PlatformIO

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Background

PlatformIO is an open source Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for programming microcontrollers (like arduino) and embedded systems. For our purposes, we mainly use it to write software for the Teensy 3.2 Microcontoller. In the past, we previously had used the easy to set up Arduino IDE, however it has many drawbacks and lacks many of the features of a full IDE.

Instalation

To install the PlatformIO IDE, follow the installation steps on the PlatformIO website

There are a fair number of steps to follow if you do not have any of the software that PlatformIO incorporates, but it should be fairly straightforward.

OSX Users: due to a a problem with the program that loads your compiled code to the teensy on OSX, you will need to used a custom executable file in place of the original. there will be more added here later

Usage Guide

To get started in PlatformIO, follow the PlatformIO Quickstart tutorial

Library Dependencies

If you used the Ardiuno IDE, you will be used to having an folder on your computers where you install libraries. If you downloaded a project from the internet that needed a bunch of new libraries, you would have to install all of them manually. Thankfully, with PlatformIO, you no longer have to worry about this. Dependencies for libraries are added to the platformio.ini file with a github link, so that they are automatically downloaded if you do not already have them on your computer.

For information on exactly how to set it up, follow this guide