Electronics Weekly
Zephyr is real-time operating system (RTOS) and development framework, an open source project at the Linux Foundation.
DigiKey identifies a steep learning curve, but says Zephyr is a key system for engineers and students to learn. David Sandys, senior director and technical marketing for DigiKey, commented:
“DigiKey is proud to help educate the next generation of engineers in some of the more complex topics that don’t get a lot of attention. This type of training is unique and a valuable resource for anyone hoping to further their understanding of the Zephyr operating system.”
As mentioned, the workshop is available on-demand. And an accompanying educational video series is available on YouTube.
Zephyr RTOS
Arduino and Ambiq are among other companies recently turning attention to using the Zephyr RTOS. Arduino, for example, has described the RTOS in the following terms:
“Zephyr is an open source project at the Linux Foundation that builds a secure, connected and flexible RTOS for future-proof and resource-constrained devices, is easy to deploy and manage. It is a proven RTOS ecosystem created by developers for developers.”
Arduino was transitioning away from using ARM’s Mbed IoT platform to Zephyr instead. Arduino was responding to Arm retiring Mbed. Its end of life is officially July 2026 and so it will no longer be maintained.
Arduino’s use of the platform ranges from browser-based IDEs and hardware abstraction to code hosting and remote build services, it said.
The Arduino team joined the Zephyr project, as Silver Members, back in 2023.
Alternative systems to Zephyr could include the open source NuttX from Apache, or RT-Thread. With WindRiver’s VxWorks a proprietary equivalent.
Speaker
In the 1.5 hour workshop, Shawn Hymel (right) – a specialist in Embedded Systems and Machine Learning – will write an I2C temperature sensor device driver for Zephyr.
Viewers will get experience working with C code, CMake, Kconfig, and the Devicetree.
The first video in the YouTube series is below.
See also: Percepio supports Zephyr and Microsoft Azure ThreadX
