Time is passing fast, and many components have been updated to make the compatible with the NXP Kinetis SDK V2.0. As a highlight, besides of FreeRTOS the following components are now usable with the NXP Kinetis SDK:
Components compatible with Kinetis SDK
There are plenty of different software packages available for microcontroller these days from all the silicon vendors. Finding a good software package is one challenge, getting what I really need is another one. Freescale is now part of NXP since December 2015, so this is probably the first release of the former Freescale part now as NXP: The NXP Kinetis SDK Version 2.0.
It comes with an interesting distribution way: instead of downloading huge packages with all-and-everything in it, I can build it ‘on demand’ online and get what I need, on demand from a web-based front end:
NXP Kinetis Expert with Kinetis SDK
For my home automation project with openHAB I want to attach Freescale (now NXP) FRDM (Freedom) boards so they can take care about the realtime aspects and to act as gateways to my other systems. One way is to use USB CDC (Serial over USB) as communication channel. USB has the advantage that it powers the board, plus I can attach multiple devices: up to four on the Raspberry Pi 2 and even more with using a USB hub. In a standard configuration with a USB WiFi and a USB HID (mouse plus keyboard) dongle I still can attach two Freescale (ahem, NXP) Freedom boards to the Raspberry Pi:
FRDM-K22F and FRDM-K64F attached to Raspberry Pi 2
Over the weekend, I finally have repaired the broken ESC (see “Kinetis Drone: Graupner ESC S3055 Failure“). Time to run some first test flights :-).
Kinetis Drone Flying Tests
Flying a quadrocopter without some sensor and microcontroller intelligence will be a challenge. Definitely I will need some intelligent sensor data to help me out :-). Luckily, there is a Freescale ‘Sensor Fusion Toolbox’ and Library which gives me a nice start and visibility into the sensors I plan to use:
Sensor Fusion Data
Probably for cost reasons, the Freescale FRDM-K22F does not come with the micro SD card socket populated on the the board:
Freescale FRDM-K22F Board with no SD card socket
With a little soldering skills it is possible to populate the socket so the board can be used with a file system on it :-):
Using SD card with FRDM-K22F Board
In “Kinetis Drone: Frame Construction with Graupner Race Copter Alpha 250 Q” I have assembled the frame for my Kinetis Drone. In this post I’m going to drive the ESC’s (Electronic Speed Controllers) with the Freescale FRDM-K22F board:
Graupner S3055 ESC (Source: Graupner)
The FRDM-K22F is one of the latest members of the Freedom board families: 512 KByte Flash, 128 KB RAM and the usual Freedom board components on it. Unfortunately, Freescale decided not to populate the micro-SD card connector on the board, so from this perspective the FRDM-K64F is more value for the money. But the board has USB, so this makes it still interesting. And this is what this post is about: Adding USB to the FRDM-K22F board in a few minutes…
Freescale FRDM-K22F Board
MCU on Eclipse 