Git is now my favorite version control system. Git and GitHub are very powerful, it has (nearly) all features I can think about, and best of all: As a distributed version control system, I can work with it, even if disconnected from the network :-).
There are many standalone and IDE integration available for Git. Beside of using TortoiseGit, I’m using the eGit Eclipse integration. This post is about how to install eGit in Eclipse, particularly in CodeWarrior for MCU10.4.
One of the ‘goodies’ of the FRDM-KL46Z is the Freescale MAG3110 magnetometer. The MAG3110 is a tiny 2×2 mm device:
MAG3110 on FRDM-KL46Z
What was missing so far is a Processor Expert component for it. This post is about closing this gap…
Freescale has added a new Freedom board: the FRDM-KL46Z:
FRDM-KL46Z with Box
My opinion? The best Freedom board so far, I love it!
A week ago, the updated FreeRTOS V7.5.0 has been released on FreeRTOS.org. So time to have my Processor Expert FreeRTOS component updated as well :-).
FreeRTOS V7.5.0
For my embedded systems lecture I need a wireless connection to the robot we will develop during that course. So far I have SMAC (IEEE802.15.4) and Bluetooth worked out. But that IEEE802.15.4 (ZigBee) is expensive, and the cheap Bluetooth modules are great for robot-to-host connection, but not for swarm robots which need to communicate to each other. Alex Vecchio (see this post) pointed me to a $2.75 (!) wireless module featuring the Nordic Semiconductor nRF24L01+. Exactly what I needed, with an incredible low price :-).
nRF24L01+ Module Detail
Summer finally has arrived in Switzerland. Yes, I live in a moderate climate zone, but if the outside temperature goes above 28-30° Celsius as these days, then sleeping at night is not that comfortable as it should be in my view. Luckily, I’m in a good constructed house with good insulation, so it takes a few days until it heats up. But I love to keep the temperature below 25° Celsius, especially at night. I do have a heating system which combines geothermal and solar heating. The question is: how can I use it for cooling during hot summer days? The solution: some extra plumbing, a Freescale Tower system and the Freescale FRDM-KL25Z board 🙂
FRDM-KL25Z with Arduino Data Logger Shield controlling Heating/Cooling System
The Freedom boards FRDM-KL25Z RevE and FRDM-K20D50M make it easier to use it as USB Host device, as they come with a special jumper to provide 5V to the USB device, so my earlier ‘hack’ is not needed any more :-). After I had USB MSD Host working for the FRDM-KL25Z, it was much harder to get the USB stack working for the FRDM-K20D50M board, because somehow the example Freescale provided with their USB stack refused to work properly on my board. After debugging it for several nightly hours, I decided to take my working Processor Expert project for KL25Z and added support for the K20. And the good news is: since tonight this is working :-).
FRDM-K20D50M as USB MSD Host
While working on a project for the FRDM-K20D50M, I faced a problem: I was running out of SRAM for my application. The GNU linker reports: “section `.bss’ will not fit in region `m_data'”: 😦
bss will not fit in region m_data
But my device has 16 KByte of SRAM, and I knew I use much less than 10 KByte. So what is the problem? Continue reading
I miss my old DELL laptop. Ok, the new one I received from IT services is not bad. It is faster and has a better screen. But I’m not really happy with the new keyboard. With the previous keyboard I was able to do a ‘PrtnScrn’ with a single key press. With the new one I need to press Fn + PrntScrn. And this is impossible to do with one hand:
Impossible to reach Fn+Prnt Scrn with one hand!
Yes, I have two hands ;-). But many times I need to do ‘print screen’ while having my other hand on the mouse :-(.What else can I do?
After my first post using a Bluetooth module, things have evolved a bit. The challenge with these Bluetooth modules is: they look the same, but having different firmware. I did not fully realize that until I have ordered another bluetooth module from dx.com:
DX.com Bluetooth Module (HC-06)
That module comes already on a carrier, so I assumed I can use the same driver as for my other module. I was wrong :-(.
MCU on Eclipse 