What is ArduinoNative?

ArduinoNative allows you to run Arduino code without Arduino. ArduinoNative does not attempt to emulate or simulate an Arduino, it is a simple header-only implementation of the Arduino library in order to test and debug Arduino code. Not only do you have the ability to use your favorite IDE with fancy code suggestions, you can even use a debugger to step through your code.

Getting started

1. Download and install required tools to build C++ on your machine
2. Create a new C++ project and place ArduinoNative.hpp in that directory
3. Define AN_IMPL in one and only one of your source files
4. Include ArduinoNative.hpp

A basic blink example

#define AN_DEBUG_ALL
#define AN_IMPL
#include "ArduinoNative.hpp"

void setup()
{
        pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}

void loop()
{
        digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
        delay(1000);
        digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);
        delay(1000);
}

More Examples

Supported boards

• Arduino Uno
• Arduino Pro or Pro Mini
• Arduino Nano

Choose board by defining a macro

#define AN_BOARD_PRO

If no board is defined it will default to Arduino Uno

Features

Implemented from Arduino library

Arduino Library Reference. Note that less used functions haven’t been tested that much.

Exceptions

• HIGH and LOW interrupt modes don’t work, only CHANGE, RISING and FALLING
• serialEvent() is only supported on GCC and Clang, as it uses a GCC extension.
• PROGMEM, USB and Stream aren’t implemented and likely never will be

Other functions

It is recommended that you encapsulate these non-Arduino functions with some macro guards. This prevents you from having to remove them when actually compile for an Arduino.

#ifdef ArduinoNative
// this will only be compiled if ArduinoNative is used
#endif

• Set pin voltage

an_set_voltage(pin, voltage)

• Set pin voltage from console input

an_request_voltage(pin)

• Take input from console and put it in Serial buffer

Serial.an_take_input()

• Print timestamp in ms

an_print_timestamp(); // example "1530ms | "

• Attach sine wave to pin

an_attach_sine(pin, hz = 1, amplitude = 2.5, dc_offset = 2.5, abs = false)

• Remove sine wave on pin

an_remove_sine(pin)

• Attach square wave to pin

an_attach_square(pin, hz = 1, duty_cycle = 0.5);

• Remove square wave on pin

an_remove_square(pin)

Extra debug features

Debug features can be enabled by defining the following macros

• AN_DEBUG_TIMESTAMP: Prints a timestamp in milliseconds in front of all debug messages
• AN_DEBUG_ALL: Enables everything below
• AN_DEBUG_DIGITALREAD: Prints a message to console when digitalRead is called
• AN_DEBUG_DIGITALWRITE: Prints a message to console when digitalWrite is called
• AN_DEBUG_ANALOGREAD: Prints a message to console when analogRead is called
• AN_DEBUG_ANALOGWRITE: Prints a message to console when analogWrite is called

Roadmap

• [ ] Check for pin type
• [ ] Attach simulated hardware on pins
• [ ] Move examples to their own folder
• [ ] Debug viewer to show pin status instead of Serial
• [ ] Support more boards
• [ ] Implement extra libraries (Servo.h, FastLED, etc)

More examples

Serial and AnalogRead

#define AN_BOARD_NANO
#define AN_IMPL
#include "ArduinoNative.hpp"

int analogpin = A7;

void setup()
{
        Serial.begin(9600);
        pinMode(analogpin, INPUT);
}

void loop()
{
#ifdef ArduinoNative
        an_request_voltage(analogpin);
#endif
        unsigned val = analogRead(analogpin);
        Serial.print("Read value ");
        Serial.println(val);
        float voltage = map(val, 0, 1023, 0.0, 5.0);
        Serial.print("Voltage on pin is: ");
        Serial.println(voltage, 2);
        delay(30);
}

Output:

set voltage of pin 21 to: 3.2
Read value 654
Voltage on pin is: 3.20
...

Serial read

#define AN_IMPL
#include "ArduinoNative.hpp"

void setup()
{
        Serial.begin(9600);
#ifdef ArduinoNative
        Serial.an_take_input();
#endif
}

void loop()
{
        while(Serial.available())
                Serial.println((char)Serial.read());
}

Output:

ArduinoNative is requesting Serial input: hello
h
e
l
l
o

millis() and specific debug modes

#define AN_DEBUG_DIGITALWRITE
#define AN_DEBUG_TIMESTAMP
#define AN_IMPL
#include "ArduinoNative.hpp"

#define LED1 5
#define LED2 6
#define LED1_DELAY 1000 // delay in ms
#define LED2_DELAY 2000 // delay in ms
unsigned long previous_LED1_change;
unsigned long previous_LED2_change;


void setup()
{
        pinMode(LED1, OUTPUT);
        pinMode(LED2, OUTPUT);
}

void loop()
{
        unsigned long t = millis();
        // turn on LED1 every second
        if (t - previous_LED1_change >= LED1_DELAY) {
                digitalWrite(LED1, !digitalRead(LED1));
                previous_LED1_change = t;
        }
        // turn on LED2 every half a second
        if (t - previous_LED2_change >= LED2_DELAY) {
                digitalWrite(LED2, !digitalRead(LED2));
                previous_LED2_change = t;
        }
}

Output:

500ms | Pin: 6 is now HIGH
1000ms | Pin: 5 is now HIGH
1000ms | Pin: 6 is now LOW
1500ms | Pin: 6 is now HIGH
2000ms | Pin: 5 is now LOW
2000ms | Pin: 6 is now LOW
2500ms | Pin: 6 is now HIGH
3000ms | Pin: 5 is now HIGH
3000ms | Pin: 6 is now LOW
3500ms | Pin: 6 is now HIGH
4000ms | Pin: 5 is now LOW
4000ms | Pin: 6 is now LOW
...

Interrupts and an_attach_square

#define AN_DEBUG_TIMESTAMP
#define AN_IMPL
#include "ArduinoNative.hpp"

unsigned long switchdelay;
unsigned short count;

void interrupt()
{
#ifdef ArduinoNative
        an_print_timestamp();
#endif
        Serial.print("INTERRUPT");
        Serial.println(++count);
        if (count >= 5)
                detachInterrupt(2);
}

void setup() {
#ifdef ArduinoNative
        an_attach_square(2);
#endif
        Serial.begin(9600);
        attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(2), interrupt, CHANGE);
}

void loop() {}

Output:

500ms | INTERRUPT1
1001ms | INTERRUPT2
1500ms | INTERRUPT3
2001ms | INTERRUPT4
2500ms | INTERRUPT5

AnalogReference()

#define AN_IMPL
#include "ArduinoNative.hpp"

void setup()
{
        Serial.begin(9600);
        analogReference(EXTERNAL);
#ifdef ArduinoNative
        an_set_voltage(AREF, 3.3);
        an_set_voltage(A2, 1.65);
#endif
        Serial.println(analogRead(A2));
}

void loop() {}

Output:

512