Venom: Embedded Controller Programming

Our controllers are programmed in Venom, a high level multitasking language designed for writing embedded control applications.

Venom allows an engineer to create a working control system in a very short time. There are three powerful features that support this:

1. Venom has a built-in library of Driver Objects that handle everything from Graphics LCDs to Digital I/O ports. All you have to do is tell these tried-and-trusted objects what to do.
2. You develop Venom at a real-time command line. That is, you get immediate feedback when you enter a command. This leads to rapid learning and fast debugging.
3. Venom has a Real Time Operating System (RTOS) built in. One keyword is all you need to create a new, independent task. Venom handles all of the resource locking, etc.

You may have seen how easy it is to initialise and send text to an LCD display:

 MAKE display AlphaLCD(20,2)
 PRINT TO display,"Hello world"

and it's just as easy to control a digital I/O port...

 MAKE lamp Digital(128)
 lamp . On

...or to repeat something on a millisecond timescale:

 EVERY 50
 [
   read_temperature
 ]

Here are some real examples of Venom. The code is presented here exactly as it appears in VenomIDE when Syntax Highlighting is turned on:

• Railway track demonstration (medium)
• Oven control example (medium)
• PT100 linearisation function (short)
• Thermistor linearisation function (short)

Venom resides on a flash memory that plugs into a socket on the controller. Because the language is on the controller, you can program it using any PC or palm-top with a serial (COM) or USB port.

You can either buy pre-programed flash from us (5803), or program a blank flash (5820) with the latest version of Venom.

Unlike C, Venom was designed for writing control systems. It has a very forgiving learning curve that helps you make solid, incremental progress. True, but then it will only take around a week, and you will probably be writing useable code in that time. And if you are familiar with C, BASIC or Pascal, this time will probably be even shorter.

There are other things you won't have to learn either.

For example:

• Any 3rd-party Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS)
• Any low-level device complexities

Because these are all handled by Venom.

The real-time command-line interface keeps you close to the action. Want to know the value of a variable? Just print it out.

Venom also has intelligent runtime error reports that pinpoint errors in your code.

Because Venom code is semi-compiled, like Java™, it runs slower than native assembler or a typical C compilation. However, it also runs much faster than interpretted languages, and because a lot of the functions of the language are handled by internal 'Objects' written in highly optimised C, it doesn't have to slow down much.
Large... Contact our Technical Support team. The service is free, and you speak to the engineers who designed the system. They are available by phone, fax or email.

You might also like to see

• Our Integrated Development Environment: VenomIDE
• The manuals (in paperback, PDF & Windows Help formats)
• The language release notes, which show you the level of activity on the language.
• A review in New Electronics