Running Julia Code Baremetal on an Arduino | Valentin Bogad | JuliaCon 2023

Step-by-Step Tutorial: Running Julia Code Baremetal on an Arduino

Introduction:

In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of running Julia code baremetal on an Arduino board. This involves interacting with the hardware directly without the need for an operating system. We will cover setting up the environment, writing code to toggle an LED, and compiling and flashing the code to the Arduino board.

Step 1: Understanding Bare Metal Programming

• What is Bare Metal?: Bare metal programming involves running code directly on the hardware without an operating system.
• Benefits and Limitations: Provides precise control over hardware but requires managing everything manually.

Step 2: Understanding the Arduino Board

• Arduino Uno: A popular development board with limited resources like flash memory and peripherals.
• Hardware Interaction: Interact with the board's components directly without abstractions.

Step 3: Setting Up the Development Environment

• Compiler Toolchain: Utilize AVR GCC and AVR LD linker for compiling and linking code.
• Required Tools: Install necessary tools for cross-compilation and static compilation.

Step 4: Toggling an LED on Arduino

• LED Control: Understand how to control an LED connected to a specific pin on the Arduino board.
• Register Mapping: Access and write to specific registers to control the LED.

Step 5: Writing Julia Code for LED Control

• Define Registers: Create functions to interact with the registers using volatile store operations.
• Implement LED Toggle: Write code to toggle the LED on and off in a loop.

Step 6: Compiling and Flashing the Code

• Compile the Code: Use the Julia compiler to generate the binary code for the Arduino board.
• Flash the Board: Transfer the compiled code to the Arduino board for execution.

Step 7: Testing the LED Blinking Program

• Verify Operation: Ensure that the LED on the Arduino board blinks as expected.
• Debugging: Address any issues or errors encountered during the testing phase.

Step 8: Exploring Advanced Features

• Error Detection: Leverage Julia's type inference and static checking for early error detection.
• Peripheral Interaction: Explore communication with other devices and peripherals using Julia code.

Step 9: Future Considerations

• Optimizations: Look into optimizing code for memory and performance constraints on the Arduino.
• Cross-Architecture Support: Explore the possibility of porting the code to other architectures supported by LLVM.

Conclusion:

By following these steps, you can successfully run Julia code baremetal on an Arduino board, gaining valuable experience in low-level hardware programming and exploring the capabilities of the Julia programming language in embedded systems development.