Advanced Raspberry Pi robotics · Real time
The SDK for Raspberry Pi robots: bare metal, no Linux middleware, built for real time.
# Joyride: a DualShock 4 drives the Build HAT's two motors, one per stick.
namespace joyride
import grandtheorem.rpi.Pi
import grandtheorem.rpi.DualShock4
import grandtheorem.buildhat.BuildHat
entrypoint.default joyride() {
let hat = BuildHat(Pi)
let wheels = Wheels(hat.motor(0), hat.motor(1))
let pad = DualShock4()
while (true) {
wheels.drive(pad)
}
}
# Wheels is the other tab: one turn of drive() sends a motor a new speed only when
# its stick moves, and stops both when the pad goes quiet.
How it works
01
Write the card
Nylon is the whole system on the board. There is no OS to install under it.
02
IntelliJ finds it
The board joins your network and appears in the IDE. No SSH, no terminal, no setup.
03
Press run
Your program compiles, streams to the board, and runs. The robot moves.
Built for advanced robotics
Nothing underneath
Your program is the only thing on the board. No Linux, no middleware, nothing between your code and the hardware.
No collector, no pauses
Memory is reference counted. Nothing stops your program to collect garbage in the middle of a movement.
Hardware with a type
Pins, motors and serial lines are typed devices. The compiler catches the mistake before the robot does.
LEGO ready
The Build HAT library drives LEGO Technic motors and sensors. One import, one line to start a motor.
Real time, honestly
Today a Nylon program owns the board outright: bare metal, no Linux, and no scheduler but Nylon's own. That is what makes its timing something you can reason about.
Hard real-time guarantees are not here yet. They come with the next release, and these are what they are for.
Kestrel — real-time drone flight control
A flight controller written in Nylon, with the hard real-time guarantees a control loop needs.
Coming soon
Cluster computing
One program running across several boards at once.
Coming soon
Boards
On your own computer you need IntelliJ IDEA 2025.2 or newer and the Nylon plugin. Everything else runs on the board.
Nylon is the SDK that brings robotics home — for everyone. Start with a blinking light and finish driving a robot from a gamepad.
Start with a tutorial