zephyr-onboading-in-30-seconds.pdf

1、Zephyr Onboarding in 30sMethods and ExperimentsDuring Zephyr TrainingWhats involved in training people how to use ZephyrPast methods and challengesElements of a positive Zephyr training experienceA case study of a fully-remote trainingAlternatives and future studyTodays Talkchrisgammellchaos.socialD

2、eveloper Relations Lead atGolioth20 years of HW experienceElectronics educatorReluctant DevOps traineeChris GammellWhat is Golioth?Golioth is an IoT cloud company.We make it easy for hardware engineers to connecttheir sensors and devices to the web without needingto be a cloud expert.We use Zephyr t

3、o support the widest range ofhardware possible.We build reference designs with Zephyr and regularlybuild things using the ecosystem.Why training is hardAnd why we do it anywayIt takes time to develop training and people to administer trainingWe do training to help people move upthe learning curveCon

4、necting to the Cloud requires a broadamount of HW support that Zephyr providesHardware and firmware users have broadly not tried ZephyrTrainings that went poorly in the pastAKA:FailuresOn-site corporatetraining 20228 traineesWe were revising our directions tofurther develop the flow for Chocolatey,w

5、hich allowed Windows users to installZephyr tooling.Problems with downloads,corporatefirewalls,wide range of Windowscapabilities,permissions issues,lack ofexperience using Windows.ZDS Training 202225 traineesEach user came in with a range ofdifferent laptops,Windows,Linux(many flavors),and MacWe bro

6、ught a router with mountedmass storage that had all dependenciesdownloaded into the folder.Users stillneeded to dowload toolchain.Problems with Python versions,previously installed Zephyr,and more.Things we havent triedImaged LaptopsSome trainings we have been to thetrainer actually brings in a coup

7、le ofpelican cases of laptops.Before each training,the laptop is re-imaged with a fresh install of the OS.The benefit is direct access to USBperipherals,important for embedded.The drawback is this can only work forin-person training.USB SticksFor in-person training,this sneakernet method is probably

8、 the highestbandwidth.Could run a virtual machine,assumingusers can successfully install the hostsoftware.Uh.do you allow random USB sticks tobe plugged into your computer?Doesnt work for remote trainingAsk the user to pre-install the softwareThis is a cute idea,but we live in thereal world.Seriousl

9、y,have you met people?Best case scenario you have two groupsduring the training:Those who get to do the trainingexercisesThose who spend the majority of thetime installing tools.Truisms about trainingAssume nothing about ausers systemUsers will arrive with all manner ofsystems and pre-installed conf

10、lictingpieces of software.You will learn about Linux distributionsyou have never everheard of before.One user showed up to a training with asteam deck,after his laptop broke thenight before(more on that later)The perfect number of thingsto install on a machine is zeroWe are not a company that develo

11、pslarge scale mac/PC software,sowhatever we install,we are dependentupon someone elses regression testingIf we could ask people to show up witha clean install of their OS,that would bethe optimal case(completelyunrealistic).Downloads take time,even ina well equipped setupThe Zephyr install is not sm

12、all,though itcan be optimized using manifest filesand selective installation of thetoolchain.You dont know how conference Wi-Fior remote servers will respond on anygiven day.(Remote)Your users will have varyingconnection speeds and you can only goas fast as your slowest person.Our training solutionK

13、asm allows us to create a Desktopwithin a browserKasmA full Ubuntu desktop,deliveredthrough a browser.Zephyr toolchain is pre-installedinto a Docker container based offof a Kasm template.The test project and other tools(VScode,plugins)are available.The time from opening the link totry.golioth.io,log

14、ging in,andhitting compile is 30s.Local programming and debugging toolsLocal programming anddebugging toolsWe switched to using Nordic SemiDevelopment Kits in order toutilize the on-board debuggersand the nRF Connect for Desktoptools,which are cross platform.Having a standard serial interfaceis nice

15、 as well.We cannot directly connect theKasm container to the DKs(moreon that later)A full training documentation sitebased on Docusaurus(training.golioth.io)Training siteWritten instructions are importantfor decoupling people fromneeding to have direction from thetrainers.It also works to encourage

