Lightning Talk Intermediate no license, just a demostration, probably public domain license First Talk

machine code demonstration

Rejected

Session Description

From Machine Code Bytes to a Blinking LED on the ESP32-S3

What actually happens when a microcontroller executes a program?

In this live 15-minute demonstration, I’ll explore this at the lowest level by writing raw machine-code bytes directly into SRAM on an ESP32-S3 and making the CPU execute them.

I’ll start with a tiny program containing basic instructions such as ADD and a branch, write its machine-code bytes into memory, and point the program counter to them so the CPU begins executing the program.

Then, I’ll take the same idea one step further and use machine code to directly control a GPIO, turning an LED on and off—without relying on the usual high-level libraries.

The goal is not to build a practical application, but to make the connection between machine code, memory, CPU execution, and hardware visible in a way that is rarely demonstrated in everyday embedded development.

Everything will be done live on the ESP32-S3.

Key Takeaways

machine code is simple