RT-Thread IoT OS Global Tech Conference to launch June 1 – 3
18-05-2022 | By Robin Mitchell
This year, RT-Thread is launching a global conference to discuss key facts surrounding the use of RT-Thread in IoT environments, the importance of RISC-V, and how engineers can improve documentation and API standards.
What is RT-Thread?
Before jumping into the upcoming global conference surrounding RT-Thread, we first need to understand what RT-Thread is and why it may be the next solution for your IoT platform. RT-Thread is an open-source real-time operating system (RTOS) designed for use with microcontrollers and microprocessors. Similar to other solutions (such as Zephyr, FreeRTOS, and ARM mbed OS), RT-Thread provides an engineer with an operating system that handles device peripherals, multithreading, and memory management as well as removing the need for device-specific coding.
Written in C, RT-Thread first saw its initial release in 2006 and has since been developed into a system that has been targeted at most platforms, including ARM, MIPS32, RISC-V, ARC, DSP, and x86. For those using smaller microcontroller platforms with restricted memory, RT-Thread comes in a smaller form factor called Nano, requiring only 3KB of ROM and 1.2KB of RAM.
Interestingly, the RT-Thread platform’s main aim is to provide developers in China with an open-source RTOS that can be standardised amongst products (currently, there are no single solutions used by all manufacturers, which creates a fragmented industry). Now, RT-Thread has been able to take its platform to automotive vehicles and is now one of the top four platforms used worldwide, having been found in over 1.5 billion devices globally.
RT-Thread IoT OS Tech Conference 2022
For those interested in the RT-Thread development, the RT-Thread team are running a global conference that will include speakers from all over the world and companies including Renesas, NXP Semiconductor, and ST Microelectronics. The conference will be held over three days, from June 1st to June 3rd. The virtual conference will feature 28 trending topics, including use cases of RT-Thread, industrial use of RT-Thread, edge computing, and the importance of clear API and documentation development.
Additionally, the conference will also be running a dev board giveaway prize to those attending the conference with three prize giveaways each day (for a total of 9 prizes). Furthermore, one luxury giveaway will also be announced at the conference to one contestant.
Free Webinar Registration Link
Electropages RT-Thread Topic – The Trouble With Documentation and APIs
At this conference, Electropages will be hosting its own topic that will cover the importance of good documentation and well-written APIs (6:50PM to 7:20PM GMT Friday, June 3rd).
It is no surprise that continuing technological advances create more complex systems, which will undoubtedly be reflected in more complex code and hardware. However, modern systems get around this with the use of APIs to separate the complexities of hardware from software with drivers and low-level service routines in between.
And yet, many modern systems have APIs that are either poorly described, have non-existent documentation, hide important information in a sea of otherwise unnecessary information, or use function calls that are either overcomplicated or have names that are not entirely human readable. So, let’s explore some examples of where engineers have failed to understand their audience, how they should be addressed, and how the Arduino platform is arguably one of the most impressive platforms to date.
