The next phase of this road test involves using the MSP EXP430FR4133 Launchpad in a related application. I will be trying to set it up as an ultrasonic distance meter, using the on-board LCD to display distance out to about 21 feet.
There is an on-going learning curve to deal with in learning the IDEs for developing software for this platform. Here is a brief tale summarizing hours of messing around with IDEs:
I am running 64bit Windows 10 which is not listed as supported by CCS Cloud but it is pretty similar to Windows 8 which is supported. To get CCS Cloud to talk to a Launchpad via USB serial port requires installing TIcloudagent. When I did this CCS Cloud found the Launchpad and its COM port number, so I tried to upload an example “blink” program. It indicated I needed to update the firmware drivers, so I let it do that. Then it tried to load the blink program and it loaded something which stopped the original demo, but did not blink the LED. After this, nothing would load and there was no sign of connection – the Target menu just had a greyed out COM port label with no port number.
Next I tried Energia. It kept indicating “No unused FET found”. I eventually figured out this meant it needed new drivers to be uploaded as well, so I asked it do that – which it did. This enabled me to upload a “blink” example that actually runs fine.
Next I tried to reload the original launchpad demo program using a batch file (Program OutOfBox_MSP430FR4133.bat) in the support files associated with the Launchpad. This program again uploads new drivers with this sequence in a “DOS window”:
Note that after all the updating it cannot recognize the device and complete the program load. If I run this batch file again, it doesn't do any more updates, but the last 9 lines of the above sequence (starting at “Reading FW version”) are the same. It will not recognize the launchpad.
Next I went back to CCS Cloud and it then was able to find the target and its COM port. However, when I imported the same Energia “blink” demo and tried to Run it, I again got a message to update the firmware:
So I update again. This time it loaded the blink program and it ran fine.
Some lessons learned from this exercise:
- Energia may not provide a useful error message or explanation of what to do if no FET is found, but try clicking on the “Update Programmer” menu item.
- CCS Cloud doesn't explain why it can't find a Target device – you need to load a program and try to Run it before CCS Cloud starts popping up messages about what is going on.
- Energia and CCS use different FET firmware versions and you will need to reload them if you switch IDEs.
- CCS Cloud does run under Windows 10 (with a Chrome browser)
These tips would have saved me a lot of time and a lot of head-scratching.
Here is a quick video showing how to load software into Code Composer Studio Cloud, hopefully avoiding some of the pitfalls I ran into:
I have started to program my ultrasonic distance meter, however it is a long way from done - the sensor is finally here, but I have not got communications with it running yet. That will have to wait for a future installment, but here is a short video of the program boot. I will likely get rid of the scrolling title as, it is more useful in my application to have the readings start as soon as possible.
The LED Road Test page is here:
http://www.element14.com/community/roadTests/1481
The Lighting Group page is here:
Here are links to my other blog entries for this road test:
LED Road Test - Proposal - Blog 0 Jan 1, 2016
Light Emitting Diodes Road Test - Blog 1 Nov 1
LED Road Test - 3D Printed Housings - blog 2 Nov 10
LED Road Test - Dodecahedron Light Fixture Blog 3 Nov12
LED Road Test - Wearable Interactive Lights - Blog 4 - Nov 13
LED Road Test - Interactive Trophy - Blog 5 Nov 16
LED Road Test - Making Household Objects Interactive - Blog 6 Nov 22
LED Road Test - Power LEDs - Up & Running - Blog 7 Nov 24
LED Road Test - Star Wars - The Force Awakens - Blog 8 Nov 28
LED Road Test - Selfie Phenomenon - Blog 9 Nov 29
LED Road Test - MSP EXP430FR4133 Launchpad IDE - Blog 10 Dec 6
LED Road Test - Vehicle Situational Awareness System Blog 11 Dec 14
LED Road Test - Vehicle Situational Awareness System Indoor Demo - Blog 12 Dec 20
LED Road Test - Maple Leaf Christmas Decoration - Blog 13 Dec 24
LED Road Test - Reflow Soldering Power LEDs - Blog 15 Jan 10
LED Road Test - Induction Heating Reflow Soldering - Blog 16 Jan12
LED Road Test - Summary - Blog 17 Jan 15
Associated Video Links
Creating a Light Fixture using 123D Design
Wearable Interactive Arc Reactor
Interactive Illuminated Household Objects
Star Wars - Let The Force Be With The Light
Vehicle Situational Awareness System in Operation
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