Getting began with SwiftIO – The.Swift.Dev.

The SwiftIO board

MadMachine‘s SwiftIO board is an Arduino-like system, however it may possibly run Swift code natively on the {hardware}. Swift is a superb programming language for training functions, it’s a fashionable language with a JavaScript-like syntax that’s straightforward to be taught and perceive. Swift is protected and environment friendly, this mixture makes it an ideal candidate for embedded methods. The SwiftIO board permits us common Swift / iOS builders to construct IoT initiatives utilizing our favourite programming language.

The board itself has a small footprint, it is nearly 1,57″ x 2,36″ (4cm x 6cm) large.

It is fairly a strong microcontroller. It’s undoubtedly essentially the most inexpensive Swift language studying system. It may be preferrred for STEM training functions for college kids who need to see the best way to construct digital circuits and get some primary Swift programming expertise on the identical time.

The Maker Package field incorporates each a 7 phase and an LCD show, a servo and a DC motor with drivers, a humiture (tempearture & humidity) sensor, a buzzer module a potentiometer and a light-weight sensor and plenty of extra different issues (breadboard, resistors, LEDs, buttons and cables, and so on.) that you need to use to construct the starter initiatives. You’ll have just about every thing within the field that you just want as a newcomer to get began and have some enjoyable time utilizing SwiftIO. 📦

Sadly you will not discover a working GPS, Wifi or bluetooth module for the SwiftIO board but, however hopefully these type of equipment are just some months away. There’s a new protect and a model new display module within the works. Oh by the best way a sheild is someting that you could plug into your board and join exterior equipment utilizing “particular” colourful cables. 🌈

Shields are boards that may be plugged on prime of the Arduino PCB extending its capabilities. The completely different shields comply with the identical philosophy as the unique toolkit: they’re straightforward to mount, and low cost to provide. – ArduinoShields

The board initially went on sale in July, 2020 and many individuals introduced it from all all over the world. New plug-ins, extensions and modules are nonetheless being developed by the makers, however you will need to emphasize that the SwiftIO board {hardware} is in a secure state. 💪

Technical specs:

• i.MX RT1052 Crossover Processor with Arm® Cortex®-M7 core @600MHz
• Micro SD card slot, supporting commonplace and excessive capability SD playing cards
• Micro USB connector for energy
• On-board USB to UART for serial communication
• 46 GPIO on left and proper edges
• On-board GRB LED
• 12x 12-bit analog to digital (ADC) converters
• 4 UART, 2 CAN, 2 IIC, and a pair of SPI
• 14 PWM pins
• Many extra superior options to satisfy the wants of superior customers

Ports, communication, structure

You may join the SwiftIO board to your laptop by way of a USB connector, the 2 units can talk by way of a serial port. The USB cable will present the required energy help, however alternatively you need to use an adapter or an exterior battery by way of a protect.

You may wire up extra elements utilizing the Normal Function Enter/Output pins (GPIO). You may see the precise specification on the image above, however actually I barely perceive this diagram.

Confession time: I do not know shit about electronics (but). 💩

The board can be utilized with a protect and luckily the MakersKit arrives with a helpful instruction handbook for absolute novices. I felt fortunate, as a result of I used to be capable of strategy this little gadget with my programmer mindset and I may focus extra on Swift as a substitute of constructing working circuits.

So what’s truly below the hood? How can I construct & run functions for SwiftIO?

The grey space is the {hardware} itself, on prime of that within the pink-ish/purple bins there’s this Zephyr layer which I’ve by no means heard earlier than. I am simply scratching the floor right here, however that is wonderful, since as a Swift developer we solely care in regards to the orange stuff. Lengthy story brief, there’s a customized constructed Swift toolchain for this system that permits us to construct and run Swift functions on the board. 😅

If there’s a toolchain, then we are able to run Swift binaries, however how can we talk with the ports and stuff like that? Thankfully the SwiftIO framework is right here for us. It gives an easy accessibility to speak with exterior {hardware} equipment. You may learn or write digital and analog indicators utilizing the communication protocol. Are you prepared for some Swift code?

