In this episode of our SYSGO TechCast, we dive into the practical side of working with PikeOS—from first steps to future challenges. What tools are essential for embedded system development? Why is training so important before starting a project? And how does SYSGO support its customers through evolving requirements like cloud connectivity and AI integration?

Join us as we explore the development workflow, training insights, support best practices, and the role of security in tomorrow’s connected embedded systems.

Read the Transcript:

Ben: Welcome back to the SYSGO TechCast, were we talk about embedded systems, real-time software, and more topics from the digital world. I am still with Daniel from our Customer Support and today we're diving deeper into PikeOS – what it takes to get started, the tools you’ll need, and how SYSGO supports you throughout the journey.

First off, let’s talk about tools. As a developer or architect, you have lots of choices out there. But when working with PikeOS, what tools can you absolutely not live without? And I think I already know the answer...

Daniel: Tools, so as someone who has never seen before PikeOS, I would really recommend to start with CODEO. And this is for me why I say: CODEO is really the main tool because you get quickly into it. All is there, all tools for monitoring debugging, tracing, all tools are inside of CODEO. There's an easy interface. There's some dedicated tabs to create, for example, the communication channels to communicate with shared memory objects to add some memory segments if needed. So this is really a complete interface for development and can be used by the software architect, but also by the application engineers developing the application. So yeah, I would definitely say it's the main tool which allows to set up the operating system PikeOS, but also the environment around with different personalities and so on. So yeah, definitely CODEO.

I didn't speak about the ELinOS yet. But of course, this is our modified Linux distribution that allows you to run any applications, Linux applications encapsulated in this partition. So the ELinOS can then be used through the CODEO also. So you can create a partition and have the ELinOS to run on it. If you have developed some Linux application, you can basically use them again there. And of course, this is all being done through also through CODEO. So as I said, it's regrouping not only the PikeOS part with other partitions or the personalities, but also the Linux personality which brings the ELinOS. And of course, this can be all set and managed through CODEO.

Ben: Sounds like CODEO is truly the Swiss Army knife for embedded software development. Now, for someone just starting out with PikeOS, training can make or break their experience. What kind of training do you offer, and what’s your recommendation?

Daniel: What we need to understand, of course, if you don't know PikeOS, there's some concepts and they really lead to PikeOS, so it's important to understand them. And for that, of course, we have our PikeOS manual, which is quite a big manual, but this actually covers most of the concepts. And I would say what happens most of the time is when there's a team which will work with the products, usually they get suggested to do a training. So I'm also taking care of the training part and this is really recommended to get before starting anything. To understand how PikeOS works, the concepts behind the tools, the usage of CODEO, the IDE, so to get used to create, also for the architects, to create the operating system architecture, for the application engineers to see how they can actually write their application code, how they can debug and so on. So yeah, I would really recommend the training to our customers when they start using our product. This is, I would say, a must to get really quickly into the understanding of PikeOS and also how to use the tools in the best manner. So you can also learn by doing what I see sometimes in training, in some people that have been basically learning by doing and they like also to participate in the training and at the end they tell me: "Okay, I already used CODEO or use PikeOS, but there were some pieces of the puzzle that I was not quite aware and now I'm actually bringing all the pieces together." When you have the opportunity and the chance to already start a project and have a training straight from the building, I feel this is the best approach. 

We have different kinds of trainings. We have the core training, which goes for two days, covers all these aspects and doing some exercises using CODEO. And then we have other parts related to our virtualization training and the drivers also. And of course, some specificities for different personalities. So this comes also with the core training. But of course, if there's some additional components as POSIX, Linux, which is the ELinOS running on top of PikeOS, this might bring additional hours.

After a training is always a period where I let the customer have a direct contact with me if there are any questions in regards to the training. And after that, it's really important to understand that the contact platform for support is our customer support portal and all the team will be there to answer any technical questions. And then, of course, you have our documentation on the customer portal. You have also access to FAQs, but also to our application notes. And of course, we have tutorials also available on the documentation of the products. So you have quite a lot of information documentation, but I would say training is always good to have at the beginning to get a good start.

Ben: OK, that's a solid support system... and speaking of support and real-world customer communication — what’s something important to consider when raising a support ticket?

Daniel: So when a customer actually submits a request is really in deep into the problem. And what happens is when someone is really in that problem is maybe missing, I would say, the context. This is a support thing in general. I've been working in other companies before where I was also workinh in support and this is happening also where people are just submitting a request, but they're skipping a bit the context around. And sometimes the context is really important to understand from where the issue comes from. But okay, this is just happening. And we try also of course our best to get information and to help.

Ben: I think that is a very good advice to us all, to always describe exactly what is the issue and give some background information, because we work in a highly technical field with complex processes going on.
Taking a look ahead now. Technology is evolving rapidly — cloud, AI, edge computing are buzzwords in our daily work and lifes. What do you see as main challenges for embedded operating systems like PikeOS in the next five years?

Daniel: For me, it's something like when you have an embedded operating system and customers, sometimes are using a system which is even not connected to anything else, not connected to the outside world. And they have certification on top. As soon as you give the possibility to your hardware to connect to the outside world, cloud or whatever, or to be linked to an AI which will basically look for information and feed any kind of software that might be running in a partition in practice - I believe this would bring some more security aspects because you're opening a gate actually to the outside world. If you compare this with the system which is running on a specific hardware, or something, a military thing or a device or anything like that, which needs to be really safe, some systems like that are really closed. And I see the challenge of having AI connected to those or connected to clouds that brings more need and more capacity to run an embedded operating system and taking care of those challenges at the same time. So that's quite challenging because if you usually see someone who would like to use something like that, embedded operating system is looking for safety. So of course, opening a door, it's always a risk. 

I believe this is a challenge not only for us but also for the customers. They need to take care of those aspects. But from the operating system side, we need to deliver something which allows them to make their operating system safe even when this operating system has a capability or some software applications are actually using some external information or updating some data somewhere in the cloud. As soon as we have, I would say, customer with those requirements, AI or accessing data in the cloud and updating them in the cloud. And I guess challenge or discussions will take place. And we might need, of course, to adapt if needed to the requirements. So it's really, I would say, related to the requirements. So when someone comes with some requirements, we adapt. That's what we have been doing until now. So if there's new requirements, bringing some new solutions, request is a product which can be adaptable based on the requirements of a customer.

Ben: Thank you for these insights. Coming to and end now and since working in the support requires a lot of... let's say - power - here the most important question of all: Coffee or tea?

Daniel: Coffee or tea? Well, I would say both. Then you stay awake all day long.

Ben: And with milk?

Daniel: On the tea, yes. Coffee will be black.

Ben: Love it! Balanced and efficient — just like PikeOS. So, now it's time to wrap up: Thanks a lot for being with us today and giving us more insights into our support and products, Daniel.

Daniel: Thank you, Benjamin, for taking the time also to let me answer some questions. I hope it will help our customer to understand a bit how support and our training works. And yeah, thank you very much for everyone. And we will probably keep in touch either in support or training.

Ben: And thank you to our listeners for joining us on this episode of the SYSGO TechCast. If you have questions or want to learn more, feel free to reach out. Because, as you learned, your answer might only be one ticket or training away... Stay connected, stay secure and until next time - keep innovating in the embedded world!