The AM437x platform enables deterministic Industrial Ethernet and high precision feedback interface through the quad core Programmable Real-time Unit (PRU) or Industrial Communications Sub-system (ICSS). The TI Design for a single chip drive on Sitara processors combines EtherCAT and EnDat and provides designers with a single solution that allows for motor control and higher…

Don’t you love the holidays? All the lights and decorations make it so festive. However, what really drives me crazy is getting all the stuff out of the attic and having to put it back again. It seems like such a waste of time, not to mention it can be dangerous and hard! So, a few years ago I decided to do something about it. Being an engineer, I analyzed the problem and realized the reason I hated it so much was…

The Sitara AM437x processor family integrates support for industrial protocols for both automation and industrial drives while allowing customers to differentiate their designs with the quad core programmable real-time unit (PRU). The PRU offloads real-time processing from the ARM to manage tasks such as controlling motors.

The AM437x processors enable position feedback control via protocols such as EnDat 2.2 and motor…

We are happy to have Nathan Tennies from the Barr Group as a guest blogger today. Nathan Tennies has developed embedded and desktop software for more than two decades; today he focuses on BSP and driver development for ARM, x86, and MCU architectures using Embedded Android, Embedded Linux, Windows CE, and real-time operating systems. Nathan has authored several articles describing software techniques to extend handheld…

With the holidays upon us, many gatherings will feature homemade dishes to share with friends and family. We smile and say we’re excited to try their new holiday food creation, but sometimes it’s hard to identify what’s actually in these holiday treats. Sometimes we want to know a food’s makeup to stay on our diet plan, but other times we need to know if something, like nuts, is in a food to avoid an allergic reaction…

We are happy to have Joe Skazinski, CTO at Kozio, as a guest blogger today. Joe has been in the industry for over 20 years, innovating with embedded software for hardware verification and data storage hardware. Joe is co-founder of Kozio which has helped over 100 companies with their hardware verification challenges. Joe received his B.S. in Computer Science from Michigan Technological University and can be reached a…

Have you heard that our C2000™ Piccolo F2807x MCU was named one of EDN’s “Hot 100” MCUs of 2014? To celebrate this great achievement, we’re offering a chance to win a 20-percent discount on the TMDXDOCK28075 experimenter’s kit to participants who fill out a short survey.

Read more details below or watch this video to learn more about our Piccolo F2807x MCUs and how this new series…

At Texas Instruments, one of our main goals is to make it fast and easy for you to spin your own motors. However, we also want to provide you with some example motors so you can experiment with different solutions and learn what works best for your system. We recently added four new motor kits to our extensive motor portfolio for you to use to experiment with TI’s C2000™ Piccolo™ microcontroller-based motor control solutions…

At TI, each new product we release is an opportunity for you to create the “next big thing.” These products are built upon the hard work of 100,000 customers and 31,000 TIers worldwide, and this collaboration ensures a reliable pipeline of innovations for tomorrow and years to come.

It shouldn’t be a surprise, because innovation is the foundation upon which TI is…

Growing up in our household, it was criminal to pay full price for anything. My mom knew how to go to the stores that were having the blowout sales, and as if that wasn’t enough, she’d pull out her fanny pack with all her coupons and pay pennies on the dollar for good quality products. Sometimes it was embarrassing, and I’d say, “Mom, really?” To this, she’d reply, “Saving money is how we keep you all fed and clothed…

This Summer we introduced the new Sitara AM437x processor family. In case you’ve forgotten, these processors integrate support for industrial protocols for both automation and industrial drives while also allowing customers to differentiate their designs with the quad core programmable real-time units (PRU). The PRU offloads real-time processing from the ARM to manage tasks such as controlling motors.

The AM437x…

This summer we talked about the programmable real-time unit (PRU) available on the Sitara AM335x and AM437x processors. As a refresher, the PRU is a 200MHz low-latency multicore co-processor optimized for deterministic, real-time processing with local peripherals and memory that allows customers to save time and money by removing costly FPGAs or ASICs from system designs.

