Justin Schneck

Enhanced Embedded Systems with Nerves

Nerves defines an entirely new way to build embedded systems with Elixir that could revolutionize an industry. Imagine booting to the BEAM VM in just a few seconds with your Elixir app in control of the entire system. Nerves makes this possible while replacing the traditional plethora of Linux init scripts or systemd configuration files with a toolchain that is delightful to use. The Nerves philosophy is that you already have a powerful, concurrent language to define what the system should do at start-up time: Elixir. Together, we'll explore the principles Nerves uses to create embedded systems that control 3d printers, power unmanned areal vehicles, and more. You'll see first-hand how Nerves can support service discovery, hot code swapping, and collaboration through PubSub messages and mesh networking. Finally, we will explore the Nerves development life-cycle; from running ExTest, to deployment and hot code reloading.

Talk objectives

* Introduce developing embedded systems in Elixir using Nerves

* Explore the Nerves development life-cycle

* Demonstrate autonomous robotics using service discovery and messaging

* Execute tests, create user interfaces with Phoenix, and perform hot code updates

Target audience

Creating devices and systems which enhance our environment is fundamental to our nature. The exploration into creating hardware that runs Elixir is geared toward the maker in all of us. Join us for an exciting demonstration into the creation of enhanced embedded systems with Elixir and Nerves.