We all are born with an innate sense of curiosity about the world. A curiosity that parents and teachers know all too well as children are very inquisitive – constantly asking questions about the world around them. Feeding that curiosity is important because as we grow older, it becomes increasingly more difficult to find the time to learn new things. In my job, I am so fortunate to be surrounded by market-leading technologies that help make the world a smarter and more secure place. At the heart of these technologies are engineers, who have fostered their curiosity – turning those questions of ‘why’ and ‘how’ into the next greatest things.
Regardless of your profession, I think we all still harness a curiosity at times about how things work and perhaps even have ideas on how to make things better. For example: Ever wonder why your remote control batteries have to be replaced so often or how the tray in your microwave spins around? Or what makes your refrigerator run?
Enter Kinetis MCUs … It is no secret that Kinetis MCUs are ‘connected’ to people, making things better for our lives every day. Whether we realize it or not, MCUs are an important part of our daily lives; from the moment our alarm clock goes off in the morning until the moment we finish our book and turn off the eReader for the evening. In fact, even the bed we sleep in may be using an MCU. Microcontrollers are embedded in almost every device connected to power or a battery. I would venture to say that the average household has at least 50 electronic gadgets and appliances with MCUs in them – spanning from your garage door opener to your smart watch, and everything in between. The increasing popularity of microcontrollers in end products is because MCUs are more full-featured, lower cost and easier to develop with than ever before. Kinetis MCUs in particular, are focused on the following four key areas to make the experience even better for the engineers designing with them and the consumers using the end products.
– But with the added privilege of connectivity, comes the increasing responsibility to secure it all. We want to make sure that only authorized users are seeing our information, using our devices, and that the devices in our home are not easily accessed by hackers. The security features of the Kinetis MCUs are designed to prevent unwanted attacks and protect the device.
Connectivity – Our homes are getting smarter. I am old enough to remember the days before remote controls – when changing the channel required us to physically get up and change the dial. The wireless remote control was invented as a way to connect the user and the TV remotely. That idea has spanned throughout much of the home and the way in which devices connect is more advanced than ever. The thermostat is talking to the ceiling fan, the home alarm system is talking to the iPAD, and I feel like my kids are able to control way too many things around the house just from their gaming system. Integrated into Kinetis MCUs are smart ways for the devices to connect with each other – both wireless and wired connections.
– Have you ever missed the opportunity to capture a video or picture of an important milestone because your camera battery died or got disconnected from something important as the battery icon on your phone drifted to 0%? The low-power capabilities of Kinetis MCUs enable longer battery life and are more “green” for the environment by helping save on overall system power.
Ease-of-Use – Kinetis MCUs are enabled by a variety of software and hardware tools. Just like a hammer and screwdriver make it easier to build a house, tools like the Freedom boards and Kinetis SDK make it easier to build the next great electronics product. By making Kinetis MCUs easier to use and design with, we allow the engineers to focus their time on new features and added differentiation.
As the world of technology continues to evolve, I’m excited to see what the future holds. But it first starts with you and your curiosity. What challenges do you have with technology today? How could you use Kinetis MCUs to design the next great thing? Comment below and let us know. Also, stay tuned for more information on how #KinetisConnects and how you can get involved.
Kathleen Jachimiak is a Product Marketer for microcontroller platforms and has worked in multiple marketing roles in support of MCU and MPU products. She's passionate about supporting the needs of today's IoT customers by bringing connected, secure, low-power products to market. She currently manages marketing programs for the Kinetis ARM-based MCU product portfolio and has a degree in electrical engineering plus 15 years in the semiconductor industry.
