Yes, this is an option; however, unless you are building millions of devices, using one of the off-the-shelf SITCore offerings makes more sense than taking on the risk of building a completely new hardware platform.
Safe and secure Internet of Things really shines on TinyCLR OS SITCore devices. You will have a great deal of resources, while running on low-cost, low-power hardware.
In theory, any .NET code compiled to IL can run on TinyCLR OS, however we are focused on using one of the best and most common development environments, Microsoft’s Visual Studio. We have plans to look into Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code, which runs on Mac and Linux systems.
Don’t you want students to learn something they will eventually use professionally? While the initial learning curve is a bit steep, students can easily transition from coding a little board to programming mobile apps. Grab any of the SITCore FEZ boards running TinyCLR OS and start learning/teaching on real commercial hardware. After all, FEZ stands for Fast and EZ!
TinyCLR OS is like everything else, a tool to help you achieve your goals. Not every tool is good for every job but TinyCLR OS covers a wide range and hits a sweet spot between a very low-level difficult to develop system and a large bulky operating system. TinyCLR OS will reduce development time with its modern features running on a simple and economical low-power system. We think TinyCLR OS is the best system you can run on high-end microcontrollers.
One of the main reasons is that your PC developers can now also be your embedded device developers. Your developers are probably already familiar with Microsoft Visual Studio, so they already know how to program a device running TinyCLR OS. Your company will be more productive without the need for highly skilled and specialized embedded developers.
Chances are you already use Microsoft’s Visual Studio or have in the past. This means you already know how to program, and the learning curve to program SITCore devices will be small.
C and C++ languages are the “go to” languages when it comes to microcontrollers. In fact, the entire TinyCLR OS is built using C and C++. The problem is that the code is non-portable between systems, there is no run-time error checking, and the tools for compiling and debugging on a commercial level are very costly.
There are two options for embedded systems. The first is to use something like Arduino, which is arguably the easiest way to blink an LED. The challenges start when the code becomes large and debugging becomes necessary. The other option is to use commercial tools, like Keil MDK, that cost thousands of dollars and require specialized skillsets. The intuitive and high level .NET C# is easier to learn, plus code completion available in Microsoft’s Visual Studio makes programming and debugging…
TinyCLR OS is not designed to be a real-time operating system. Actually, it promotes the idea of using threads and events to handle tasks. However, since the system is only running your application, there is a level of timing that can be achieved with proper planning.
