Freescale Freedom Board Tutorials on Element14

I have found several excellent tutorials created by Bheema Rao on element14: He uses many of the McuOnEclipse components, features Kinetis Design Studio/Eclipse and shows how to use the Kinetis SDK, toggling/dimming LED’s on Freescale Freedom Boards.

element14

element14

Continue reading

Using Kinetis Design Studio V3.0.0 with the Launchpad 4.9-2015-q2 Release

The Kinetis Design Studio v3.0.0 comes with the GNU/GCC ARM Embedded (launchpad) version 4.8-2014-q3. End of June 2015, ARM released a new version, the 4.9-2015-q1.So why not using that newer release?

Release GCC ARM Embedded 4.9 update 2

Release GCC ARM Embedded 4.9 update 2

  1. It comes with GDB version 7.8 and has the ‘return of function display’ feature.
  2. GDB has Phyton scripting support.
  3. It fixes that nasty GDB bug ‘breakpoint on removed code’ issue.

Is that already enough to make that switch?

Continue reading

How to use Kinetis Design Studio!!

Getting the hands on an embedded project has always been exciting for me. So, here I am again with my blog trying to provide you with an easy to use guide for the Kinetis Design Studio 3.0.0 (KDS_3.0.0). Well, as you all know I am an intern at Freescale working for the first time on KDS, I will tell you what all we can do to start working on it with a perspective of a novice. But personally I feel KDS is one of the most encouraging IDE you can work on. So how do I start with my code for our NeoMatrix board? I am currently working with one of the demo codes for the NeoMatrix:

https://mcuoneclipse.com/2015/07/10/lets-play-with-freescale-frdm-k64f/

So, my first task is to write the code in KDS for the NeoMatrix_Demo. How do I do that? After opening the KDS 3.0.0, I need to go to File and select New and then Kinetis Project. You can see that the New Kinetis Project wizard appears once you click the File>New> Kinetis Project. Type a name and click next.

b6f10 Continue reading

Learning about Kinetis SDK!!:)

We all know that for an application to develop, for a project to work we need hardware along with the software.  So here we are with our FRDM-K64F development boards, but the question is-how to make them work? I wrote in my second blog about the new getting started process by Freescale for the FRDM-K64F: http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=FRDM-K64F&tab=In-Depth_Tab

This link gives me the opportunity to download the very helpful Kinetis Software Development Kit (SDK) along with the Integrated Development Environment which includes the toolchain Kinetis Design Studio. Let us talk a bit about the Kinetis SDK in this blog. So what does Kinetis SDK is responsible for? In simple terms, it is just software framework which helps us in developing applications across all Kinetis Microcontrollers. It is a package of pre-written code that developers can re-use in order to minimize the amount of unique code that they need to develop themselves.

Continue reading

Automatic Variable, Expression and Memory Display with GDB and Eclipse

One of the great features in CodeWarrior for MCU10.x is the ability to read memory/variables while running (see “Live View for Variables and Memory“). This technology of ‘live view’ is based on the CodeWarrior debugger engine. How can I do something like this with stock GDB and Eclipse? What I need is a periodic update of variables/expressions/memory while the program on the board is running, without the need to stop the board with the debugger first:

periodic auto-display output

periodic auto-display output

Continue reading

Let’s play with Freescale FRDM-K64F

Hello Again!

In my previous blog I talked about the new getting started process for Kinetis FRDM-K64F development board. Here I am with my next blog going one step further and introducing you to the target application that I have planned for this summer using the awesome FRDM K-64 development board from Freescale. I am planning to work on some really cool stuff that we can do from this board. And I came up with an idea for making an Adafruit NeoPixel NeoMatrix Signboard!!adafruit LED

Wait….does it sound boring to you? Nah… we are not planning some ordinary signboard. This Adafruit NeoPixel NeoMatrix signboard is really cool. It will display what you want to display and it will change the displayed text with just the movement of your hand. Sounds interesting now?? Continue reading

FreeRTOS Continuous Trace Streaming

Key to successfully implementing embedded applications these days is to have detailed visibility into what is going on with the application on the board. For this, I’m using the FreeRTOS+Trace from Percepio to inspect the runtime behaviour. Stop-Mode debugging is very useful, but visibility into the runtime is even more important. FreeRTOS+Trace is a tool to accomplish this, but it requires to dump the data off the target to the host (see “Updated Percepio Tracealyzer and Trace Library to Version V2.7.0“). Usually, I’m using the GDB debugger for this, and that works for shorter trace sequences like a few seconds. Yes, I can combine them, but it painful to stop, dump and continue. So what if I could collect trace for several minutes or hours without the need to stop the application? Why not stream the data to the host directly?

So here is it: I’m now able to get almost unlimited trace streaming off the target, witout user intervention. I can trace my application for hours 🙂

Trace Recording

Trace Recording for almost one hour

Continue reading

Tutorial: Using Processor Expert and FreeRTOS with Kinetis SDK V1.2

Freescale has released the new Kinetis SDK v1.2 back in May. Because of the changes in v1.2, previous applications (or my tutorials) do not work any more :-(. So time to write a new tutorial: how I can use Processor Expert with FreeRTOS for the Kinetis SDK v1.2.

Blinky Task with FreeRTOS and Kinetis SDK in KDS v3.0.0

Blinky Task with FreeRTOS and Kinetis SDK in KDS v3.0.0

Continue reading

Getting started with Kinetis FRDM- K64F: New and Better!! :)

Hello all!

Here is my second blog about the Kinetis MCU development boards, introducing you to the new and more informative Getting Started process for Kinetis FRDM-K64F from Freescale. As a part of my internship I got the amazing opportunity to play with the ‘New Getting Started’ process and the most recent box of the FRDM-K64F development board from Freescale.

Freescale have been working all along to make the life of its customers easier. So, at the FTF 2015 we launched the new website:

http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=FRDM-K64F&tab=In-Depth_Tab

This website is for the new Getting started process for FRDM K-64F. This website will tell you all that you will need to start the FRDM K-64F development board. Continue reading