RoadTest: Renesas RX65N MCU EV Kit
Author: meera_hussien
Creation date:
Evaluation Type: Development Boards & Tools
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?: From my point of view, this product is unique in a sense that it comes integrated with the MCU and display. Moreover, this product can be easily used for the IoT without the need for other additional circuity
What were the biggest problems encountered?: The biggest problem which I encountered was getting used to the e2 studio. Other than that, the material provided was helpful for beginner and intermediate user. And the other issue which I face is when the compiler shows the
Detailed Review:
By Hussien
Table Of Content
The envision comes with
The picture below is the unboxing of the Renesas Envision Kit RPBRX65N.
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Below is shown the specification of the board. For more info, the document can be downloaded @ https://www.renesas.com/us/en/document/hw-manual?hwLayerShowFlg=false&prdLayerId=null&layerName=null&coronrService=null&…
| RX65N Component Layout |
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Apart from the preinstalled components, the user is given an option to upgrade the board as per their requirement. The figure below illustrates the type of upgrade available.
| RX65N User-Fit Header Locations |
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For instance, the Arduino header pin can be utilized to connect to Arduino shield.
| User-Fit Option |
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The image above shows the RX65N board with installed upgrades.
Basically that is the unboxing of the RX65N. For more info, please visit https://www.renesas.com/us/en/products/software-tools/boards-and-kits/eval-kits/rx65n-envision-kit.html
Next we shall look into powering up the device.
Upon powering up the device out from the box. The video below shows the demonstration of the board.
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In the example, they are given 3 different types of graphic displays to test the performance of the board. As shown in the video above, we can see the difference when the 2D Drawing Engine is enabled and disabled.
In order to program the board, e2Studio software is required. The software can be downloaded from the official site of Renesas or through this link...
https://www.renesas.com/us/en/products/software-tools/tools/ide/e2studio.html
| e2 studio |
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The installation of the software is pretty straight forward. The only concern is choosing the right package. Once the installation is complete, we can start to move forward. In the official site of the Renesas RX65, there are few files that we can download and test our board.
One important thing to remember is that always remember to choose the correct board and the toolchain. The video below shows the first step to set up the e2studio.
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Once it has been done, we can move on to either create a new project from scratch or import an existing project. To import an existing project it can be as shown in the image below.
To run the demo code, it can be done by following the instruction which is included in the downloaded folder. Inside the rx65n_envisionkit.zip file, there will be a text file that includes all the steps to run the demo code. Altogether there are 21 steps.
Before connecting the board to the PC, we need to ensure that we follow the pin arrangement as shown in the image below.
For this demo project, we do not need to create a new workspace since the sample code comes with the workspace.
Once the program is compiled and downloaded to the board, it will prompt to insert the USB as shown in the image below
Once the USB is plugged into the board, it will start to read the USB and perform necessary action. The demo is shown in the video below.
That is the first step in running the demo code. Once we are successful, we can move on to test the QE display. For this, we will follow as per the instruction given in the pdf file.
The demo of the QE video is as shown in the video below. The first video is how to compile the project.
Once it has been successfully compiled, we can start to run the debugging as shown in video below.
If everything works fine, we should get a result as shown in the image below.
If we get the output on the LCD similar to this, it indicates that our setting for LCD is correct. Moving forward, we shall make some changes and try to get a output similar to the image shown below. The steps are covered in the video after the image.
The video below shows the steps to get the output result as shown in the above image.
Once, we are ok with the demo code and all, the next is to move on to create a custom graphic. For this we have two options,
1) using the emWin from segger --> https://www.segger.com/
2) and second is by using embedded wizard --> https://www.embedded-wizard.de/
Both the solution has made good documentation on how to utilize their respective software to create custom graphics for the RX65N. Unfortunately, I face difficulties to compile them due to error when I compile it in the e2Studio. The image below shows the error which I am getting.
I have tried to install and uninstall my e2Studio, but somehow I am still getting the same error. As for now, i am sill working on how to resolve this issue.
In the nutshell, the overall product is good and have lots of function to be explored. Even though in the initial stage I feel it takes some time to get familiarized with e2studio software, but it worths the time spend. I am still working on how to resolve the issue I am facing with the board. By adding tadditional component, the development board can be put into work for IOT purpose such as smart home and etc
I would like to thank to element14 and Renesas for selecting me as the roadtester.
Thank you.
