RoadTest the ADS7042 BoosterPack and MSP430FR4133 - Review

Table of contents

RoadTest: RoadTest the ADS7042 BoosterPack and MSP430FR4133

Author: harshit3096g

Creation date:

Evaluation Type: Independent Products

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?: null

What were the biggest problems encountered?: The biggest problem was that the serial monitor was not working in Energia IDE.

Detailed Review:

REVIEW ON TI’S MSP430FR4133 LAUNCHPAD AND ADS7042 BOOSTERPACK.

 

It was a privilege to write this road-test on the MSP430FR4133 Launchpad and ADS7042 Booster pack.

 

I studied about MSP430FR4133 Launchpad and ADS7042 Booster Pack and discovered many things.

 

First of all, the MSP430FR4133 is a microcontroller which is ultra low power device which is made with an intention that it could be modified in future like it has trough hole long connector pins, this allows connecting to the board with the male and female connector which helps in rapid prototyping and is compatible with the ADS7042 Booster Pack. It uses the EnergyTrace Technology.

 

 

The board features onboard buttons and LEDs for quick integration of a simple user interface and a liquid crystal display (LCD) that showcases the integrated driver with flexible software-configurable pins. You can quickly add features like wireless connectivity, graphical displays, environmental sensing, and much more.

 

INSTALLATION PROCEDURE

Free software tools are also available, including TI’s Eclipse-based Code Composer Studio and IAR Embedded Workbench. I used TI’s Eclipse-based Code Composer Studio 7, I downloaded it from the official TI’s website.

 

I had some issues while installation and the installation was showing error.

 

Then I went to the device manager.

image

In the device menu when you connect your MSP430 device you will find a HID option.

I clicked on it.

 

And updated the drivers of the device.

image

 

After the driver's update was done, I had two or three files of java and eclipse files missing and the installation was not completed. Then I installed the JAVA eclipse Neon version and copied it in the TI’s folder in the drive which was created during the unsuccessful installation, then I started my installation again and it worked.

image

 

CCS interface.

 

image

 

 

 

Out-of-Box Experience:

 

After connecting the Launchpad to the computer via the USB port. A green light was illuminated and I was greeted with a message on the LCD screen. This device has two inbuilt modes.

a).  Stopwatch mode: This mode provides a simple stopwatch application. This was done by holding and pressing the s1 and s2 Buttons on the Launchpad and the timer mode was enabled.

 

Timer Stopped:

S1: Start time

S2: Reset time.

 

Timer Running:

S1: Stop time

S2: Split time (lap time).

 

Temperature Mode

This mode provides a simple thermometer application. It calculates the temperature of the MSP430FR4133 microcontroller chip.

 

S1: Pause current temperature

S2: Toggle temperature between °F and °C

 

The board also comes with 4 plastic rivets which provide the Launchpad stability and support and also prevent the board from contacting the bottom surfaces and keeping the electronics safe.

 

Then after studying about the MSP430FR4133, I connected the ADS7042 Booster Pack. First of all, I determined the proper orientation of the Booster Pack, as it could be on both the sides of the Launch Pad but if we select the bottom side then it would become difficult for us to work with the sensors on the Booster Pack.

 

So I decided to keep it at the top side of the MSP430FR4133 Launchpad

After all the connections were done I needed to communicate the Launchpad and the ADS7042 Booster pack. For that, I followed these steps.

 

1). Browsed the ADS7042 website and extracted the BOOST-ADS7042 _Firmware_xx.ino from the SLYC144 zip file.

2). Connect the MSP430FR4133 LaunchPad development kit to a PC using a USB cable.

3). Went to dev.ti.com using my web browser.

4). Clicked on the CCS Cloud Logo to launch Code Composer Studio Cloud.

 

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5). Go to File>Import Energia Sketch file and select the file you downloaded and saved.

 

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6). Load the Energia Sketch file (BOOST-ADS7042_Firmware_xx.ino) into the MSP430FR4133

Launchpad development kit by clicking Run

 

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Below is an attached video(when I performed all the steps mentioned above and connected the device to my PC).

