Michael Wüthrich | Szarek Maciej | Peter Michael |
---|---|---|
[email protected] | [email protected] | [email protected] |
TE 301 | TE 302 | TE 307 |
In order to be able to complete the course, one must first register on the following platforms and obtain the appropriate tools. All the information needed to start the course can be found in General Info.
This document covers all the information about:
During the course, we will use the Nucleo-F446RE board from ST in combination with the PES board designed and developed at ZHAW. The basic hardware kid that students receive includes a variety of sensors and actuators for practical applications.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
- When working with hardware (connecting, reconnecting etc.), it is recommended that all power sources are disconnected. This is a general safety measurement! So for us, the Nucleo is disconnected and the PES Board Power Switch is OFF when ever we change someting at the hardware setup.
- The USB cable should only be connected to the computer after the power switch has been switched on.
- Various Nucleo boards, PES Borads and even laptops have been damaged in the past.
The Nucleo-F446RE is a microcontroller development board featuring the STM32F446RET6 microcontroller from STMicroelectronics. It provides a versatile platform for prototyping and developing embedded systems, offering a wide range of peripherals, connectivity options, and compatibility with the Arduino and ST Morpho ecosystems.
Arm MBed provides a dedicated platform with essential information about the development board. Here you can find technical specifications and the pinmap.
The PES Board is a hardware board with additional sensors, devices and power electronics to work in combination with the Nucleo F446RE. It provides multiple pinouts for:
- 3 DC-Motor (brushed)
- 4 Servos (these occupy the 4 DI/O if used)
- 4 DI/O, 3.3V (5V tolerant)
- 4 AI/O, 3.3V (5V tolerant)
- 3 Encoder-Counter
- 9-axis IMU (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer)
IMPORTANT NOTE:
- Using the PES Board with power ON and hardware running while connected to your computer/laptop happens at your own risk. There was a case where the students laptop was damaged in the past.
- The voltage of the DO (servos) is set via the switch behind the charging socket: 3.3 V or 5 V
- Motor encoder soldering can be wrong. Do not assume that if you plug in one motor and everything works you can then also use the same connections with different motor. You have to make sure that the physical rotation is according to your assumption and that a positive input leads to a positive change of increments.
- Depending on the PES Board version DCMotor M3 rotation direction might be inverted.
- Depending on the PES Board version the Pin map might differ.
The kit includes two sets of 6V battery packs, which can be connected in series to provide 12 volts. The battery packs need to be connected to the back of the PES Board. The picture below illustrates the proper battery connection required to get a total voltage of 12V.
The batteries enables the board to be powered independently of the connection to the computer/laptop, eliminating the need for a connection via the Mini USB cable. The board continues to receive a stable 5V supply while offering the option to use a 12V supply for the power electronics of the motors. To activate the external battery power, switch the slider on the PES Board to the ON position.
Single battery pack - if you are using a single battery pack, the remaining pins need to be bridged. If only 6 V is used, this must be parameterised accordingly in the firmware when parameterising motion controller class.
Charging bateries - the battery packs are only charged when the PES Board circuit breaker is set to OFF.
PDF: pes_board_peripherals.pdf
PDF: pes_board_pin_mapping.pdf
- 2x Battery pack 6v / 2300mAh with charger
- 1x Servo – REELY S-0090
- 1x Servo – FUTABA S3001
- 1x LED green with resistor 2200/600mW/1%
- 1x Distance sensor SHARP GP2YOA41 analog 300mm with cable
- 1x DC Motor POLOLU (different gear ratios) D = 20 mm/ l = 43 mm/ 12V with encoder POLOLU 2.7 – 18V
- 1x Mechanical Button
- 1x Ultrasonic sensor GROVE ULTRASONIC RANGER V2.0 with cable
The following links contain the hardware tutorials. The documents contain specifications and technical information about the hardware and information about how to use the hardware. The tutorials cover the software drivers, specific calibration procedures, controlling actuators and retrieving measurements from the sensors.
Tips that you might find useful can be found in the document Tips. Here you can find information about:
The following links contain the workshops instructions:
- Git and GitHub Tutorial for Beginners from 32:40 about Github: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRZGeaHPoaw
- C++ step by step tutorials: https://www.w3schools.com/cpp/default.asp
- Detailed explanation of C++ programming language: https://cplusplus.com/
- C++ data types: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/cplusplus/cpp_data_types.htm
- Printf format convention: https://cplusplus.com/reference/cstdio/printf/
- Flowchart diagram maker: https://app.diagrams.net/
- https://www.pololu.com
- https://www.adafruit.com
- https://www.sparkfun.com
- https://www.seeedstudio.com
- https://www.robotshop.com
- https://boxtec.ch
- https://www.play-zone.ch
- http://farnell.ch
- https://www.mouser.ch
- https://www.digikey.com
- https://www.conrad.ch
- https://www.distrelec.ch
- Online C++ Compiler: https://www.onlinegdb.com/online_c++_compiler
- C/C++ for Visual Studio Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/languages/cpp
The following links are kind of older projects, but they might help you to get started with C++ in Visual Studio Code.
- Example Projects:
- Windows: https://github.com/pichim/chirp
- Windows using WSL: https://github.com/pichim/mag_calib