AntOS

A real-time, scriptable operating system where you can see what's running, change how the system behaves, and experiment freely — whether you're an experienced developer or completely new to computing.

Nothing is hidden. Nothing is fixed.

If you're curious about how computers actually work, AntOS is built for you.

A Real-Time, Scriptable OS

Built on FreeRTOS, AntOS exposes the operating system itself to a Luau scripting environment. Tasks, queues, timers, events, storage, and even the UI are programmable at runtime.

Features

• Pre-emptive real-time multitasking
• Real-time ImGui-based UI layer
• Structured, database-backed storage — DBFS on SQLite
• Multi-tasking and multi-user design
• Persists across FPGA reload — personality cartridges and bitstream updates do not reboot the OS
• Built-in FTP server — easy file copying over the network
• Built-in Telnet server — remote control and echo
• Built-in VideoText server — serves information and files
• Gossip decentralised network — peer-to-peer friends and messaging (in development)

Unlike traditional operating systems, AntOS is easy to modify, easy to inspect, and designed to be bent in unexpected ways.

If you can't do something weird with it, it's failed.

AntOS Isn't Windows or Linux

AntOS isn't trying to be a general-purpose desktop operating system.

Instead of compiling everything into the OS, AntOS exposes the kernel directly to a scripting layer. System tools, commands, monitors, and UI behaviour are written in Luau and can be changed live.

If you want a fixed environment,
Windows or Linux already do that very well.

AntOS is for when you want
the system to be part of the experiment.

Where AntOS Runs

AntOS runs on DeMon — the ESP32-P4 SoC inside the Ant64, on its 400 MHz HP RISC-V core, using up to 32MB of embedded PSRAM. Network services run alongside on the ESP32-C5. The 40 MHz LP core handles RTC monitoring and low-power housekeeping.

AntOS has three display surfaces it can render to:

1. The main display (via the FPGA's MIPI RX #0 + chipset compositor → HDMI/VGA/DP) — only available when the FPGA is configured
2. The keyboard touchscreen — driven directly by DeMon, always available regardless of FPGA state
3. Network-attached terminals — VideoText / Telnet / FTP / debug server

When the FPGA is being reconfigured for a different personality (a personality cartridge insertion, a development bitstream flash, a recovery operation) the main display blanks briefly — a fraction of a second for the native chipset, up to ~1 second for a personality bitstream — but the touchscreen continues showing AntOS, so the user never loses visible contact with the system.

This placement is intentional. The Ant64's FireStorm CPU (inside the FPGA) is the application processor — it runs games, demos, music engines, creative tools — at high speed with direct access to the chipset (sprites, blitter, copper, audio). AntOS does not run there: when the FPGA's bitstream is reloaded for a personality cartridge, FireStorm's binary image disappears for a moment. The OS lives somewhere stable.

   ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
   │ DeMon (ESP32-P4 + ESP32-C5 + 32MB PSRAM)│
   │                                         │
   │  ┌──────────────────────────────┐       │
   │  │ AntOS — kernel, UI, services │       │
   │  │  · FreeRTOS multitasking     │       │
   │  │  · Luau scripting            │       │
   │  │  · DBFS storage              │       │
   │  │  · Network stack             │       │
   │  │  · Debug server              │       │
   │  │  · PIE-accelerated AI/DSP    │       │
   │  └──────────────────────────────┘       │
   │                                         │
   │  MIPI display TX → FPGA MIPI RX #0      │
   │  QSPI → FireStorm chipset registers     │
   │  JTAG → FPGA bitstream                  │
   └─────────────────────────────────────────┘

   ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
   │ FireStorm FPGA — CPU + chipset          │
   │                                         │
   │  ┌──────────────────────────────┐       │
   │  │ User application / game      │       │
   │  │ Real-time chipset code       │       │
   │  │ Bare-metal or RTOS guests    │       │
   │  └──────────────────────────────┘       │
   │  Composites AntOS UI as a layer         │
   └─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Why Run AntOS on DeMon, Not on FireStorm?

• The OS persists. The FPGA boots its native Ant64 chipset from its own attached flash in a fraction of a second on power-on — and reloading a personality (cartridge swap, development iteration, recovery) takes up to ~1 second. During those windows the main display blanks (no FPGA chipset = no compositor), but AntOS keeps running on DeMon. As soon as the FPGA comes back up, the AntOS UI returns as a MIPI layer. No filesystem remount, no network reconnect, no application state lost. Resets always return the FPGA to its native chipset from flash; personality state is temporary by design.
• FireStorm is for performance. Games and demos want bare access to the chipset, deterministic timing, and zero OS interference. AntOS-as-RTOS would compete for FireStorm cycles. With the OS elsewhere, FireStorm can run flat-out.
• The MIPI compositor model fits. DeMon already has a MIPI display engine wired into the FPGA. The OS UI is just a video stream — naturally a display layer, naturally composited over whatever FireStorm is doing.
• PIE acceleration in the OS. The ESP32-P4's PIE (Performance Instruction Extensions) give AntOS small-scale AI and DSP acceleration — speech recognition, image scaling, font rendering, ambient audio analysis — without needing a separate accelerator chip.

Designed Around the Hardware

AntOS exploits the specific hardware available on DeMon:

• Single 400 MHz HP RISC-V core with the PIE extensions for AI/DSP
• 40 MHz LP core for housekeeping and low-power states
• 32MB PSRAM — plenty of room for application data, the kernel, and FPGA bitstream staging
• Direct MIPI feed to FireStorm — UI rendered on DeMon, displayed by the chipset
• QSPI register window into FireStorm — direct memory-mapped access to chipset registers for scripting, debugging, and asset upload

For workloads that need a separate compute engine — heavy emulation, large language models, complex codecs — the optional Pi Zero 2W accelerator is available. AntOS dispatches work to it via the FPGA expansion bus.

AntOS doesn't try to pretend the hardware isn't there. It's designed to let you use it deliberately.