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Review of MSP-EXP430FR5739

gordonmx

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RoadTest: MSP-EXP430FR5739

Author: gordonmx

Creation date:

Evaluation Type: Evaluation Boards

Did you receive all parts the manufacturer stated would be included in the package?: True

What other parts do you consider comparable to this product?: LaunchPad

What were the biggest problems encountered?: USB cable was too short.

Detailed Review:

REVIEWER NOTE:  In this column, the MSP-EX430FR5739 Experimenter Board has been reviewed by many able bodied individuals (i.e. Brian Onn, DAB, dweb98, icserny, etc.).  Like everyone else, I received my kit quickly and with all the same materials.  I loaded all the software, ran through all the examples and came to the same conclusions as many of you have.  If you are interested in these details, please check out the other reviews, but for me, let's takes another twist.

(Side Note:  My review was delay by a very bad case of the "System Restore" PC virus.  A very bad virus!)

 

Once again I'm given the privilege and opportunity to evaluate and review an evaluation kit (EVK) through Element 14.  The terms development, evaluation, experimenter or demo are often attached to the word tool, board or kit very loosely.  Before evaluating the MSP-EX430FR5739 Experimenter Board, highlighting TI's first embedded ferro-electric random access memory (FRAM) based MCU, we must first ask ourselves what we are reviewing.

 

Digressing a moment, the following is an attempt to define what these name mean.  All kits by nature are evaluation systems, used to highlight one or more of a manufacturer's products.  For the most part, terms in the title like board, tool or kit, may be used interchangeably.  For this discussion I will use "kit".

 

  • Development Kit - The most flexible of evaluation systems for the part being highlighted.  In the case of a MCU, all I/O pins may be easily accessible, while a minimum number of dedicated pins, like clock crystal lines or power, may be fixed.  The accessibility of these pins can allow the initial concept of your product to be tested before creating dedicated PCBs.  Development systems usually have full external programming and debugging capabilities.

 

  • Evaluation or Experimenter Kit - As suggested, this kit's function would be to evaluate the highlighted part or perhaps a particular feature (i.e. FRAM), but with limited functionality.  These systems normally are more restrictive in access to certain system lines.  The kit includes some method for programming through JTag, RS232 serial or USB ports.  The latter 2 methods may require some internal resources that reduce the functionality to the developer.  Not intended for product development.

 

  • Demo Kit - Demo kit's sole purpose is to demonstrate one or more of the highlighted part(s)' features.  The evaluator has little he can do besides push a button, turn a knob or view a display.  A touch panel slider with an LED array would be an example.

 

Some kits cross the line in some areas.  A demo board may include some programming functionality through a USB port, but this does not make it a development kit.

 

So what does this mean for the MSP-EX430FR5739 Experimenter Board?

 

Let's check TI's claims from their website for the kit:

 

  • "The Experimenter Board helps designers quickly learn and develop using the new MSP430FR57xx MCUs... ". 

 

For the most part, this is true, but no different than for the original MSP430 MCU through the Launchpad platform since most memory functionality is transparent.  From this point, the MSP-EX430FR5739 is what it claims to be, an experimenter kit.  Although many of the pins are available, some I/O pins are tied up by peripheral devices (i.e. accelerometer, thermister and LED display).

 

  • "The MSP-EXP430FR5739 Experimenter Board is a development platform for the MSP430FR57xx devices." 

 

This is stretching the functionality a little too much.

 

  • "...which provide the industry's lowest overall power consumption, fast data read /write and unbeatable memory endurance.. 

 

This is where things get a little more border line, since we don't have any hardware to compare these claims.  The board does make it easy to measure the current draw to compare against similar boards with standard memory, but memory speed and endurance are hard to compare.  In this area, the kit little more than a demo board for the FRAM -based MCU.  I'm not as familiar with the MSP430 as I should be, but if there were a plug compatible standard memory part and a socket to exchange them, a truer comparison could be made.

 

Some positive features include:

 

  • Well developed (and supported) set of IDEs: 

-    Code Composer Studio and

-    IAR Embedded Workbench Kickstart.

  • Expansion slots for wireless modules, like the CC2520EMK,
  • Expansion slot for a EXP-MSP430F5438
  • Programming connection for other modules, like the MSP-EZ430D daughter card
  • Large developer community (i.e. blogs, wiki, facebook, videos, etc.)

 

Some negative features include:

 

  • No GRACE support
  • Limited written documentation

 

Summary -

 

Good value for an experimenter board, but may be too restrictive for development.

 

Regards,

 

Gordon Margulieux

Salem, OR USA

Anonymous

  • Hi Gordon,

     

    An interesting review.

    I agree that there is a subtle difference between demonstration and experimentation.

    Given the wide range of onboard sensors, storage and I/O pins, I would say that you could still do considerable experimentation on the boards.  I even considered it as a controller for my CNC mill, but decided that it was too much overkill for the application.

