Tutorial: IoT Datalogger with ESP8266 WiFi Module and FRDM-KL25Z

In my earlier post “Tutorial: Web Server with the ESP8266 WiFi Module” I  used the ESP8266 WiFi module to run a local web server. This is a cool way to control devices inside my network. But to use that web page from the internet, I would need to open up my router which I don’t want to do for obvious reasons. Why not going the other way: host the web page in the internet, and have my board communicating with that internet page? This is exactly what this hype around IoT (Internet of Things) is all about :-).

ThingSpeak Channel for ESP8266

ThingSpeak Channel for ESP8266

Continue reading →

McuOnEclipse Components: 07-Dec-2014 Release

Over the last weeks, several contributions, extensions and fixes have been added to the McuOnEclipse components, so a new release is available on SourceForge.

  • Bug fix for RingBuffer.
  • Better FreeRTOS task debugging with gdb.
  • Better watchdog support with Shell component.
  • Additional properties for PercepipTrace.
  • New Utility function ScanDoubleQuotedString() to scan a double quoted string.
  • LCDHTA with additional cursor functions.
  • New devices supported in FSL_USB_Stack: K22FN1M (FRDM-K22F), KL24Z48M, USB host support for K22F120/K22FX512).
  • RNet with nRF24L01+ to deal better with overflow situations.
  • A new component FreeRTOS_Tasks to create FreeRTOS tasks.
FreeRTOS Tasks Component

FreeRTOS Tasks Component

Continue reading →

Tutorial: Playing MP3 Files with VS1053B and FRDM Board

I want to make some noise with this post!!! This tutorial is about adding music and sound capabilities to the Freescale Freedom board, and to have a lot of fun with it :-). I need this ability for a larger project working on for a while. But I thought I share that sub-part how to play sound files. So with this tutorial I can turn my Freescale Freedom board into a music or sound player :-). And adding sounds is a cool way for any project, and as the music is stored on an SD card it fits easily hours of music or sounds.

MP3 Player with FRDM-KL25Z

MP3 Player with FRDM-KL25Z and Adafruit Music Maker MP3 Shield

Continue reading →

McuOnEclipse Component Sources in Dedicated GitHub Repository

From time to time it is good to do some cleanup work: what has grown organically sometimes needs some cuts and moves. The same applies to the McuOnEclipse GitHub repository (https://github.com/ErichStyger/mcuoneclipse) which has grown to 522 MByte, 8364 files and 1444 folders. I already moved out the Processor Expert component releases (see “McuOnEclipse Releases on SourceForge“). Time to cleanup and move something else: the Processor Expert component sources.

McuOnEclipse_PEx

McuOnEclipse_PEx

Continue reading →

Updated McuOnEclipse Components: USB for KL24Z, FatFs v0.10c, Shell Backspace and FreeRTOS Trace Hook Configuration

I have received several requests to post a quick note when there is a new release (16-Nov-2014) of the McuOnEclipse components on SourceForge (see “McuOnEclipse Releases on SourceForge“). I have published today a new release, and with following major improvements:

  1. USB support for Kinetis KL24Z
  2. FatFs now features the latest Elm-Chan v0.10c release
  3. Backspace support in Shell
  4. Configuration item in FreeRTOS for Percepio Trace Hooks
McuOnEclipse SourceForge

McuOnEclipse SourceForge

Continue reading →

NeoShield: WS2812 RGB LED Shield with DMA and nRF24L01+

In my earlier post I used a hacked together shield for building a clock based on Adafruit’s NeoPixel/WS2812 (“LED Clock with Kitchen Hot Pan Protector“). The new design supports now 8 parallel data streams, integrated realtime clock and wireless connectivity with the nRF24L01+ module.

NeoPixel Shield for FRDM Boards

NeoPixel Shield for FRDM Boards

Continue reading →

Tutorial: FreeRTOS with the Kinetis SDK and Processor Expert

Freescale had announced at FTF back in April this year that they will use Kinetis Design Studio  and the Kinetis SDK for all new Kinetis devices. The switch from CodeWarrior to Kinetis Design Studio (see “Comparing CodeWarrior with Kinetis Design Studio“) was not much of big deal for my projects (although CodeWarrior still has better features), and projects are rather easily portable. However, the move to the Kinetis SDK has been massively disruptive: Before it was easy to move projects from one device to another with Processor Expert, even from S08 to ColdFire to Kinetis. Now with the Kinetis SDK everything is very different. At least Freescale now officially supports FreeRTOS, and for myself as a big fan of that open source RTOS, that was some good news.

Blinking Red LED with FreeRTOS Task using Kinetis SDK, FreeRTOS and Processor Expert

Blinking Red LED with FreeRTOS Task using Kinetis SDK, FreeRTOS and Processor Expert

So in this tutorial I’m showing how FreeRTOS can be used with the Kinetis Design Studio. That makes at least using the Kinetis SDK bit more familiar to me :-).

Continue reading →

Export and Import Processor Expert Component Settings

When I create a new Processor Expert project for a board I already have the components configured, then an easy way to transfer components from one project to another is to copy-paste the components. In the ‘source’ project I select the components I want to use, choose Copy (or CTRL+C shortcut on Windows):

Copy of Processor Expert Components

Copy of Processor Expert Components

Continue reading →

C++ with Kinetis Design Studio

Unlike CodeWarrior, the Kinetis Design Studio (at least in V1.1.1) does not offer a choice between C and C++ projects. That makes sense with the GNU ARM Eclipse plugins, other than the CodeWarrior gcc integration, there is no need for setting up a special tool chain for C++ (see “Compiling C Files with GNU ARM G++“). While this is great, things are not perfect yet, so I’m providing in this post the information needed to properly setup a C++ project with Kinetis Design Studio V1.1.1.

Debug View of Startup Code Calling C++ Constructors

Debug View of Startup Code Calling C++ Constructors

Continue reading →