monoembeddedmsp430

mono for emdedded


I'm a C# developer, I'm interested in embedded development for chips like MSP430. Please suggest some tools and tutorials. Mono framework is very powerful and customizable, mono specific examples will be more helpful.


Solution

  • There is currently no full mono support for the MSP430.

    Mono doesn't run in a vacuum - you will need to make a program that exposes the microcontroller functionality to Mono, then link to Mono and program the entire thing on the microcontroller. This program will have to provide some functionality to Mono that is normally provided by an operating system.

    The paged igorgue linked to gives you a good starting point for this process: http://www.mono-project.com/Embedding%5FMono

    I don't know what the requirements of the Mono VM are, though. It may be easy to compile and use, or you may have to write a lot of supporting code, or dig deep into mono to disable code you won't be using, or can't support on the chosen microcontroller.

    Further, Mono isn't gargantuan, but it's complex and designed with larger 32 bit processors in mind. It may or may not fit onto the relatively limited 16 bit MSP430.

    However, the MSP430 does have a GCC port, so you don't have to port the mono code to a new compiler, which should make your job easier.