https://mshields.name/tags/startup/ Recent content in startup on Matthew Shields Hugo -- gohugo.io © 2022 - 2026 Matthew Shields Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://mshields.name/blog/2023-09-04-using-tmux-to-manage-a-fleet-of-robots/ Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://mshields.name/blog/2023-09-04-using-tmux-to-manage-a-fleet-of-robots/ Preamble The title of this post ought to be “Using tmux to Manage a Fleet of Robots Incorrectly”. When I say manage here, I am talking about system configuration, code deployment and systems administration type tasks. Long term you really should be utilising tools like Ansible, Docker and Airbotics to keep your fleets Linux systems running as you intend. However, in reality it is often needed to do some quick maintenance operation to many Linux systems (or robots) at once even in the early days of a robotics startup when you might have a small fleet and maybe not yet settled on a setup using one of the aforementioned “proper” tools. https://mshields.name/blog/2023-08-30-preempt-rt-install-for-ubuntu-20-04/ Tue, 29 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://mshields.name/blog/2023-08-30-preempt-rt-install-for-ubuntu-20-04/ Preamble I have recently been working with robotic systems that have a greater requirement for deterministic operation. While Ubuntu will likely never be an RTOS the PREEMPT RT patch does allow for soft real-time constraints on specified threads which can be enough of a step up for many research applications. While there are other guides on how to do this online (some linked below) this post will present as a record for the steps I needed to follow recently for my system. https://mshields.name/blog/2022-03-10-picard-management-tips/ Fri, 11 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://mshields.name/blog/2022-03-10-picard-management-tips/ Preamble Jean-Luc Picard was undoubtedly an altruistic leader, and he has kept on sharing his wisdom through his automated tip providing Twitter account. This post is a list of some of my favourites so far. The Tweets Making Change Picard management tip: Initiate positive changes. If not you, who? — Picard Tips (@PicardTips) October 25, 2021 Deadlines Picard management tip: Don't negotiate absurd schedules with engineers. Encourage truth telling and reasonable time estimates. https://mshields.name/blog/2022-02-15-reports-from-the-frontline-of-raas/ Tue, 15 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://mshields.name/blog/2022-02-15-reports-from-the-frontline-of-raas/ Preamble Surely whole point of a robotics as a service (RaaS) is to deploy robots and get paid. But there are a lot of considerations that are easy to overlook when making sure you are ready. The idea for most people who get into this field often looks something like this: Design a robot Build some of those robots Deploy them … Profit? But inside those ellipses be dragons. Let’s try and figure out how to conquer them.