16、peopleto go back to training materialafter the fact(training.golioth.io isalways available)A proximity-based video tool forindividualized help during remote trainingRemote tools(gather.town)We needed a way to giveindividualized help to traineeswhile remote without disturbingeveryone else.Gather.town

17、 gives you an avatarthat you can move to differentzones for talking to differentgroups of people.Video and screensharing is crucialwhen things are going wrong.What went rightSuccess:Small RemoteTrainingA group of friendly hardwareengineers joined us and steppedthrough our new remote training.We were

18、 using MagTags(based onEspressif ESP32-S2)which stilldidnt have USB-CDC at the time,so no direct serial output.This was before we introducedVScode into the browser.In general,our training was stilltoo Linux-ySuccess:Large RemoteTrainingOur first attempt at a large scaletraining.We had about 30 peopl

19、eshow up,which started to strainour ability to help peopleindividually.Success:In-person trainingWe had 30 people take thetraining in-person at the 2022Hackaday Superconference.This is where someone showed upwith a Steam deck(and it worked!)Using Python tools locally forloading binaries was still ad

20、ifficulty(because people broughtall manner of Python/OSes)Success:Remote TrainingOur most recent training where weswitched over to Nordic hardware.Much higher success rate ofcompiling/programming.New content focused more on thebasics of RTOSes and Devicetree.Biggest problem was the trainingwas too s

21、hort(2 hours).Short announcement windowmeant logistics/shippingproblems.Future training(July 12th)Moving to 3 hour trainingMore time for people to gethardware.Were not pre-qualifyingindividuals,so its possible peopleshow up with no embeddedexperience.We will be going for our largesttraining group ye

22、t(60 people),allremote.Things that can go betterThe inception effectUsing windows within windowscan be confusing for users.Setting Kasm as fullscreen helps,but its still managing a lot ofwindows.Copying and pasting between hostand remote machine was tricky inthe past(has improved with newerversions

23、of Kasm)Network still mattersWe are streaming VNC from theremote box to the host computer.Bandwidth is adjustable withinKasm,but the can still be impacts.In-person training using sharedWi-Fi can strain the network.TheKasm solution is more optimizedfor remote training.Binaries dont match mostembedded

24、 workflowsMuch like Arms mBed onlinecompiler from a few years ago,theres no local context fordebugging.Shipping between the remotemachine and the host machine isnot optimal,especially because werely on filenames/timestamp tomake sure they are installing thecorrect downloaded version.Trainees dont en

25、d up withtoolchain on their machineAt the end of the training,the useris in charge of installing the toolingon their machine.We hope that they are inspired togo through the process,but thereis additional setup to recreatetheir experience locally.Other options/future experimentsMicrosoft Codespaces/G

26、itPodCodifying your workspace as acontrolled element of your project(in your repo)VScode in the browser is the mostcommon implementation,whereyou buy the compute time on thebackend.Tougher to deliver to peopleoutside your org.Still no local hardware connection.Re-try local tools with nRFConnect for

27、VScodeNordic Semiconductor has aVScode plugin to help their usersget started with Zephyr(NCS).The downside is its vendorspecific tooling.The upside is that it might bepossible to shrink the installenough to try a local installationacross platforms.Go all-remote with WokwiWokwi is an online hardwaree

28、mulator that also has a simulatedWi-Fi gateway to the open internet(?!)We have tested ESP32 binariesusing Zephyr on the web platform.Wokwi also programs in hardwareinteraction with devices whichmakes it very extensible.Has a beta debugger in thebrowser.Local docker/devcontainersPut here because its

29、guaranteed for someoneto bring it up,but I think it doesnt adhere tothe minimize local installsVScode(and plugins)have generallystandardized installs more on host systems,but docker is pretty complex(ie.how do wetroubleshoot if things go wrong?)Great talk about devcontainers with Zephyr:https:/ you for attending!Come check out the Golioth booth(#41)to see hardware in action!Golioth Blog:Golioth Forum:Reference Designs:Main site:With the Golioth Dev Tier,your first 50devices are free!blog.golioth.ioforum.golioth.ioprojects.golioth.iogolioth.io