I've been working on an embedded project for a well-known company almost two years now. It kicked off before COVID and suddenly we all started working from home a month or two later.
The frontline answer is: a rudimentary set of tools and lots of UPS and FedEx shipments. I've been getting prototype PCBs and can do some basic fly-wiring and scoping of signals as I go. My company has been good about buying supplies and parts but honestly my Analog Discovery 2 and soldering iron have solved 90% of my problems.
The backline answer is that I put a shit-ton of connectivity into the project early. I can watch any device owned by our project team over an MQTT reflector on a remote server, and I can shell in when I need to fix something. Midway through the project I could start to reflash live units and update firmware remotely.
I was fortunate that this project runs Linux and had lots of networking ability. If this was a smaller microcontroller system it would be a bit more complicated, but everyone is smart enough to learn how to operate some basic tools like Flash Magic and update their systems.
But like others have said, sometimes you need to physically get into the office and work with the tools you have there. It's never 100% virtual.
I've been working on an embedded project for a well-known company almost two years now. It kicked off before COVID and suddenly we all started working from home a month or two later.
The frontline answer is: a rudimentary set of tools and lots of UPS and FedEx shipments. I've been getting prototype PCBs and can do some basic fly-wiring and scoping of signals as I go. My company has been good about buying supplies and parts but honestly my Analog Discovery 2 and soldering iron have solved 90% of my problems.
The backline answer is that I put a shit-ton of connectivity into the project early. I can watch any device owned by our project team over an MQTT reflector on a remote server, and I can shell in when I need to fix something. Midway through the project I could start to reflash live units and update firmware remotely.
I was fortunate that this project runs Linux and had lots of networking ability. If this was a smaller microcontroller system it would be a bit more complicated, but everyone is smart enough to learn how to operate some basic tools like Flash Magic and update their systems.
But like others have said, sometimes you need to physically get into the office and work with the tools you have there. It's never 100% virtual.