The SwiftIO atmosphere

Though the {hardware} is secure, the software program is just not completed but. There are two choices obtainable, however in case you are on a Home windows machine, you must seize the official MadMachine IDE and use that. The reason being that the Swift Bundle Supervisor is just not prepared for that platform but, so you will not have the ability to work with the instruments that I will present you subsequent. Sorry Home windows, no offense. 😅

So choice A, is to go along with the IDE, it is very easy to make use of and gives an incredible DX. Choice B, be taught a bit extra in regards to the underlying toolkit and comply with my information, it’s kind of extra difficult, however you will know extra in regards to the technical infrastructure in case you select this path. 🤔

Putting in the MadMachine SDK & CLI

As a macOS or Linux person you must know that you could set up the unofficial MadMachine SDK alongside a command line device referred to as mm. As you may see this MadMachine SDK is written in Swift, however you must know that I ported a python script from the unique mm-sdk undertaking with the assistance of Marcus Kida. First, he made an Xcode template by invoking the unique script contained in the official MadMachine IDE, then I believed, it might be cool to do away with the IDE for good, and now, right here we go, we have now a standalone Swift model of the required construct instruments. You may set up it like this:

git clone https://github.com/EmbeddedSwift/MadMachine.git
cd MadMachine
make set up

Now you need to be prepared to make use of the mm cli app, you may examine the obtainable instructions contained in the README file on GitHub. I’ve not examined this on Linux but, so in case you discover any points, please do not hesitate to report or submit a PR. That is an experimental undertaking, so maintain this in thoughts. 😅

The MadMachine toolchain

To be able to use the MadMachine SDK you have to a working toolchain put in in your laptop. You may seize the most recent one by working the next command:

mm toolchain --upgrade

It will seize the most recent launch from the unofficial MadMachine toolchain repository, and place it below your private home folder contained in the .MadMachine listing. There may be one extra factor that now you need to do earlier than you could possibly begin constructing SwiftIO apps. At the moment there’s one further python script that was not ported but, as a result of will probably be utterly eradicated sooner or later. For now you continue to must obtain the official MadMachine SDK from the GitHub releases web page and place the whole contents of the mm-sdk/tools_[platform]/scripts/dist/gen_isr_tables folder into the ~/.MadMachine/legacy listing. You might need to create a legacy folder. 🙈

The SwiftIO framework

The SwiftIO framework goes to be linked with the applying binary, we have now to put in it (with the assistance of the mm-cli device) as a system library first. There’s an unofficial repo with a makefile for this:

git clone https://github.com/EmbeddedSwift/SwiftIO
cd SwiftIO
make set up

You’ll find the library reference for the SwiftIO framework, however we’ll see you may make it work, in just some moments. Earlier than we go additional you must word that the customized MadMachine toolchain is a modified model of the Swift 5.1 toolchain. This implies that you could’t use Swift 5.3 on the board but, however hopefully the creators of SwiftIO will launch new software program elements actual quickly. 🤞

Utilizing Xcode

The SwiftIO framework may be compiled in your native machine with the native Swift toolchain (utilizing Xcode), so it’s doable to construct functions with out concentrating on the board, and afterward you may re-compile the supply recordsdata with the mm-cli command, signal the ultimate binary and deploy it to the SwiftIO board after you have pressed the obtain button. That is the present workflow in a nutshell.

There may be an current Xcode template created by @kidmar that you need to use as a place to begin.

Utilizing SPM

These days I desire to create a Swift package deal for nearly every thing. You should use SPM with a Makefile and your favourite editor to create SwiftIO apps. You simply must initialize a brand new executable package deal with the required dependencies, for instance:

import PackageDescription

let package deal = Bundle(
    identify: "myProject",
    merchandise: [
        .executable(name: "myProject", targets: ["myProject"]),
    ],
    dependencies: [
        .package(url: "https://github.com/EmbeddedSwift/SwiftIO", .branch("main")),
        .package(url: "https://github.com/EmbeddedSwift/SHT3x", .branch("main")),
        .package(url: "https://github.com/EmbeddedSwift/LCD1602", .branch("main")),
    ],
    targets: [
        .target(name: "myProject", dependencies: [
            .product(name: "SwiftIO", package: "SwiftIO"),
            .product(name: "SHT3x", package: "SHT3x"),
            .product(name: "LCD1602", package: "LCD1602"),
        ]),
    ]
)

