Towards a Programmable World: Lua-based Dynamic Local Orchestration of Networked Microcontrollers

Abstract

Microcontrollers execute much of the logic that makes the appliances and infrastructure around us work. Recent years have seen a significant increase in the microcontroller capabilities, with modern designs including multiple 32-bit processor cores and integrated wireless communications. At the same time, microcontrollers still typically execute fixed code burned into their firmware, leaving much of their capacity unused. In this paper we propose a Lua-based framework for microcontrollers, capable of dynamically receiving code for execution from nearby devices via wireless networks. We show that this framework allows multiple nearby microcontroller devices to be dynamically orchestrated to compose complex services. This serves as a step towards making the physical world around us dynamically programmable, enabling the creation of new local and pervasive applications that are deeply integrated into the physical world.