A lifelong tinkerer, and current firmware engineer. Passionate about building new languages and development tools for the embedded space.

Skills

Software

  • Git
  • Docker
  • CMake
  • Meson
  • EagleCAD
  • Spotfire

Cloud/Devops

  • Github Actions
  • Bitbucket Pipelines
  • AWS - S3, EC2

Embedded Specific

  • STM32Cube
  • Renesas e2Studio
  • TouchGFX
  • LVGL
  • FreeRTOS
  • SEGGER Software

Languages

  • C
  • C++
  • Zig
  • Rust
  • Python

Lab Equipment

  • JLink
  • multimeter
  • oscilloscope
  • function generator
  • LabVIEW
  • TestStand
  • soldering

Work Experience (4)

Jul 2022 - Current
Lead Firmware Engineer
Terra Kaffe
Manager + individual contributor for firmware development of the TK-02 super-automatic espresso machine.
  • Managed a team of 3 contractors to complete both control and display firmwares for the TK-02 espresso machine while also being an individual contributor
  • Wrote firmware utilizing FreeRTOS for Cortex M7 and Cortex M23 based MCUs
  • Wrote and debugged low level drivers for various machine hardware including the display, motors, pumps, valves, and thermal controls
  • Implemented LZMA de-compression on-chip to reduce firmware OTA image from ~25MB to ~500KB reducing update time from ~2 hours to ~5 minutes.
  • Wrote an OTA validation and fallback routine from scratch to ensure no possibility of an update rendering a machine non-functional
  • Visited contract manufacturer in China to write assembly line calibration and self-test routines for the machines to optimize production time
  • Developed a PC test harness (RTT + python scripting) to drive on-chip testing in CI
May 2020 - May 2022
Senior Platform Systems Engineer
Impinj
Designed, implemented, and performed continuous improvement on an Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) system with a team of 4 using RFID.
  • Improved average detection rate to 90%+ in store pilot deployments through algorithm and RFID reader development
  • Utilized EC2 computing instances and S3 storage on AWS to create an automated system for replaying and optimizing thousands of EAS detection events
  • Created a series of company hosted Python packages for automating RFID reader and lab hardware control, datacapture, and analysis
Aug 2015 - May 2020
Test Engineer
Texas Instruments Incorporated
Wrote test programs for production line testers that ensured integrated circuits met datasheet specifications
  • Worked with IC design team to implement custom silicon and firmware based design-for-test solutions to optimize test coverage and test time
  • Designed test board PCBs and software for 4 different battery gauge production test solutions across 4 different tester platforms
  • Worked in four different roles over a period of two years as part of a new college graduate rotation program including an international rotation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Jul 2012 - Aug 2013
Research and Development Intern
Fender Musical Instrument Corporation
Assisted engineers with design, testing, and analysis of guitar amplifiers

Projects (2)

RTT Port to Zig
Sep 2024 - Sep 2024
 https://github.com/haydenridd/zig-rtt
Ported Segger's RTT utility from C to Zig
  • Static, compile time configuration of all up/down channels
  • Ability to supply custom lock/unlock interface for thread safety
TK-02 Doom Port
May 2024 - Jul 2024
 https://www.reddit.com/r/itrunsdoom/comments/1btex77/terra_kaffes_tk02_runs_doom/
Ported the "shareware" version of the original Doom game to the TK-02 machine for fun
  • Custom memory allocator that shares internal/SDRAM memory to maximize available memory
  • Control scheme using different touch screen areas as inputs with custom UI
  • Ability to save/load games using the board's external flash IC

Volunteer

Jan 2024  - Current
Contributor
Zig Software Foundation
Volunteer contributor to the Zig programming language
  • Active user on the ziggit.dev forum (@haydenridd)
  • Member of the Zig Embedded Group writing Zig based HALs for microcontrollers

Education (1)

2011 - 2015
Bachelors of Science
 Electrical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Prox-1 Student Satellite Project
Grade: GPA 3.83

Awards

2024
Patent Pending #18362939
United States Patent Office
Patent pending for automated grinder coarseness adjustment method
2018
Manufacturing Innovation Award
Texas Instruments
Given to inventions that save over $100,000 a year in manufacturing costs. Used Python to analyze manufacturing data and predict which test boards were faulty.

Languages

English

Native speaker