flint_hardware 0.0.1-dev

A Dart-first hardware abstraction, simulation, and firmware tooling framework.

Flint Hardware

Flint Hardware brings Dart into the physical world.

Flint Hardware is an experimental, Dart-first framework for physical computing, embedded systems, IoT, and robotics. Its public APIs describe hardware capabilities without binding applications to Linux, ESP-IDF, Arduino, or a particular board.

This repository is an early 0.1.0-dev foundation. It deliberately does not claim that the Dart VM or normal Dart AOT output runs on an ESP32.

Status

Area	Status	What that means
Public board API	Implemented	Explicit, backend-independent board and capability contracts
Simulator	Implemented	GPIO, PWM, buses, serial, analog values, sensors, events, and virtual time
ESP32 blink	Experimental	Generates a native ESP-IDF C project from a small typed firmware IR
ESP-IDF build/flash	Experimental	Delegates to an installed, supported idf.py toolchain
Linux native backend	Planned	Will live behind the same public interfaces
Arbitrary Dart to ESP32 firmware	Research	No supported Dart SDK target currently produces ESP32 firmware

Simulator example

import 'package:flint_hardware/flint_hardware.dart';

Future<void> main() async {
  final board = SimulatedBoard();
  final led = board.gpio.output(2);

  await led.high();
  await board.clock.delay(const Duration(seconds: 1));
  await led.low();

  await board.close();
}

Boards are explicit dependencies. This makes programs testable and avoids a global current board whose selection rules would differ across hosts, containers, SBCs, and firmware targets.

Run it

dart pub get
dart analyze
dart test
dart run example/blink.dart
dart run flint_hardware:flint_hardware doctor
dart run flint_hardware:flint_hardware build --target=esp32 --example=blink --pin=2 --generate-only

With ESP-IDF installed and activated, omit --generate-only to invoke idf.py build. See ESP32 support and the hardware lab guide before wiring a board.

Design

Applications depend on small capability interfaces. A simulator implements them in Dart; a future Linux backend can implement them with native Linux APIs and FFI; ESP32 firmware is produced through a restricted hardware IR and ESP-IDF code generation. Native handles never cross the public boundary.

Read the architecture, upstream research, and compiler design for the reasoning and limitations.

Project direction

The first milestones cover GPIO, PWM, buttons, LEDs, and an active buzzer on ESP32 DevKit hardware. DHT22 and SG90 support follow after timing-sensitive driver and PWM validation. I2C, SPI, UART, ADC, networking, robotics, and Linux SBC backends remain part of the architecture without being presented as finished hardware support.

License

Flint Hardware is MIT licensed. No source from dart_periphery or c-periphery is copied into this package; their designs are credited in the research notes.