This PRU technology is robust enough to enable…

Are you a fan of controlSUITE™ software as your one-stop shop for C2000™ real-time microcontroller (MCU) documentation and code examples? We have a new addition to the software suite to make it even easier for you to design your digital power applications.

PowerSUITE will include additional software infrastructure and tools designed to minimize development time for…

It’s that time of the year! Time for people to dress in the most creative or ridiculous costumes they can imagine. There are those costumes that make you laugh and say, “aww,” and there are those that look like they came out of an episode of Dracula. Haunted houses are quite popular too, and you’ll have to admit, some of the best haunted houses are those that manage to make everything seem so real that you have nightmares…

Technology constantly improves over time. Whether the advancement is in performance, size, features or first-of-a-kind, things are always improving. To help our customers identify performance benchmarks, find design inspiration or speed the development process and stay up-to-date with innovation we positioned our ICs in system examples or reference designs. So, what do 3D printers, solar dice, high-density power and a…

If you use our C2000™ microcontrollers (MCUs) to develop digital power systems that go into applications such as inverter control, power factor correction and power conversion, we want to make sure you know about our digital power ecosystem — third parties that can help you design and develop digital power applications and speed time to market.

Our ecosystem of third-party digital power hardware and software…

Mike Szczys is the managing editor of the popular blog Hackaday.com.

Way back in 2010 I was lucky enough to get an early look at the MSP430 LaunchPad. What a game changer; spend enough time looking at the sidewalk and you'll surely gather the coinage necessary to order one -- just $4.30 at the time. The reason I liked it so much was that it encouraged bare-metal programming for embedded beginners.

Of course, since…

Looking for a summer project to make your staycation more high-tech and connected? See how TI technology can help set you and your family up with an energy efficient smarter home.

From Wi-Fi® enabled appliances to ZigBee-based lighting solutions, in the past few years we have seen a dynamic range of smart solutions, collectively called the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT). With multiple wireless and wired smart nodes in…

Summer To-do list:

• Start designing with AM437x
  
• Get a tan
• Watch hours and hours of soccer madness
• Fire up the grill

TI's AM437x processors based on the Cortex-A9 core is available now. Put it at the top of your summer checklist. 

While you're relaxing on the beach and getting that perfect tan, learn how to get started with the AM437x.  You'll learn about the various options, hardware  tools available…

TI training partner, ICS, is offering a free full-day workshop focusing on QNX Neutrino RTOS and QT. QNX Neutrino has been used in mission-critical applications, medical instruments, routers, air traffic control and more. Neutrino is specifically designed to work seamlessly with touchscreen user interfaces such as Qt. Combining QNX Neutrino with QT on an AM335x processor creates a beautiful real-time application.

In…

With extensive smart meter deployments across the globe, the energy segment is going through an active transformation. Enablement of a smarter grid infrastructure facilitates a bi-directional flow of energy and data; however, it comes with added cost and complexity. The technical and economic challenge of every installed meter directly communicating with utility servers makes the solution unpractical. To optimize the…

Solar micro inverters are an emerging segment of the solar power industry. Rather than linking all solar panels in a solar installation together to a central inverter, solar micro inverter systems place smaller, or “micro,” inverters in line with each individual solar panel. Benefits of this configuration include elimination of partial shading conditions, increased system efficiency, improved reliability and greater modularity…

The moment you all have been waiting for is here! The limited edition Arduino TRE Developer Edition is now available. Awesome, but wait, what does Developer Edition mean? It means that if you are one of the first 50 to order then you join the exclusive ranks of beta testing this bad boy.

Not everyone can handle being a beta tester. Can you? You'll need to provide feedback about the board: what's good, what's bad, and…

Today, commercial buildings contribute 40 percent of energy consumption in the U.S. alone. With energy costs rising, grid-hardened, green buildings that also offer superior occupant safety and lifestyle convenience are a compelling proposition for future building solutions.

A building automation system (BAS) is a communication network infrastructure that manages various building services. These systems are deployed across…