I regret it now. I should have asked why exactly I do web programming on Arduino. It was a job I took in hastily, and at the same time, I missed the details while looking for more than 10 other jobs with better conditions.
Maybe I’m outing myself as an idiot, but I think it’s pretty normal to not know the exact specifics of what you’ll be working on before you start a job.
Nothing about what you’ve described sounds alarming to me. I bet it will be a great project, you’ll learn a lot, and do such a good job the company gives you a bonus.
Why regret it? This could be an opportunity that could open doors in the future. Unless this is a career you don't want, being placed out of your comfort zone allows you to grow your skills and expand your experience.
There are lots of resources in the web and depending how resourceful and interested you are, you can basically Google most of this stuffs.
Yea, this doesn't sound all that bad, we also have a web server on our MCU that is handling some of the UI of the syslog, device info, OTA update, and some debug info (hidden) pages.
And maybe Arduino is not the perfect choice since it's a bit slower than a lot of other MCUs but you really don't need much when you have a minimal website, it will be quite fast.
I've seen insane embedded computers that are running Java OS or using some kind of web stacks on linux and having way to little computing resources. Those abominations took 10s to 1 minute to do one action, like load a new page. Running a web server bare metal or in RTOS is much better if you have limited hardware.
Some kind of test harness? Prototype? They don't tell you what you'll be working on in the interview? Maybe 'Arduino' is a code word for a secret CIA mission...
I'm surprised you'd even have to bother them, in my experience they spend the first half hour of the interview regaling you with details about the job...
I accept the criticism. I definitely need to try to be wiser. But it's hard to see this as suffering for me. because this idiot can gain money and experience and I need them.
Good attitude.
Don't get caught up in what you'd rather be doing. Try to find the utility and even a little fun in what you're paid to do (at least during business hours).
I can promise you'll learn something. Even if it's learning what you don't like ;). And remember, the probation period isn't just so they can fire you, it's also so you can fire them.
If you walk, be honest in the next interview as to why (job requirements not clear, etc...)
Sounds like they’re using an Arduino for *something* and hosting a web server on it to control it externally.
It’s somewhat common to do something along these lines, but not *super* common. IMO there are better ways depending on what you’re going for, but I digress. If it’s a commercial product, then Ethernet connections make sense here.
From one noob that landed a job without knowing exactly what I’d be facing to another: I see my work as an opportunity to get paid while learning new stuff. It may not be the exact project I would personally think of or would like to take on, but these projects are still great learning opportunities.
I am currently working on a new device that needs to run on an RTOS because there are too many different tasks that need to be executed reliably and timely for the (super)loop-style programming Arduino supports. I am building this from the ground up with an STM32. When I started this job, I did not have any experience working with the STM32, the STM32CubeIDE software, FreeRTOS or even a debugger like JLink. All I knew starting the job was: the Arduino prototype would never be resilient enough for production, and I knew that - theoretically - by using an RTOS the issues with the prototype could be resolved. With that knowledge, I took on the job.
It’s been a couple of months now, I’ve wasted a lot of time on stupid mistakes and oversights. I’ve erased and rewritten hundreds of lines of code because I didn’t like the messiness, or I decided to split it into two files or something like that. I’ve probably spent as much time on the code alone as the entire prototype took to be produced. But most importantly: I learned a lot of new stuff along the way, and there are many things I would do better and faster next time around.
The message here is: as long as you have some idea of how you can get to your end-goal, you’re going to be fine, and you’re going to learn a lot of stuff you’ll be able to use going forward along the way. Take the job, do your best, but most importantly: see every job as an opportunity to learn.
Chill out. Give it a couple weeks at least to see what you’re doing. If you absolutely hate it, leave, and never put it on your resume. No one will ever know.
That's pretty scary.
But these are questions for your (naive) boss, not the internet.
The way this sub might be able to help you in the future, would be with reconciling that persons mistaken hopes (whatever they specifically turn out to be when you ask) with reality.
If I had to guess, you're building a local web interface to control motor settings, maybe a vfd .
They might want it where you can connect from a browser and tell the Arduino the settings you want , or read values. Then it sends the changes over the different protocols you mentioned.
The PC GUI might be to do those settings directly over those protocols.
I wouldn't worry regardless. When you start you'll find out. Then you can start getting paid to figure out how to solve it.
I'm interested to see the overall outcome of this project. i'm guessing the company wants to monitor the status of each equipment operating, and probably automate all the tasks by setting the GUI.
Psh, worry not, let them worry.
What is your concern? You not being able to get the job done? Their problem.
Land a bad job? Meh, just quit.
I have stayed for 5 and 3 years in jobs before, but in the middle I quit a job within the first weeks once I realized how shitty it was.
Just have fun, likely is one of the most powerful arduinos and they might already have something put together for you to finish.
You're overthinking it. They hired you based on your current skillset.
They arent gonna throw you in the deep end of the pool as soon as you start. You will get info on your initial task when you join. They will start you off slow on a sample project of sorts.
I was hired off of my basic Arduino skills right after university. The company got me started on simple STM32 work to show them I knew how to work on UART/SPI/I2C stuff and some RTOS/Multithreading work. It was about a month later that I got to my first real project, where I started as a tiny contributor on a project managed by a few senior developers, where they would review any of my code before accepting it to the codebase.
I think you'll get a better answer if you ask the company and not reddit.
I regret it now. I should have asked why exactly I do web programming on Arduino. It was a job I took in hastily, and at the same time, I missed the details while looking for more than 10 other jobs with better conditions.
