Engineering notes
Practical notes on automation, AI, machine vision, IoT, and the systems engineering that ties them together. No hype, numbers where we have them.
Industrial Automation8 min
Industrial AI explained in plain English: what it is, where it actually works in manufacturing, realistic costs, and how small plants should start.
AI & Automation9 min
Why AI automation projects stall: vague scope, no owner, demo-to-production gaps. How to scope AI automation work that actually ships and keeps working.
IoT & Edge7 min
Smart electrical monitoring turns current and power data into machine health insight: CT selection, power quality, runtime tracking, and payback math.
Machine Vision8 min
Industrial X-ray inspection: how to integrate imaging hardware, analysis software, and traceability data into a production line that actually ships.
Engineering7 min
A practical guide to legacy software modernization: technical debt triage, strangler-fig migration, and rescuing the app your business runs on.
AI & Automation8 min
Practical AI in manufacturing starts with data you already collect. Where it pays off on the shop floor, what to skip, and why machine vision is the exception.
IoT & Edge7 min
A remote equipment monitoring architecture that holds up: sensors, gateways, MQTT, store-and-forward buffering, and alerts that only fire when they should.
Machine Vision7 min
Seven ways vision system integration projects fail, from vague defect definitions to ignored lighting, and how to avoid each one before kickoff.
Engineering7 min
Why a proof of concept beats a big-bang build: how to scope a PoC, what it should cost, and how to kill risky assumptions before production spend.
Industrial Automation8 min
Energy monitoring for manufacturers: using CTs, submeters, and kWh-per-part data to find wasted energy, idle loads, leaks, and peak demand charges.
AI & Automation8 min
Automate or hire? How to do the math on repetitive work: fully loaded labor costs versus build-and-run automation costs, and when each answer honestly wins.
IoT & Edge7 min
Using the ESP32 for industrial monitoring: where the chip shines, where it struggles, and the hardening, OTA, and enclosure work that makes it dependable.
