A new open-source project brings a UNIX-like operating system to the Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V4, controlled entirely through a serial terminal.
Microcontrollers have grown powerful enough that a number of operating systems now target them, but most of these aim at devices with screens and input hardware. KoaOS takes a different approach. It is a small operating system for the ESP32-S3 on the Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V4, and it runs headless, meaning there is no display or on-board interface. Users interact with it only through a serial terminal connected to the USB port.
Despite having no graphical interface, KoaOS offers a UNIX-like shell along with ready-to-run applications for editing text, reading GPS data, checking the weather, and working with APRS. A basic software development kit allows developers to write new apps in C and compile them. The resulting .esp files can be installed and removed as needed over the network.
The project has clear limits. It currently supports only the Heltec V4, which the developers attribute to its large need for PSRAM. The source suggests that a similar board with comparable specifications could likely run the system, but no such port has been made yet. Even so, the focus on the operating system itself rather than the user interface makes the project worth watching, and its developers hope it will keep growing.
KoaOS is not the first attempt at an operating system for the ESP32. Several other efforts have appeared recently, including one that uses JavaScript.
Source: Hackaday
