No, don’t ask…. It’s all Kevin’s fault….
Ok, you ask anyway: This blog is because I have been asked to share my thoughts, tips and tricks around eclipse and CodeWarrior in an accessible way (instead of sending emails or store it in obscure folders on a network).
If you are still reading…. My name is Erich Styger, and I’m an engineer at heart. I started my professional career as a compiler engineer and I always loved to get down to the bits and bytes. When I had to decide about what I should study at the ETH Zürich, I was bouncing back and forward between Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. While finally I ended up doing Computer Science, I always had one foot in the domain of Electrical Engineering. With this, ‘Embedded Systems’ and the world of microcontroller, hardware and software has been my home over the course of more than 20 years.
My passion is the interdisciplinary world, and as such I’m wearing many hats: I’m working for Freescale and the same time teaching embedded systems programming at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
In my spare time (if any?) I’m engaged in many other domains: including my family, community voluntary work or my own projects.
It is important to note that this blog is my personal one, and as such my comments and thoughts are my personal ones too. I want be fair and balanced about everything I write, say and do, of course. I appreciate comments and feedback, as long it does not insult or harm anyone.
With this, I think this is a good start. This blog might evolve over time, and I’m excited about the journey.
If you want to contact me directly: erich.styger(_at_)hslu.ch.
Tip: If you are wondering what kinda tool I’m using to create all these screenshots? It is Snagit from http://techsmith.com/. Really cool tool! And no, I have no relationship with that company at all.
Have fun 
!
Disclaimers
- The opinions expressed here are my own and are not necessarily shared by my employer, any other organization, or any other individual.
- Any trademarked names or labels used in this blog remain the property of their respective trademark owners.
- No guarantees are made regarding the accuracy or usefulness of content on this blog, though I do make an effort to be accurate.
- Links to external sites do not imply endorsement of the linked-to sites.
A wonderful site of useful and very perceptive innovations. At last someone that understands Processor Expert and has actually extended it to overcome the liabilities of the base line version. I have not used the components as yet but hope to. First to read and find out as much as possible. Thank you very much.
I read about the FRDM-KL25Z and was intrigued with this little board and its capability. I decided to get a a few and try them out. I have worked quite a bit with Arduio and have a background as a software engineer. My first task has been to try to get the KL25Z to work with nRF24L01 transceivers. The information that you have provided in your blog has been very valuable. Thank you for taking the time to document projects. In many cases, I cannot find examples or explanations for the many things that you have on your blog. I enjoy reading every posting! I was able to get the KL25Z to communicate with the Arduino and I owe lot of credit to your site. Thanks so much!!!
Good day Erich,
Well done on your site and thanks so much for all your efforts with generating and documenting all of the things you have! It is quite rare to find site like this that encapsulates so much in a very digestible manner. Well done once again!
Cheers,
Sam
Hello Erich,
I’m also “an engineer at the heart” and I’ve been working with MCU for 10 years mostly Microchip’s ones. We have recently decided to move to ARM based MCU. We were examining different products (ST, NXP, Nuvoton) but thank to you we are close to use Freescale’s ones
Your blogs and components help us finish test projects almost twice faster then any other.
I think Freescale owe you more then the New Year’s FREEDOM board gift
Thank you for beeing open-minded and we are looking forward to your next blogs !
Happy Freescaling !
Hi Nihho,
.
thanks! I hope Freescale (and others) read this and now my postal box gets filled with new boards and tools
Happy Reading!
Howdy – I’ve been enjoying your blog and thought you might know – is the Freedom Board considered Open Source Hardware?
Hi Drew,
! But I do not think it can be considered as ‘open source hardware’. The schematics/etc are ‘open’, so you can easily do your own board. But the silicon/components on the board are not ‘open’. This applies to the ARM core and as well to the OpenSDA firmware which is not ‘open’ in all details.
good question
You raise an interesting point. Open Source only goes to a certain level of abstraction (even Arduino’s AVR is not OSHW, but it is well documented). Specifically for the Freedom board, I’m uncertain if the OpenSDA firmware you mention would be an issue per http://www.oshwa.org/definition/. Firmware requirements seem to be less defined (unless I’m not looking in right place).
In terms of what I think of as the typical OSHW checklist, it does have the schematics, layout and BOM on here I see: http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=FRDM-KL25Z&fpsp=1&tab=Design_Tools_Tab
Erich
I had an interesting experience with a Kinetis K20 MCU today. One of GPIO output pins, which was periodically being driven, was connected (accidentally) to 5v. Of course, it’s a 3.3v processor. I found out about the problem when I measured the 3.3v power supply, and got 4 volts. Apparently the 5v was somehow coming back through the output pin to the power. Very strange indeed. The amazing thing was that the MCU kept working through this, and when I removed the short to 5v, the output pin was not blown. Talk about rugged. I am impressed. The silicon is good.
Hi Dusty,
yes, some Kinetis pins are ’5V tolerant’, so they can used as 5V input pins. I have intentionally not used that feature because it is not easy to determine which pins are tolerant, and which ones are not. It seems that differs from device to device, and from package to package. So you would need to carefully read the data sheet. But in your case it seems it saved your microcontroller, so it is very good from this perspective too.
First time on this blog…what can I tell in a single word: AMAZING! Please keep up the good job!
Thanks! Always good to hear something like this