4 ms·

The problem is: A lot of the 'native' libraries and even the open-source embedded RT OSs really suck. And if you use a vendor's library you are very locked in:

The problem is: A lot of the 'native' libraries and even the open-source embedded RT OSs really suck. And if you use a vendor's library you are very locked in: Let's say you use a TI chip for your prototype but then someone who knows stuff about designing hardware tells you that now it has to run on an Atmel processor because $profits... you will have to reimplement a lot of your stuff which costs (quite a huge amount) of time and might even require an entire rewrite..

minthd 12y ago
you could always use something like the mbed or arduino , and have the ability to change chips ,but if you want to access the full capabilities of chips ,you'll cant have portability ,because you lose something when abstracting.
- EpicEng 12y ago
  Am Arduino is not a production solution. It's great for prototyping, but to expensive for mass production. You go with something as small and cheap as possible.
  - TD-Linux 12y ago
    You can totally use the Arduino in production, and it's happened quite often. The core of the Arduino is just the ATMega8 micro, which is only a few dollars - Arduino is just a nice programming environment and set of libraries for it.
    - neohaven 12y ago
      Can you? Sure. Should you? Oh, sure, if you want a very expensive piece of hardware in your product.
  - Sanddancer 12y ago
    I think the parent was talking about Arduino as a software platform, instead of the Arduino hardware. The software itself will run on pretty much any of the 8 bit avrs, even things like the ATTiny45.
ANTSANTS 12y ago
I've only done hobbyist embedded development, so maybe I'm totally off the mark here, but I would have guessed that for truly low RAM niches (i.e. ultra low power or extremely cost constrained), an RTOS would be totally out of the question. And for the vendor-provided libraries, if you're really memory constrained, you're probably writing in assembly language anyway which dwarfs any other porting cost.

minthd 12y ago

you could always use something like the mbed or arduino , and have the ability to change chips ,but if you want to access the full capabilities of chips ,you'll cant have portability ,because you lose something when abstracting.

EpicEng 12y ago
Am Arduino is not a production solution. It's great for prototyping, but to expensive for mass production. You go with something as small and cheap as possible.
- TD-Linux 12y ago
  You can totally use the Arduino in production, and it's happened quite often. The core of the Arduino is just the ATMega8 micro, which is only a few dollars - Arduino is just a nice programming environment and set of libraries for it.
  - neohaven 12y ago
    Can you? Sure. Should you? Oh, sure, if you want a very expensive piece of hardware in your product.
- Sanddancer 12y ago
  I think the parent was talking about Arduino as a software platform, instead of the Arduino hardware. The software itself will run on pretty much any of the 8 bit avrs, even things like the ATTiny45.

ANTSANTS 12y ago

I've only done hobbyist embedded development, so maybe I'm totally off the mark here, but I would have guessed that for truly low RAM niches (i.e. ultra low power or extremely cost constrained), an RTOS would be totally out of the question. And for the vendor-provided libraries, if you're really memory constrained, you're probably writing in assembly language anyway which dwarfs any other porting cost.