This September, Parallax has been in business for 35 years. As part of our celebration, we asked our customers to tell us your Parallax story. This is one we received from our community which will be shared throughout the month.
Like many, my encounter with Parallax was life changing in the best possible way. Around 2005 I was working on an asset tracking project that needed to connect to a new gizmo. Both parts spoke a different language and apparently the situation was impossible; but I’ve always thrived on solving the impossible and figured we could fix that!
I knew I needed a small device to join the two sides; some sort of electronic interpreter. I’d seen Parallax advertising the Basic Stamp microcontroller in some electronics magazines, and that felt like something I could jump right into and solve the project. The Stamp hardware and language definition looked almost self-explanatory, and excited by the possibilities I signed up to the Parallax forums in search of answers!
What I quickly found was a lot of help and encouragement from the other members. And I was soon introduced to Parallax’s newer SX microcontroller as the way to solve my design, along with the great Bean Basic language, SX/B! Needless to say, I ordered the SX Tech Kit the next day, and within a week had a working product!
Time moved on of course, and whilst that SX chip helped me solve a lot of other product challenges, soon the Propeller came along to really change things! I made a couple of designs using the Propeller 1, and had just finished an exhausting hardware and firmware project when an opportunity arose at Parallax to help with a new motor controller product! Wow! The timing was perfect. I had 2 months break scheduled and absolutely no clue what to do! That was around 2013, and I’ve been helping out at Parallax ever since. I never returned to the old job, so it’s been the longest 2 months ever!
Asked about some of the Parallax products I’ve created over the years, my favourites vary from being really tough to complete (in a challenging, memorable way), to really simple and handy! These include the Propeller FLiP module, SumoBot, BadgeWX, ELEV-8, PowerPal, and most recently a range of Propeller 2 boards, accessories and Edge modules!
The BadgeWX wasn’t the first badge I’d made for Parallax, but particularly fun because it included 3 microcontrollers and a whole bunch of embedded firmware coded in 3 different languages! Plus the mechanical aspects were challenging and really satisfying to solve. Come to think of it, another product LaserPING also uses an embedded microcontroller to provide the best user experience in a space and BOM efficient way. I love creating products like that, mixing computing and electronics skills, and I’m especially proud of the rock-solid firmware in my products which prove if we trust our instincts and never give up, “it can always be done!”.
These days my typical day covers a range of functions, and I am happiest and most productive when I’m busy, so I’m naturally always getting involved in something. Most days start and finish with technical support, compliance and any other customer requests. Then after taking time for product design or product updates, document writing or code development, I often can be found helping out with moderation at the forums, and looking after site admin!
Michael Mulholland
