274: Swiss Knife of Embedded Systems

Embedded.fm · 18 Jan 2019 · 1h 15m · Episode 274

What this episode covers

Ivan Kravets, founder of PlatformIO, explains how his open-source toolchain simplifies embedded development by providing a unified build system, library registry, and debugger that works across multiple IDEs and operating systems. He discusses the platform's architecture, which allows developers to switch between frameworks like Arduino and mbed with minimal configuration changes, and highlights the benefits of its unified debugging engine. Kravets also shares insights from the RISC-V Summit, noting Western Digital's adoption of RISC-V for custom controllers and the growing commercial viability of open-source processor architectures.

Mentioned

Companies
Western Digital, SiFive, Microchip
Products
PlatformIO, Arduino, IAR, mbed, MPLAB
Chips
RISC-V
Tools
Visual Studio Code, Eclipse, J-Link, OpenOCD

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 49m

    An Interview with Piotr Esden-Tempski

    Piotr Esden-Tempski, founder of One Bit Squared, discusses the development of open-source hardware and software tools for embedded systems, specifically the Blackmagic Probe and OneBitC board. He explains the technical rationale behind creating these tools, citing licensing issues with STMicroelectronics libraries and the need for robust, open debugging capabilities like GDB integration. The conversation covers the hardware design of the Lisa series autopilots, the software architecture of Paparazzi UAV, and the community-driven growth of the Blackmagic Probe project following a successful Kickstarter.

  • Moore's Lobby · 49m

    Creating Next-Gen Microcontroller Developer Tools and Equipping the People Who Use Them

    Rodger Richey, Vice President of Development Tools and Academic Programs at Microchip Technology, discusses the evolution of embedded development tools over his 30-year tenure. He explains how Microchip shifted its IDE support from NetBeans to VS Code to align with developer habits and details the integration of AI as an assistant for code generation and debugging rather than a replacement. Richey also highlights Microchip's academic initiatives, including virtual internships and hardware labs in India, designed to bridge the gap between theoretical education and practical engineering skills.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 11m

    System Designer Lets You Try Every Part with Michael Gielda

    Michael Gielda, co-founder of Antmicro, discusses the company's open-source tools including the Renode simulator, the Zephyr RTOS, and the new System Designer portal. He explains how Antmicro uses automated CI pipelines to run thousands of Zephyr binaries in Renode to validate hardware support across hundreds of platforms. The conversation covers the use of simulation for space and automotive systems, the Kenning AI framework for edge deployment, and the Chips Alliance's Calyptra root-of-trust project.

  • Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast · 1h 43m

    044 - Scots Army Knife

    Piotr Esden-Tempski of 1BitSquared discusses the company's role in manufacturing open-source hardware, specifically the Glasgow digital interface explorer, the iCEBreaker FPGA board, and the Black Magic Probe debugger. He explains the economic rationale for using an old Quad 4C pick-and-place machine for small-batch production and details how Glasgow uses an FPGA to dynamically generate hardware protocols via the nmigen HDL. The conversation also covers the geopolitical shift toward RISC-V in China, the challenges of debugging legacy industrial equipment, and the importance of documentation and community education in the open-source hardware ecosystem.

  • The Amp Hour · 2h 41m

    An Interview with Claire (née 'Clifford') Wolf

    Clifford Wolf, founder of Symbiotic EDA, discusses his creation of the first open-source FPGA toolchain, Yosys, and his work in reverse-engineering bitstreams for Lattice and Xilinx devices. He explains the significance of the open RISC-V instruction set architecture, contrasting it with proprietary models like ARM and x86, and details his development of the PicoRV32 processor. Wolf also highlights the use of formal verification tools, such as RISC-V Formal, to ensure hardware correctness and security, demonstrating how open-source methods can match or exceed commercial verification standards.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Embedded.fm. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.