Yearly Archives: 2017

eSOMiMX6-micro: NXP i.MX6 System on Module

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An interesting trend in the industry are SOM (System on Module): a high performance processor typically running Linux, Windows or Android with all the memory and necessary power logic gets put on a small module. The key benefit is that I don’t need to worry about the complex ball grid routing and the DDR memory connections/lines: all these problems are solved on a small module which then I can use in my design. It seems that NXP i.MX application processors are getting popular in this domain, and after looking at the Toradex Colibri modules, I have an i.MX6 module on my desk from e-con Systems:

eSOMiMX6-micro Top Side

eSOMiMX6-micro Top Side

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Sending a Satellit to Space: What could possibly go wrong?

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Coming out of a project meeting Friday evening, the following wisdom came to my mind:

“The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.” – Anonymous

CubETH

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P&E ARM Cortex-M Debugging with FreeRTOS Thread Awareness and Real Time Expressions for GDB and Eclipse

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P&E has a new version of their GDB/Eclipse debug plugins available on their Eclipse update site, and it comes with to great features: Real Time Expressions (show variables while target is running) and  FreeRTOS thread awareness 🙂

FreeRTOS Thread Awareness

FreeRTOS Thread Awareness

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Tips for Making Copy of Eclipse CDT Projects Easier

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Instead creating a new project from scratch, often it is simpler to copy an existing Eclipse CDT project, then change it and go on.  To copy-past the a project in Eclipse:

  1. Select the project in the Project Explorer View (CTRL-C on Windows)

    Copy of a project

    Copy of a project

  2. Then paste it in the Project Explorer View (CTRL-V on Windows), and I can specify the new name:

    Paste of Project

    Paste of Project

However, to make that process simpler, a few things have to be done right in the ‘source’ project first.

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Sous-Vide Cooking: Beef Sirloin Steak

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I’m a big fan of ‘low-and-slow’ cooking, and that’s why I love my BBQ Smoker. That smoker is great for Ribs, Brisket or Pulled Pork. But it is not ideal for other pieces of meat. After doing some research, this weekend I tried something differently: “Sous-Vide”. The result is delicious: this is by far the best steak I’ve ever cooked :-).

Beef Sous Vide

Beef Sous Vide

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Remote Board Debugging: J-Link Remote Server with Eclipse

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For a CubeSat project we only have a single board available. But multiple universities and developers need to have access to that board for developing and debugging the firmware. We cannot easily ship around the board: that takes a lot of time and during shipment nobody can use the board.

There is a nice feature in the Segger J-Link software which allows to share the debug connection over the network: the J-Link Remote Server. It even works nicely between different networks without complicated firewall setup:

Connected in Tunnel Mode

Connected in Tunnel Mode

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A Dangerous Game with Fire & Ice: Methane Gas on Lake Lauerz

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Maybe you remember my recent post “Schwanau on Ice” with walking on the frozen Lake Lauerz? I mentioned in that post that there are natural gas bubbles caught under the ice. There is a long (and dangerous!) tradition to burn that gas. That this is really dangerous shows this a short video going viral on ‘WhatsApp’ today:

Methan Explosion

Methane Gas Explosion (Source: http://www.20min.ch)

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Cycle Counting on ARM Cortex-M with DWT

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Some ARM Cortex-M have a DWT (Data Watchpoint and Trace) unit implemented, and it has a nice feature in that unit which counts the execution cycles. The DWT is usually implemented on most Cortex-M3, M4 and M7 devices, including e.g. the NXP Kinetis or LPC devices.

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