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The ESP also runs Lua (by way of NodeMCU), JavaScript (Smart.js, Espruino and JerryScript), Lisp ( https://github.com/yesco/esp-lisp ) and even a form of BASIC ( http://www.esp8266basic.com/language-reference.html ). I'm sure more are out there - seems like something new pops up every few days.
Yup, NodeMCU is really easy. I used it to make a Philipps Hue clone. https://github.com/christophesmet/ledsgetIton It's surprisingly easy connect to a WiFi and get a TCP server running
And would something like a tumble generator provide enough power?
There is an excellent project named PlatformIO to program this and other chips: http://platformio.org/ A ton of work went into it and setting up the toolchain is as simple as `pip install -U platformio`.
Question to those who know the landscape of little microcontrollers well: if I wanted to build a small pet tracking chip (gps and cell, probably) that would work way out in the boonies (like middle-of-nowhere-Wyoming), where should I look? Am I right to be thinking gps+cell, or is this something where I could get away with just GPS (and somehow track where that GPS is pinging from)? And would something like a tumble…
Is it possible to do real time programming in a garbage collected language?
Question to those who know the landscape of little microcontrollers well: if I wanted to build a small pet tracking chip (gps and cell, probably) that would work way out in the boonies (like middle-of-nowhere-Wyoming), where should I look? Am I right to be thinking gps+cell, or is this something where I could get away with just GPS (and somehow track where that GPS is pinging from)? And would something like a tumble…
If it's about remotely checking, then you will need some kind of communication, which is most likely going to be cell phone related (i.e. GSM, UMTS, LTS...). A GPS device does not send anything to the satellites, it merely (as a simplified explanation) receives time codes from multiple satellites and triangulates the current position from that.
If you only want to record, then GPS alone would be fine, obviously. Though there is "Assisted GPS" that makes use of cell phone technology to increase the accuracy/decreases the triangulation time. However, I do not know whether that can be leveraged from standalone GPS modules.
FYI ESP8266 doesn't run Python, but it runs MicroPython: https://github.com/micropython/micropython
I have some experience using MicroPython on the PyBoard (not the ESP8266). MicroPython is a very nice implementation of Python 3.X. A few differences because of the need to be extremely parsimonious with RAM usage -- mostly only noticed if trying to inherit from built-in types. Nothing that is onerous to avoid. MicroPython is an outstandingly good project IMHO, with a great community.
Somewhat remotely related, I've been playing with this tiny wifi router on a usb stick for a week now with OpenWRT and it is amazing for $10 https://wiki.hackerspace.pl/projects:zsun-wifi-card-reader The future is filled with tiny wifi devices!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you even tried MicroPython on it? Granted, you need to consider performance -- where you need it, and where you don't. But is is quite easy in MicroPython to create a C-extension module for performance critical components, and have the luxury of a Python REPL loop for debugging high-level logic.
Interesting idea. The client wanted C, but that could make dev work easier perhaps.