 

 

                                                 

Changing the Sampling Rate of the ADS7042

• Press the S2 switch on the Launchpad development kit to increase the sampling rate of the

ADS7042.

• Press the S1 switch on the Launchpad development kit to decrease the sampling rate of the

ADS7042.

 

 

Changing the Display

• Press the S1 switch on the Booster Pack™ plug-in module to change the display from power

Consumption in μW to ADC code in hexadecimal.

 

image

 

 

The Booster Pack consists of an Ambient light sensor in it which helped me to check the strength of light falling on it. The measurement of the ambient light sensor can be directly measured with the ADS7042 by installing jumper J6 between pin 1 and pin2.

 

 

PROJECT TITLE:

Running the 12V Radiator fan of a Formula Student car with the help of ECT (Engine Coolant Temperature) sensor and MSP430FR4133.

Project Brief: The aim of this project is to run the radiator fan of a Formula Student car above 95 degrees and switch it off at 90 degrees and less.

 

The project setup consists of the ECT (Engine Coolant Temper) sensor of the car, Launchpad MSP430FR4133, two relays of 3.3v and 12v respectively, a resistor of 1000 ohms, 12v battery, and a multi-meter.

 

First of all, we made the circuit diagram in Eagle (software).

 

The Eagle circuit is attached below.

image

 

 

 

According to the circuit, we took the analog values from the ECT(Engine Coolant Temperature) sensor using the analogRead function.The sensor pin was connected to pin 11 of the Launchpad. Pin 18 of the Launchpad was used for the 3.3v relay. This relay activated the 12v relay connected to it. The 12v relay further runs the fan according to the instantaneous temperature. (We used a 12v relay because the fan requires 12Amps and the 3.3V has a current rating of 10Amps only).

 

For the ECT (Engine Coolant Temperature) sensor, we crimped two external wires which could fit in the male part of the sensor. The signal wire was connected to the Launchpad and the ground was connected to the ground of the Launchpad. The series resistor was connected to the 3.3v and the sensor pin of the Launchpad respectively. The 3.3v relay was connected to pin 11 of the Launchpad as a digital output pin.The relay connections were done as given in the schematic.

 

The ECT (Engine Coolant Temperature) sensor is a type of a thermistor whose resistance value decreases as the temperature rises. The value of the resistance in the ECT was taken by a multi-meter, as the serial monitor in my Energia was not working. I tried to find a solution to this problem but it didn't work out.

 

The Launchpad has 10bit ADC pins which only take values from 0-1023. Therefore the values from the ECT (Engine Coolant Sensor) were converted into Launchpad values.

 

After all the calculations and all the conversions were done, we entered the values in the code for 95 degrees so that the radiator fan could switch on above 95 degrees and switches off only below 90 degrees once it switches on.

 

The Variation of the ECT sensor with Temperature is depicted below using a line graph.

 

 

Tempraature (in 'C)Resistance (in ohms)Analog voltage @3.3V as VCC (V)10-bit Value
2015011.90438293590
2513151.79689441557
3011561.690957447524
3510471.609268747499
409521.530994152475
458561.444171779448
507771.366062866423
556921.274330357395
606231.193209518370
655461.094653706339
704881.014105793314
754330.932093933289
803760.840650407261
853430.784407484243
902870.682840663212
952460.603120357187
1002150.539543726167
1052000.507692308157
1101890.48386346150

image

 

The Project was done on CR16 which is an open wheeled weekend racecar fabricated by Camber Racing(The official formula student team of SRM University, Chennai).


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Below is working demo of the project, hope you like it. image

 

The Code for the Sensor was written in TI's Energia IDE and was written in C programming language. The code is given below.

