TinyGo Embedded Workshop

Table of Contents

Welcome to the TinyGo Embedded Workshop!

About this workshop
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By participating in this workshop, you will gain hands-on experience with embedded development using TinyGo on ESP32 microcontrollers. Through practical assignments, you will learn to create IoT applications using the Go programming language, from simple LED control to Wi-Fi connectivity and edge AI concepts.

TinyGo brings the simplicity and safety of Go to microcontrollers, making embedded development accessible to Go developers while maintaining the performance needed for resource-constrained devices.

Agenda
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If you have met the prerequisites, we can start with the individual chapters:

Introduction: TinyGo and ESP32: Overview of TinyGo, ESP32 architecture, and development boards
Assignment 1: Install TinyGo: Setting up the development environment
Assignment 2: Blinky: Your first embedded program - LED control
Assignment 3: Display: Graphics, text, and images on LCD displays
Assignment 4: Sensors: Reading data from I2C sensors
Assignment 5: Wi-Fi Client: Connecting to networks and fetching data
Assignment 6: Wi-Fi Server: Running a web server on ESP32
Assignment 7: AI Edge Models: Introduction to edge AI and machine learning concepts

Source Code Repository: All workshop examples are available in the developer-portal-codebase repository. Each assignment includes complete working source code with go.mod files and build instructions. Clone the repo to access ready-to-build examples for all assignments.

Prerequisites
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To follow this workshop, you will need both hardware and software equipment.

Required hardware:

Computer running Linux, Windows or macOS operating system
ESP32 development board:
- Recommended: M5Stack Core2 (ESP32, 320x240 display, touchscreen, sensors)
- Alternative: M5Stack StampC3 (ESP32-C3, compact, Wi-Fi)
- Alternative: XIAO-ESP32C3 or XIAO-ESP32S3
USB-C cable (supporting power + data) compatible with your board

Required software:

Go 1.26+
TinyGo 0.41
Visual Studio Code
JetBrains GoLand
TinyGo extension for VS Code (VS Code only)

Recommended software:

Git
Serial monitor tool (screen, minicom, or platform-specific alternatives)

Time Requirements
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Estimated time: 120 min (2 hours)

What makes TinyGo special?
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TinyGo is a compiler for Go designed for small devices. Here’s why it’s great for embedded development:

Go language benefits: Memory safety, garbage collection, concise syntax
Small binaries: Optimized for flash-constrained devices
Hardware support: Drivers for common sensors, displays, and communication protocols
Wi-Fi and networking: Built-in support for Wi-Fi, HTTP, MQTT on ESP32
Simplicity: No build systems or complex toolchains like C/C++
Modern tooling: Excellent VS Code integration, fast compile times

Workshop objectives
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By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

Set up a TinyGo development environment
Write embedded programs using Go
Control GPIO pins, read sensors, and drive displays
Connect to Wi-Fi networks and implement network communication
Understand edge AI concepts and explore machine learning on microcontrollers
Build your own IoT projects using TinyGo

Feedback
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If you have any feedback about the workshop, feel free to start a new discussion on GitHub.

Resources
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Conclusion
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We hope that this workshop will provide you with a solid foundation for embedded development using TinyGo. Thank you for your time and interest, and we look forward to seeing the projects you will create!

Next: Introduction: TinyGo and ESP32