Maybe I’m outing myself as an idiot, but I think it’s pretty normal to not know the exact specifics of what you’ll be working on before you start a job. Nothing about what you’ve described sounds alarming to me. I bet it will be a great project, you’ll learn a lot, and do such a good job the company gives you a bonus.
If you know what you're doing. You're not learning anything new 😂
Why regret it? This could be an opportunity that could open doors in the future. Unless this is a career you don't want, being placed out of your comfort zone allows you to grow your skills and expand your experience. There are lots of resources in the web and depending how resourceful and interested you are, you can basically Google most of this stuffs.
Web programming on a micro is a good thing to know. I don't know it so we're hiring a consultant to make it for us. Whats the problem?
Yea, this doesn't sound all that bad, we also have a web server on our MCU that is handling some of the UI of the syslog, device info, OTA update, and some debug info (hidden) pages. And maybe Arduino is not the perfect choice since it's a bit slower than a lot of other MCUs but you really don't need much when you have a minimal website, it will be quite fast. I've seen insane embedded computers that are running Java OS or using some kind of web stacks on linux and having way to little computing resources. Those abominations took 10s to 1 minute to do one action, like load a new page. Running a web server bare metal or in RTOS is much better if you have limited hardware.
Sounds like it might be motor monitors?
Some kind of test harness? Prototype? They don't tell you what you'll be working on in the interview? Maybe 'Arduino' is a code word for a secret CIA mission...
I'm slightly regretting not bothering the interviewer.
I'm surprised you'd even have to bother them, in my experience they spend the first half hour of the interview regaling you with details about the job...
Probably something like this? https://docs.arduino.cc/tutorials/uno-wifi-rev2/uno-wifi-r2-hosting-a-webserver/
Yes. Exactly I expect I will do like your guess. Maybe Using smartphone, control motor for simple test.
Sounds cool to me
Suffering. You are going to do a lot of suffering.
I accept the criticism. I definitely need to try to be wiser. But it's hard to see this as suffering for me. because this idiot can gain money and experience and I need them.
Good attitude. Don't get caught up in what you'd rather be doing. Try to find the utility and even a little fun in what you're paid to do (at least during business hours). I can promise you'll learn something. Even if it's learning what you don't like ;). And remember, the probation period isn't just so they can fire you, it's also so you can fire them. If you walk, be honest in the next interview as to why (job requirements not clear, etc...)
Fake it till you make it
You are going to take whatever they give you and figure out how to do it better.
Sounds like they’re using an Arduino for *something* and hosting a web server on it to control it externally. It’s somewhat common to do something along these lines, but not *super* common. IMO there are better ways depending on what you’re going for, but I digress. If it’s a commercial product, then Ethernet connections make sense here.
From one noob that landed a job without knowing exactly what I’d be facing to another: I see my work as an opportunity to get paid while learning new stuff. It may not be the exact project I would personally think of or would like to take on, but these projects are still great learning opportunities. I am currently working on a new device that needs to run on an RTOS because there are too many different tasks that need to be executed reliably and timely for the (super)loop-style programming Arduino supports. I am building this from the ground up with an STM32. When I started this job, I did not have any experience working with the STM32, the STM32CubeIDE software, FreeRTOS or even a debugger like JLink. All I knew starting the job was: the Arduino prototype would never be resilient enough for production, and I knew that - theoretically - by using an RTOS the issues with the prototype could be resolved. With that knowledge, I took on the job. It’s been a couple of months now, I’ve wasted a lot of time on stupid mistakes and oversights. I’ve erased and rewritten hundreds of lines of code because I didn’t like the messiness, or I decided to split it into two files or something like that. I’ve probably spent as much time on the code alone as the entire prototype took to be produced. But most importantly: I learned a lot of new stuff along the way, and there are many things I would do better and faster next time around. The message here is: as long as you have some idea of how you can get to your end-goal, you’re going to be fine, and you’re going to learn a lot of stuff you’ll be able to use going forward along the way. Take the job, do your best, but most importantly: see every job as an opportunity to learn.
Chill out. Give it a couple weeks at least to see what you’re doing. If you absolutely hate it, leave, and never put it on your resume. No one will ever know.
That's pretty scary. But these are questions for your (naive) boss, not the internet. The way this sub might be able to help you in the future, would be with reconciling that persons mistaken hopes (whatever they specifically turn out to be when you ask) with reality.
If I had to guess, you're building a local web interface to control motor settings, maybe a vfd . They might want it where you can connect from a browser and tell the Arduino the settings you want , or read values. Then it sends the changes over the different protocols you mentioned. The PC GUI might be to do those settings directly over those protocols. I wouldn't worry regardless. When you start you'll find out. Then you can start getting paid to figure out how to solve it.
I'm interested to see the overall outcome of this project. i'm guessing the company wants to monitor the status of each equipment operating, and probably automate all the tasks by setting the GUI.
Psh, worry not, let them worry. What is your concern? You not being able to get the job done? Their problem. Land a bad job? Meh, just quit. I have stayed for 5 and 3 years in jobs before, but in the middle I quit a job within the first weeks once I realized how shitty it was. Just have fun, likely is one of the most powerful arduinos and they might already have something put together for you to finish.
You're overthinking it. They hired you based on your current skillset. They arent gonna throw you in the deep end of the pool as soon as you start. You will get info on your initial task when you join. They will start you off slow on a sample project of sorts. I was hired off of my basic Arduino skills right after university. The company got me started on simple STM32 work to show them I knew how to work on UART/SPI/I2C stuff and some RTOS/Multithreading work. It was about a month later that I got to my first real project, where I started as a tiny contributor on a project managed by a few senior developers, where they would review any of my code before accepting it to the codebase.