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MSP430 compatibility with FDC2214EVM and programming platform for MSP430

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: FDC2214, MSP430F5528, CC3100BOOST, FDC2114, CC2500, MSP430F2274

Hi,

I want to have a system of capacitive sensors that detect the presence of a human. I have already tried out the FDC2214 EVM and have an idea about the sensor design. Instead of interfacing to a computer, I'd like to transmit the sensing data to a receiver board that will be hooked to an alarm buzzer. I was thinking about using the EZ430-RF2500 development tool to accomplish this. The FDC2214 EVM module is perforated to attach to any microcomputer so ideally I could attach it to the target board RF2500T, right? Or will there be a compatibility issue? Is there a cheaper wireless alternative to this? I'd rather not use the GUI for the EVM module. Is there another platform from which I can program the MSP430 on the RF2500T?

Thank you,

Keeley

  • Hi Keeley,

    The EZ430-RF2500 is capable of performing the application you desire. Instead of utilizing a MSP430F5528 eZ-FET lite backchannel UART communication with a PC host the FDC2114 can directly communicate with the MSP430F2274 which can then interpret and forward instructions through the CC2500 to the receiver board. The MSP430F2274 has one UART peripheral available on P3.4 (RXD) and P3.5 (TXD), which are output on the EZ430-RF2500 target board through pins 1 and 6 on JP2/ST1 populated on the left of the MCU. You will just have to make sure and disconnect the FDC2214 when trying to program the MSP430F2274 through these same UART pins. The EZ430-RF2500 is older hardware but probably the cheapest solution for your application, other options include utilizing a LaunchPad ecosystem with the 430BOOST-CC110L or CC3100BOOST BoosterPacks.

    Regards,
    Ryan
  • Thank you very much Ryan, that helps tremendously. So to be sure I understand, I connect the P3.4 to the SCL and the P3.5 to the SDA on the IC2 of the FDC2214, correct?
  • Hey Keeley,

    I apologize for my initial assessment of the situation, I am not familiar with the FDC2214 device and was under the assumption that it communicated through UART protocol. Unfortunately the UCA0 peripheral on P3.4/P3.5 does not support I2C and UCB0 (which is I2C-capable) is used to communicate with the CC2500. Therefore the best way to make this solution work is to use a software bit-bang I2C solution, TI itself does not provide a particular solution in this regard but there are several varieties available through the online community.

    Regards,
    Ryan
  • Thank you again Ryan for your response. I think I've settled on a hardware solution to the problem as featured here: www.robotshop.com/.../sfe-i2c-and-spi-to-uart-interface.html

    Regards,

    Keeley

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