My Favorite LinkedIn Groups

In the several years that I have been a member of LinkedIn I have found that the most rewarding part has been  memberships to the groups I’ve joined. Each group I actively participate in is composed of subject matter experts that are knowledgeable in their fields. I have found that the information generated from the questions I’ve asked to have a direct bearing on generating business revenue. The groups I belong to focus on the areas of embedded computing I see as growth opportunities. In today’s Net Centric world I see the sensor data acquisition community being ingested into net domains. Today for the most part sensor acquisition is like ones hands. Sensors like hands feel and participate in movement and activity. Unlike the hand passing information back to the brain to be correlated with other data sensors today simply focus locally. Going forward new micro-controller chips will facilitate a much tighter interaction with the internet. Actel, ARM, Microchip, Texas Instruments, and Renesas all make such devices. While the micro-controller hardware gets more powerful and less power hungry a robust low cost RTOS environment must be found to manage this type of model. An example of such a model can be found from RoweBots,http://rowebots.com/.

A good video of tradeoffs in the RTOS space can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/user/rowebots 

In reviewing lessons learned from past RTOS exercises (see RTS-860 Review) I believe the single biggest driver is cost. Cost structures are more key now then ever before in the assimilation of applications onto the net. Expensive RTOS packages geared at the corporate lab level just won’t work. From what I can see from RoweBots they totally embrace the low cost approach. I believe each of the communities in the LinkedIn groups I belong to can take advantage of RoweBots technology.  Here are  my favorite groups.

Surveillance Technology

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=111605&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

AUVSI    Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=941207&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

Real - Time Embedded Engineering

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=102939&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

Military Embedded Systems

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=1864255&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

Aerospace & Defense Industry Professionals

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=136689&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

OpenSystems media Value to Embedded Community

OpenSystems media is a reservoir of information covering all aspects of the embedded community. Through a combination of events, new forms of social networking and multiple traditional trade publications this group forms the backbone of the embedded systems community. I believe that the new product announcements covered by this organization are the best in the embedded community. See: http://wwwopensystemsmedia.com

NineSigma Review

The embedded community should take a close look at NineSigma, http://www.ninesigma.com This new digital age company “gets” the future direction of embedded computing applications. Through access to and interaction with their site one can find providers who can provide various solutions for tasks that are outlined to bid on. This appears to me as the first truly “wired” attempt to foster a true embedded computing eco system development effort. A group looking to initiate a project can specify requirements that a solution provider can bid a work package to. Partners in various areas of expertise can register on the site to get bids based on a profile they establish. Anyone who recalls reading the paper version of Commerce Business Daily or trying to sort through the maze of the currant online FBO Daily will appreciate the clean and simplistic look of the opportunities posted. NineSigma uses the term “Open Innovation” to position this community and the site reflects this spirit with case studies and a good description about what the philosophy of this approach entails.

NineSigma Review

The embedded community should take a close look at NineSigma , http:www.ninesigma.com