Welcome to the MSP430™16-bit Ultra-Low Power MCUs Section of the TI E2E Support Community. Ask questions, share knowledge, explore ideas, and help solve problems with fellow engineers. To post a question, click on the forum tab then "New Post".
Want a new experimenter’s board for half price?
Microcontrollers make everything from your MP3 player to your smoke detector work… and they just got a serious upgrade when Texas Instruments introduced non-volatile ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) for its MSP430™ microcontrollers. You may have heard of the MSP430 MCU for being the lowest power microcontroller in the world, but now the devices with FRAM allow developers to save as much as 250x power compared to traditional flash- and EEPROM-based microcontrollers! This means cool things like longer battery life and smaller stuff for you, but it also means some incredible devices could be happening in the near future. Think perpetually powered intelligent sensors and small consumer electronics that run from the ambient energy around them. Oh, did we also mention that since FRAM is fast and non-volatile, it will be easier to write code and program? If you are up for that, you can get a kit for a special price today. Be sure to touch back and let us know how they’ve helped you do the awesome things you do.
Experience the future of embedded memory technology today with the MSP-EXP430FR5739 FRAM Experimenter’s Board.
Get your kit for $29 $14.50 (50% OFF!) TI eStore coupon: MSP430_FRAM
You can use the coupon as many times as you want until 1,500 devices are out the door, or July 31.
More information @ www.ti.com/fram.
Good!
I already ordered one on 5/11/2011 (order#48069). Nothing in sight yet.
old_cow_yellowI already ordered one on 5/11/2011 (order#48069). Nothing in sight yet.
Looks nice. (in fact, it somehow looks like the picture in this original post :) ) but I haven't played with it yet. No time.
_____________________________________Before posting bug reports or ask for help, do at least quick scan over this article about reporting bugs. Its content applies to any kind of problem reporting.If you cannot discuss your problem in the public, feel free to start a private conversation: click on my name and then 'start conversation'. But please do so only if you really cannot do it in a public thread, as I usually read all threads. And I prefer to answer where others can profit from it (or contribute to it) too.
The link in the opening post contains an incorrect href (it leads to Outlook Web Access).
Very cool and exciting. If you ever make one that's 5V/16Mhz and added a gyro with the accelerometer there would be a large hobby base that would buy them up.
Thanks for the heads up! The link has been fixed to redirect to the appropriate page.
OCY,
Feel free to send me an email @ adrian-fernandez@ti.com and I'll try and dig up your order number. We definitely have them in stock, so I'll get this fixed for you!
Thanks,AdrianF
Just bought 2 of them. One probably will be used for the R2D2 droid I started to build.
It would be great if you could add a gyro to the board 2.0 :)
Best Regards
Enrico Colautti
Positive Software
Hi there,
@OCY --> Hi there! Why don't to take the chance anr re-order (one or two or even more)? Ordered mine yesterday morning and got the shipping confirmation yesterday evening. If Fedex delivers in time I will have them at hand on Monday.
@Enrico --> Hi Enrico, buy a Wii motion plus controller (i.e http://www.amazon.com/Wii-MotionPlus-Nintendo/dp/B001TOQ8NO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1308407989&sr=8-2), slaugther it (excellent video on http://www.multiwiicopter.com/pages/videos, look here for details on it: http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Wiimote/Extension_Controllers) and hook it up to the I2C port of your MSP430. The cheapest gyro you can get! Adding it to your experimenter board will result in a 6DOF board!
RgdsaBUGSworstnightmare
Is there some reason that the clock crystal isn't soldered onto the board, or alternatively that they couldn't use a though-hole crystal instead of surface mount?
I'm a hobbyist, not a professional, and I'm not set up to do surface-mount soldering at home, and this was a real problem with the Launchpad board.
If they can't ship with the crystal installed for RoHS reasons, the way they don't install LDRs, that's fine, but through-hole would be much easier.
^^Hi Bill,
Here is the link for the manual:
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ug/slau343/slau343.pdf
You can see that it has the option for both SMD and through-hole. Hope that helps.
Hi Bill Albrant,
the MSP430FR5739 can run at up to 24MHz! Yes, it is a 3.6V (max) device, but where's the problem? When you need to connect it to 5V peripherals you can use level shifters i.e. like the TXS0104E (4-bit OD) or SN74CB3T1G125 (1-bit); find an overview here: http://focus.ti.com/paramsearch/docs/parametricsearch.tsp?familyId=338&family=analog&uiTemplateId=NODE_STRY_PGE_T).
You can add a gyro by yourself (see my post above). If you want to have a 'high-end' device you should have a look at Sensor Dynamics SD746 (http://www.sensordynamics.cc/cms/cms.php?pageId=73) - a 3D accelerometer with a 3D gyro in one package!
Hi aBUGSworstnightmare,
The link you provided (http://www.multiwiicopter.com/pages/videos) is the exact hobby that I was referring to that would capture a lot of interest if the board were5V/16Mhz. I guess I should of said, very cool and exciting board and will you make a compact all-in-one IMU with at least 6DOF that will run in a 5V environment. I will try this in a native 3V environment someday to see if it'll work with the ESC's but as of now 5V is it for this hobby.
REF: http://www.multiwii.com/
Bill AlbrantI will try this in a native 3V environment someday to see if it'll work with the ESC's but as of now 5V is it for this hobby.
Your ESC will work with 3.6V too; most of the 2.4GHz receivers work with 3.6V; your sensors work with 3.6V (that's why the Arduino needs level shifters) --> so, there's no need for a 5V design.
By the way: The ATmega32 needs to be supplied with 5V to run at 16MHz (only 8MHz at 3.6V).
Got it day that was fast as you used FedEx priority overnight. But I don't needed it that fast, and you shipped it in a box that is 4 times larger than the TI box inside. I rather you saved $10 and have it shipped 2-3 day USPS or cheaper Fedex. And use that money to through a Launchpad gathering party at a few cities around USA.
Bill Albrantthat will run in a 5V environment
Also, most sensors are quite happy with 3.3V supply voltage.
Our own projects are mixed 5V/3.6V projects, where the interface parts are 5V based and the MSP (and almost only the MSP) has its own 3.6V step-down regulator. In a few critical situations, I use a diode and a pullup on the inputs.