The MCU-Link-MR is a CMSIS-DAP debug probe for ARM Cortex-M devices with extra features for mobile robot and drone debugging. The project is open source and available on GitHub with KiCAD files and BOM.
Need to debug your robot or drone? In a HSLU university research project I’m using a Pixhawk and PX4 based drone hardware. Pixhawk and PX4 is an open standard for drone hardware and firmware and runs with NuttX RTOS. It is mainly used for drones, but is very capable for any other kind of mobile robots.
With the Pixhawk 6x-RT there is a powerful flight controller, using the NXP i.MX RT1176 dual-core processor. While this and other controller hardware do offer a hardware debug probe, it is not a simple task as there are different pin-outs and connectors, making debugging a mess with different cables and adapters. To simplify this, I have now a unified debug CMSIS-DAP debug probe using the NXP LPC55S69 as processor, with all the different headers and UART adapters included: the MCU-Link-MR (Mobule Robots) debug probe.
The last challenge of the robotics course of this Fall semester had to be something special: This time it was about a ‘beauty contest’ followed by a line following challenge. Motto: Merry Christmas Time!
I apologize: I have not been blogging much in the past weeks :-(. One reason is that I’m working on a DIY SMT/SMD Pick&Place machine which keeps me busy most of my spare time :-). I admit that this project is not finished yet, but now is the time I can give a sneak preview: a SMD/SMT pick and place machine:
Sumo robot challenges are fun. One important aspect of every Sumo robot are the tires: if they are sticky enough, the robot can push out the opponent. In this article I compare different available robot hubs and tires, and how to make DIY hubs and tires.