What is 1Bitsy?

1Bitsy is an embedded hardware/software development platform. With several main goals:

  1. Small size (38.1mm x 17.8mm or 1.5in x 0.7in) and low cost allowing you to embed the hardware inside your project and leaving it as part of it.
  2. Great debugging tools and simple and thin programming interfaces, making it very easy to understand how it works.
  3. Easy prototyping, you can cut and paste together the examples to get going very fast.
  4. Lot’s of tutorials, example projects and documentation, so you can choose your own path in learning embedded hardware development. (We are always looking for new examples and projects to be added to our collection. Here is how to contribute.)

How is 1Bitsy different?

I know you are wondering, “Why should I use 1Bitsy instead of something else?”

There are hundreds of different development platforms out there. Every combination of small, large, cheap, expensive with proprietary or open source toolchains. But when when we were looking for a board that we could recommend to explore the possibilities of the Black Magic Probe JTAG/SWD programmer and debugger we could not find anything that would fit the bill, and we could recommend with good conscience. So we set out to create a hardware and software platform that will fit the following list of requirements:

  • Small
  • Affordable
  • Easy to start with
  • Exposes the JTAG interface (and has the JTAG connector populated)
  • Open Hardware
  • Does not waste space and money with an integrated debugger or USB to serial adapter (we want to be able to reuse the programmer and debugger, and not have to skimp on the quality of the debugger because it has to be included on every development board)
  • Is software agnostic (you can develop for it with command line tools or your favorite IDE)
  • Has tested and maintained set of open source development tools and libraries
  • Can be plugged into a breadboard for quick prototyping

This is why we created 1Bitsy. We hope you will like it as much as we do! :)

How is 1Bitsy simpler?

First and foremost by exposing the JTAG debugging and programming interface and making the Black Magic Probe our default programming and debugging tool. JTAG is a very powerful tool, together with the Black Magic Probe it is also very easy to use. The JTAG interface gives you unprecedented control and insight over your firmware.

Second are tutorials, documentation and community. By guiding you and giving you lot’s of reading resources you will be able to understand how the 1Bitsy works, and if you are really stuck you can always ask someone.

Third by exposing all aspects of the hardware and software to you and not hiding things behind opaque interfaces we hope you will be able to grasp how everything works. Making it’s inner workings clear.

What software does 1Bitsy support?

1Bitsy can be programmed using one of the following solutions:

  • command line + gcc-arm-embedded + libopencm3 (Supports JTAG debugging)

We are also planning to support the following platforms:

  • PlatformIO (libopencm3) (Command line JTAG debugging)
  • ChibiOS (Command line JTAG debugging)
  • stm32duino (No JTAG debugging)
  • Arduino IDE (No JTAG debugging)
  • Micropython (No JTAG debugging)

Why did you design 1Bitsy?

I really like developing embedded systems. You can use all the hardware resources, you can comprehend the whole system, and everything that is going on. You don’t have to unravel why and how the Linux, Windows, MacOS kernel is not doing what you think it should. Instead you just set a few bits in registers and the hardware will do exactly what you told it to do. The only person you can blame if anything goes wrong is you and no one else. This is a very liberating feeling, the only thing you have to question is the hardware in front of you (that you can probe with some basic tools like multimeter, oscilloscope and logic analyzer) and your own code.

But what happens when you are stuck and really don’t know what is going on? It depends on what hardware platform you are using. If it is an Arduino you will start adding print that output what is going on. You will then spend some time trying to understand what the program does based on the output. Generating output can very easily alter the functionality of your system that likely relies on strict timing. This is when you start using an LED for debugging but if you are trying to convey more complicated information you will need to use an oscilloscope or logic analyzer because your eyes are not fast enough to register the LED. Thus you will advance to the even cruder solution and start blinking an LED but if your code is running too fast you will probably have to attach an oscilloscope or logic analyzer to see what is going on. If you are like me you will get the feeling of trying to debug by poking a stick into a dark pit.

But what if you give up ultimate control over the hardware and turn to a board running a full operating system like a Linux computer. If you are in trouble you can start your program in GDB (GNU Debugger) run the program to the point where you encounter your issue, and using breakpoints and variable prints and watches you can inspect your program until you find out what is happening. Very easy, but you gave up all the best parts of using an embedded system: ultimate control. :)

Why can’t we have both things at the same time, ultimate control and easy debugging? Well we actually can have both. Most modern microcontrollers come with an interface called JTAG (Joint Test Access Group) or a smaller pin count counterpart like C-JTAG or SWD. This interface allows you to have godlike control over your hardware. Thus you can really nicely program and debug the device you are working on. The problem is that interfacing with it is usually problematic as you either need expensive proprietary software or an Open Source tool that is difficult to set up.

A few years ago Gareth McMullin created the Black Magic Probe. Its a hardware device that implements all the magic of JTAG while enabling you to easily connect it to your hardware and your computer without a lot of hassle. (I and many others really love the device.) After using it for several years now I realized that most people still don’t know about it. I also realized that part of the problem is a lack of good reference projects and evaluation/development boards that can easily take advantage of the Black Magic Probes abilities.

This is why I decided to create 1Bitsy. The goal is to create example projects, tutorials and a hardware platform that can take full advantage of JTAG and the Black Magic Probe hardware.

— Piotr Esden-Tempski (@esden)

Next Steps

Last revision: September 27, 2016 Generated with Hugo v0.18.1