Power supplies have been much on my mind recently. I’m not talking about honking big power supplies used in conjunction with monstrous machines. Instead, I’m talking about the sort of power supplies you find in embedded systems—the ones you don’t even know are there… until they stop working.

The thing is that a lot of folks who are designing embedded systems and the “things” part of the IoT may have some great ideas regarding what their “things” will do. Unfortunately, engineers who can design power supplies (well, at least, good power supplies) are few and far between. As a result, for the sake of expediency, design teams are oftentimes forced to employ off-the-shelf offerings that may not be all they are cracked up to be.

As a case in point, I recently purchased a couple of cheap-and-cheerful DC-to-DC step-down converter modules that claimed to be able to accept 9V to 36V as input and deliver up to 5A at 5V as output. “Pah! Bosh! Tosh!” I say (Please excuse my French). My friend Joe is the proud possessor of an electronic load. When he put these converters on his test bench, he found they held steady at 5V up to a load of ~1.7A. However, their output sagged to 4.7V when the load reached ~1.8A, and they started to fall off dramatically (a.k.a. collapsed) by the time the load reached ~2.1A.

Suppose I were to tell you that I know of some folks who have an AI-powered tool that can design your power supply for you? Unfortunately, I can’t tell you who they are, because they haven’t publicly announced anything yet. Bummer!

What I can tell you is that I will be talking about this company—along with other companies who have AI powered tools to help us design everything from silicon chips to embedded systems—at the forthcoming Embedded Online Conference (EOC), which will take place 12-16 May 2025.

This event features the crème de la crème of presenters in embedded space (where no one can hear you scream)… and me.

I’ve contributed at least one paper to every EOC since its inception. The title of my presentation for this year’s extravaganza is AI in Embedded Systems and Life Writ Large.

In addition to the use of AI in design, we’re also going to discuss its use in humanoid holograms and robots. My wife (Gigi the Gorgeous) is always asking me how long it will be before we have a humanoid robot that can help her with household tasks and accompany her to the supermarket. In the latter case, she can spend a happy couple of hours asking it to find things for her and then telling it, “That’s not the right one” (I speak from experience).

I think it’s safe to say that things are moving much faster on the household humanoid robot front than I was expecting. If you’d asked me just a couple of months ago, I’d have said that these were at least ten years out. And then I saw the Neo Gamma from 1X.

Suffice it to say that, in addition to a smorgasbord of AI-related topics, a bunch of AI-powered humanoid robots will also feature in my presentation. Also, there will be a live Question-and-Answer session at the end of my talk. If only you could attend this auspicious virtual event yourself. Wait! You can!

Since I’m special, the conference organizers have given me a promo code to share with you (and for you to share with your family and friends). If you use promo code MAXFIELD2025 when you REGISTER, this will bring the price down to $95 for access to EOC 2025 (or $145 with access to the archives from previous events).

DON’T DELAY! The organizers also tell me that this price is only good until the end of February. Both prices will go up by $50 in March, as will the early bird registration fee (but this promo code will always be good for a $50 discount, even if you decide to leave things until the last minute).

What say you? Dare I hope to see you at the Embedded Online Conference this year?