Firmbridge Platform.
A platform for MCU devices that run a bespoke application and have to keep running. Firmbridge RTOS gives customers a dependable product with power management, secure updates and recovery already built in.
One runtime, ready for the product
Firmbridge RTOS is for sealed, low-power instruments that wake fast and stay up for years. It gives customers a dependable path from bespoke application to deployed product, with a consistent way to build, deploy and operate it.
Firmbridge RTOS
The runtime for sealed, low-power instruments that wake fast and stay up for years. Built on Zephyr RTOS and designed for dependable operation in the field.
- Application
- One portable binary
- Delivered
- BLE · serial · USB
- Built for
- Battery life, boot time, sealed enclosures
- Planned
- Rust and Python SDKs
One platform contract across the product line — see below.
One platform, with critical systems built-in
The parts you'd otherwise rebuild on every device — handled once, by the platform.
Sleep, wake and power budgets handled for you — not rebuilt for every device.
The application runs in its own protected space, so one fault stays contained.
Signed, verifiable updates kept current — with a safety net if one goes wrong.
Log shipping and remote control built in, for devices working far from a desk.
A clean interface to the device, so your application behaves consistently in the field.
A consistent on-device interface, so every deployed product behaves predictably.
A stable layer between app and hardware
Each layer rests on the one below. Your application sits on top and only ever talks to the Firmbridge interface — never the underlying hardware. The platform keeps customer-facing behavior consistent as products evolve, while preserving firmware-grade reliability, security and software-level portability.
The software you write — one portable build across the product line, and the only thing that changes often.
What your code is written against, so product behavior stays consistent as the hardware evolves.
Power, memory and protection, updates, logging, security, hardware interfaces and UI — built in for dependable field operation.
One dependable contract
The Firmbridge interface gives every device the same foundation: system control, persistent settings, A/B slot management, application upload and live log streaming. The tooling and operating procedures stay consistent as the product line grows.
That interface is a written contract with a conformance suite behind it, so implementations cannot quietly drift apart.
Your integration, fleet tooling and operating procedures keep working as the product line grows.
Not a desktop stack in a device shell
Firmbridge is designed for bespoke applications, not general-purpose computing. No desktop shell, no multi-user session model, and no unnecessary background ecosystem.
Less CPU and memory spent on platform noise, more on your application.
Efficient runtime behavior supports smaller battery targets on field devices.
Fewer exposed services and tighter control points reduce compromise pathways.
Deterministic behavior for deployments that must remain stable around the clock.
Safe to update by default
New applications are hot-deployed — over the air by BLE or network, or by USB — with no full re-flash and no re-imaging of the device. Each application's signature is checked and the application verified when it's uploaded and again on boot, before it runs, and the previous working version is always kept intact.
How A/B slots work
One slot runs while the other stands by. The new version is written to the standby slot — if it verifies, the device switches to it; if not, the active slot keeps running, untouched. The next update targets whichever slot is now standby. The active slot can also be selected manually — with the device's hardware buttons, or from the boot menu on screen.
If the new version won't stay up
Verification catches a bad artifact; the rollback guard catches a bad application. A version that installs cleanly but then won't keep running is swapped back to the other slot on its own, and a device that exhausts its retries stops in the boot menu rather than looping. The platform keeps the update path consistent at every layer, rolling back automatically on a failed boot so the device returns to a known-good state.
An instant rollback to a known-good application — something firmware-based devices can't offer easily.
Write once, run across the fleet
The application is a portable binary, and one build runs across the supported Firmbridge microcontroller architectures. The same bespoke application can serve a product line without a separate port for each device, while the desktop build supports development and demos.
Same binary, every Firmbridge device.
Build on Firmbridge
Firmbridge is available as an SDK. Applications are written in C today, with Rust and Python support on the roadmap. One build targets the supported Firmbridge devices.
Firmbridge RTOS is built on the Zephyr RTOS, used under the Apache License 2.0. Zephyr and Zephyr Project are trademarks of the Linux Foundation. Zephyr Project, a Linux Foundation Project — all rights reserved. Firmbridge and Steadrock Systems are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the Zephyr Project or the Linux Foundation; references to Zephyr are for identification only.