 

Here is the Code:

 

const int lpin =18; // the sensor pin

const int rpin=11; // the relay pin

int val=0;

int preval=0;

 

void setup() {

 

 

pinMode(11,OUTPUT);// digital output for the relay

 

 

}

 

void loop() {

 

  val=analogRead(lpin); // reading the analog values from ect

 

  if(val-preval<0)

 

  { if(val<246) // if the temperature is above 95 degrees then only this loop will execute

 

 

  digitalWrite(rpin,!HIGH);

 

 

  else

 

  digitalWrite(rpin,!LOW);

  }

 

if(val-preval>0)

 

  { if(val>288)  //the fan will get switched off below 90 degrees

 

  digitalWrite(rpin,!LOW);

 

  else

 

  digitalWrite(rpin,!HIGH);

  }

 

 

  preval=val; // assigning the current value to the previous value

 

  val=0;

}

 

Summary:

It was a great learning experience for me working with the TI’s MSP430FR4133 Launchpad microcontroller. I learned about the different IDE provided by the TI and how to work with them. The example and sample program were quite easy to use and it gave a good idea about the Launchpad and the IDE which I used. It is an impressive ultra low power device except the fact the serial monitor of Energia IDE was not working everything else worked fine and I was easily able to use the MSP430FR4133 Launchpad.

 

Finally, I am thankful to TI and Element-14 for giving me this opportunity to carry out the Road-test. I would also like to thank for sending another package as the first one was damaged when I received it.

Anonymous
  • Breadboarding was just a joke ... Interesting to know this methodology, I think it can be applied also in other field. I enjoyed a lot reading your article, well done.

     

    Enrico

  • Hi Enrico
    We fabricate our own PCB's and breakout boards for all such applications. The breadboard won't go into the car.image
    Yes, vibrations is a major concern and therefore we positively lock each and every component that goes into the car, also all the electronics is mounted in the A cabin which is very much away from the engine. We use reinforced housings for all the control units in the car. We haven't suffered a failure in these systems by ensuring these methods are followed.

  • Hi Harshit,

     

    this is a great project. What about the stability of the electornics under high vibrations while the car is racing? I suppose that breabording is not sufficient image

     

    Enrico

  • I will. 

    The suppliers are really interested in all reviews, So that's why I send them all out. What you and all the roadtesters write in your review is of great interest to the supplier. Thanks.

  • Thank you, Randall, for your detailed feedback.
    Also, do let me know what the supplier thinks about it. image

  • Thank you, Enrico
    We are using this project on the running car. We had to put the setup outside only for the video demonstration. The LaunchPad is part of the dashboard components in the car and is used for automatic radiator fan only.
    I have plans to incorporate RPM lights using LaunchPad on the steering wheel, and also make an automatic gear shifter.

  • Thank you,

     

    I did not notice any significant decrease in the accuracy at higher sampling rates.

  • Thanks Harshit.

    This is better than a lot of supplier documentation!

    I like how you structured this roadtest review; new roadtesters should take note of it:

     

    He starts with an overview then moves into an unboxing and installation. Besides the images, he did a video to show what he did. This is very helpful. Then he performed some tests (the "true" roadtest part of it) and then introduced his project (practical application):

     

    Running the 12V Radiator fan of a Formula Student car with the help of ECT (Engine Coolant Temperature) sensor and MSP430FR4133.

     

    Right now, he's got my interest. I won't surf away.

     

    Next he adds in the Eagle circuit so I understand where he is going with it and how the launchpad is interface with the load and the sensor. He even explains for newbies that it's a voltage divider.  If that isn't enough, he does a circuit analysis.

     

    He next does some data collection and graphs it.

     

    He wraps his review up with the code and some personal stuff regarding the racing team. Yes folks, this was done by a university team.

     

    Just a great job. I'm going to pass this onto the supplier.

     

    Thanks.

     

    Randall Scasny

    RoadTEst Program Manager

  • Good review, appreciated the originality of the on-field project for testing. Is there an option that it is used by the car on run? Or should only be used as bench test?

     

    Enrico

  • Nice review.

     

    Did you test the accuracy over the higher sampling ranges?

     

    DAB