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Task Manager
Proactive Engineering, by C. J. Abate

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Custom Instrumentation Engineering, by  С. J. Abate
An Interview with Brian Millier

New Product News, edited by John Gorsky

The consummate engineer
Embedded Safety, by George Movacek
Components fail Its your duty as a competent engineer to ensure the effects of failure are predictable and benign, here you'll learn to develop and implement basic failure mode analysis

FEATURE ARTICLES
Advanced USB Design Debugging, by Colin O'Flynn
As USB becomes more and more ubiquitous, you must have a solid understanding of how the technology works and how you can use it in your designs. Start by studying the advanced features of USB and then move on to working with a USB MCU.

The 4-to-20-mA Current Loop, by Aubrey Kagan
The 4-to-20-mA current loop has been around for a long time, and it isn't going anywhere despite a wide range of fieldbus options. If you design applications for industrial electronics, you're destined to use a 4-to-20-mA interface (if you haven't already).

Build an X10 Controller (Part 2)
The Controller Program and Utility, by Devlin Gualtieri
Vbu have a circuit design for your X10 controller. Mow it's time to address the firmware. This is a review of a controller program and a utility to convert a human-readable event file into serial data the X10 controller understands.

Hexapod Kinematics
Motor Communication, Motion Planning, and Image Processing by Matt Bunting & John Rogers
This article covers advanced topics in robotics applied to a completely autonomous hexapod design. The concepts of gait dynamics, feedback control, and optical flow for motion depiction are covered.

COLUMNS

A BOVE THE GROUND PLANE
Crystal Properties
Circuit Models, Measurement, and Conversion, by Ed Nisley
Understanding a crystal's properties is key to getting oscillators working. Mere you learn about a crystal's circuit model, how to measure a crystal's properties, and how to convert the values into parameters for the model.

THE DARKER SIDE
A Tour of the Lab (Part 1)
Time Domain Measurement Equipment, by Robert Lacoste
Buildings design lab is an exhilarating experience. Ifs exciting to shop for parts, set up new equipment and begin planning new projects. But it also can be a stressful endeavor, especially when you're working on a tight budget, here are some tips for choosing the right test equipment given your design needs and resources.

FROM THE BENCH
Application Communication with USB (Part 3)
Assembly Code Finale, by Jeff Bachiochi
Ready for the last installment in this article series about USB communication? You understand the enumeration process and you're familiar with the standard device descriptor here you learn about the two interactions that take place through the configured device's established endpoints (EP1 and EP2)

SILICON UPDATE
MIPS and More, by Tom Cantrell
When it comes to 32-bit MCUs, no doubt ARM-based parts are on a roll. So, is the
story over? hot so fast say major players Microchip Technology, for one, is going all-in with chips based on the MIPS architecture Their latest parts are a reminder there's more to a successful embedded design than an instruction set

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