To use C to develop robots and embedded systems from scratch, you need to master the following key points: 1. Learn basic syntax and object-oriented programming, especially classes, objects, inheritance, polymorphism, as well as pointers, references, memory management and STL containers; 2. Understand the structure of embedded systems, including hardware abstraction layer (HAL), interrupt processing and the use of RTOS; 3. Master common libraries and frameworks, such as ROS, Eigen, Boost.Asio and Paho-MQTT; 4. Build a development environment and master debugging skills, such as using Makefile, CMake, GDB, IDE and log output. Gradually improve skills through simulators or small platform practices.

If you plan to use C for robots or embedded development, then congratulations on choosing the right language. C performs well in performance, control hardware capabilities and cross-platform compatibility, and is very suitable for scenarios with strong real-time and resource-constrained. This article will talk about how to start from scratch and use C to step into robots and embedded doors.

Learn basic syntax and object-oriented programming

Before entering specific applications, you must lay a solid foundation for C. Especially the object-oriented programming (OOP) set: concepts such as classes, objects, inheritance, and polymorphism often appear in robot code. Components such as sensor modules, motor drivers, etc. are usually packaged into classes for management.

Recommended to master the key points:

• Pointers and references (common in embedded development)
• Memory management (new/delete, RAII mode)
• STL containers (vector, map, string, etc., but be careful to use in some embedded environments)

Don’t chew too complicated templates or metaprogramming at the beginning. Those are useful in actual projects, but they are easy to get around in the introductory stage.

Understand the basic structure of embedded systems

C is used slightly differently in embedded form than on PC, especially on resource-constrained devices. There are several key points you need to know:

• Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL): Most embedded projects will have a layer of hardware abstraction so that the code can be more general. You can encapsulate the underlying register operation in C.
• Interrupt processing : C can write an interrupt service program (ISR), but be careful not to do too much in it, such as calling complex functions or dynamic memory allocation.
• RTOS is used in conjunction with : Many robot systems run on RTOS (such as FreeRTOS), and C can cooperate with task scheduling and thread communication well.

To give a simple example, a motor controller class may contain initialization functions, setting speed interfaces, and internally call the PWM output function of the HAL layer.

Commonly used libraries and frameworks in actual projects

In real projects, wheels are rarely made from scratch. Here are some common tools and libraries:

• ROS (Robot Operating System) : Although the name is system, it is actually more like middleware. It supports C and Python, and many robot projects are built on ROS.
• Eigen : used for matrix operations and pose transformation, it is a very important mathematical library in robot algorithms.
• Boost.Asio : If you want to do network communication or serial communication, this library is quite practical.
• Paho-MQTT for C : Robot projects related to the Internet of Things may use the MQTT protocol, and this library can help you quickly access.

Some embedded platforms (such as STM32 or Arduino) have limited support for C. At this time, appropriate cropping functions should be avoided by avoiding the use of STL or exception mechanisms.

Development environment construction and debugging skills

The construction process of C projects is more complicated than that of scripting languages. It is recommended to start with a simple Makefile and try CMake later, especially in cross-platform projects.

In terms of debugging, GDB is a must-have tool and can also be used with IDE (such as VS Code PlatformIO or CLion). For embedded development, the JTAG/SWD debugger is also very important, allowing you to see variable changes, break points, and single-step execution.

Also, printing logs is a good habit, especially on devices without a graphical interface. You can encapsulate a simple log output class yourself and control the output content according to the level (info/warning/error).

Basically that's it. C The application threshold for robots and embedded applications is not too high, but you need to have a certain understanding of the underlying layer. At the beginning, you can start with a simulator or a small robot platform and learn while practicing.

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