Contained in the primary.swift file now you may write a easy Humiture sensor app that shows the present humidity & temperature on a 16×2 LCD show like this:

import SwiftIO
import SHT3x
import LCD1602


extension Float {
    func format(_ f: Int) -> Float {
        guard f > 0 else {return self}
        var mul = 10
        for _ in 1..<f {
            mul *= 10
        }
        let information = Int(self * Float(mul))
        return Float(information) / Float(mul)
    }
}


let i2c = I2C(Id.I2C0)
let liquid crystal display = LCD1602(i2c)
let sht = SHT3x(i2c)

whereas true{
    
    let temp = sht.readTemperature()
    liquid crystal display.write(x: 0, y: 0, "Temperature:")
    liquid crystal display.write(x: 0, y: 1, String(temp.format(1)))
    liquid crystal display.write(x: 4, y: 1, " ")
    liquid crystal display.write(x: 5, y: 1, "C")
    sleep(ms: 1000)
}

Now in case you open the Bundle.swift file utilizing Xcode you may even construct the undertaking regionally utilizing the CMD+B shortcut, however do not attempt to run it, since your Mac is just not a SwiftIO board… 😅

If you wish to construct and run this undertaking you need to goal the SwiftIO board. The mm-cli cannot resolve package deal dependencies (but) so you need to set up the required dependencies (SHT3x, LCD1602) the identical means as we did with the SwiftIO library. It’s a must to clone each repositories and use the makefile to put in them as native MadMachine system libraries. It will transfer the required recordsdata below the ~/.MadMachine/libraries folder, all of the obtainable libraries “reside” there. 🔨

After you have put in the libraries, you need to use the next Makefile for the precise binary builds:

construct:
    mm construct --name myProject --binary-type executable --input . --output ./myProject

run: construct
    mm board --run ./myProject/swiftio.bin

clear:
    rm -r ./myProject

The mm construct command invokes the swiftc compiler from the SwiftIO toolchain with the appropriate search paths and library search paths. The mm board --run [binary] command will merely copy the required recordsdata to the MadMachine board whether it is in obtain mode. It’s a must to press the obtain button on the board earlier than you run this command. Urgent the obtain button will mount the SD card so we are able to deploy the signed binary to the system, then eject the storage, which can restart the board and the brand new utility might be loaded & executed straight away. 🚀

The MadMachine IDE

If you happen to do not prefer to play with command line utilities, you may all the time use the MadMachine IDE to construct and ship your initiatives. It makes use of a mmp file to explain dependencies, so it may possibly resolve them on the fly, however I do not like the truth that I’ve to make use of a brand new package deal supervisor and editor to work with Swift. I am in a love and hate relationship with Xcode (plus I am an old-school Chic Textual content fan). ❤️

Anyway, you could find actually nice examples with a devoted GitHub repository and plenty of video tutorials on the official YouTube channel. You may entry all of the MakerKit pattern codes, they’re each on GitHub and you may clone a template with a click on utilizing the MadMachine IDE.

Conclusion

For me, the SwiftIO board was a nice shock. I all the time wished to play with embedded methods, know a bit of extra about hardwares and low degree stuff, however the Raspberry PI and the Arduino felt like alien planet. As soon as I’ve tried to construct an app for a Raspberry PI at a hackaton, nevertheless it was a whole catastrophe, I used to be upset, as a result of the instruments and the developer expertise was actually dangerous.

The promise of MadMachine is that you could simply use Swift on such a tool and I imagine that Andy Liu created one thing that may have a shiny future on the long run. I felt in love with SwiftIO proper after I’ve assembled my first circuit and deployed my very first Swift supply. It was a seamless (ache free) expertise and I imagine that is a very necessary issue for builders who by no means used such units earlier than. This may be the start and the way forward for Swift on embedded methods. 😍

You may construct some actually enjoyable stuff with SwiftIO, it is an ideal device for studying how electrical circuits work. I can not wait to see an increasing number of sensors and libraries obtainable for MadMachine. If in case you have an concept or a query be at liberty to affix the official discord server.

You may as well preorder the subsequent spherical of SwiftIO boards from the MadMachine Retailer. Andy simply advised me that in case you order now, they will ship your package deal in 1-3 days as soon as they get a brand new order. This would possibly change quick, however you may all the time examine the order particulars on the MadMachine web site. 🤖