Hands-On RTOS with Microcontrollers

Deciding when to use an RTOS

Occasionally, when someone first learns of the term real-time OS, they mistakenly believe that an RTOS is the only way to achieve real-time behavior in an embedded system. While this is certainly understandable (especially given the name) it couldn't be further from the truth. Sometimes, it is best to think of an RTOS as a potential solution, rather than the solution to be used for everything. Generally speaking, for an MCU-based RTOS to be the ideal solution for a given problem, it needs to have a Goldilocks-level of complexity—not too simple, but not too complicated.

If there is an extremely simple problem, such as monitoring two states and triggering an alert when they are both present, the solution could be ...