Ada Drivers Library for STM32-F446RE

General
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Hello,

I just discover the embedded world, and following the tutorial here : Embedded Systems | ada-lang.io, an Ada community site I cannot find the F446RE board in the github repository.

I tried to read some docs, blogs, etc, but to be honest it’s a little bit complicated. I do not understand what to do to get the matching drivers.

Can you give me directions or advice to continue on my way please ?

For your information, i’m a java developper for 20 years. But I know almost nothing about embedded development.

Thank you in advance

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Hi,
the board that you mention sadly does not have a runtime :confused:

It should be relatively easy to port the runtimes since we already have a few STM32F4 devices but that would be a bit overkill for a beginner project.

I suggest either getting yourself a raspberry pi pico and following Jeremy Grossers Pico Guide (this option is a lot easier) or following AdaCores Guide on running bare metal Ada for any cortex-m chip (this is harder because you will have to read through the chips documentation)

I have done both and suggest the pi pico method. The documentation is great, there are a few runtimes already and you can start right away programming with other peripherals. The barebones cortex-m method is great if you want to learn and understand how the chip works under the hood. (You can actually feel how well Ada was made to be used on embedded platforms!). Keep in mind tho that you will not be able to use Adas tasking system unless you port the Ada runtime to support it.

Edit: A small blinking led example I wrote using the cortex-m method for the STM32F303. As you can see I wrote the “wait“ methods myself (had to read through a lot of embedded timer documentation and how my chip handles it)

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If you decide to go this route then here is a guide though it is a light runtime and not zero footprint these days (runtime for any cortex is a little more capable than it was). Ada on any ARM Cortex-M device, in just a couple minutes | AdaCore

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This might also be helpful

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Hello,

My goal is to learn embedded programming on a platform used in industry. I’m thinking specifically of Thales, which is close to where I live. I’m looking into a possible career change.

I was therefore considering the STM32 with an ARM chip. Is this a good choice ? And if so, is it a good idea to start with this given my lack of experience in the field?

Based on your responses, I have two options: either start with a Raspberry Pi Pico (the 2040, I assume). It seems to be better documented and supported for Ada development. Or, as a second option, continue with the STM32, but that does seem a bit steep for a beginner.

Thank you for your feedback.

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I don’t know what Thales would use predominantly. Perhaps Vxworks but no idea. I’m also guessing defence companies have no social media policies as you hardly hear a squeek from them except the odd retiree.

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I know they are hiring is some areas. If you are already a Java programmer, they may be interested in it already (I cant give much more info…). Regarding embedded… Yes there is always work everywhere! Both STMs and generic ARM are always welcome. There is a large change from Java to embedded, so take it slowly and surely. I recommend that you start with well known, documented and widely used and available boards. The pico is great at that. Also, there is better Ada support. Once you know an embedded chip, others are just the same with different quirks, though getting to know a chip-family deeply does take a lot of time! STM I have to say is widely used in France… so Thales is likely to use them, but I have no inside info there >:)

Best regards and godspeed. Feel free to ask as many questions as you can!

Fer