PlatformIO

PlatformIO is an open source ecosystem for IoT development [1]

As this quote indicates, PlatformIO provides an ecosystem which supports the development of Internet of Things (IoT) applications based on various platforms and environments.

PlatformIO supports a broad range of platforms [2] and boards [3] and integrates itself in Visual Studio Code as well as in Atom [4]. For other Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), where no direct integration is available, there is the possibility to integrate PlatformIO using the Command Line Interface (CLI) [5].

When working in the Arduino world, PlatformIO can be seen as an alternative to the Arduino IDE. However, PlatformIO is much more powerful (and in my opinion also more user friendly) than the Arduino IDE. This comes both from PlatformIO itself as well as from the integration into the IDEs.

Usage at the Space

We are using PlatformIO within various IoT projects. We are trying to base any new IoT development on PlatformIO.

As example projects, please see the following: Project: Enhanced Door Bell Project: Flip Dot Display

Main advantages

Compared to the Arduino IDE, PlatformIO provides several advantages, of which I try to outline a few:

Integration in your favorite IDE
Syntax highlighting
Autocompletion
Git integration
Library Manager
Manually set build-flags per project
Automatic board and library downloads per project

Seminar

In case you are interested in learning more about PlatformIO, our seminar (link tbd) might be a good starting point.