Getting Started with PlatformIO

Get started with PlatformIO, a great alternative to the Arduino IDE. Examples with Arduino, ESP32 & XIAO microcontrollers. Article with references & code: https://dronebotworkshop.com/platformio/ More articles and tutorials: https://dronebotworkshop.com Join the conversation on the forum: https://forum.dronebotworkshop.com Subscribe to the newsletter and stay in touch: https://dronebotworkshop.com/subscribe/ Today we are going to be programming microcontrollers with PlatformIO, a development environment with many advantages over the Arduino IDE. I’ll show you how to install PlatformIO under Visual Studio Code (VS Code), a free programming environment from Microsoft (yes, Microsoft also makes free software!). Full instructions for Linux, Mac OS X, and MS Windows. After we add the PlatformIO plugin to VS Code I’ll show you examples of using it with an Arduino Uno, an ESP32 development module, and a Seeeduino XIAO. You’ll quickly see the advantages of using this amazing programming environment. I’ll also show you how to use the PlatformIO Library Manager, and how it differs from using libraries with the Arduino IDE. To do this we’ll also build a dual servo motor controller with an LCD display. Here is the Table of Contents for today's video: 00:00 - Introduction 02:22 - PlatformIO Basics 06:51 - Install VS Code - Linux 08:28 - Install VS Code - Mac OS X 10:13 - Install VS Code - MS Windows 10 11:55 - Install PlatformIO plugin for VS Code 13:56 - PlatformIO Basics with Arduino Uno 18:29 - PlatformIO Basics with ESP32 21:09 - PlatformIO Basics with Seeeduino XIAO 25:18 - Functions with PlatformIO vs Arduino IDE 31:17 - PlatformIO Library Management Basics 33:43 - Dual Servo Controller Demo Hookup 36:01 - Dual Servo Controller Code & Demo 46:44 - Understanding the platformio.ini file Hopefully, after viewing this video you’ll be tempted to give PlatformIO a try. It can really speed and improve your coding tasks once you get used to it, and you’ll be seeing more of it here in the DroneBot Workshop.