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FEATURE

Arduino: The Next Generation

Better tools makes for better developers

ARDUINO

SOFTWARE

he hardware is only part of the

Arduino story. They’re just as famous

for the integrated development

environment (IDE) that makes it easy

to develop software for a wide range of

microcontroller boards – not just ones

they make. Despite being around for 15 years, the

IDE is only in version 1. However, the Arduino team

are rapidly working towards version 2.0, which is

bringing in some pretty big changes.

The headline feature for version 2.0 will be a

debugger. This is a tool that enables you to peek into

the code as it’s running and see what’s happening.

It’s a bit like a supercharged version of using

serial.print() statements to send debugging data over

the USB connection.

As well as the traditional development

environment for microcontrollers, there’s a new

web-based environment which combines a code

editor with a communication channel that lets you

move data between different devices or aggregate

information from lots of nodes in a single place.

It will also have the ability to create web-based

dashboards to display information from your

Arduino boards.

With the release of the MKR Vidor 4000,

Arduino needs a whole new style of development

environment which lets you build the bitstream

for the FPGA. The tool allows you to drag-and-drop

predefined pieces of IP into your project. This works

alongside the standard Arduino IDE where you can

include the software that’s needed to utilise the IP.

These three new features are a really wide-ranging

set of improvements which will impact almost

everyone who uses the Arduino IDE.

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Above

Arduinos waiting to

make the world a more

connected place

Below

An early version of the

FPGA environment with

drag-and-drop IP