Userspace Arduino

this page is to document some research on creating a userspace executable using the wiring and processing language used with Arduino.

= Transfer Options =

Netcat

 * GNU Netcat networking tool http://netcat.sourceforge.net/
 * Can create a connection using nc -w 1 192.168.7.2 1114 < new.zip on the server (in this case the machine running the Energia IDE), and nc -lp 1114 > n.zip on the Beaglebone. 1114 is a random port number which has to be the same on client as well as server side.
 * Some issue with sending .bin files directly. Mostly it was with how the file ends, not sure. So need to zip the file.
 * Requires no authentication
 * A script will be needed to listen on a particular port on the BBB for any incoming connections which will receive, unzip and execute the code.

ssh/scp/sftp

 * Needs authentication.
 * scp/sftp is built over ssh i.e. they use ssh for authentication and copying
 * To enter the password and execute the program after copying one will have to use a tool like expect (http://www.nist.gov/el/msid/expect.cfm)or sshpass (http://www.debianadmin.com/sshpass-non-interactive-ssh-password-authentication.html). Both of these tools usually don't ship with any Linux distribution.
 * sshpass is slightly less complicated than expect. But some issues are there with using sshpass and sftp to upload the binary to the bone. Executing the binary encountered no issues.
 * In case the user has set his own password and/or username, the IDE can contain a simple form to accept the same.

Emulating the Arduino bootloader

 * The Arduino Bootloader uses a protocol similar to STK500v1 (over UART, though)
 * One way to program (copy) the binaries would be to emulate the protocol on the bone over USB gadget and use AVRDude on the IDE side
 * However this would be cumbersome, since the protocol was designed to write bytes to flash memory, not copy files. Energia uses msp430flasher to flash the MSP430 using an in-built (ROM or Flash based) Bootstarp Loader (BSL).
 * File transfer protocols over serial like XMODEM and ZMODEM could be explored for an easier and more compatible option to Upload the binaries.