal website ! 
My name is Jonathan and I work in embedded electronics. 
 I currently work at Garmin Canada in one of the connectivity teams. 
 Here’s my CV for the more curious :) cv.pdf Not guaranteed to be up to date! 
 You can find me on: 
 
 Github as narvalotech 
 LinkedIn 
…