Tactility: OS for the ESP32 Microcontroller Family

I&#x27;m personally working on something like this for the ESP32, but written on top of micropython [1]. A few things are written in C such as the display driver, but otherwise most things are in micropython. We chose the T-Watch 2020 V3 microphone variant as the platform [2].<p>Our objective is to build a modern PDA device via a mostly stand-alone watch that can be synced across devices (initially the Linux desktop). We want to achieve tasks that you might typically do on your desktop, focussed towards productivity.<p>We did consider a custom OS, but decided against it for a few reasons:<p>1. Allowing somebody else to handle basic OS stuff allows us to concentrate on what really matters, the higher level stuff on top.<p>2. Having multiple threads in micropython is super simple and we are able to run many active apps at the same time, rather than having to kill them off [3]. Our background apps can continuously interact with the network in the background.<p>3. Code written for micropython can be easily run on other Python-capable devices.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;micropython.org&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;micropython.org&#x2F;</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;lilygo.cc&#x2F;products&#x2F;t-watch-2020-v3" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;lilygo.cc&#x2F;products&#x2F;t-watch-2020-v3</a><p>[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;tactility.one&#x2F;#&#x2F;application-lifecycle" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;tactility.one&#x2F;#&#x2F;application-lifecycle</a>

Meshtastic is another project that has recently made serious strides[0] in their UX on the Lilygo T-deck (and similar ESP32 devices), but specifically regarding LoRA-enabled devices.<p>It&#x27;s still on a branch, but I compiled and ran it, and now I have two T-decks that can communicate with eachother off-the-grid without a smartphone attached to send messages; it&#x27;s actually usable in emergencies now, which is why I bought the devices in the first place.<p>Currently in the process to deploy a mesh from me to my parents and family.<p>[0]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;meshtastic&#x2F;firmware&#x2F;pull&#x2F;3259">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;meshtastic&#x2F;firmware&#x2F;pull&#x2F;3259</a>

This appear to be a window system and desktop environment than OS, but isn&#x27;t it that ESP32 user code always runs atop FreeRTOS for radio management purposes?

What&#x27;s the advantage over The device as ap and just flashing it from your development environment? I&#x27;m quite interested as I&#x27;m into ESP32, but the lack of detail is disappointing and makes me not want to invest time.

I have a few M5 cardputers, i wonder how hard a port would be

This is sweet! Looking forward to playing with this

Any idea where is the simulator project located?

I’m glad to see M5Stack is supported!

It is probable the latest editions of ESP32, Rockchip and other controllers manufactured in China do contain CCP exploits. Even the Intel-based mainboards from certain Chinese manufacturers also contain EFI with CCP exploits. (It&#x27;s not about the chip or brand, it&#x27;s about the CCP forcing this on China-based manufacturers.) Disclaimer: I&#x27;ve been downvoted over raising this in years past, but now it&#x27;s a widely covered mainstream issue. I too like the idea of $2 multicore SoCs with integrated RF, but not devices that can potentially blow an on-dye fuse with a specific RF-delivered opcode sequence to enable &quot;new functionality&quot;..and for you technician types, there is a lot more to RF than BLE&#x2F;WiFi&#x2F;NFC and various HA protocols that some ESP officially support.)<p>I saw soon to retire Jensen announce a new SoC (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reuters.com&#x2F;technology&#x2F;nvidia-ceo-says-mediatek-will-be-able-sell-nvidias-desktop-cpus-2025-01-07&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reuters.com&#x2F;technology&#x2F;nvidia-ceo-says-mediatek-...</a>) at CES 2025 in partnership with Taiwan&#x27;s Mediatek for their new DIGITS PC (just before NVIDIA stock tanked on the speech) and thought his fire is playing with fire, but this may be a solution to untrustable RockChip performance, Qualcomm profiteering and Apple proprietary solutions.

An &quot;ESP Microcontroller&quot; definitely doesn&#x27;t have a keyboard or a screen. That title is misleading and should say something like &quot;ESP based device&quot;. I can buy an ESP32 for £3, these are a different thing altogether.