What is Hardware in the Loop (HIL) and Software in the Loop (SIL) Testing?

By Gabriel Staples
Written: 6 June 2018
Last Updated: 7 June 2018

Quadcopter navigation algorithm SIL test (live video).

In mechatronics and control theory, testing is an important part of controller validation. You need to run experiments to prove that your software/analog/digital controller, actuator, algorithm, etc, does what it’s supposed to do. Experiments, however, can be expensive, time-consuming, difficult,
dangerous, or even impossible to test under all conditions. Therefore, you can do Hardware in the Loop (HIL) testing and Software in the Loop (SIL) testing/simulation to aid the testing, verification and validation of your controller without having to resort to pure, fully-physical testing with actual products under actual conditions.

How to make a Linux Live USB with a 2nd, Windows-readable partition for storage

This article is a "Notes to Self" article. That means I wrote it for my own personal reference and use, with myself as the target audience during drafting, but decided to post it here because I believe it is useful to others too, and I want to reach as many people as possible, not just me. 

Ever wanted to have a bootable Linux USB flash drive with a separate, Windows-readable partition for general file storage? Here's how.

By Gabriel Staples

Written: 26-27 May 2016

Posted online: 26 Aug 2017
Updated: 26 Aug 2017

The Gist of it/The super short version:

-for the experienced Linux user

1. Use gparted on a Linux computer to make 2 FAT32 partitions on the thumb drive. The partition created first must be for storage, while the 2^nd one must be for the Linux distro you are putting on the Live USB.
2. Use UNetbootin on a Linux computer to install your iso file for the Live USB onto the 2^nd partition you just made above.
3. Done. You can now boot from the USB thumb drive, from its 2^nd partition, while its 1^st partition only is readable and usable by Windows still (as well as by Linux or Mac too of course).