This document discusses Tessel, a WiFi-enabled microcontroller that runs JavaScript. It notes that the skills developers have in 2014 will be sufficient to create physical devices. JavaScript is described as the perfect embedded language because it is asynchronous and event-driven like networking protocols. The document envisions a future where microcontrollers have enough power to run high-level languages and can be embedded in every product. It encourages developers to build amazing things like robots.

1. Embedded JavaScript:
The skills you have in 2014 will be
all you need to make physical
devices
Tim Ryan, Co-Founder / Developer Technical Machine

3. Tessel is a WiFi-enabled
microcontroller that runs
JavaScript.
Tim Ryan, Co-Founder / Software Developer Technical Machine

5. Embedded JavaScript

11. High-level != Developer-friendly

12. Open Source Hardware

16. 2005
2014

17. 20052003 2005

18. 20052003 2005

19. ~2010

20. Microcontrollers

22. 8-bit 32-bit

23. We can today
afford the processing power
to make developers’ lives easier.

24. $4 @1K
$11 @1K

27. Why JavaScript?

28. JavaScript (and asynchronous
coding) is the perfect embedded
language!

29. JavaScript (and asynchronous
coding) is the perfect embedded
language!
—Sylvia Plath

30. Ethernet
TCP
HTTP

31. Ethernet
TCP
HTTP
(Packet-based)
(Stream-based)
(Packet-based)

32. Ethernet
TCP
HTTP
Websockets
(Packet-based)
(Stream-based)
(Packet-based)
(Streaming…)

38. def receive_packet():
buf = sock.recv()
return buf
while True:
print(receive_packet())

39. Future<byte[]> p =
pool.submit(new Callable<byte[]>() {
public byte[] call() {
return socket.recv();
}
}
// ... while waiting ...
p.get();

40. socket.on(‘data’,
function (data) {
// handle data buffer
});
// ... other code ...

41. Inventing the Universe

43. ● Chrome’s JS engine
● C++
● ~10mb memory
required for each
instance
● POSIX/Win32
environment

44. ● Embeddable
language
● Written in C
● ~30kb memory
● Highly portable

45. ● Embeddable
language
● Written in C
● ~30kb memory
● Highly portable
● 4x-60x slower

46. JS VM
HTTP Parsing
DNS
SSL
Memory management
Filesystem Tar
JSON
Unicode
TCP/IP

47. JS VM
HTTP Parsing
DNS
SSL
Memory management
Filesystem Tar
JSON
Unicode
TCP/IP
tessel/colony
wecing/utf8proc
lloyd/yajl
bagder/c-ares
dsheets/axtls
joyent/http-parser
abbrev/fatfs
colorer/dlmalloc

48. (When reinventing everything,
reuse as much as possible.)

51. What Comes Next

52. It’s becoming feasible to embed in
every product a microcontroller
powerful enough to run a high level
language.

53. HTTP

54. HTTP
SPI
I2C
UART

57. Be bold!
Be courageous!
Be amazing!

58. Be bold!
Be courageous!
Be amazing!
Build robots!

59. Be bold!
Be courageous!
Be amazing!
Build robots!
— Sylvia Plath

60. tim@technical.io @technicalhumans
http://tessel.io