Pengutronix at the embedded world 2025
Meet us at the embedded world 2025 in Nuremberg. Like every year you'll find us in hall 4, booth 4-261. As usual, we will be showing demonstrators on current topics at our exhibition stand. In addition, we are again inviting you to the RAUC and Labgrid community meetup and will be contributing to the embedded world conference with a talk on the use of Labgrid for integration tests.
See you at #ew25!
Technical Demonstrators
This year we will bring demonstrators from Pengutronix and our spin-off Linux Automation:
Secure Field-Updates with RAUC
Updates are an integral part of the life cycle of an embedded Linux system. Be it to fix bugs, roll out new features or to meet requirements from guidelines such as the Cyber Resilience Act. RAUC is a lightweight update client for embedded devices. It was developed from the experience with various updating solutions in customer projects at Pengutronix. Today RAUC is open source under LGPL and therefore offers an ideal base for the implementation of a customer-specific updating solution.
Our RAUC demonstrator shows an example integration of RAUC for OTA updates on a fleet of embedded devices together with an open source updating server.
Testing of Embedded Linux Devices with Labgrid and the LXA TAC
In addition to a robust updating client, automated integration tests on hardware are essential for regular updates of an embedded Linux system.
Labgrid and the Test Automation Controller (LXA TAC) make it easy to set up integration tests in a continuous integration workflow. This way integration tests can already run during development. Regular and automated tests reduce the hurdle of making (necessary) changes to the product and increase the quality of the overall system.
With our demonstrator we show an example setup with Labgrid, LXA TAC, and the USB-SD-Mux FAST, with which we automatically execute tests written in Python and pytest on an embedded Linux system.
Rockchip with Mainline Linux
For several years, Rockchip has been increasingly present on the CPU market for embedded Linux industrial devices, thus competing with manufacturers such as NXP, ST and Texas Instruments. As with other platforms, Pengutronix pursuits a mainline-first strategy for Rockchip, as this is the only way to ensure long-term maintenance of products. Accordingly, Pengutronix works together with its customers to support the required functions in Linux.
With this demonstrator we show a current Linux graphics stack with Wayland on a Rockchip rk3568. Pengutronix has brought the kernel driver for the VOP2 display controller on this SoC to upstream quality on behalf of the customer and ensured that the driver is available in upstream Linux, which reduces the effort required for software updates over the life of the products.
RAUC and Labgrid Community Meetup
Footpath to the Cafe
As promised last year, we again invite you to join us for a casual gathering to talk about these open-source projects. It's a good opportunity to meet fellow developers and users in the labgrid & RAUC communities, exchange ideas, and discuss future directions.
We'll first meet at the Pengutronix booth (4-261) and walk to the cafe together (~10 minutes). You can also join us directly at the cafe.
No need to RSVP — just come by if you're interested.
Integration Tests for Embedded Linux in CI: Labgrid as the Foundation for Your Testing Workflow on Series Hardware
Chris Fiege
Embedded Linux is a powerful and indispensable platform for projects with high demands on graphics, connectivity or compute. However, modern embedded Linux systems consist of a large number of individual projects - developed independently from each other. At the same time, due to regulations such as the Cyber Resilience Act, regular updates of the systems are the norm. In order to ensure the reliability of each release, automated tests are therefore a natural choice.
The open source project Labgrid provides a toolbox for automated testing of a complete embedded Linux on the actual hardware. It is written in Python and focuses on testing the bootloader and operating system - but can also be used to test the application. As a hardware abstraction, it closes the gap between remote control hardware and test code.
Labgrid has already been widely adopted as the go-to testing tool in the embedded Linux community. It is designed for use by or together with embedded Linux developers and therefore builds on pytest and other common Linux development tools.
This talk starts with exploring the importance of testing embedded Linux on real hardware. Next, we'll explore the remote control capabilities that build the foundation for testing. We'll then dive deeper into the architecture of Labgrid, highlighting its applications in various use cases. Finally, a demonstration will illustrate how automated tests and interactive use come together in an every-day use case.
Further Readings
Pengutronix bei der Embedded Testing 2025
Unser Spin-Off Linux Automation ist in diesem Jahr Aussteller auf der Embedded Testing und ist dort sowohl mit einem Stand als auch mit einem Vortrag dabei. Für Pengutronix als Dienstleister für Embedded-Geräte in verschiedenen Industriebereichen ist Testing selbstverständlich. Dies kann in der Form von Tests in den jeweiligen Upstream-Projekten oder in der Form von Integrationstests eines vollständigen Embedded-Linux-Systems auf der Kunden-Hardware geschehen.
Pengutronix at FOSDEM and OE Workshop 2025
On 1. and 2. February 2025 it is time for waffles, Belgian beer and Open Source: FOSDEM will take place at ULB in Brussels. With over 8k hackers, FOSDEM is the biggest and most important Open Source conference in Europe. One other event riding on the wave of FOSDEM is the the OE Workshop (See the list of other events here.) We are participating in both FOSDEM and OE Workshop and are looking forward to many interesting discussions with developers of different Open Source software components - be it the Linux kernel, Yocto, Labgrid, Debian, KiCAD, ...
More Conferences in September: Yocto Project Developer Day and KiCon Europe
September 2024 brings a wide variety of conferences: Pengutronix will present talks at the ELCE, Linux Plumbers Conference and All Systems Go. Additionally we will attend two more conferences: The Yocto Project Developer Day in Vienna and the KiCon Europe in Bochum.