Arduino for Rubyists

Arduino for Rubyists Erik DeBill @edebill

Who am I?• Erik DeBill - erik@debill.org• BS in Computer Engineering• 10 yr web development• 2 yr Ruby• 1.5 yr Arduino

Obligatory Plug I work at

What is Arduino? Hardware Software Community

Hardware8-16Mhz processor 14 digital I/O pins 6 analog inputs 6 PWM outputs 32k ﬂash 2k RAM Shield interface

Lots of Alternate Hardware

SoftwareC++ IDE written in Java Standard librariesWindows, Linux and Mac Minimal frillsCan use your own editor

Community Helpful peopleAlternate hardware Shields Libraries

Why is This Cool?

It’s Really Simple • Easy to Get Started • Easy to Make Your Own • Natural path to getting more sophisticated

Use a Different LanguageIt’ll make you a better programmer

Get Off The Web

What Can You Do With It?

blinkenlights• Great intro• Electrically simple http://rgbledcoat.blogspot.com/

data_logger• Network of temperature sensors• Logging wirelessly to Rails app• Custom hardware https://github.com/edebill/data_logger

mpgduino• instant mpg readout for cars• uses OBD-II connector• LCD display http://ecomodder.com/wiki/index.php/MPGuino

keg controller• kegerator• sensors• rﬁd• ipad https://github.com/Yelp/kegmate

What Can Rubyists get from the Arduino Community?

Creative Atmosphere• Lots of smart people • Artists • Makers • Engineers• All sorts of ideas

A New Perspective• 2k RAM• 32k of software• 0.016 Ghz• bandwidth measured in baud• power in milliwatts

What Can We Bring to Arduino?

Ruby• Better than Python• Better than Processing• Rails makes it really easy to store and display data

Software Engineering• API design• Abstractions• Naming• Version Control• Testing

Web-Savvy• They’re at the BBS and Wiki stage• Nothing like a Rubygems.org• Instructables.com?

Quick Intro to Arduino Programming

Setup and Loop

Serial

DigitalRead/Write

AnalogRead/Write

Memory Management• Tiny RAM - 2048 bytes• No virtual memory• C++ isn’t garbage collected

Globals• Never allocated/ deallocated• Suck for code cleanliness• Use them for hardware

Automatic Variables• Stored on the Stack• Automatically Managed• Great for calculations

Heap Allocation• Must use malloc/free• Only create in setup()• Avoid freeing• Just avoid it

Interfacing with Ruby• serialport gem • USB • bluetooth• ethernet shield • both client and http server

Resources

Arduino.cc• Arduino IDE• API reference• Getting Started guide

Sparkfun http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials• Excellent parts supplier• Lots of tutorials, mostly hardware• Great for basic electronics and PCB design

Adafruit http://adafruit.com• Parts / kits supplier• Good tutorials - mostly hardware

Electronics andRobotics StackExchange http://electronics.stackexchange.com• It’s a StackExchange• Great place for Q&A• Hardware and Software

Questions? Erik DeBill @edebillerik@debill.org http://erik.debill.org

Arduino for Rubyists

by edebill on Dec 01, 2010

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Arduino for Rubyists — Presentation Transcript