Tiva C Series TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad - Review

Table of contents

RoadTest: Tiva C Series TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad

Author: vish

Creation date: 24 Jun 2014

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?: arduino/raspberry pi/beagle bone black

What were the biggest problems encountered?: At the time I was setting up the CCS development environment in my Ubuntu PC, full install instructions for Ubuntu14.04 64bit was not available in TI's wiki. I spent a few days facing wierd errors, finally managed to sort things out. Recently TI has updated their wiki for complete install instructions, so no problem for newbies.

Detailed Review:

First of all, thank you element14 for giving me this opportunity for this roadtest.

Why I gave this rating?

I would like to start with explaining how I gave scores in each category.

1. Product Performed to Expectations : I wanted a development board which have about 512kB flash memory. This board houses 1MB flash. Also I wanted ethernet support onboard, which is available in this board. RAM size is 256kB, which I think is sufficient for most of the applications. On board CAN interface is another attraction, when you are trying to build a wired home automation system. Also the board comes with a ICDI which is really a boon for hobbyists who may not want to invest in a debugger separately. Si I'm giving 10/10.

2. Specifications were sufficient to design with : Yes. There is very good documentations available at TI datasheets. So 10/10.

3. Demo Software was of good quality : Absolutely!! It worked right out of the box. And I worked almost reliably. Again 10/10.

4. Demo was easy to use : Yes. Setting up account in exosite was not at all a problem. But the network latency was a bit high as sometimes it took approx 30sec for updating the status. But I don't consider this as a big problem. So 10/10.

5. Support materials were available : I will say a big YES!!! TI's wiki is a very good point to start with. Then TI's E2E community worked almost with professional quality and very fast responses. I have used a variety of online forums related to electronics, but E2E stands well above them all in both the quality and fastness in response. So 10/10.

6. The price to performance ratio was good : It's an even bigger YESSSS!!! When I wanted to build my IoT oscilloscope project, I considered a range of alternatives from arduino with ethernet sheild, raspberry pi, beagle bone black. But TI's Connected Launchpad is offering the features I want at half the price of them. A $20 is nothing big while comparing the feature list this board is providing. Again 10/10.

The Blogs I worte

As a part of my roadtest, I wrote these blogs explaining the steps I did while I was building my project

1. [TI Connected Launchpad] 0. The packet arrives!!! In this post, I explains the unboxing experience of Tiva C Series Connected Launchpad.

2. [TI Connected Launchpad] 1. Turn On, Tune In, Boot Up -- CLP+Energia+Ubuntu!!! In this post, I explains the steps of installing Energia( arduino like ) programming enviroment in Ubuntu14.04 and how to compile your first sketch.

3. [TI Connected Launchpad] 2. Installing CCSv6 in Ubuntu 14.04 In this post, I explains how to setup CCS v6.0 in Ubuntu 14.04 64bit PC

4. [TI Connected Launchpad] : 3. Hello Internet!!! In this post, I explains how to control the onboard LEDs via ethernet.

5. [TI Connected launchpad] : 4. What about an IoT Oscilloscope??? In this post, I propses my idea of an internet connected oscilloscope.

My Roadtest Project

With Tiva C Series Connected Launchpad, I built an oscilloscope like instrument which can work over internet. It can also control the LEDs onboard and 10 digital output pins.

In the following video, I'm giving a detailed explanation on how to build, use and test the system.

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You can find full instructions at Building your own IoT oscilloscope for less than $25

Summary

I was a long time arduino lover. But after this getting this board, I fall in love with this. At a price point of $20, a 1MB flash, 256kB RAM, ethernet interface, ICDI, CAN interface is a dream for every electronics tinkerer. This evaluation kit is an answer to than dream. I'm very happy that I got a chance to use this kit via roadtest and is glad a 5start rating. Also the support provided by TI's E2E community is highly appreciable. It was a great roadtest for me.