KITcar challenge – Overcoming the Fear of Embedded Multithreading

Aug 26, 2025 |

…Based on multiple microcontrollers, a super-loop architecture, and a custom serial protocol, it had become increasingly difficult to maintain. With our shift to ROS 2, we saw a perfect opportunity to rethink it completely. We decided to build the new system using FreeRTOS and micro-ROS (Figure 3), a lightweight implementation of ROS 2 for embedded systems. This would allow us to run ROS 2 nodes directly on a single microcontroller, reducing the footprint and complexity of the system. With each node operating in a dedicated thread, we could also easily add new components and make use of the real-time capabilities of FreeRTOS. … The additional insights we gained from our system convinced us immediately of Tracealyzer’s value. By using it in streaming mode, we could observe task execution in real-time, giving us, for the first time, a clear picture of how our system was actually performing.

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