Carl, I'm the lead developer for PyMite (http://pymite.python-hosting.com). I do quite a bit of embedded development with PyMite. PyMite is for much smaller target devices (8-bit and 32-bit microcontrollers) than you plan to use. I am currently writing a series of papers that will attempt to draw attention to the growing demand to use Python in the variety of embedded spaces. A rough draft of the first part in the series is seen here:
http://members.capmac.org/~deanhall/python/piesI.html During research for the later parts of the series, I have found the following links that relate to Python in embedded devices: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pythonce http://sourceforge.net/projects/dietpython http://www.python.org/dev/summary/2006-09-16_2006-09-30/#shrinking-python http://cs.gmu.edu/~eclab/projects/robots/flockbots/pmwiki.php?n=Main.Python http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_thread/thread/f3a8f9ac964d5b84/6922ac416664f002?lnk=gst&q=%22embedded+system%22&rnum=5#6922ac416664f002 regards, !!Dean Carl J. Van Arsdall wrote: > Hendrik van Rooyen wrote: > > > >> > >> > > > > It depends a *lot* on what is meant by "embedded" : > > > Ha, very true.... > > > This definition seems to cover everything from: > > - a cut down PC in a non standard box, through > > - a processor in a Washing Machine, to > > - a bare PIC processor in a Burglar Alarm... > > > We are considering now are mobile phone and pocket pc-esque devices. I > know that several phones with arm processors are running an arm version > of linux now, we're thinking how reasonable it might be to run python > applications on a phone, and which python might best apply. Is there a > good way to determine the "minimum requirements" for a python > application? I'd imagine these might be something like the min > requirements of python (cpython, pymite, etc) + additional requirements > placed by the design of the application. Is there a good way to study a > python application and figure that type of thing out? > > > > I think the main hassles are that you need something big enough > > to run a reasonable OS in, and it must support being programmed in C, > > (which most things do), and it must have some MegaBytes of RAM > > loose for the Python. (where more is merrier) > > > > Trying to run this on say an AVR or 8031 with a 64k address space and > > a scarcity of RAM, will, to say the least, be a bit of a challenge... > > > > As far as the OS goes, Linux is probably the best bet, if you can get it to > > fit in your hardware - It has been ported to ARM type processors from > > various companies (Atmel springs to mind), and is free, which is a help > > in a personal project. You could of course also roll your own kernel, > > which will be good practice, as with a limited set of peripherals its not > > THAT hard to do, but its a bit far away from Python - :- ) > > > > Yea, we are thinking on the more robust end of the embedded side. So a > system capable of running Linux or Windows CE (or something similar) > > What display device are you going to use, or is it going to be a webserver > > sitting on a power over ethernet link? > > > > I haven't actually taken the plunge myself yet to put Python on any of the > > hardware we make, as it seems to add a lot of overhead to a simple device > > - but I come from the bottom up, as it were, and the idea is intriguing, > > as I in fact discovered Python because it is embedded in a GPS module > > we were evaluating for building into a device - so I will follow your > > progress with interest... > > > > > > > -- > > Carl J. Van Arsdall > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Build and Release > MontaVista Software -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
