Alternative Microcomputer Development Environments.


I just ran across this free IDE that one more experienced coding author found to be more complete than Arduino's IDE.  Platformio, besides being adaptable to Ardunio format code, also supports 550+ embedded boards, 25+ development platforms, 15+ frameworks.   Arduino and ARM mbed compatible.

Platformio is built on top of GitHub's Atom and Microsoft's Visual Studio Code.

Here's a how to article.
 PlatformIO IDE for Arduino on Windows an extension for Visual Studio Code (VS Code) or Atom Editor.   Comes in a Free Forever version.

(Platformio also runs on Macs and Linux,  I am have not looked into setting up Arduino on these systems.)



- - - - - - - -



mbed.com a site operated by the ARM processor designers, targets Internet of Things development, they an extensive database of processor board and sensor peripheral data and drivers.  mbed.com also has an online IDE where you can write code without downloading anything, it's closer to a professional IDE than the limited Arduino IDE.  It worked for me compiling a couple of examples for the BBC Micro.bit.




the mbed site also features Mbed OS, an open-source operating system for platforms using Arm microcontrollers designed specifically for Internet of Things (IoT) devices: it provides an abstraction layer for the microcontrollers it runs on, enabling you to write more portable, hardware independent code.


The Mbed site is not a bad place to research Boards, Modules and Components, you can find lots of specs and drivers.













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hooking up the 6 + 1 Mic Array to the MaiX BiT

Image
The Risk-V chip on the MaiX BiT board also contains hardware FFT which should make it a respectable audio analysis board.  Sipeed offers a microphone array board with 7 mics and 12 RGB LEDs. Unfortunately the mic array, which SeeedStudio  indicates is for Dock/Go/Bit, there is no real provisions made for the newer BiT board. Included with the mics is a 10 pin ribbon cable for the Go board, and an unadvertised (not on sales page inventory) 5x2 "dupont" connector cable which directly connects between the back of the mic array (not pictured on the sales page) and the Dock board area with mic connection labels silk screened on the board. Some improvising is needed to hook up the BiT.  I offer 2 different solutions. The first that Seeed could help by throwing in a couple of replacement connector housings. Connection Method #1 (You might have to start with a larger housing and cut it down to size) The Seed OPL type for ...
Read more

Holographic Fans Getting Real Time HDMI Input

Image
 One of the technical leaders in so called 3D Holoographic LED Fans is Dseelab, in Sep 2019 they announced at an event the development of real time HDMI Video Input, it may be quite a while befiue it reaches the market.  Achieving this has been my holy grail, looking into FPGA based video processors and examining cartesian to polar code may no longer be necessary... Here's an interesting demo recently posted: Dseelab a leader in the "3D Holographic LED Fan" industry, has master-slave connections on their units, allowing them to be syncronized in an array, they also offer a programming API connecting though WiFi or with a wired serial connection to a PC.  The API supports remote update from the cloud and random play of 256 different media assets. The only other Holographic Fan maker offering a programming API and arrays for large image display is HYPERVSN of  Ireland.  The newest addition to the DseeLab line is their: 6 Blade 78cm, 960*960 res, ...
Read more

LED Driver Roundup

Image
LEDs being current, rather than voltage operated devices require special driver circuits for optimal performance.  While simple applications like an indicator light that might be run at a fraction of it's rated capability, a series current limiting resistor is sufficient.  High power application running at the edge of the LED's max current rating require active regulation to compensate for the negative temperature coefficients of the LED, (measurement techniques are discussed in this university lab paper .) Low power LEDs can be driven with simple series resistor current control when powered from a regulated power supply. The LED Load Line graph be low helps one select a standard resistor value to get the ballpark current setting with a 5 volt power source.  Find where your LED's color line intersects the desired current, then pick the closest resistance line below that intersection. (This graph is from LEDnique.com , a collection of basic articles on LEDs aime...
Read more