[avr-chat] Wiring: a parallel microcontroller development universe run by artists and educators

[Ned Konz]

Hi folks,

I figured you'd be interested in this.

Through a lucky web search, I ran across the "Wiring" project  
( http://wiring.org.co/ ).

This is an open source (GPL/LGPL) / open hardware project that has  
produced a microcontroller development system that:

* Contains an integrated development environment with text editor,  
compiler, and program uploader
* Is based on the AVR Atmega128 processor
* Provides a simplified subset of C, C++ and/or Java (C99 without  
pointers, Java without objects or classes, or C++ without pointers,  
objects, or classes)
* Preprocesses to C++ which is then compiled by g++ (avr-gcc) for  
uploading to the board
* Has a USB serial interface (using the FTDI 232 chip)
* Runs on Linux, Mac OS/X, and even Windows machines
* Has actually been used by many people for real and interesting  
projects (who needs another MP3 player or hobby robot, after all?)
* Has a nice looking web site with examples and links to real projects

Also, there are some interesting related web sites:

InstantSOUP, an online electronics cookbook:
http://instantsoup.interaction-ivrea.it/index/index_instantsoup

Processing, the language project on which Wiring is based:
http://processing.org

Arduino, another open source AVR processing board (one with a serial  
interface and a smaller atmega8 chip, another with a USB interface)  
that uses a slightly more limited version of the Wiring language:
http://arduino.berlios.de/

This is interesting to me, partly because I have already made an  
almost identical PIC-based board (see http://www.bionode.com) but  
haven't done the software environment yet (though/because I have more  
ambitious ideas than theirs as to the development environment), and  
partly because I think there's a need for a simpler programming  
environment for these little microcontrollers.

One fascinating aspect to this is that these people seem to be living  
in a universe completely parallel to that of the electronics  
engineers and hobbyists who hang out at avrfreaks.net, the PIClist,  
read Nuts and Volts and Circuit Cellar, etc..

It's surprising to me, for instance, that the AVR developer and  
hobbyist community (avrfreaks.net is a good place to find them) seems  
not to know about these projects.

And -- having worked with artists some -- I realize that artists will  
put up with a fair amount of pain from their tools if they can get  
good results. However, students probably won't, and their success in  
educational settings is commendable.

Thanks,
Ned