Yearly Archives: 2014

Constructing a Classroom IDE with Eclipse for ARM

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For the next semester I will do things differently in my advanced embedded systems programming course (INTRO) at the University of Lucerne: Instead of using the Freescale provided CodeWarrior, we will use a DIY tool chain for ARM with Eclipse Kepler.

Eclipse Kepler Ready for Classroom Usage

Eclipse Kepler Ready for Classroom Usage

That way we we can offer students an open and convenient tool chain for their lab work, course assignments and own projects both at work and at home. So this post is about spending about 30 minutes to build your own tool chain which then can passed to students and coworkers so they have a complete toolchain installed in a few minutes.

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C/C++ Watchpoints with Eclipse Kepler

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In “Watchpoints: Data Breakpoints” I used the Eclipse based CodeWarrior to set breakpoints so the debugger stops when my application is writing or reading a certain memory location. That CodeWarrior is based on an earlier Eclipse version, and things are different in Eclipse Kepler and not so easy to find. So here is how I can use watchpoints in Eclipse Kepler:

Watchpoints in Breakpoint View

Watchpoints in Breakpoint View

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Joystick Shield with nRF24L01 driving a Zumo Robot

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With the Joystick shield I have a convenient way to drive and control a Zumo Robot without a wired connection:

Joystick Shield with Robot

Joystick Shield with Robot

While things started promising, there was a power supply problem at the end to be solved…

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Enhanced RNet Wireless Components and Communication Stack

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I’m using both the Freescale MC1320x and Nordic Semiconductor nRF24L01+ 2.4GHz in many projects. To make it even easier to use these transceivers in the RNet stack, I have updated it with several new functions.

MC13202 and nRF24L01+

MC13202 and nRF24L01+

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GNU ARM Eclipse & Segger J-Link Device Name Settings

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Thanks to the GNU ARM Eclipse plugins from Liviu it is easy to build and debug projects for all the different ARM cores. But I need to specify the device name in the debug configuration:

Device Name for Segger GDB Configuration

Device Name for Segger GDB Configuration

There must be an easier way for this? Yes, indeed, there is 🙂

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Printing Code Size Information in Eclipse

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For the GNU ARM tools it is easy to print out the code and date size information, see

But this is all for ARM cores. What if I use other architectures like S08 or ColdFire in Eclipse?

Code Size Information in Build Console

Code Size Information in Build Console

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Segger J-Link Firmware for OpenSDAv2

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Segger just has released their OpenSDAv2 firmware. The OpenSDAv2 firmware is different from the OpenSDAv1 as it is using a different memory map and bootloader. The OpenSDAv2 e.g. is present on the new FRDM-K64F board. The availability of the Segger firmware is definitely good news for any owner of the FRDM-K64F board: so far only the CMSIS-DAP firmware was available (on top of the mbed bootloader). With this, it was not possible to use the board with CodeWarrior, except with using an external P&E Multilink or Segger J-Link. With that new Segger J-Link OpenSDAv2 firmware, I can now use the FRDM-K64F with any IDE which supports the Segger J-Link :-).

FRDM-K64F with Segger OpenSDAv2 Firmware

FRDM-K64F with Segger OpenSDAv2 Firmware

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JoyStick Shield with the FRDM Board

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The latest addition to my set of Arduino shields is a true fun thing: The ElecFreaks.com JoyStick Shield 🙂

ElecFreaks.com Joystick Board with FRDM-KL25Z and nRF24L01+

ElecFreaks.com Joystick Board with FRDM-KL25Z and nRF24L01+

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FRDM with Arduino Ethernet Shield R3, Part 4: MinIni

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I admit: my Ethernet Shield project got stuck because of too many urgent other priorities. I was not happy with the way the project was using configuration data from FLASH memory: I have now multiple ethernet shields in use, and configuring the IP address for each shield is a pain. I have not got DHCP working (yet), so why not using the SD card on the shield for configuration data? And right on time I received a tip from Marc about MinIni: perfect, exactly what I need!

Ethernet Shield with SD card

Ethernet Shield with SD card

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The Turbo Encabulator

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At the university the mid-term presentations are due. Which reminds me about the importance to use the right terms and keywords not only for scientific presentations and abstracts, but as well to use and know the correct terms in any presentation or documentation. A have been pointed to an interesting concept: The Turbo Encabulator, described in this data sheet:

Turboencabulator

Turboencabulator

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