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What is Reinforcement Learning?
Reinforcement learning (RL) is a field of study within machine learning (ML) concerned with developing intelligent agents that take actions in dynamic environments in order to maximize their rewards. RL has gained a lot of popularity in the past few years, most notably in robotics, where big-name companies are using it to create robust locomotion…
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When to Use ROS 2 (and When to Skip It): A Guide for Makers and Engineers
Every time I post about ROS 2, I get either “Just use ROS for everything!” or “ROS is bloated overkill.” Both camps have a point, and neither is entirely right. The real answer, as with most engineering decisions, depends entirely on the project in front of you. My Make Magazine article on ROS 2 nodes,…
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How to Get an Embedded Job When AI Is Taking Junior Programming Work
I keep hearing the same concern: AI is taking programming jobs, especially junior positions. Companies want people who can contribute immediately, but AI tools can now write code surprisingly effectively, including drivers, boilerplate templates, test cases, and even help with debugging. In the rest of this post, I want to dig into the stats: are…
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What Alpha School Gets Right (and Wrong) About AI in Education
Last week, I listened to the Moonshots podcast episode where Peter Diamandis interviews the Alpha School founders. While there are some promising findings, listeners should take the claims with a hefty grain of salt. You’ve likely heard bold claims about how artificial intelligence will “revolutionize” learning. One of the most talked-about examples is Alpha School,…
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Tips for Using AI to Write Embedded Firmware
AI tools have quickly become part of many developers’ workflows. If you’re coming from a hobbyist background or transitioning into a professional embedded role, it can feel like a shortcut: you describe what you want, and code appears almost instantly. However, embedded systems are not the same as writing a quick script or even a…