    Besides, I want to use it for a more demanding measurement application.

     

    Overall, I have been impressed by TI's family for the MSP430.  I look back on the devices I built using 8085 processors thirty years ago and I can honestly say that the FRAM boards could be used in a lot of applications.

    One thing I would like to see from TI is a better programmers guide for the board.  The information is too spread out to go simply into building simple applications for the board.  I would like to see a simple approach like those done for the Arduino to get the new programmer familiar with the CCS.  The current interface is very intimidating for someone just starting.

     

    Thanks,

    DAB

  • REVIEWER NOTE:  In this column, the MSP-EX430FR5739 Experimenter Board has been reviewed by many able bodied individuals (i.e. Brian Onn, DAB, dweb98, icserny, etc.).  Like everyone else, I received my kit quickly and with all the same materials.  I loaded all the software, ran through all the examples and came to the same conclusions as many of you have.  If you are interested in these details, please check out the other reviews, but for me, let’s takes another twist.
    (Side Note:  My review was delay by a very bad case of the “System Restore” PC virus.  A very bad virus!)
     
    Once again I’m given the privilege and opportunity to evaluate and review an evaluation kit (EVK) through Element 14.  The terms development, evaluation, experimenter or demo are often attached to the word tool, board or kit very loosely.  Before evaluating the MSP-EX430FR5739 Experimenter Board, highlighting TI's first embedded ferro-electric random access memory (FRAM) based MCU, we must first ask ourselves what we are reviewing.
     
    Digressing a moment, the following is an attempt to define what these name mean.  All kits by nature are evaluation systems, used to highlight one or more of a manufacturer’s products.  For the most part, terms in the title like board, tool or kit, may be used interchangeably.  For this discussion I will use “kit”.
     
    • Development Kit – The most flexible of evaluation systems for the part being highlighted.  In the case of a MCU, all I/O pins may be easily accessible, while a minimum number of dedicated pins, like clock crystal lines or power, may be fixed.  The accessibility of these pins can allow the initial concept of your product to be tested before creating dedicated PCBs.  Development systems usually have full external programming and debugging capabilities.

     

    • Evaluation or Experimenter Kit – As suggested, this kit’s function would be to evaluate the highlighted part or perhaps a particular feature (i.e. FRAM), but with limited functionality.  These systems normally are more restrictive in access to certain system lines.  The kit includes some method for programming through JTag, RS232 serial or USB ports.  The latter 2 methods may require some internal resources that reduce the functionality to the developer.  Not intended for product development.

     

    • Demo Kit – Demo kit’s sole purpose is to demonstrate one or more of the highlighted part(s)’ features.  The evaluator has little he can do besides push a button, turn a knob or view a display.  A touch panel slider with an LED array would be an example.

     

    Some kits cross the line in some areas.  A demo board may include some programming functionality through a USB port, but this does not make it a development kit.
     
    So what does this mean for the MSP-EX430FR5739 Experimenter Board?
     
    Let’s check TI’s claims from their website for the kit:
     
    • “The Experimenter Board helps designers quickly learn and develop using the new MSP430FR57xx MCUs… “. 

     

    For the most part, this is true, but no different than for the original MSP430 MCU through the Launchpad platform since most memory functionality is transparent.  From this point, the MSP-EX430FR5739 is what it claims to be, an experimenter kit.  Although many of the pins are available, some I/O pins are tied up by peripheral devices (i.e. accelerometer, thermister and LED display).

     
    • “The MSP-EXP430FR5739 Experimenter Board is a development platform for the MSP430FR57xx devices.” 
     
    This is stretching the functionality a little too much.
     
    • “…which provide the industry's lowest overall power consumption, fast data read /write and unbeatable memory endurance.. 
     
    This is where things get a little more border line, since we don’t have any hardware to compare these claims.  The board does make it easy to measure the current draw to compare against similar boards with standard memory, but memory speed and endurance are hard to compare.  In this area, the kit little more than a demo board for the FRAM –based MCU.  I’m not as familiar with the MSP430 as I should be, but if there were a plug compatible standard memory part and a socket to exchange them, a truer comparison could be made.
     
    Some positive features include:
     
    • Well developed (and supported) set of IDEs: 

    -    Code Composer Studio and

    -    IAR Embedded Workbench Kickstart.

    • Expansion slots for wireless modules, like the CC2520EMK,
    • Expansion slot for a EXP-MSP430F5438
    • Programming connection for other modules, like the MSP-EZ430D daughter card
    • Large developer community (i.e. blogs, wiki, facebook, videos, etc.)
     
    Some negative features include:
     
    • No GRACE support
    • Limited written documentation
     
    Summary –
     
    Good value for an experimenter board, but may be too restrictive for development.
     
    Regards,
     
    Gordon Margulieux
    Salem, OR USA