Background

We wanted a hardware test platform to help us create a modern programming framework to use on embedded projects clients were bringing to us. We couldn’t find a solution that fit our needs so we designed and built Gimli, a small and robust embedded development and testing solution.

Gimli provides a plethora of I/O features in a small 2.1" x 2.7" package:

• Three rotary potentiometers
• Three push buttons
• Piezo transducer
• Grove connector
• Twelve RGB LEDs
• Standard red, green, and yellow LEDs
• Dual seven segment displays
• Temperature sensor
• Light sensor
• Header system to allow pin remapping

The Gimli platform includes a modern Domain Specific Language (DSL) created for embedded development in Swift and other languages. All these features combine to make Gimli a platform for quick and reliable embedded development, debugging, and prototyping in an affordable, compact form factor.

Project Work

Mark Swanson, a senior partner here at T Minus 5, created the vision for Gimli and his work encompassed the entire scope of the hardware effort from inception to delivery, including logic design, 3D modeling, PCB layout, prototyping, testing, and manufacture of the first batch of Gimli boards.

The development of the modern embedded Domain Specific Language was driven by our love for using Swift to build modern apps on iOS and MacOS. Swift for embedded made perfect sense to us. Mark’s contributions to the Swift on Arduino project over the past few years began the journey to support modern Swift on embedded platforms like Arduino and Gimli and future embedded micro controllers like the Raspberry PI.