Software-Based Cyclic Redundancy Checks

In my personal projects, I often work with various sensors which require digital data verification. One such sensor required the use of a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) to verify that the information that the micro-controller read from the sensor was being received correctly. A CRC is a method for calculating a checksum from an array of data. The software examples that I was able to find to develop my understanding of implementing a CRC were poorly documented. Moreover, these examples were often so optimized that the underlying behavior was not immediately recognizable. Many examples simply used a lookup table—which provided no satisfaction for my “what-makes-it-tick?” personality.

Our Community: DISTek Hosts Blood Drive

Here at DISTek, one of our core values is to support the communities in which we live and work. It is in that spirit that we recently partnered with the American Red Cross and hosted a blood drive at our Cedar Falls office on Thursday, September 27th. As the carts were rolled in, our friends from the Red Cross transformed our training room into a blood collection facility.

MBSD Training: An Internal Perspective

In June of this year I had the opportunity to attend our DISTek-led Modeling and Simulation training course. Currently, I am the lead of the Automation and Test group here at DISTek, but in my previous roles I have been heavily involved in desktop application development, as well as test system development primarily using LabVIEW. My exposure to modeling and embedded has been somewhat limited thus far, so I thought it would be a good experience to learn some of the basics.

An Employee Owner’s Review

Employee Owned

When last I wrote in this space, way back in February, I told of how I was starting to begin to really feel like an owner of the company. It had been over 3 years since DISTek founder, Matt Dickinson, decided to share a part of his company with his employees by forming an ESOP – an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Yet none of us were handed a new job description with the title “owner,” but that’s what we are now – employee owners. And as each year passes, more information and knowledge about this whole ownership thing comes before us.

Not all work and no play: Friday Team Grill Out

It’s not all work and no play around DISTek. Last Friday, we were fortunate enough to take advantage of one of the last hurrahs of summer and get out over the lunch hour to enjoy the beautiful weather. Our on-site team organized a lunchtime picnic-style grill out and all DISTekians in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area were invited to attend and partake in team-building camaraderie and delicious food.

2018 Fall AEF Plugfest Preview

Sometimes when I write a blog, I try to be a little clever. And if ever there was a good time for me to write a clever blog, this may be that time. For one, this Plugfest is celebrating the 10th anniversary of AEF as an organization. Secondly, I have an idea of how I could make my blog post clever by incorporating an Italian flavor to celebrate the Plugfest location.

DISTek Participates in SAE COMVEC 2018

Somehow we find ourselves at the beginning of September already and for those of us here at DISTek, it means that the annual SAE COMVEC show is just around the corner. This year’s show will once again be held in Rosemont, Illinois at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare September 11th – 13th. DISTek will be involved in several capacities from sales hosting a booth on the exhibit floor to engineering attending the technical sessions and panels to stay up to date on the latest technology. We are also pleased to have one of our own, Daniel Aceituna, featured in an expert panel discussion.

An Introduction to Available Services in the AUTOSAR BSW

AUTOSAR, or AUTomotive Open System Architecture, is a standard to commonize automotive control systems across the industry. The benefit of running an AUTOSAR standard operating system across all electronic control units (ECUs) within a vehicle platform, or a company/industry, is analogous to the benefits of all PCs within an organization running a common operating system. This allows the application engineer to develop software for the standard operating system and gives the organization a single solution, which is independent of hardware variations. In addition….

A Culture of Innovation: Lessons from 3M

On June 6, 2018 3M Corporation opened up their Innovation Center in St. Paul, MN to members of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). DISTek Integration sent representatives from our engineering group to attend 3M’s presentation entitled, “Building a Culture of Innovation.” 3M leaders presented how the company went from a small and unprofitable Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (where the three “M”s come from) company in the early 1900s, to one of the most successful product companies in the world today.