The recent announcement by Arm that the Mbed platform and OS will reach end of life in July 2026 has significant implications for the embedded development community. This development particularly affects brands like micro:bit, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino, which have all benefited from Arm’s support over the years. These platforms have gained momentum in educational settings and among the maker community, allowing many of the features that Mbed offered to become more widespread and accessible.
- Arm’s Mbed platform and OS will reach end of life in July 2026.
- Arduino has proactively sought a substitute for Mbed, choosing ZephyrOS.
- Arduino joined the Zephyr® Project as Silver members in 2023.
- Transition to ZephyrOS will begin with a beta release by the end of 2024.
- Rollout for various Arduino boards is planned for 2025.
- Arduino cores for some boards are currently based on Mbed OS.
- Popular Arduino boards like UNO, MKR, and Nano families do not use Mbed OS.
Adapting to Change: Arduino’s Transition to ZephyrOS
Arduino views every technological development as an opportunity to enhance its platform and provide better tools for its users. With the end of life for Mbed on the horizon, Arduino has been proactive in finding a suitable replacement. The company identified ZephyrOS as an excellent alternative and joined the Zephyr® Project as Silver members in 2023, as highlighted in its latest Open Source Report.
Ensuring Continuity for Arduino Users
Arduino is committed to allowing its users to continue using the familiar language and libraries. This involves creating an Arduino core based on an underlying Zephyr layer. The company plans to release the first beta of this transition by the end of 2024, with a rollout for various boards starting in 2025. Arduino encourages its community to stay tuned and participate in the testing phase to support these efforts.
Current Use of Mbed in the Arduino Ecosystem
Each Arduino board has a corresponding “core,” which is the implementation of the Arduino programming language for its specific microcontroller architecture. The goal of Arduino cores is to expose the same commands and instructions (APIs) regardless of the board being used.
For some boards, such as GIGA, Nano 33 BLE, Nano RP2040 Connect, Portenta, Nicla family, and Opta, Arduino implemented the core on top of an abstraction layer provided by Mbed OS to speed up development. However, the cores for other popular Arduino boards in the UNO, MKR, and Nano families are implemented differently and do not use Mbed OS.
Impact on End Users
In general, whether an Arduino core is based on Mbed or other underlying software layers does not have any practical impact on how end users program the boards. The transition to ZephyrOS aims to maintain this seamless experience for users.
Looking Ahead: Future Developments
As Arduino transitions to ZephyrOS, it continues to innovate and improve its platform. The company is dedicated to providing robust support and ensuring a smooth transition for its users. The upcoming Arduino Days in 2024 will offer more insights into this transition, featuring discussions between Arduino’s Martino Facchin and Zephyr’s Benjamin Cabè.
Other Areas of Interest
For those interested in the broader implications of this transition, there are several areas worth exploring:
- Educational Impact: How will the transition to ZephyrOS affect educational programs that rely on Arduino?
- Community Involvement: Opportunities for the maker community to contribute to the development and testing of the new Arduino core.
- Compatibility: Ensuring compatibility with existing projects and libraries during the transition.
- Future Innovations: Potential new features and improvements that ZephyrOS could bring to the Arduino platform.
By staying informed and engaged, users can continue to benefit from Arduino’s commitment to innovation and excellence in the embedded development space.
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