python on a micro!

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) General Bar Sport
1

Hi,

well, the project is quite old (last update from 2003) and quite beta or gamma state...
But, imagine writing microcontroller programs in a nice & simple scripting language like python instead of C?
Do I see any geeks with glowing eyes now? 8)
Ok, here you go:
http://www.python.org/pycon/papers/pymite/
It's called pymite and it needs 15kB of flash and 4 kB of RAM, so it's nothing for current arduino boards.
But an Atmega128, for what it's developed, gives plenty of playground space...

What are the thoughts of arduino developers on using a simpler language than C?

Oli

2

Python-on-a-Chip (http://pythononachip.org/) featuring the PyMite VM has been ported to the Arduino Mega.

3

I would rather stab my self in the ear than deal with ghost whitespaces killing my program

just an opinion though

4

I would rather stab my self in the ear than deal with ghost whitespaces killing my program

LMAO.

I kinda like the idea (not of whitespace killing programs, just of something like Python as an option) but am not sold just yet.

Before I used something like that, I'd be wondering whether a) has using C/C++ been any kind of problem for me and b) would I not prefer a Netduino.

But that's just me. I suppose even though I'm unlikely to use it, the idea of different language support on the Arduino sort of appeals.

5

http://www.synapse-wireless.com/index.php?mainID=3&subID=3&type=product&prodID=3

Synapse Wireless makes "RF Engines" that run python. I consider them a smart XBee. They have two UARTs on them. The RF200 (soon to be released) uses an ATMega128RFA1 as the CPU. I have only worked with the RF100 series. The advantage over an XBee is that you don't need an arduino at every wireless location.

The RF Engines run python code that reads the sensors, filter the data, transmit is needed. They are very flexible.

6

I would sort of expect that running python on a small microcontroller would run into the same sorts of problems that one can see with with C++; the neat features that you expected would make your life easier turn out to be "expensive", and you wind up with a usable subset that isn't much different than C. ("Why yes, I can program in java and python and perl and C++ and they all end up looking like C!")

OTOH, BASIC interpreters have a long history of running on smallish micros (though usually with lots of RAM.)