FreeRTOS™

- Real-time operating system for microcontrollers

FreeRTOS is a real-time operating system (RTOS) for microcontrollers and small microprocessors. Distributed freely under the MIT open source license, FreeRTOS includes a kernel and a growing set of IoT libraries suitable for use across all industry sectors. FreeRTOS is built with an emphasis on reliability and ease of use.
With proven robustness, tiny footprint, and wide device support, the FreeRTOS kernel is trusted by world-leading companies as the de facto standard for microcontrollers and small microprocessors.

Some reasons to use FreeRTOS

  • FreeRTOS very simple - the core of the RTOS kernel is contained in only 3 C files. The majority of the many files included in the .zip file download relate only to the numerous demonstration applications.Provides a single and independent solution for many different architectures and development tools.

  • Has a migration path to SafeRTOS, which includes certifications for the medical, automotive and industrial sectors.

  • Is known to be reliable. Confidence is assured by the activities undertaken by the SafeRTOS sister project.

  • Is feature rich and still undergoing continuous active development.

  • Has a minimal ROM, RAM and processing overhead. Typically an RTOS kernel binary image will be in the region of 6K to 12K bytes.

  • Is truly free for use in commercial applications (see license conditions for details).

  • Is well established with a large and ever growing user base.

  • Contains a pre-configured example for each port. No need to figure out how to setup a project - just download and compile!

  • Has an excellent, monitored, and active free support forum.

  • Has the assurance that commercial support is available should it be required.

  • Provides ample documentation.

  • Is very scalable, simple and easy to use.

  • FreeRTOS offers a smaller and easier real time processing alternative for applications where eCOS, embedded Linux (or Real Time Linux) and even uCLinux won't fit, are not appropriate, or are not available.

“Let's go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happened yesterday.”

- Steve Jobs