We are now at T-Minus two weeks for the inaugural Embedded Technologies Conference, to be held June 25-28 at the San Jose Convention Center. A while back, I previewed the extensive pre-show workshops. Here, I’ll take a peek at the two-day conference, which is jam-packed with educational lectures that cover just about every topic that an embedded developer may encounter.

Ten different topics will be addressed:

• AI and machine learning
• Analog and digital power solutions
• Automotive
• C/C++ coding
• Industrial IoT
• New and emerging wireless protocols
• RTOS 101
• Security
• Test
• Vision and imaging

The conference kicks off with a class on machine learning, showing how to detect security vulnerabilities in your system with real-time techniques. A later class goes into how to build a powerful Intel-based AI engine for use at the Edge of the IoT.

Spiking neural network (SNN) technology, the basis of one class, is a subset of AI. Unlike the more traditional deep learning networks, which are complex and require lots of processing power, SNNs learn in an unsupervised manner, without large datasets, and find patterns that humans may not be aware of. This capability opens up new possibilities for object classification, ADAS/AV, surveillance, vision guided robotics, and hundreds of other applications.

One of the currently least understood technologies, Bluetooth Mesh, will be detailed by renowned expert Michael Anderson. In this class, you’ll learn how to apply this technology and how to avoid the problems that have previously plagued Bluetooth. Also covering wireless technologies is a class that explains how to deal with multiple radios using multiple antennas without negatively impacting performance, especially in an IoT system.

One topic getting its share of the spotlight these days is vehicle automation, connectivity, electrification, and sharing (ACES), an area that’s poised to transform the way people and things move in the near future. The sensing, communications, and computing technologies required to enable ACES are rapidly evolving, while uncertainties about ACES performance, safety, benefits, and costs hamper and discourage adoption planning. This session will look at key findings in ACES research and discuss recommendations for adoption planning and policy-making.

And of course, no IoT design is complete without a thorough system test. With IoT applications becoming an integral part of our lives, properly testing for safety and security is critical. And that’s what you’ll hear from Andrey Madan of Parasoft.

Finally, a class on predictive maintenance will cover the keys to understanding what variables to measure and how those different variables affect the health of the asset being monitored. It’s not just about gathering the data, but also about understanding what insights can be gained from that data.