From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FORGED_HOTMAIL_RCVD2, FREEMAIL_FROM autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: 103376,567c75d71a7993ab X-Google-NewGroupId: yes X-Google-Attributes: gida07f3367d7,domainid0,public,usenet X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit Received: by 10.68.227.67 with SMTP id ry3mr10059079pbc.8.1341220782160; Mon, 02 Jul 2012 02:19:42 -0700 (PDT) Path: l9ni9175pbj.0!nntp.google.com!news2.google.com!postnews.google.com!glegroupsg2000goo.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail From: Austin Obyrne Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Would this be logical for embedded hardware? Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2012 02:19:41 -0700 (PDT) Organization: http://groups.google.com Message-ID: References: <52386bce-0e18-45e0-a172-e2f8df7d211f@googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 86.151.81.167 Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Trace: posting.google.com 1341220782 31229 127.0.0.1 (2 Jul 2012 09:19:42 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2012 09:19:42 +0000 (UTC) In-Reply-To: <52386bce-0e18-45e0-a172-e2f8df7d211f@googlegroups.com> Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: glegroupsg2000goo.googlegroups.com; posting-host=86.151.81.167; posting-account=pmkN8QoAAAAtIhXRUfydb0SCISnwaeyg User-Agent: G2/1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Date: 2012-07-02T02:19:41-07:00 List-Id: On Friday, June 29, 2012 12:54:25 AM UTC+1, Patrick wrote: > I have come up with a design layout that I did not read about elsewhere a= nd that worries me! Please read this and possibly save me from my own stupi= dity. >=20 > A little background... >=20 > I want to use Ada for several things but a key one is to design a scienti= fic instrument. I was drawn to Ada in late 2011 because it has a rich set o= f features to make embedded design easier and by it's strict compiler.=20 >=20 > I don't think Ada is hard to develop in but I actually don't care, above = all else, I want to ship as few bugs as I possibly can. I have next to no e= xperience with embedded design and I do not have decades of experience with= desktop programming either. Ada's compiler could really help someone like = me. >=20 > A couple months ago I was disheartened to learn that my assumptions about= Ada running on bare metal were false. GNAT does not have the ability to ta= rget all the devices GCC supports while still offering a full Ada implement= ation. >=20 > I have been trying to find a RTOS to partner with Ada but there is a dizz= ying array of them. It seems like the ones held in highest regard are close= d source and expensive. I also don't have hard deadlines, near realtime is = just fine. Linux would be fine but I can't imagine fitting it on a device a= nd still having enough GPIO lines left over to do what I want with. >=20 > One of the things that appeals most to me with Ada is tasking. It seems l= ike a good way to compartmentalize complexity. I can't visualize how to do = this in C. >=20 > With those items in mind, here is what I was thinking.... 32 bit microcon= trollers are dirt cheap and many come with ethernet built in and TCP/IP lib= raries. >=20 > If I broke the instrument down in to various modules, keypad, computer-co= ntrolled power supply, optical system, detector etc. I could assign a micro= controller to each module and program that MCU in C. The C program could pr= etty much do one thing only.=20 >=20 > I could use a Linux single board computer(maybe something like Raspberry = PI) and some sort of router to communicate with the various MCU C modules. = Ada Tasking on the Linux SBC would give me a logical way to control them an= d the bulk of the full system's logic could be in Ada, Ada would also give= me exceptions if something goes wrong. >=20 > If I used ethernet instead of SPI or CAN bus, I could control all the C M= CUs using a plain Linux desktop and then add in the Linux SBC at the end. >=20 > Does this seem logical?-Patrick Can I slap my soul on the table here and say I am not at all sure what an e= mbedded system really means - as an engineer I immediately envisage some pi= ece of equipment that is triggered into action by a controlling signal that= then runs the equipment according to the embedded sytem algorithm. The mo= st dramatic one I can think of is say putting down the landing gear of an a= ircraft (that I happen to be on) just when it is needed and the extremme ca= se also of launching a nuclear weapon say. But there is another instance also that I am not at all sure about and that= is an embedded program within a piece of software written in the same lang= uage or even a different language - is this just a figment of my imaginatio= n or does it exist - even under another name =3D like say a task package? Your help would be greatly appreciated. I see myself as an amateur programmer only. Austin O'Byrne